,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly  ,a          
,,magazine ,,of ,,literature1 ,,art1    
,,and ,,politics  ,,vol4 ,v1 ,,may1     
#ahfj1 ,,no4 ,,xxxi       ,,instinct4   
,instinct is a great matter1 quoth      
,falstaff1 when called upon to find out 
a device1 a starting-hole1 to hide      
himself from the open and apparent shame
 of having run away from the fight and  
hacked his sword like a handsaw with his
 own dagger4 ,like a valiant lion1 he   
would not turn upon the true prince1 but
 ran away upon instinct4 ,although the  
peculiar circumstances of the occasion  
upon which the subject was presented to 
,falstaff's mind were not very favorable
 to a calm consideration of it1 he was  
undoubtedly correct in saying that      
instinct is a great matter4 ,if1 then1  
the tree may be known by the fruit1 says
 ,falstaff1 as the fruit by the tree1   
then1 peremptorily ,i speak it1 there is
 virtue in that ,falstaff2 and it is    
proper that his authority should be     
quoted1 even upon a question of         

metaphysical science4  ,that            
psychological endowment of animals which
 we denominate instinct has in every age
 been a matter full of wonder2 and men  
of thought have found few more          
interesting subjects of inquiry4 ,but it
 is confessed that little has been      
satisfactorily made out concerning the  
nature and limitations of instinct4 ,in 
former times the habits and mental      
characteristics of those orders of      
animated being which are inferior to man
 were observed with but a careless eye2 
and it was late before the phenomena of 
animal life received a careful and      
reverent examination4 ,it is vain to    
inquire what instinct is1 before there  
has been an accurate observation of its 
manifestations4 ,it is only from its    
outward manifestations that we can know 
anything of that marvellous inward      
nature which is given to animals4 ,we   
cannot know anything of the essential   
constitution of mind1 but can know only 
its properties4 ,this is all we know    

even of matter4 ,if material existence1 
says ,sir ,william ,hamilton1 could     
exhibit ten thousand phenomena1 and if  
we possessed ten thousand senses to     
apprehend these ten thousand phenomena  
of material existence1 of existence     
absolutely and in itself we should be   
then as ignorant as we are at present4  
,but this limitation of human knowledge 
has not always been kept in view4 ,men  
have been solicitous to penetrate into  
the higher mysteries of absolute and    
essential existence4 ,but in thus       
reaching out after the unattainable1 we 
have often passed by the only knowledge 
which it was possible for us to gain4   
,much vague speculation concerning      
instinct has arisen from the attempt to 
resolve the problem of its ultimate     
nature2 and perhaps much more might have
 been made out with certainty about it1 
if no greater task had been attempted   
than to classify the phenomena which it 
exhibits and determine the nature of its
 manifestations4 ,in regard to instinct1

 as well as everything else1 we must be 
content with finding out what it seems  
to us to be1 rather than what it is4    
,even with this limitation1 the inquiry 
will prove sufficiently difficult4 ,the 
properties of instinct are a little more
 inscrutable than those of the human    
mind1 inasmuch as we have our own       
consciousness to assist us in this case1
 while we are left to infer the         
peculiarities of instinct from its      
outward manifestations only4 ,and       
moreover1 the inquiry involves an       
understanding of the workings of the    
human mind2 for it is only when viewed  
in contrast with the rational endowments
 of man that the character of instinct  
is best known4 ,all other questions     
connected with the subject are          
subordinate to this one of the apparent 
difference between instinct and reason4 
,many definitions have been given of    
instinctive actions4 ,these differ      
widely in their extent1 and are for the 
most part quite inadequate4 ,some       

writers have ranged under this term all 
those customary habits and actions which
 are common to all the individuals of a 
species4 ,according to this definition1 
almost every action of animated life is 
instinctive4 ,but the general idea of an
 instinctive action is much more        
restricted2 it is one that is performed 
without instruction and prior to        
experience1--and not for the immediate  
gratification of the agent1 but only as 
the means for the attainment of some    
ulterior end4 ,to apply the term        
instinct to the regular and involuntary 
movements of the bodily organs1 such as 
the beating of the heart and the action 
of the organs of respiration1 is        
manifestly an extension of the ordinary 
acceptation of the term4 ,organic       
actions of a similar character are also 
performed by plants1 and are purely     
mechanical4 ,in the lowest and simplest 
class of excited movements1 says ,mller1
 the nervous system would not appear to 
be concerned4 ,they result from stimuli 

directly applied to the muscles1 which  
immediately excite their contractility2 
and they are evidently of the same      
character with the motions of plants4   
,thus1 the heart is excited to pulsation
 by the direct contact of the blood with
 the muscle4 ,the hand of a sleeping    
child closes upon any object which      
gently touches the palm4 ,and it is in  
this way1 doubtless1 that the ,sea      
,anemone entraps its prey1 or anything  
else that may come in contact with its  
tentacles4 ,but so far are these        
movements from indicating of themselves 
the action of any instinctive principle1
 that they are no proof of animality2   
for a precisely analogous power is      
possessed by the sensitive plant known  
as the ,fly-,trap of ,venus 7,dionoea   
muscipula73 any insect touching the     
sensitive hairs on the surface of its   
leaf instantly causes the leaf to shut  
up and enclose the insect1 as in a trap2
 nor is this all2 a mucilaginous        
secretion acts like a gastric juice on  

the captive1 digests it1 and renders it 
assimilable by the plant1 which thus    
feeds on the victim1 as the ,actinea    
feeds on the ,annelid or ,crustacean it 
may entrap4 ,in the animal organization 
a large class of reflex actions are     
excited1 not by a direct influence1 but 
indirectly by the agency of the nerves  
and spinal cord4 ,such actions are      
essentially independent of the brain2   
for they occur in animals which have no 
brain1 and in those whose brain has been
 removed4 ,however marvellous these     
functions of organic life may be1 there 
is nothing in them at all resembling    
that agency properly called instinct1   
which may be said to take the place in  
the inferior tribes of reason in man4   
,to refer these operations to the same  
source as the wonderful instinct that   
guides the bird in its long migratory   
flight1 or in the construction of its   
nest1 would be to make the bird a       
curiously constructed machine which is  
operated by impressions from without    

upon its sentient nerves4  ,those       
actions have sometimes been called      
instinctive which arise from the        
appetites and passions2 and they have   
been referred to instinct1 doubtless1   
because they have one characteristic of 
instinct1--that they are not acquired by
 experience or instruction4 ,but they   
differ1 says ,professor ,bowen1 at least
 in one important respect from those    
instincts of the lower animals which are
 usually contrasted with human reason4  
,the objects towards which they are     
directed are prized for their own sake2 
they are sought as ends2 while instinct 
teaches brutes to do many things which  
are needed only as means for the        
attainment of some ulterior purpose4    
,when the butterfly extracts the nectar 
from the flowers which she loves most1  
she meets a want of her physical nature 
which demands satisfaction at the       
moment2 but when1 in opposition to her  
appetite1 she proceeds to the flowerless
 shrub to deposit her eggs upon the     

leaves best suited to support her       
unthought-of progeny1 she is not        
influenced by any desire for the        
immediate gratification of her senses1  
but is led to the act by some dim       
impulse1 in order that an ultimate      
object may be provided for to which she 
has no reference at the time4 ,we are   
surprised to find it declared1 in the   
very interesting ,psychological         
,inquiries of ,sir ,b4,c4 ,brodie1 that 
the desire for food is the simplest form
 of an instinct1 and that such an       
instinct goes far towards explaining    
others which are more complicated4 ,it  
is true that the appetites and passions 
of animals have an ultimate object1 but 
they are impelled to action by a desire 
for immediate gratification only2 but   
when we speak of an instinct1 we mean   
something more than a mere want or      
desire1--we have chiefly in view the end
 beyond the blind instrumentality by    
which it is reached4  ,when we watch the
 movements of a young bee1 as it first  

goes forth from its waxen cradle1 we are
 forced to recognize an influence at    
work which is unlike reason1 and which  
is neither appetite nor any mechanical  
principle of organic life4 ,rising upon 
the comb1 and holding steadily with its 
tiny feet1 with admirable adroitness the
 young bee smooths its wings for its    
first flight1 and rubs its body with its
 fore legs and antennae2 then walking   
along the comb to the mouth of the hive1
 it mounts into the air1 flies forth    
into the fields1 alights upon the proper
 flowers1 extracts their juices1        
collects their pollen1 and1 kneading it 
into little balls1 deposits them in the 
sacks upon its feet2 and then returning 
to its hive1 it delivers up the honey   
and the wax and the bread which it has  
gathered and elaborated4 ,in the hive it
 works the wax with its paws and feelers
 into an hexagonal cell with a          
rhomboidal bottom1 the three plates of  
which form such angles with each other  
as require the least wax and space in   

the construction of the cell4 ,all these
 complex operations the bee performs as 
adroitly1 on the first morning of its   
life1 as the most experienced workman in
 the hive4 ,the tyro gatherer sought the
 flowery fields upon untried wings1 and 
returned to its home from this first    
expedition with unerring flight by the  
most direct course through the trackless
 air4  ,this is one instance of that    
great class of actions which are allowed
 on all hands to be strictly            
instinctive4 ,in the fact1 that the     
occult faculties which urge the bee to  
make honey and construct geometrical    
cells are in complete development when  
it first emerges from its cell1 we      
recognize one of the most striking      
characteristics of instinct1--its       
existence prior to all experience or    
instruction4 ,the insect tribes furnish 
us with many instances in which the     
young being never sees its parents1 and 
therefore all possibility of its        
profiting from their instructions or of 

its imitating their actions is cut off4 
,the solitary wasp1 for example1 is     
accustomed to construct a tunnelled nest
 in which she deposits her eggs and then
 brings a number of living caterpillars 
and places them in a hole which she has 
made above each egg2 being very careful 
to furnish just caterpillars enough to  
maintain the young worm from the time of
 its exclusion from the egg till it can 
provide for itself1 and to place them so
 as to be readily accessible the moment 
food is required4 ,but what is most     
curious of all is the fact that the wasp
 does not deposit the caterpillars      
unhurt1 for thus they would disturb or  
perhaps destroy the young2 nor does she 
sting them to death1 for thus they would
 soon be in no state of proper          
preservation2 but1 as if understanding  
these contingencies1 she inflicts a     
disabling wound4 ,yet the wasp does not 
feed upon caterpillars herself1 nor has 
she ever seen a wasp provide them for   
her future offspring4 ,she has never    

seen a worm such as will spring from her
 egg1 nor can she know that her egg will
 produce a worm2 and besides1 she       
herself will be dead long before the    
unknown worm can be in existence4       
,therefore she works blindly2 without   
knowing that her work is to subserve any
 useful purpose1 she works to a purpose 
both definite and important2 and her    
acts are uniform with those of all      
solitary wasps that have lived before   
her or that will live after her2 so that
 we are compelled to refer these        
untaught actions to some constant       
impulse connected with the special      
organization of the wasp1--an innate    
tact1 uniform throughout the species1 of
 which we1 not possessing anything of   
the kind1 can form only a poor          
conception1 but which we call instinct4 
,there have been some philosophers1     
however1 who have exercised their       
ingenuity in tracing so-called          
instinctive actions to the operation of 
experience4 ,the celebrated ,doctor     

,erasmus ,darwin gave1 as an            
illustration of this view1 his opinion  
that the young of animals know how to   
swallow from their experience of        
swallowing in utero4 ,without going into
 any refutation of this position1 we    
would only remark1 in passing1 that the 
act of swallowing is not an instinctive 
action at all1 but a purely mechanical  
one4 ,would not ,doctor ,darwin have    
rejoiced greatly1 if he could have      
brought to the support of his theory the
 observation of our own great           
naturalist1 ,agassiz1 who1 knowing the  
savage snap of one of the large1        
full-grown ,testudinata1 is said to have
 asserted1 that1 under the microscope1  
he has seen the juvenile turtle snapping
 precociously in embryo8  ,but not only 
is instinct prior to all experience1 it 
is even superior to it1 and often leads 
animals to disregard it1--the           
spontaneous impulse which ,nature has   
given them being their best guide4 ,the 
carrier-pigeon or the bird of passage1  

taken a long distance from home by a    
circuitous route1 trusting to this      
pilot-sense1 flies back in a straight   
course2 and the hound takes the shortest
 way home through fields where he has   
never previously set foot4  ,the        
existence of instinct prior to all      
experience or instruction1 and its      
perfection in the beginning1 render     
cultivation and improvement not only    
unnecessary1 but impossible4 ,as it is  
with the individual1 so it is with the  
race4 ,one generation of the irrational 
tribes does not improve upon the        
preceding or educate its successor4 ,the
 web which you watched the spider       
weaving in your open window last summer1
 carefully measuring off each radius of 
her wheel and each circular mesh by one 
of her legs1 was just such a web as the 
spider wove of old when she was         
pronounced to be little upon the earth1 
yet exceeding wise4  ,this incapacity   
for education is what so widely         
separates instinct from the rational    

powers of man4 ,man gathers knowledge   
and transmits it from generation to     
generation4 ,he is not born with a ready
 skill1 but with a capacity for it4 ,his
 mind is formed destitute of all connate
 knowledge1 that it may acquire the     
knowledge of all things4 ,man's         
imperfection at his nativity is his     
perfection2 while the perfection of     
brutes at their nativity is their       
imperfection4 ,no rational being has    
ever arrived at such perfection that he 
cannot still improve2 he can travel on  
from one attainment to another in a     
perpetual progress of improvement4 ,he  
is1 moreover1 free to choose his own    
path of action2 while the being of      
instinct is governed by a power which is
 not subject to his will1 and which     
confines him to a narrow path which he  
cannot leave4 ,but instinct1 within its 
narrow limits1 in many cases quite      
transcends reason in its achievements4  
,man's attainments in his own concerns1 
,matched with the expertness of the     

brutes in theirs1   ,are ofttimes       
vanquished and thrown far behind4       
,perhaps man has never made a structure 
as perfect in all its adaptations as the
 honeycomb4 ,yet when ,virgil spoke of  
the belief that bees have a portion of  
the mind divine1 nothing was known of   
the wonderful mathematical properties of
 this beautiful fabric2 and the         
demonstration of them which has been    
made within the present century is      
beyond the comprehension of far the     
larger part of mankind4 ,if the bee     
comprehended the problem which it has   
been working out for these many ages    
before man was able to solve it1 would  
its intellectual powers be inferior to  
his in degree1 if they were the same in 
kind8 ,the water-spider weaves for      
herself a cocoon1 makes it impervious to
 water1 and fastens it by loose threads 
to the leaves of plants growing at the  
bottom of a still pool4 ,she carries    
down air in a bag made for this purpose1
 till the water is expelled from the    

cell through the opening below4 ,the    
spider lived quite dry in her little    
air-chamber beneath the water ages      
before the diving-bell was invented2 but
 that she understood anything of the    
doctrines of space and gravity1 no one  
would venture to assert4  ,it has been  
the belief of some philosophers1 and    
poets as well1 that man has taken the   
hint for some of the arts he now        
practises from the brute creation4      
,democritus represents him as having    
derived the arts of weaving and sewing  
from the spider1 and the art of building
 of tempered clay from the swallow2 and 
we also read in ,pliny's ,natural       
,history1 that the nest of the swallow  
suggested to ,toxius1 the son of        
,coelus1 the invention of mortar4       
,according to ,lucretius1 men learned   
music from the song of birds1 and ,pope 
describes them as learning from the mole
 to plough1 from the nautilus to sail1  
and from bees and ants to form a        
political community4 ,perhaps we were   

behind the beaver in felling timber1 in 
leading dams across rivers1 and in      
building cabin villages1--behind the    
wasp in making paper1 and behind the    
squirrel and spider in crossing streams 
upon rafts4 ,so1 if man had needed any  
example of war and violence and wrong1  
he had only to go to the ant-hill and   
see the red ants invade the camps of the
 black and bear off their little negro  
prisoners into slavery4  ,whatever truth
 there may be in these ideas1 it is at  
least conceivable that man may have     
profited from the example of these      
animals4 ,he has copied from patterns   
set by ,nature in tree and leaf and     
flower and plant2 he has formed the     
,gothic arch and column from the trunks 
and interlacing boughs of the lofty     
avenue1 the ,corinthian capital from the
 acanthus foliage embracing a basket1   
and classic urns and vases from flowers4
 ,but no one could describe one species 
of the brute world as having derived a  
similar lesson from another1 and much   

less from trees and plants4 ,no species 
of animals has learnt anything new even 
from man1 except within the narrow      
sphere of domestication4  ,it is only in
 particulars that instinct appears      
superior to reason in the works it      
achieves4 ,when an animal is taken1 ever
 so little1 out of the ordinary         
circumstances in which its instincts    
act1 it is apt to behave very foolishly4
 ,if a woodpecker's egg is hatched by a 
bird which builds an open nest upon the 
branches of a tree1 when the young bird 
is grown large enough to shuffle about  
in the nest1 induced by its instinct to 
suppose that its nest is in a hole      
walled round on all sides by the tree1  
with a long1 narrow entrance down from  
above1 it does not see that it has been 
inducted into the open nest of another  
bird1 and is sure to tumble out4 ,the   
bee and the ant1 in a few particulars1  
show wonderful sagacity2 but remove them
 from the narrow compass of their       
instincts1 and all their wisdom is at an

 end4 ,that animals are so wise in a few
 things and so wanting in wisdom in all 
others shows that they are endowed with 
a mental principle essentially of a     
different nature from that of the human 
race4 ,they do many things even better  
than ourselves1 says ,descartes2 but    
this does not prove them to be endowed  
with reason1 for this would prove them  
to have more reason than we have1 and   
that they should excel us in all other  
things also2 for reason can act not only
 in one direction1 but in all4  ,but it 
will be said that instinct is not       
invariable1--that it often displays a   
capacity of accommodating itself1 like  
reason1 to circumstances1 and is        
therefore a principle the same in kind  
with it1--or else that the animal has   
something of the rational faculty       
superadded to the instinctive4 ,but does
 the animal make these variations in its
 conduct from a true perception of their
 meaning and purpose8  ,it is very      
natural for us to ascribe to reason     

those actions of other animals which    
would be ascribable to reason1 if       
performed by man4 ,if1 says ,keller1 7an
 old ,german writer17 the fly be enabled
 to choose the place which suits her    
best for the deposition of her eggs1    
7as1 for instance1 in my sugar-basin1 in
 which ,i placed a quantity of decaying 
wheat17 she takes a correct survey of   
every part and selects that in which she
 believes her ova will be the best      
preserved and her young ones well cared 
for4 ,the fly1 in this instance1        
apparently exercises an intelligent     
choice2 but does any one doubt that the 
selection she makes is determined wholly
 by a blind1 uncalculating instinct8    
,the beaver selects a site for his dam  
at a place where the depth1 width1 and  
rapidity of the stream are most fit4    
,there is a tree upon the bank1 and food
 and materials for his work in the      
vicinity4 ,if a man should attempt to   
build a beaver's dam1 he would          
abstractly consider all these elements  

of fitness4 ,the outward manifestations 
of the quality of abstraction are       
equally observable in either case4 ,but 
we must not hastily conclude1 because   
the beaver in one instance acts in a    
manner apparently reasonable1 that he   
has any reason of his own2 for1 when we 
come to study the habits of this animal1
 we find that he displays all the       
characteristics of the instinctive      
principle4 ,if animals are endowed with 
instincts which apparently act so much  
like reason in the ordinary course of   
their operations1 we should not at once 
conclude that there is any need of      
endowing them with a modicum of reason  
to account for their deviations from    
this course1 which do not outwardly     
resemble the acts of reason any more    
strongly4 ,and besides1 it is said1     
that1 if we refer the variations to an  
intelligent principle1 we must refer the
 ordinary conduct to the same principle4
 ,to use an old illustration1--if a bird
 is reasonable and intelligent1 when1 on

 perceiving the swollen waters of the   
stream approach her half-finished nest1 
she builds higher up the bank1 she was  
intelligent while making her first nest1
 and was always intelligent2 for how    
otherwise1 it is asked1 could she know  
when to lay down instinct and take up   
reason8  ,instinct aims at certain      
definite ends2 but these ends cannot    
always be reached by the same means1    
especially when places and circumstances
 are not the same4 ,accommodation is    
necessary1 or it could not always       
produce the effects for which it is     
intended4 ,would the instinct of the    
spider be complete1 if1 after it has    
guided her to spin a web so neat and    
trim and regular1 it did not also lead  
her to repair her broken snare1 when the
 cords have been sundered by the        
struggles of some powerful captive8 ,but
 this pliancy of the spider's instinct  
is no more remarkable than the          
contingent operation of the instincts of
 many species of animals4 ,it is        

remarkable1 says ,kirby1 that many of   
the insects which are occasionally      
observed to emigrate are not usually    
social animals1 but seem to congregate1 
like swallows1 merely for the purpose of
 emigration4 ,when certain rare         
emergencies occur1 which render it      
necessary for the insects to migrate1 a 
contingent instinct develops itself1 and
 renders an unsocial species gregarious4
  ,it is probable that most of our      
domesticated species1 exhibiting as they
 do in that condition attainments       
foreign to their natural habits and     
faculties in a wild state1 were endowed 
with provisional instincts with a view  
to their association with man4 ,but     
generally the docility of animals does  
not extend to attainments which are     
radically different from their habits   
and faculties in a wild state4 ,casual  
acquirements1 which have no relation to 
their exigencies in their natural       
condition1 never become hereditary1 and 
are not1 therefore1 instinctive4 ,a     

young pointer-dog1 which has never been 
in the fields before1 will not only     
point at a covey of partridges1 but will
 remain motionless1 like a well-trained 
dog4 ,the fact that the sagacity of the 
pointer is hereditary shows that it is  
the development of an instinctive       
propensity2 for simple knowledge is not 
transmitted by blood from one generation
 to another4 ,we have heard of a pig    
that pointed game1 and of another that  
was learned in letters2 but we ascertain
 in every such instance that their      
foreign acquirements do not reappear in 
their progeny1 but end with the pupils  
of the time being4 ,the pig's           
peculiarity of pointing did not arise   
from the development of a provisional   
instinct1 because it does not become    
hereditary2 but the same act in the     
pointer-dog is instinctive1--for1 when  
once brought out by associating with    
man1 it has remained with the breed1    
being a part of the animal's nature1    
which existed in embryo till it was     

developed by a companionship with man1  
for whose use this faculty was alone    
intended4  ,although the animals which  
especially display these exceptional or 
contingent instincts are those which are
 fitted for the use and comfort of man  
and may be domesticated1 it is doubtless
 true that many other species are in    
some degree provided with them1 and that
 they thus have a plasticity in their   
nature which enables them to exercise1  
under particular circumstances1         
unlooked-for attention1 foresight1 and  
caution4 ,and besides1 it is only in    
analogy with the laws of the physical   
world that instinct should admit of a   
slightly diversified application4  ,it  
is to be noticed in this connection that
 many animals are gifted with a         
wonderful sensibility of the            
senses1--the action of which is         
sometimes mistaken not only for the     
action of instinct1 but for that of     
reason also4 ,the acuteness of the sense
 of smell in the dog1 which enables him 

to trace the steps of his master for    
miles through crowded streets by the    
infinitesimal odor which his footsteps  
left upon the pavement1 is quite beyond 
our conception4 ,equally                
incomprehensible to us are the keenness 
of sight and wide range of vision of the
 eagle1 which enable him to discover the
 rabbit nipping the clover amid the     
thick grass at a distance at which a    
like object would be to us altogether   
imperceptible4 ,the chameleon is enabled
 to seize the little insects upon which 
it feeds by darting forth its           
wonderfully constructed tongue with such
 rapidity and with such delicacy of     
perception that wonder-loving sages have
 told us that it feeds upon the air4    
,it has been the belief of some         
observers that some animals have senses 
by which they are enabled to take       
cognizance of things which are not      
revealed directly to our senses4 ,it is 
easy enough to conceive of beings       
endowed with a more perfect perception  

of the external world1 both in its      
condition and the number of objects it  
presents1 than we have1 by means of     
other organs of outward perception4     
,voltaire1 in one of his philosophical  
romances1 represents an inhabitant of   
one of the planets of the ,dog-,star as 
inquiring of the ,secretary of the      
,academy of ,sciences in the planet of  
,saturn1 at which he had recently       
arrived in a journey through the        
heavens1 how many senses the men of his 
globe had2 and when the ,academician    
answered1 that they had seventy-two1 and
 were every day complaining of the      
smallness of the number1 he of the      
,dog-,star replied1 that in his globe   
they had very near one thousand senses1 
and yet with all these they felt        
continually a sort of listless          
inquietude and vague desire which told  
them how very imperfect they were4 ,but 
we shall not travel so far as this for  
our illustrations4 ,we have all seen in 
the fields and about our houses birds   

and insects which seem to take          
cognizance of the electric state of the 
atmosphere2 and we have learnt to feel  
quite sure1 when1 early in the morning  
of a summer's day1 we see fresh piles of
 sand around the holes of the ants1 that
 a storm is approaching1 although the   
sky may as yet be cloudless and the air 
perfectly serene4 ,in like manner birds 
perceive the approach of rain1 and are  
all busy oiling and smoothing their     
feathers in preparation for it2 and     
then1 before the clouds break away1 they
 come out from their retreats and       
joyfully hail the return of fair        
weather4 ,so1 by some analogous sense1  
the birds of passage are informed of the
 approach of winter and the return of   
spring4  ,it is doubtless true that in  
some animals the senses are immediately 
connected with instincts which assist   
and extend their operation4             
,metaphysicians and physiologists are   
agreed that the perception of distance  
is an acquired knowledge4 ,the sense of 

sight by itself principally makes us    
conversant with extension only4 ,the    
painting upon the retina of the eye     
presents all external things with flat  
surfaces and at the same distance4      
,before we can have any correct ideas of
 distance1 we must be able to compare   
the result of the sense of sight with   
the result of the sense of feeling4 ,by 
experience we in time come to judge     
something of distance by the size of the
 image which an object makes upon the   
retina1 but more by our acquired        
knowledge of the form and color of      
external things4 ,it is true that the   
eyes of many animals are constructed    
like those of man2 but they do not learn
 to judge of distance by the same slow  
process4 ,it is known from experiment   
that some animals have a perfect        
conception of distance at the moment of 
their birth2 and the young of the       
greater part of animals possess some    
instinctive perception of this kind4 ,a 
flycatcher1 for example1 just come out  

of its shell1 has been seen to peck at  
an insect with an aim as perfect as if  
it had been all its life engaged in     
learning the art4 ,and so when the hen  
takes her chickens out into the field   
for the first time to feed1 they seem to
 perceive very distinctly the relative  
distance of all objects about them1 and 
will run by the straightest course when 
she calls them to pick up the little    
grains which she points out to them4    
,without this instinctive power of      
determining the relative distance and   
figure of objects1 the young of most    
animals would perish before their sense 
of sight could be perfected1 as ours is1
 by experience4  ,we have now noticed   
the chief characteristics of instinct3  
its existence prior to all experience or
 instruction2 its incapacity of         
improvement1 except within the narrow   
sphere of domestication2 its limitation 
to a few objects1 and the certainty of  
its action within these limits2 the     
distinctness and permanence of its      

character for each species2 and its     
constant hereditary nature4 ,in regard  
to the uniformity of instinct throughout
 each species1 it may be further        
remarked1 that this seems to be very    
constantly preserved in the lowest      
divisions of the animal kingdom4 ,among 
the ,articulates1 also1 instinct appears
 almost unvarying2 and it is in this    
department among the insect tribes that 
the most striking manifestations of     
instinct are to be met with4 ,when we   
arrive among the higher orders of the   
,vertebrates1 we find in some species   
that each individual is capable of some 
modification of its actions1 according  
to the particular circumstances in which
 it finds itself placed4 ,but throughout
 the long series of animals1 from the   
polype to man1 there is instinctive     
action more or less in amount in every  
species1 with1 perhaps1 the exception of
 man alone4 ,the variety of that        
endowment1 which is adapted to definite 
objects1 means1 and results1 in each    

particular one of the five hundred      
thousand species estimated to be now    
living1 may well call forth our         
admiration and astonishment at the      
magnitude and extent of the prospective 
contrivance of the ,creator4 ,how       
various the relations of all these      
animals to each other and to the        
inanimate world about them6 and yet how 
admirable the adjustments of that       
immaterial principle which regulates    
their lives1 so as to secure the        
well-being of each and the symmetry of  
the general plan6  ,there has been much 
diversity of opinion as to the existence
 of instincts in the human              
species1--some making the whole mind of 
man nothing but a bundle of instincts1  
and others wholly denying him any       
endowment of this nature1 while others  
still have given him a complex mental   
nature1 and have1 moreover1 declared    
that intellect and instinct in him are  
so interwoven that it is impossible to  
tell where the one begins and the other 

ends4 ,but we believe1 with the author  
of ,ancient ,metaphysics1 that in       
,nature1 however intimately things are  
blended together and run into each other
 like different shades of the same      
color1 the species of things are        
absolutely distinct1 and that there are 
certain fixed boundaries which separate 
them1 however difficult it may be for us
 to find them out4 ,in regard to        
intelligence and instinct1 the two      
principles seem to us to be not more    
distinctly and widely separated in their
 nature than in the provinces of their  
operation4  ,sir ,henry ,holland1 who   
believes that intelligence and instinct 
are blended in man1 admits that         
instincts1 properly so called1 form the 
minimum in relation to reason1 and are  
difficult of definition from their      
connection with his higher mental       
functions1 but that1 wherever we can    
truly distinguish them1 they are the    
same in principle and manner of         
operation as those of other animals4 ,he

 makes one distinction1 however1 between
 the instincts of man and those of lower
 animals1--that in the former they have 
more of individual character1 are far   
less numerous and definite in relation  
to the physical conditions of life1 and 
more various and extensive in regard to 
his moral nature4 ,but1 on the other    
hand1 ,sir ,b4,c4 ,brodie seems to be of
 opinion that the majority of instincts 
belonging to man resemble those of the  
inferior animals1 inasmuch as they      
relate to the preservation of the       
individual and the continuation of the  
species2 and that when man first began  
to exist1 and for some generations      
afterwards1 the range of his instincts  
was much more extensive than it is at   
the present time4 ,when authorities so  
eminent as these differ so widely upon  
the question1 to what human instincts   
relate1 we see at least that it is very 
difficult to define and distinguish     
these instincts1 and we may be led to   
doubt their existence at all4 ,of that  

marvellous endowment which guides the   
bee to fabricate its cells according to 
laws of the most rigid mathematical     
exactness1 and guides the swallow in its
 long flight to its winter home1 we     
agree with ,professor ,bowen1 that there
 is no trace whatever in human nature4  
,the actions of man which have been     
loosely described as instinctive belong 
for the most part to those classes of   
actions which we have already shown to  
be in no proper sense of the word       
instinctive1 that is1 those concerned in
 the appetites and in the functions of  
organic life4 ,there are also numerous  
automatic and habitual actions which are
 liable to be mistaken for instincts4   
,some have included in the category of  
instincts those intuitive perceptions   
and primary beliefs which are a part of 
our constitution1 and are the foundation
 of all our knowledge4 ,but these       
propensities of thought and feeling are 
of a higher nature than mere instincts2 
they are immutable laws of the human    

mind1 which time and physical changes   
cannot reach3 they do not seem to depend
 upon the physical organization1 but to 
be inherent in the soul itself4 ,if     
these are instincts1 then1 why are not  
all the ways in which the mind exerts   
itself instincts also1 and reason itself
 an instinct8  ,there is hardly any     
human action1 feeling1 or belief1 which 
has not been ranged under the term      
instinct4 ,hunger and thirst have been  
called instincts2 so have the faculty of
 speech1 the use of the right hand in   
preference to the left1 the love of     
society1 the desire to possess property1
 the desire to avoid danger and prolong 
life1 and the belief in supernatural    
agencies1 upon which is engrafted the   
religious sentiment4 ,we cannot1 in this
 paper1 attempt to analyze these and    
many other similar examples which have  
been given as illustrations of instinct 
in treatises of high repute1 and show   
that they do not at all come within that
 class of actions which we contrast with

 reason4 ,in regard to those actions of 
early infancy which have often been     
adduced as illustrations of instinct1   
the physiologists of the present day are
 agreed that they are as mechanical as  
the act of breathing4 ,to place these   
upon the same level with the complex and
 wonderful operations of the bee1 the   
ant1 and the beaver1 is to admit that   
the instincts of the latter are merely  
reflex actions following impressions on 
the nerves of sense4  ,on the other     
hand1 whether the animals inferior to   
man ever exercise any conscious process 
of reasoning is a question which has    
often been discussed1 and upon which    
there is no general agreement4          
,instances of the remarkable sagacity of
 some domesticated animals are often    
adduced as proofs of reasoning on their 
part4 ,some of these wonderful feats may
 be traced to the unconscious faculty of
 imitation1 which even in man often     
appears as a blind propensity1 although 
he exercises an active and rational     

imitation as well4 ,sometimes the mere  
association of ideas1 or the perception 
by animals that one thing is accompanied
 by another or that one event follows   
another1 is mistaken for that higher    
principle which in man judges1 reflects1
 and understands causes and effects4    
,when the dog sees his master take down 
his gun1 his blandishments show that he 
anticipates a renewal of the pleasures  
of the chase4 ,he does not reflect upon 
past pleasures2 but1 seeing the gun in  
his master's hand1 a confused idea of   
the feelings that were associated with  
the gun in times past is called up4 ,so 
the ox and the horse learn to associate 
certain movements with the voice and    
gesture of man4 ,and so a fish1 about   
the most stupid of all animals1 comes to
 a certain spot at a certain signal to  
be fed4 ,these combinations are quite   
elementary4 ,this is quite another thing
 from that reciprocal action of ideas on
 each other by which man perceives the  
relations of things1 understands the    

laws of cause and effect1 and not only  
forms judgments of the past1 but draws  
conclusions which are laws for the      
future4 ,we find in the brute no power  
of attending to and arranging its       
thoughts1--no power of calling up the   
past at will and reflecting upon it4    
,the animal has the faculty of memory1  
and1 when this is awakened1 the object  
remembered may be accompanied by a train
 or attendance of accessory notions     
which have been connected with the      
object in the animal's past experience4 
,but it never seems to be able to       
exercise the purely voluntary act of    
recollection4 ,it is not capable of     
comparing one thing with another1 so far
 as we can judge4 ,if the animal could  
exercise any true act of comparison1    
there would be no limit to the exercise 
of it1 and the animal would be an       
intelligent being2 for the result of a  
simple act of comparison is judgment1   
and reasoning is only a double act of   
comparison4 ,we have the authority of   

,sir ,william ,hamilton for saying that 
the highest function of mind is nothing 
higher than comparison4 ,hence comes    
thought1--hence1 the power of           
discovering truth1--and hence1 the      
mind's highest dignity1 in being able to
 ascend unassisted to the knowledge of a
 ,god4 ,those who hold that the minds of
 the inferior animals are essentially of
 the same nature with that of the human 
race1 and differ only in degree1 should 
reflect that the distinguishing         
attribute of the human mind does not    
admit of degrees4 ,the faculty of       
comparison1 in all its various          
applications1 must be either wholly     
denied or else wholly attributed4       
,hence1 ,pope is not philosophical1 when
 he applies the epithet half-reasoning  
to the elephant4 ,as reasoning1 says    
,coleridge1 consists wholly in a man's  
power of seeing whether any two ideas   
which happen to be in his mind are or   
are not in contradiction with each      
other1 it follows of necessity1 not only

 that all men have reason1 but that     
every individual has it in the same     
degree4 ,we gather also from the same   
acute writer that in the simple         
determination1 black is not white1 all  
the powers are implied that distinguish 
man from other animals4 ,if1 then1 the  
brute reasoned at all1 he would be a    
rational being1 and would improve and   
gain knowledge by experience2 and1      
moreover1 he would be a moral agent1    
accountable for his conduct4 ,would not 
the brute1 asks an able writer in the   
,zological ,journal1 take a survey of   
his lower powers1 and would he not1 as  
man does1 either rightly use or pervert 
them1 at his pleasure8  ,it has been    
suggested by some one1 that1 by the law 
of merciful adaptation1 which extends   
throughout the universe1 thought would  
not be imprisoned and pent up forever in
 an intelligence wanting the power of   
expression4 ,but it is also to be       
noticed that the want of an articulate  
language or a system of general signs   

puts it out of the power of animals to  
perform a single act of reasoning4 ,the 
use of language to communicate wants and
 feelings is not peculiar to            
word-dividing men1 though enjoyed by    
them in a much higher degree than by    
other animals4 ,doubtless every species 
of social animals has some kind of      
language1 however imperfect it may be4  
,we never watch the busy workers of the 
ant-hill1 says ,acheta ,domestics1 7the 
author of ,episodes of ,insect-,life17  
stopping as they encounter and laying   
their heads together1 without being     
pretty certain that they are saying to  
each other something quite as           
significant as ',fine day4' ,and when   
the morning wakes the choral song of the
 birds1 they seem to be telling each    
other of their happiness4 ,but though   
animals have a language appropriate to  
the expression of their sensations and  
emotions1 they have no words1 those     
shadows of the soul1 those living       
sounds4 ,words are symbols of thoughts1 

and may be considered as a revelation of
 the human mind4 ,it is this use of     
language as an instrument of thought1 as
 a system of general signs1 which1      
according to ,bishop ,whately1          
distinguishes the language of man from  
that of the brute2 and the same eminent 
authority declares that without such a  
system of general signs the reasoning   
process could not be conducted4  ,it is 
true1 that we often see in the inferior 
animals manifestations of deductions of 
intellect similar to those of the human 
mind1--only that they are not made by   
the animals themselves1 but for them and
 above their conscious perception4 ,when
 a bee1 says ,dr4 ,reid1 makes its combs
 so geometrically1 the geometry is not  
in the bee1 but in that great           
,geometrician who made the bee1 and made
 all things in number1 weight1 and      
measure4 ,since the animal is not       
conscious of the intelligence and design
 which are manifested in its instincts1 
which it obeys and works out1 the       

conscious life of the individual must be
 wholly a life within the senses4 ,the  
senses alone can give the animal only an
 empirical knowledge of the world of its
 observation4 ,the senses may register  
and report facts1 but they can never    
arrive at an understanding of necessary 
truths2 the source of this kind of      
knowledge is the rational mind1 which   
has an active disposition to draw out   
these infallible laws and eternal truths
 from its own bosom4 ,the main tendency 
of the rational mind is not towards mere
 phenomena1 but their scientific        
explanation4 ,it seeks to trace effects1
 as presented to us by the senses1 back 
to the causes which produced them2 or   
contemplating things wholly             
metaphysical1 it seeks to follow out the
 laws which it has itself discovered1   
till they have gone through a thousand  
probable contingencies and lost         
themselves in numberless results4 ,it is
 on account of this capacity and        
tendency of the human mind to look      

through fact to law1 through individuals
 to classes1 through effects to causes1 
through phenomena to general principles1
 that the late ,dr4 ,burnap was led to  
declare1 in a very interesting course of
 lectures which he delivered before the 
,lowell ,institute a few years since1   
that he considered the first            
characteristic difference between the   
highest species of animals and the      
lowest race of man to be a capacity of  
science4 ,but is not the whole edifice  
of human science built upon the simple  
faculty of comparison8  ,this is the    
ultimate analysis of all the highest    
manifestations of the human mind1       
whether of judgment1 or reason1 or      
intellect1 or common sense1 or the power
 of generalization1 or the capacity of  
science4 ,we have already quoted        
,hamilton to this effect1 and we1       
moreover1 have his authority for saying 
that the faculty of discovering truth1  
by a comparison of the notions we have  
obtained by observation and experience1 

is the attribute by which man is        
distinguished as a creature higher than 
the animals4 ,we might also cite        
,leibnitz to the effect that men differ 
from animals in being capable of the    
formation of necessary judgments1 and   
hence capable of demonstrative sciences4
  ,but notwithstanding it seems so      
apparent that what is customarily called
 reason is the distinguishing endowment 
which makes man the paragon of animals1 
we very often meet with attempts to set 
up some other distinction4 ,we cannot   
here go into an examination of these    
various theories1 or even allude to them
 specially4 ,we will1 however1 briefly  
refer to a view which was recently      
advanced in one of our leading          
periodicals1 inasmuch as it makes       
prominent a distinction which we wish to
 notice1 although it seems to us to be  
only subordinate to the distinguishing  
attribute of the human mind which we    
have already pointed out4 ,it is said   
that self-consciousness is what makes   

the great difference between man and    
other animals2 that the latter do not   
separate themselves consciously from the
 world in which they exist2 and that1   
though they have emotions1 impulses1    
pains1 and pleasures1 every change of   
feeling in them takes at once the form  
of an outward change either in place or 
position4 ,it is not intended1 however1 
to be said that they have no conscious  
perception of external things4 ,we      
cannot possibly conceive of an animal   
without this condition of consciousness4
 ,a consciousness of an outward world is
 an essential quality of the animal     
soul2 this distinguishes the very lowest
 form of animal life from the vegetable 
world2 and hence it cannot possibly be1 
as has been suggested by some1 that     
there are any animate beings which have 
no endowments superior to those which   
belong to plants4 ,the plant is not     
conscious of an outward world1 when it  
sends out its roots to obtain the       
nourishment which is fitting for itself2

 but the polype1 which is fixed with    
hundreds of its kind on the same        
coral-stock1 and is able only to move   
its mouth and tentacles1 is aware of the
 presence of the little craw-fish upon  
which it feeds1 and throws out its      
lasso-cells and catches it4 ,the world  
of which the polype has any perception  
is not a very large one4 ,the outer     
world of a bird is vastly greater2 and  
man knows a world without1 which is     
immeasurably large beyond that of which 
any other animal is conscious1 because  
both his physical organs and his mental 
faculties bring him into far the most   
diversified and intimate relations with 
all created things4 ,he sees in every   
flower of the garden and every beast of 
the field1 in the air and in the sea1 in
 the earth beneath his feet and in the  
starry heavens above him1 countless     
meanings which are hidden to all the    
living world besides4 ,to him there is a
 world which has existed and a world    
that will exist4 ,man1 says ,protagoras1

 is the measure of the universe4 ,but he
 has a greater dignity in being able to 
apprehend the world of thought within4  
,whilst ,i study to find how ,i am a    
microcosm or little world1 says ,sir    
,thomas ,browne1 ,i find myself         
something more than the great4 ,man can 
make himself an object to himself and   
gain the deepest insight into the       
workings of his own mind4 ,this internal
 perception seems never to be developed 
in other animals4 ,we have already      
observed that they have no thought of   
their own4 ,the intelligence and design 
which they often manifest in their      
actions are not the workings of their   
own minds4 ,the intelligence and design 
belong to ,him who impressed the thought
 upon the animal's mind and unceasingly 
sustains it in action4 ,they themselves 
are not conscious of any thought1 but   
only of certain dim imperious influences
 which urge them on4 ,they are conscious
 of feelings and desires and impulses4  
,we could not conceive of the existence 

of these affections in animals without  
their having an immediate knowledge of  
them4 ,even the function of voluntary   
motion1 says ,hamilton1 which is a      
function of the animal soul in the      
,peripatetic doctrine1 ought not1 as is 
generally done1 to be excluded from the 
phenomena of consciousness and mind4    
,the conscious life of the irrational   
tribes seems1 then1 to be a life almost 
wholly within the senses4 ,they have    
nothing of that higher conscious        
personality which belongs to man and is 
an attribute of a free intellect4  ,a   
general statement of the points made out
 in the foregoing inquiry will more     
clearly show our conception of the      
nature and limitations of instinct4     
,first1 we limited the word instinct so 
as to exclude all those automatic and   
mechanical actions concerned in the     
simple functions of organic life1--as   
also to exclude the operations of the   
passions and appetites1 since these seek
 no other end than their own            

gratification4 ,then it was shown that  
instinct exists prior to all experience 
or memory2 that it comes to an instant  
or speedy perfection1 and is not capable
 of any improvement or cultivation2 that
 its objects are precise and limited2   
that within its proper sphere it often  
appears as the highest wisdom1 but      
beyond this is only foolishness2 that it
 uses complex and laborious means to    
provide for the future1 without any     
prescience of it2 that it performs      
important and rational operations which 
the animal neither intends nor knows    
anything about2 that it is permanent for
 each species1 and is transmitted as an 
hereditary gift of ,nature2 and that the
 few variations in its action result    
from the development of provisional     
faculties1 or from blind imitation4 ,we 
were led to conclude that instinct is   
not a free and conscious possession of  
the animal itself4 ,we found some points
 of resemblance between intelligence in 
man and instinct in other animals1--but 

at the same time points of              
dissimilarity1 such as to make the two  
principles appear radically unlike4     
,this brief summary presents nearly all 
that we can satisfactorily make out     
respecting instinct2 and at the same    
time it shows how much is still wanting 
to a complete solution of all the       
questions which it involves4 ,and then  
there are higher mysteries connected    
with the subject1 which we do not       
attempt to penetrate1--mysteries in     
regard to the creation and the          
maintenance of instinctive action3      
whether it be the result of particular  
external conditions acting on the       
organization of animals1 or whether1 as 
,sir ,isaac ,newton thought1 the ,deity 
himself is virtually the active and     
present moving principle in them2--and  
mysteries1 too1 about the future of the 
brute world3 whether1 as ,southey wrote1
          ,there is another world ,for  
all that live and move1--a better world4
  ,if we ever find a path which seems   

about to lead us up to these mysteries1 
it speedily closes against us1 and      
leaves us without any rational hope of  
attaining their solution4     ,,my ,,own
 ,,story4   ,oh1 tell her1 brief is     
life1 but love is long4  ,what have ,i  
got that you would like to have8 ,your  
letters are tied up and directed to you4
 ,mother will give them to you1 when she
 finds them in my desk4 ,i could execute
 my last will myself1 if it were not for
 giving her additional pain4 ,i will    
leave everything for her to do except   
this3 take these letters1 and when ,i am
 dead1 give them to ,frank4 ,there is   
not a reproach in them1 and they are    
full of wit2 but he won't laugh1 when he
 reads them again4 ,choose now1 what    
will you have of mine8  ,well1 ,i said1 
give me the gold pen-holder that        
,redmond sent you after he went away4   
,laura rose up in her bed1 and seized me
 by my shoulder1 and shook me1 crying   
between her teeth1 ,you love him6 you   
love him6 ,then she fell back on her    

pillow4 ,oh1 if he were here now6 ,he   
went1 ,i say1 to marry the woman he was 
engaged to before he saw you4 ,he was   
nearly mad1 though1 when he went4 ,the  
night mother gave them their last party1
 when you wore your black lace dress1   
and had pink roses in your hair1 somehow
 ,i hardly knew you that night4 ,i was  
in the little parlor1 looking at the    
flowers on the mantelpiece1 when        
,redmond came into the room1 and1       
rushing up to me1 bent down and         
whispered1 ',did you see her go8 ,i     
shall see her no more2 she is walking on
 the beach with ,maurice4' ,he sighed so
 loud that ,i felt embarrassed2 for ,i  
was afraid that ,harry ,lothrop1 who was
 laughing and talking in a corner with  
two or three men1 would hear him2 but he
 was not aware that they were there4 ,i 
did not know what to do1 unless ,i      
ridiculed him4 ',follow them1' ,i said4 
',step on her flounces1 and ,maurice    
will have a chance to humiliate you with
 some of his cutting1 exquisite         

politeness4' ,he never answered a word1 
and ,i would not look at him1 but       
presently ,i understood that there were 
tears falling4 ,oh1 you need not look   
towards me with such longing2 he does   
not cry for you now4 ,they seemed to    
bring him to his senses4 ,he stamped his
 foot2 but the carpet was thick2 it only
 made a thud4 ,then he buttoned his     
coat1 giving himself a violent twist as 
he did it1 and looked at me with such a 
haughty composure1 that1 if ,i had been 
you1 ,i should have trembled in my      
shoes4 ,he walked across the room toward
 the group of men4--',ah1 ,harry1' he   
said1 'where is ,maurice8' ',don't you  
know8' they all cried out2 'he has gone 
as ,miss ,denham's escort8' ',by ,jove6'
 said ,harry ,lothrop1--',miss ,denham  
was as handsome as ,cleopatra1 to-night4
 ,little ,maurice is now singing to her4
 ,did he take his guitar under his arm8 
,it was here2 for ,i saw a green bag    
near his hat1 when we came in to-night4'
 ,just then we heard the twang of a     

guitar under the window1 and ,redmond1  
in spite of himself1 could not help a   
grimace4--,is it not a droll world8 said
 ,laura1 after a pause2 things come     
about so contrariwise4  ,she laughed    
such a shrill laugh1 that ,i shuddered  
to hear it1 and ,i fell a-crying4  ,but1
 she continued1 ,i am going1 ,i trust1  
where a key will be given me for this   
cipher4  ,tears came into her eyes1 and 
an expression of gentleness filled her  
face4  ,it is strange1 she said1 when ,i
 know that ,i must die1 that ,i should  
be so moved by earthly passions and so  
interested in earthly speculations4 ,my 
heart supplicates ,god for peace and    
patience1 and at the same moment my     
thoughts float away in dreams of the    
past4 ,i shall soon be wiser2 ,i am     
convinced of that4 ,the doctrine of     
compensation extends beyond this world2 
if it be not so1 why should ,i die at   
twenty1 with all this mysterious        
suffering of soul8 ,you must not wonder 
over me1 when ,i am gone1 and ask       

yourself1 ',why did she live8' ,believe 
that ,i shall know why ,i lived1 and let
 it suffice you and encourage you to go 
on bravely4 ,live and make your powers  
felt4 ,your nature is affluent1 and you 
may yet learn how to be happy4  ,she    
sighed softly1 and turned her face to   
the wall1 and moved her fingers as sick 
people do4 ,she waited for me to cease  
weeping3 my tears rained over my face so
 that ,i could neither see nor speak4   
,after ,i had become calmer1 she moved  
toward me again and took my hand3 her   
own trembled4  ,it is for the last time1
 ,margaret4 ,my good1 skilful father    
gives me no medicine now4 ,my sisters   
have come home2 they sit about the house
 like mourners1 with idle hands1 and do 
not speak with each other4 ,it is       
terrible1 but it will soon be over4     
,she pulled at my hand for me to rise4  
,i staggered up1 and met her eyes4 ,mine
 were dry now4  ,do not come here again4
 ,it will be enough for my family to    
look at my coffin4 ,i feel better to    

think you will be spared the pain4  ,i  
nodded4  ,good-bye6  ,a sob broke in her
 throat4  ,margaret1--she spoke like a  
little child1--,i am going to heaven4   
,i kissed her1 but ,i was blind and     
dumb4 ,i lifted her half out of the bed4
 ,she clasped her frail arms round me1  
and hid her face in my bosom4  ,oh1 ,i  
love you6 she said4  ,her heart gave    
such a violent plunge1 that ,i felt it1 
and laid her back quickly4 ,she waved   
her hand to me with a determined smile4 
,i reached the door1 still looking at   
her1 crossed the dark threshold1 and    
passed out of the house4 ,the bold      
sunshine smote my face1 and the insolent
 wind played about me4 ,the whole earth 
was as brilliant and joyous as if it had
 never been furrowed by graves4  ,laura 
lived some days after my interview with 
her4 ,she sent me no message1 and ,i did
 not go to see her4 ,from the           
garret-windows of our house1 which was  
half a mile distant from ,laura's1 ,i   
could see the windows of the room where 

she was lying4 ,three tall poplar-trees 
intervened in the landscape4 ,i thought 
they stood motionless so that they might
 not intercept my view while ,i watched 
the house of death4 ,one morning ,i saw 
that the blinds had been thrown back and
 the windows opened4 ,i knew then that  
,laura was dead4  ,the day after the    
funeral ,i gave ,frank his letters1 his 
miniature1 and the locket which held a  
ring of his hair4  ,is there a fire8 he 
asked1 when ,i gave them to him2 ,i want
 to burn these things4  ,i went to      
another room with him4  ,i'll leave     
everything here to-day2 and may ,i never
 see this cursed place again6 ,did she  
die1 do you know1 because ,i held her   
promise that she would be my wife8  ,he 
threw the papers into the grate1 and    
crowded them down with his boot1 and    
watched them till the last blackened    
flake disappeared4 ,he then took from   
his neck a hair chain1 and threw that   
into the fire also4  ,it is all done    
now1 he said4  ,he shook my hand with a 

firm grasp and left me4  ,a month later 
,laura's mother sent me a package       
containing two bundles of letters4 ,it  
startled me to see that the direction   
was dated before she was taken ill3--,to
 be given to ,margaret in case of my    
death4 ,june #eth1 #ahdh4 ,they were my 
letters1 and those which she had        
received from ,harry ,lothrop4 ,on this 
envelop was written1 ,put these into the
 black box he gave you4 ,the gold       
pen-holder came into my hands also4     
,departure was engraved on the handle1  
and ,laura's initials were cut in an    
emerald in its top4 ,the black box was  
an ebony1 gold-plated toy1 which ,harry 
,lothrop had given me at the same time  
,redmond gave ,laura the pen-holder4 ,it
 was when they went away1 after a whole 
summer's visit in our little town1 the  
year before4 ,i locked the letters in   
the black box1 and1    ,whether from    
reason or from impulse only1  ,i know   
not1 but ,i was prompted to write a line
 to ,harry ,lothrop4  ,do not1 ,i said1 

write ,laura any more letters4 ,those   
you have already written to her are in  
my keeping1 for she is dead4 ,was it not
 a pleasant summer we passed together8  
,the second autumn is already at hand3  
time flies the same1 whether we are dull
 or gay4 ,for all this period what      
remains except the poor harvest of a few
 letters8  ,i received in answer an     
incoherent and agitated letter4 ,what   
was the matter with ,laura8 he asked4   
,he had not heard from her for months4  
,had any rupture occurred between her   
and her friend ,frank8 ,did ,i suppose  
she was ever unhappy8 ,he was shocked at
 the news1 and said he must come and    
learn the particulars of the event4 ,he 
thanked me for my note1 and begged me to
 believe how sincere was his friendship 
for my poor friend4  ,redmond1 he       
continued1 is1 for the present1 attached
 to the engineer corps to which ,i      
belong1 and he has offered to take      
charge of my business while ,i am a day 
or two absent4 ,he is in my room at this

 moment1 holding your note in his hand1 
and appears painfully disturbed4  ,it   
was now a little past the time of year  
when ,redmond and ,harry ,lothrop had   
left us1--early autumn4 ,after their    
departure1 ,laura and ,i had been       
sentimental enough to talk over the     
events of their visit4 ,recalling these 
associations1 we created an illusion of 
pleasure which of course could not last4
 ,harry ,lothrop wrote to ,laura1 but   
the correspondence declined and died4   
,as time passed on1 we talked less and  
less of our visitors1 and finally ceased
 to speak of them4 ,neither of us knew  
or suspected the other of any deep or   
lasting feeling toward the two friends4 
,laura knew ,redmond better than ,i did2
 at least1 she saw him oftener2 in fact1
 she knew both in a different way4 ,they
 had visited her alone2 while ,i had met
 them almost entirely in society4 ,i    
never found so much time to spare as she
 seemed to have2 for everybody liked    
her1 and everybody sought her4 ,as often

 as we had talked over our acquaintance1
 she was wary of speaking of ,redmond4  
,her last conversation with me revealed 
her thoughts1 and awakened feelings     
which ,i thought ,i had buffeted down4  
,the tone of ,harry ,lothrop's note     
perplexed me1 and ,i found myself       
drifting back into an old state of mind 
,i had reason to dread4  ,as ,i said1   
the autumn had come round4 ,its quiet   
days1 its sombre nights1 filled my soul 
with melancholy4 ,the lonesome moan of  
the sea and the waiting stillness of the
 woods were just the same a year ago2   
but ,laura was dead1 and ,nature grieved
 me4 ,yet none of us are in one mood    
long1 and at this very time there were  
intervals when ,i found something       
delicious in life1 either in myself or  
the atmosphere4    ,moreover1 something 
is or seems   ,that touches me with     
mystic gleams4  ,a golden morning1 a    
starry night1 the azure round of the    
sky1 the undulating horizon of sea1 the 
blue haze which rose and fell over the  

distant hills1 the freshness of youth1  
the power of beauty1--all gave me deep  
voluptuous dreams4  ,i can afford to    
confess that ,i possessed beauty2 for   
half my faults and miseries arose from  
the fact of my being beautiful4 ,i was  
not vain1 but as conscious of my beauty 
as ,i was of that of a flower1 and      
sometimes it intoxicated me4 ,for1 in   
spite of the comforting novels of the   
,jane ,eyre school1 it is hardly        
possible to set an undue value upon     
beauty2 it defies ennui4  ,as ,i        
expected1 ,harry ,lothrop came to see   
me4 ,the sad remembrance of ,laura's    
death prevented any ceremony between us2
 we met as old acquaintances1 of course1
 although we had never conversed        
together half an hour without           
interruption4 ,i began with the theme of
 ,laura's illness and death1 and the    
relation which she had held toward me4  
,all at once ,i discovered1 without     
evidence1 that he was indifferent to    
what ,i was saying2 but ,i talked on    

mechanically1 and like a phantasm the   
truth came to my mind4 ,the real man was
 there1--not the one ,i had carelessly  
looked at and known through ,laura4  ,i 
became silent4  ,he twisted his fingers 
in the fringe of my scarf1 which had    
fallen off1 and ,i watched them4  ,why1 
,i abruptly asked1 have ,i not known you
 before8  ,he let go the fringe1 and    
folded his hands1 and in a dreamy voice 
replied1--  ,redmond admires you4  ,what
 a pity6 ,i said4 ,and you1--you admire 
me1 or yourself1 just now2 which8  ,he  
flushed slightly1 but continued with a  
bland voice1 which irritated and        
interested me4  ,all that time ,i was so
 near you1 and you scarcely saw me2 what
 a chance ,i had to study you6 ,your    
friend was intelligent and sympathetic1 
so we struck a league of friendship3 ,i 
could dare so much with her1 because ,i 
knew that she was engaged to marry ,mr4 
,ballard4 ,i own that ,i have been      
troubled about her since ,i went away4  
,how odd it is that ,i am here alone    

with you in this room6 how many times ,i
 have wished it6 ,i liked you best here2
 and while absent1 the remembrance of it
 has been inseparable from the          
remembrance of you1--a picture within a 
picture4 ,i know all that the room      
contains1--the white vases1 and the wire
 baskets1 with pots of ,egyptian lilies 
and damask roses1 the books bound in    
green and gold1 the engravings of nymphs
 and fauns1 the crimson bars in the     
carpet1 the flowers on the cushions1    
and1 best of all1 the arched window and 
its low seat4 ,but ,i had promised      
myself never to see you3 it was all ,i  
could do for ,laura4 ,she is dead1 and  
,i am here4  ,i rose and walked to the  
window1 and looked out on the misty sea1
 and felt strangely4  ,another lover1 ,i
 thought1--and ,redmond's friend1 and   
,laura's4 ,but it all belongs to the    
comedy we play4  ,he came to where ,i   
stood4  ,i know you so well1 he         
said1--your pride1 your self-control1   
even your foibles3 but they attract one1

 too4 ,you did not escape heart-whole   
from ,redmond's influence4 ,he is not   
married yet1 but he will be2 he is a    
chivalrous fellow4 ,it was a desperate  
matter between you two1--a hand-to-hand 
struggle4 ,it is over with you both1 ,i 
believe3 you are something alike4 ,now  
may ,i offer you my friendship8 ,if ,i  
love you1 let me say so4 ,do not resist 
me4 ,i appeal to the spirit of coquetry 
which tempted you before you saw me     
to-night4 ,you are dressed to please me4
  ,i was thinking what ,i should say1   
when he skilfully turned the            
conversation into an ordinary channel4  
,he shook off his dreamy manner1 and    
talked with his old vivacity4 ,i was    
charmed a little2 an association added  
to the charm1 ,i fancy4 ,it was late at 
night when he took his leave4 ,he had   
arranged it all2 for a man brought his  
carriage to the door and drove him to   
the next town1 where he had procured it 
to come over from the railway4  ,when ,i
 was shut in my room for the night1 rage

 took possession of me4 ,i tore off my  
dress1 twisted my hair with vehemence1  
and hurried to bed and tried to go to   
sleep1 but could not1 of course4 ,as    
when we press our eyelids together for  
meditation or sleep1 violet rings and   
changing rays of light flash and fade   
before the darkened eyeballs1 so in the 
dark unrest of my mind the past flashed 
up1 and this is what ,i saw3--  ,the    
county ball1 where ,laura and ,i first  
met ,redmond1 ,harry ,lothrop1 and      
,maurice4 ,we were struggling through   
the crowd of girls at the dressing-room 
door1 to rejoin ,frank1 who was waiting 
for us4 ,as we passed out1 satisfied    
with the mutual inspection of our       
dresses of white silk1 which were       
trimmed with bunches of rose-geranium1  
we saw a group of strangers close by us1
 buttoning their gloves1 looking at     
their boots1 and comparing looks4 ,laura
 pushed her fan against my arm2 we      
looked at each other1 and made signs    
behind ,frank1 and were caught in the   

act1 not only by him1 but by a tall     
gentleman in the group which she had    
signalled me to notice4  ,the shadow of 
a smile was travelling over his face as 
,i caught his eye1 but he turned away so
 suddenly that ,i had no opportunity for
 embarrassment4 ,an usher gave us a     
place near the band1 at the head of the 
hall4  ,do not be reckless1 ,laura1 ,i  
said1--at least till the music gives you
 an excuse4  ,you are obliged to me1 you
 know1 she answered1 for directing your 
attention to such attractive prey4      
,being in bonds myself1 ,i can only use 
my eyes for you3 don't be ungrateful4   
,the band struck up a crashing polka1   
and she and ,frank whirled away1 with a 
hundred others4 ,i found a seat and     
amused myself by contrasting the        
imperturbable countenances of the       
musicians with those of the dancers4    
,the perfumes the women wore floated by 
me4 ,these odors1 the rhythmic motion of
 the dancers1 and the hard1 energetic   
music exhilarated me4 ,the music ended1 

and the crowd began to buzz4 ,the loud1 
inarticulate speech of a brilliant crowd
 is like good wine4 ,as my acquaintances
 gathered about me1 ,i began to feel its
 electricity1 and grew blithe and       
vivacious4 ,presently ,i saw one of the 
ushers speaking to ,frank1 who went down
 the hall with him4  ,oh1 my prophetic  
soul6 said ,laura1 they are coming4     
,frank came back with the three1 and    
introduced them4 ,redmond asked me for  
the first quadrille1 and ,harry ,lothrop
 engaged ,laura4 ,frank said to me      
behind his handkerchief1--,it's en rgle2
 ,i know where they came from2 their    
fathers are brave1 and their mothers are
 virtuous4  ,the quadrille had not      
commenced1 so ,i talked with several    
persons near2 but ,i felt a constraint1 
for ,i knew ,i was closely observed by  
the stranger1 who was entirely quiet4   
,curiosity made me impatient for the    
dance to begin2 and when we took our    
places1 ,i was cool enough to examine   
him4 ,tall1 slender1 and swarthy1 with a

 delicate moustache over a pair of thin 
scarlet lips1 penetrating eyes1 and a   
tranquil air4 ,my antipodes in looks1   
for ,i was short and fair2 my hair was  
straight and black like his1 but my eyes
 were blue1 and my mouth wide and full4 
,what an unnaturally pleasant thing a   
ball-room is6 he said1--before the dust 
rises and the lights flare1 ,i mean4    
,but nobody ever leaves early2 as the   
freshness vanishes1 the extravagance    
deepens4 ,did you ever notice how much  
faster the musicians play as it grows   
late8 ,when we open the windows1 the    
fresh breath of the night increases the 
delirium within4 ,i have seen the       
quietest women toss their faded bouquets
 out of the windows without a thought of
 making a comparison between the flowers
 and themselves4  ,my poor geraniums6 ,i
 said1--what eloquence6  ,he laughed1   
and answered1--  ,my friend ,maurice    
yonder would have said it twice as well4
  ,we were in the promenade then1 and   
stopped where the said ,maurice was     

fanning himself against the wall4  ,may 
,i venture to ask you for a waltz1 ,miss
 ,denham8 it is the next dance on the   
card1 said ,maurice2--but of course you 
are engaged4  ,i gave him my card1 and  
he began to mark it1 when ,redmond took 
it1 and placed his own initials against 
the dance after supper1 and the last one
 on the list4 ,he left me then1 and ,i  
saw him a moment after talking with     
,laura4  ,we passed a gay night4 ,when  
,laura and ,i equipped for our ten      
miles' ride1 it was four in the morning4
 ,redmond helped ,frank to pack us in   
the carriage1 and we rewarded him with a
 knot of faded leaves4  ,this late      
event1 said ,laura1 with a ministerial  
air1 after we had started1 was a        
providential one4 ,you1 my dear ,frank1 
were at liberty to pursue your favorite 
pastime of whist1 in some remote        
apartment1 without being conscience-torn
 respecting me4 ,i have danced very well
 without you1 thanks to the strangers4  
,and you1 ,margaret1 have had an unusual

 opportunity of displaying your latent  
forces4 ,three such different men6 ,but 
let us drive fast4 ,i am in want of the 
cup of tea which mother will have       
waiting for me4  ,we arrived first at my
 door4 ,as ,i was going up the steps1   
,laura broke the silence2 for neither of
 us had spoken since her remarks4  ,by  
the way1 they are coming here to stay   
awhile4 ,they are anxious for some      
deep-sea fishing4 ,they'll have it1 ,i  
think4  ,i heard ,frank's laugh of      
delight at ,laura's wit1 as the carriage
 drove off4  ,it was our last ball that 
season4  ,it was late in the spring2 and
 when ,redmond came with his two friends
 and settled at the hotel in our town1  
it was early summer4 ,when ,i saw them  
again1 they came with ,laura and ,frank 
to pay me a visit4 ,laura was already   
acquainted with them1 and asked me if ,i
 did not perceive her superiority in the
 fact4  ,let us arrange1 said ,harry    
,lothrop1 some systematic plan of       
amusement by sea and land4 ,i have a    

pair of horses1 ,maurice owns a guitar1 
and ,redmond's boat will be here in a   
few days4 ,jones1 our landlord1 has two 
horses that are tolerable under the     
saddle4 ,let us ride1 sail1 and be      
serenaded4 ,the ,lake ,house1 ,jones    
again1 is eight miles distant4 ,this is 
,monday2 shall we go there on horse-back
 ,wednesday8  ,laura looked mournfully  
at ,frank1 who replied to her look1--   
,you must go2 ,i cannot2 ,i shall go    
back to business to-morrow4  ,i glanced 
at ,redmond2 he was contemplating a     
portrait of myself at the age of        
fourteen4  ,shall we go8 ,laura asked   
him4  ,nothing1 thank you1 he answered4 
,we all laughed1 and ,harry ,lothrop    
said1--  ,redmond1 my boy1 how fond you 
are of pictures6  ,redmond1 with an     
unmoved face1 said1--  ,don't be absurd 
about my absent-mindedness4 ,what were  
you saying8  ,and he turned to me4  ,do 
you like our plan1 ,i asked1 of going to
 the ,lake ,house8 ,there is a deep     
pond1 a fine wood1 a bridge1--perch1    

pickerel1--a one-story inn with a       
veranda1--ham and eggs1 stewed quince1  
elderberry wine1--and a romantic road to
 ride over4  ,i like it4  ,frank opened 
a discussion on fishing2 ,laura and ,i  
withdrew1 and went to the window-seat4  
,i am light-hearted1 ,i said4  ,it is my
 duty to be melancholy1 she replied2 but
 ,i shall not mope after ,frank has     
gone4  ',after them the deluge1' said   
,i4 ,how long will they stay8  ,till    
they are bored1 ,i fancy4  ,oh1 they are
 going2 we must leave our recess4       
,frank and she remained2 the others bid 
us good-night4  ,i shall not come again 
till ,christmas1 he said4 ,these        
college-chaps will amuse you and make   
the time pass2 they are young1--quite   
suitable companions for you girls4 ,vive
 la bagatelle6  ,he sighed1 and1 drawing
 ,laura's arm in his1 rose to go4 ,she  
groaned loudly1 and he nipped her ears4 
,good-bye1 ,margaret2 let ,laura take   
care of you4 ,there is a deal of wisdom 
in her4  ,we shook hands1 ,laura moaning

 all the while1 and they went home4     
,frank and ,laura had been engaged three
 years4 ,he was about thirty1 and was   
still too poor to marry4  ,wednesday    
proved pleasant4 ,we had an early       
dinner1 and our cavalcade started from  
,laura's4 ,i rode my small bay horse    
,folly1 a gift from my absentee brother4
 ,his coat was sleeker than satin2 his  
ears moved perpetually1 and his wide    
nostrils were always in a quiver4 ,he   
was not entirely safe1 for now and then 
he jumped unexpectedly2 but ,i had      
ridden him a year without accident1 and 
felt enough acquainted with him not to  
be afraid4  ,redmond eyed him4  ,you are
 a bold rider1 he said4  ,no1 ,i        
answered1--a careful one4 ,look at the  
bit1 and my whip1 too4 ,i cut his hind  
legs when he jumps4 ,observe that ,i do 
not wear a long skirt4 ,i can slip off  
the saddle1 if need be1 without danger4 
,that's all very well2 but his eyes are 
vicious2 he will serve you a trick some 
day4  ,when he does1 ,i'll sell him for 

a cart-horse4  ,laura and ,redmond rode 
,jones's horses4 ,harry ,lothrop was    
mounted on his horse ,black1 a superb1  
thick-maned creature1 with a cluster of 
white stars on one of his shoulders4    
,maurice rode a wall-eyed pony4 ,our    
friends ,dickenson and ,jack ,parker    
drove two young ladies in a             
carriage1--all the saddle-horses our    
town could boast of being in use4 ,we   
were in high spirits1 and rode fast4 ,i 
was occupied in watching ,folly1 who had
 not been out for several days4 ,at     
last1 tired of tugging at his mouth1 ,i 
gave him rein1 and he flew along4 ,i    
tucked the edge of my skirt under the   
saddle-flap1 slanted forward1 and held  
the bridle with both hands close to his 
head4 ,a long sandy reach of road lay   
before me4 ,i enjoyed ,folly's fierce   
trotting2 but1 as ,i expected1 the good 
horse ,black was on my track1 while the 
rest of the party were far behind4 ,he  
soon overtook me4 ,folly snorted when he
 heard ,black's step4 ,we pulled up1 and

 the two horses began to sidle and      
prance1 and throw up their heads so that
 we could not indulge in a bit of       
conversation4  ,brute6 said ,harry      
,lothrop1--if ,i were sure of getting on
 again1 ,i would dismount and thrash you
 awfully4  ,remember ,pickwick1 ,i said2
 don't do it4  ,i had hardly spoken1    
when the strap of his cap broke1 and it 
fell from his head to the ground4 ,i    
laughed1 and so did he4  ,i can hold    
your horse while you dismount for it4   
,i stopped ,folly1 and he forced ,black 
near enough for me to seize the rein and
 twist it round my hand2 when ,i had    
done so1 ,folly turned his head1 and was
 tempted to take ,black's mane in his   
teeth2 ,black felt it1 reared1 and came 
down with his nose in my lap4 ,i could  
not loose my hands1 which confused me1  
but ,i saw ,harry ,lothrop making a     
great leap4 ,both horses were running   
now1 and he was lying across the saddle1
 trying to free my hand4 ,it was over in
 an instant4 ,he got his seat1 and the  

horses were checked4  ,good ,god6 he    
said1 your fingers are crushed4  ,he    
pulled off my glove1 and turned pale    
when he saw my purple hand4  ,it is     
nothing1 ,i said4  ,but ,i was miserably
 fatigued1 and prayed that the ,lake    
,house might come in sight4 ,we were    
near the wood1 which extended to it1 and
 ,i was wondering if we should ever     
reach it1 when he said1--  ,you must    
dismount1 and rest under the first tree4
 ,we will wait there for the rest of the
 party to come up4  ,i did so4 ,numerous
 were the inquiries1 when they reached  
us4 ,laura1 when she heard the story1   
declared she now believed in ,ellen     
,pickering4 ,redmond gave me a searching
 look1 and asked me if the one-story inn
 had good beds4  ,i can take a nap1 if  
necessary1 ,i answered1 in one of ,mrs4 
,sampson's rush-bottomed chairs on the  
veranda4 ,the croak of the frogs in the 
pond and the buzz of the bluebottles    
shall be my lullaby4  ,no matter how1 if
 you will rest1 he said1 and assisted me

 to remount4  ,we rode quietly together 
the rest of the way4 ,after arriving1 we
 girls went by ourselves into one of    
,mrs4 ,sampson's sloping chambers1 where
 there was a low bedstead1 and a thick  
feather-bed covered with a              
patchwork-quilt of the ,job's ,trouble  
pattern1 a small1 dim looking-glass     
surmounted by a bunch of sparrow-grass1 
and an unpainted floor ornamented with  
home-made rugs which were embroidered   
with pink flower-pots containing worsted
 rose-bushes1 the stalks1 leaves1 and   
flowers all in bright yellow4 ,we hung  
up our riding-skirts on ancient wooden  
pegs1 for we had worn others underneath 
them suitable for walking1 and then     
tilted the wooden chairs at a           
comfortable angle against the wall1 put 
our feet on the rounds1 and felt at     
peace with all mankind4  ,alas6 ,i said1
 it is too early for currant-pies4  ,i  
saw1 said one of the girls1 ,mrs4       
,sampson poking the oven1 and a smell of
 pies was in the air4  ,let us go into  

the kitchen1 exclaimed ,laura4  ,the    
proposal was agreeable2 so we went1 and 
found ,mrs4 ,sampson making plum-cake4  
,the pies are green-gooseberry-pies1    
whispered ,laura1--very good1 too4      
,miss ,denham1 shrieked ,mrs4 ,sampson1 
you haven't done growing yet4--,how's   
your mother and your grandmother8--,have
 you had a revival in your church8--,i  
heard of the young men down to          
,jones's1--our minister's wife knows    
their fathers1--first-rate men1 she     
says4--,i thought you would be here with
 them4--',sampson1' ,i said this        
morning1 as soon as ,i dressed1 'do pick
 some gooseberries4 ,i'll have before   
sundown twenty pies in this house4'     
,there they are1--six gooseberry1 six   
custard1 and1 though it's late for them1
 six mince1 and two awful great pigeon  
pies4 ,it's poor trash1 ,i expect2 ,i'm 
afraid you can't eat it2 but it is as   
good as anybody's1 ,i suppose4  ,we told
 her we should devour it all1 but must  
first catch some fish2 and we joined the

 gentlemen on the veranda4 ,a boat was  
ready for us4 ,laura1 however1 refused  
to go in it4 ,it was too small2 it was  
wet2 she wanted to walk on the bridge2  
she could watch us from that2 she wanted
 some flowers1 too4 ,like many who are  
not afraid of the ocean1 she held ponds 
and lakes in abhorrence1 and fear kept  
her from going with us4 ,harry ,lothrop 
offered to stay with her1 and take lines
 to fish from the bridge4 ,she assented1
 and1 after we pushed off1 they strolled
 away4  ,the lake was as smooth and     
white as silver beneath the afternoon   
sun and a windless sky2 it was bordered 
with a mound of green bushes1 beyond    
which stretched deep pine woods4 ,there 
was no shade1 and we soon grew weary4   
,jack ,parker caught all the fish1 which
 flopped about our feet4 ,a little way  
down1 where the lake narrowed1 we saw   
,laura and ,harry ,lothrop hanging over 
the bridge4  ,they must be interested in
 conversation1 ,i thought2 he has not   
lifted his line out of the water once4  

,redmond1 too1 looked over that way     
often1 and at last said1--  ,we will row
 up to the bridge1 and walk back to the 
house1 if you1 ,maurice1 will take the  
boat to the little pier again4  ,oh1    
yes1 said ,maurice4  ,we came to the    
bridge1 and ,laura reached out her hand 
to me4  ,why1 dear6 she exclaimed1 you  
have burnt your face4 ,why did you1     
turning to ,redmond1 paddle about so    
long in the hot sun8  ,her words were   
light enough1 but the tone of her voice 
was savage4 ,redmond looked surprised2  
he waved his hand deprecatingly1 but    
said nothing4 ,we went up toward the    
house1 but ,laura lingered behind1 and  
did not come in till we were ready to go
 to supper4  ,it was past sundown when  
we rose from the ruins of ,mrs4         
,sampson's pies4 ,we voted not to start 
for home till the evening was advanced1 
so that we might enjoy the gloom of the 
pine wood4 ,we sat on the veranda and   
heard the sounds of approaching night4  
,the atmosphere was like powdered gold4 

,swallows fluttered in the air1 delaying
 to drop into their nests1 and chirped  
their evening song4 ,we heard the plunge
 of the little turtles in the lake1 and 
the noisy crows as they flew home over  
the distant tree-tops4 ,they grew dark1 
and the sky deepened slowly into a soft 
gray4 ,a gentle wind arose1 and wafted  
us the sighs of the pines and their     
resinous odors4 ,i was happy1 but ,laura
 was unaccountably silent4  ,what is it1
 ,laura8 ,i asked1 in a whisper4        
,nothing1 ,margaret1--only it seems to  
me that we mortals are always riding or 
fishing1 eating or drinking1 and that we
 never get to living4 ,to tell you the  
truth1 the pies were too sour4 ,come1 we
 must go1 she said aloud4  ,redmond     
himself brought ,folly from the stable4 
,we will ride home together1 he said4   
,my calm nag will suit yours better than
 ,black4 ,why does your hand tremble8   
,he saw my shaking hands1 as ,i took the
 rein2 the fact was1 my wrists were     
nearly broken4  ,nothing shall happen   

to-night1 ,i assure you1 he continued1  
while he tightened ,folly's girth4  ,he 
contrived to be busy till all the party 
had disappeared down a turn of the road4
 ,as he was mounting his horse1 ,mrs4   
,sampson1 who was on the steps1         
whispered to me1--  ,he's a beautiful   
young man1 now6  ,he heard her2 he had  
the ear of a wild animal2 he took off   
his hat to ,mrs4 ,sampson1 and we rode  
slowly away4  ,as soon as we were in the
 wood1 ,redmond tied the bridles of the 
horses together with his handkerchief4  
,it was so dark that my sight could not 
separate him from his horse4 ,they moved
 beside me1 a vague1 black shape4 ,the  
horses' feet fell without noise in the  
cool1 moist sand4 ,if our companions    
were near us1 we could not see them1 and
 we did not hear them4 ,horses generally
 keep an even pace1 when travelling at  
night1--subdued by the darkness1        
perhaps1--and ,folly went along without 
swaying an inch4 ,i dropped the rein on 
his neck1 and took hold of the pommel4  

,my hand fell on ,redmond's4 ,before ,i 
could take it away1 he had clasped it1  
and touched it with his lips4 ,the      
movement was so sudden that ,i half lost
 my balance1 but the horses stepped     
evenly together4 ,he threw his arm round
 me1 and recoiled from me as if he had  
received a blow4  ,take up your rein1 he
 said1 with a strange voice1--quick6--we
 must ride fast out of this4  ,i made no
 reply1 for ,i was trying to untie the  
handkerchief4 ,the knot was too firm4   
,no1 no1 he said1 when he perceived what
 ,i was doing1 let it be so4  ,untie it1
 ,sir6  ,i will not4  ,i put my face    
down between the horses' necks and bit  
it apart1 and thrust it into my bosom4  
,now1 ,i said1 shall we ride fast8  ,he 
shook his rein1 and we rode             
fiercely1--past our party1 who shouted  
at us1--through the wood1--over the brow
 of the great hill1 from whose top we   
saw the dark1 motionless sea1--through  
the long street1--and through my        
father's gateway into the stable-yard1  

where ,i leaped from my horse1 and1     
bridle in hand1 said1 ,good night6 in a 
loud voice4  ,redmond swung his hat and 
galloped off4  ,early next morning1     
,laura sent me a note3--  ,,dear        
,,margaret1--,i have an ague1 and mean  
to have it till ,sunday night4 ,the     
pines did it4 ,did you bring home any   
needles8 ,on ,monday1 mother will give  
one of her whist-parties4 ,i shall add a
 dozen or two of our set2 you will come4
  ,p4,s4 ,what do you think of ,mr4     
,harry ,lothrop8 ,good young man1 eh8   
,i was glad that ,laura had shut herself
 up for a few days2 ,i dreaded to see   
her just now4 ,i suffered from an       
inexplicable feeling of pride and       
disappointment1 and did not care to have
 her discover it4 ,laura1 like myself1  
sometimes chose to protect herself      
against neighborly invasions4 ,we never 
kept our doors locked in the country2   
the sending in of a card was an unknown 
process there4 ,our acquaintances walked
 in upon us whenever the whim took them1

 and it now and then happened to be an  
inconvenience to us who loved an        
occasional fit of solitude4 ,i          
determined to keep in-doors for a few   
days also4 ,whenever ,i was in an       
unquiet mood1 ,i took to industry2 so   
that day ,i set about arranging my      
drawers1 making over my ribbons1 and    
turning my room upside down4 ,i rehung  
all my pictures1 and moved my bottles   
and boxes4 ,then ,i mended my stockings1
 and marked my clothes1 which was not a 
necessary piece of work1 as ,i never    
left home4 ,i next attacked the         
parlor1--washed all the vases1 changed  
the places of the furniture1 and        
distressed my mother very much4 ,when   
evening came1 ,i brushed my hair a good 
deal1 and looked at my hands1 and went  
to bed early4 ,i could not read then1   
though ,i often took books from the     
shelves1 and ,i would not think4        
,sunday came round4 ,the church-bells   
made me lonesome4 ,i looked out of the  
window many times that day1 and1 fixing 

on the sash one of my father's          
ship-glasses1 swept the sea1 and peered 
at the islands on the other side of the 
bay1 gazing through their openings1     
beyond which ,i could see the great dim 
ocean4 ,mother came home from church1   
and said young ,maurice was there1 and  
inquired about me4 ,he hoped ,i did not 
take cold2 his friend ,redmond had been 
hoarse ever since our ride1 and had     
passed most of the time in his own room1
 drumming on the window-pane and        
whistling dirges4 ,mother dropped her   
acute eyes on me1 while she was telling 
me this2 but ,i yawned all expression   
from my face4  ,as ,monday night drew   
near1 my numbness of feeling began to   
pass off2 thought came into my brain by 
plunges4 ,now ,i desired2 now ,i hoped4 
,i dressed myself in black silk1 and    
wore a cape of black ,chantilly lace4 ,i
 made my hair as glossy as possible1    
drew it down on my face1 and put round  
my head a band composed of minute sticks
 of coral4 ,when all was done1 ,i took  

the candle and held it above my head and
 surveyed myself in the glass4 ,i was   
very pale4 ,the pupils of my eyes were  
dilated1 as if ,i had received some     
impression that would not pass away4 ,my
 lips had the redness of youth2 their   
color was deepened by my paleness4  ,how
 handsome ,i am6 ,i thought1 as ,i set  
down the candle4  ,when ,i entered      
,laura's parlor1 she came toward me and 
said1--  ,artful creature6 you knew     
well1 this warm night1 that every girl  
of us would wear a light dress2 so you  
wore a black one4 ,how well you         
understand such matters6 ,you are very  
clever2 your real sensibility adds      
effect to your cleverness4 ,i see how it
 is4 ,come into this corner4 ,have you  
got a fan8 ,good gracious6 black1 with  
gold spangles2--where do you buy your   
things8 ,i can tell you now1 she        
continued1 my conversation on the bridge
 the other day4  ,she hesitated1 and    
asked me if ,i liked her new muslin4    
,she did look well in it2 it was a white

 fabric1 with red rose-buds scattered   
over it4 ,her delicate face was shadowed
 by light brown curls4 ,she was         
attractive1 and ,i told her so1 and she 
began again3--  ,harry ,lothrop said1 as
 he was impaling the half of a worm1--  
',redmond is a handsome fellow1 is he   
not8'  ',he is too awfully thin1' ,i    
answered1 'but his eyes are good4'  ,he 
gave me a crafty side-look1 like that of
 a parrot1 when he means to bite your   
finger4  ',your friend1 too1' he added1 
'is really one of the most beautiful    
girls ,i ever saw1--a coquette with a   
heart4'  ',let down your line into the  
water1' ,i said4  ,he laughed a little  
laugh4 ,by-the-by1 there is an insidious
 tenacity about ,mr4 ,harry ,lothrop    
which irritates me2 but ,i like him1 for
 ,i think he understands women4 ,i feel 
at ease with him1 when he is not        
throwing out his tenacious feelers4     
,then he said1--  ',redmond is engaged  
to his cousin4 ,the girl's mother had   
the charge of him through his boyhood4  

,he is ardently attached to her1--the   
mother1 ,i mean4 ,she is most anxious to
 call ,redmond her son4'  ',didn't you  
have a bite8' ,i said4  ',well1 ,i think
 the bait is off the hook1' he answered2
 and then we were silent and pondered   
the water4  ,there are some people ,i   
must speak to1--and ,laura moved away   
without looking at me4  ,i opened my    
fan1 but felt chilly4 ,a bustle near me 
caused me to raise my eyes2 ,redmond was
 speaking to a lady4 ,he was in black1  
too1 and very pale4 ,he turned toward me
 and our eyes met4 ,his expression      
agitated me so that ,i unconsciously    
rose to my feet and warned him off with 
my fan2 but he seemed rooted to the     
spot4 ,laura took care of us both2 she  
came and stood between us4 ,i saw her   
look at him so sweetly and so           
mournfully1 that he understood her in a 
moment4 ,he shook his head and walked   
abruptly into another room4 ,laura went 
again from me without giving me a look4 
,maurice came up and ,i made room for   

him beside me4 ,we talked of the        
riding-party1 and then of our first     
meeting at the ball4 ,he told me that   
,redmond's boat had arrived1 and what a 
famous boat it was1 and what jolly      
sprees we fellows had1 cruising about   
with her4 ,i asked him about his guitar1
 and when we might hear him play4 ,he   
grew more chatty and began to tell me   
about his sister1 when ,redmond and     
,harry ,lothrop came over to us1 which  
ended his chat4  ,the party was like all
 parties1--dull at first1 and brighter  
as it grew late4 ,the old ladies played 
whist in one room1 and the younger part 
of the company were in another4         
,champagne was not a prevalent drink in 
our village1 but it happened that we had
 some that night4  ,it may be a sinful  
beverage1 said an old lady near me1 but 
it is good4  ,redmond opened a bottle   
for me1 we clinked glasses1 and drank to
 an indefinite1 silent wish4  ,one more1
 he asked1 and let us change glasses4   
,presently a cloud of delicate warmth   

spread over my brain1 and gave me       
courage to seek and meet his glance4    
,there must have been an expression of  
irresolution in my face1 for he looked  
at me inquiringly1 and then his own face
 grew very sad4 ,i felt awkward from my 
intuition of his opinion of my mood1    
when he relieved me by saying something 
about ,shelley1--a copy of whose poems  
lay on a table near4 ,from ,shelley he  
went to his boat1 and said he hoped to  
have some pleasant excursions with      
,laura and myself4 ,he would go at once 
and talk with ,laura's mother about     
them4 ,i watched him through the door1  
while he spoke to her4 ,she was in a low
 chair1 and he leaned his face on one   
hand close to hers4 ,i saw that his     
natural expression was one of           
tranquillity and courage4 ,he was not   
more than twenty-two1 but the firmness  
of the lines about his mouth belied his 
youth4  ,he has a wonderful face1 ,i    
thought1 and just as wonderful a will4  
,i felt my own will rise as ,i looked at

 him1--a will that should make me       
mistress of myself1 powerful enough to  
contend with1 and resist1 or turn to    
advantage any controlling fate which    
might come near me4  ,do you feel like  
singing8 ,harry ,lothrop inquired4 ,do  
you know ,byron's song1 ',one struggle  
more and ,i am free'8  ,oh1 yes6 ,i     
replied1--it is set to music which suits
 my voice4 ,i will sing it4  ,laura had 
been playing polkas with great spirit4  
,since the ,champagne1 the old ladies   
had closed their games of whist for     
talking1 and1 as it was nearly time to  
go1 the company was gay4 ,there was     
laughing and talking when ,i began1 but 
silence soon after1 for the wine made my
 voice husky and effective4 ,i sang as  
if deeply moved4  ,lord6 ,i heard       
,maurice say to ,laura1 as ,i rose from 
the piano1 what a girl6 she's really    
tragic4  ,i caught ,harry ,lothrop's    
eye1 as ,i passed through the door to go
 up-stairs2 it was burning2 ,i felt as  
if a hot coal had dropped on me4        

,maurice ran into the hall and sprang   
upon the stair-railing to ask me if he  
might be my escort home4 ,that night he 
serenaded me4 ,he was a good-hearted1   
cheerful creature2 conceited1 as small  
men are apt to be1--conceit answering   
for size with them1--but pleasantly so1 
and ,i learned to like him as much as   
,redmond did4  ,the summer days were    
passing4 ,we had all sorts of           
parties1--parties in houses and         
out-of-doors2 we rode and sailed and    
walked4 ,laura walked and talked much   
with ,harry ,lothrop4 ,we did not often 
see each other alone1 but1 when we met1 
were more serious and affectionate with 
each other4 ,we did not speak1 except in
 a general way1 of ,redmond and ,harry  
,lothrop4 ,i did not avoid ,redmond1 nor
 did ,i seek him4 ,we had many a serious
 conversation in public1 as well as many
 a gay one2 but ,i had never met him    
alone since the night we rode through   
the pines4  ,he went away for a         
fortnight4 ,on the day of his return he 

came to see me4 ,he looked so glad1 when
 ,i entered the room1 that ,i could not 
help feeling a wild thrill4 ,i went up  
to him1 but said nothing4 ,he held out  
both his hands4 ,i retreated4 ,an angry 
feeling rushed into my heart4  ,no1 ,i  
said1 ,whose hand did you hold last8    
,he turned deadly pale4  ,that of the   
woman ,i am going to marry4  ,i smiled  
to hide the trembling of my lips1 and   
offered my hand to him2 but he waved it 
away1 and fell back on his chair1       
hurriedly drawing his handkerchief      
across his face4 ,i saw that he was very
 faint1 and stood against the door1     
waiting for him to recover4  ,more than 
,i have played the woman and the fool   
before you4  ,yes4  ,i thought so4 ,you 
seem experienced4  ,i am4  ,forgive me1 
he said1 gently2 being only a man1 ,i   
think you can4 ,good ,god6 he exclaimed1
 what an infernal self-possession you   
show6  ,redmond1 is it not time to end  
this8 ,the summer has been a long       
one1--has it not8--long enough for me to

 have learned what it is to live4 ,our  
positions are reversed since we have    
become acquainted4 ,i am for the first  
time forgetting self1 and you for the   
first time remember self4 ,redmond1 you 
are a noble man4 ,you have a steadfast  
soul4 ,do not be shaken4 ,i am not like 
you2 ,i am not simple or single-hearted4
 ,but ,i imitate you4 ,now come1 ,i beg 
you will go4  ,certainly1 ,i will4 ,i   
have little to say4  ,august had nearly 
gone when ,maurice told me they were    
about to leave4 ,laura said we must     
prepare for retrospection and the fall  
sewing4  ,well1 ,i said1 the future     
looks gloomy1 and ,i must have some new 
dresses4  ,maurice came to see me one   
morning in a state of excitement to say 
we were all going to ,bird ,island to   
spend the day1 dine at the light-house1 
and sail home by moonlight4 ,fifteen of 
the party were going down by the sloop  
,sapphire1 and ,redmond had begged him  
to ask if ,laura and ,i would go in his 
boat4  ,do go1 said ,maurice2 it will be

 our last excursion together2 next week 
we are off4 ,i am broken-hearted about  
it4 ,i shall never be so happy again4 ,i
 have actually whimpered once or twice4 
,you should hear ,redmond whistle       
nowadays4 ,harry pulls his moustache and
 laughs his oily laughs1 but he is sorry
 to go1 and kicks his clothes about     
awfully4 ,by the way1 he is going down  
in the sloop because ,miss ,fairfax is  
going1--he says1--that tall young lady  
with crinkled hair2--he hates her1 and  
hopes to see her sick4 ,may ,i come for 
you in the morning1 by ten o'clock8     
,redmond will be waiting on the wharf4  
,tell ,redmond1 ,i answered1 that ,i    
will go2 and will you ask ,harry        
,lothrop not to engage himself for all  
the reels to ,miss ,fairfax8  ,he       
promised to fulfil my message1 and went 
off in high spirits4 ,i wondered1 as ,i 
saw him going down the walk1 why it was 
that ,i felt so much more natural and   
friendly with him than with either of   
his friends4 ,i often talked            

confidentially to him2 he knew how ,i   
loved my mother1 and how ,i admired my  
father1 and ,i told him all about my    
brother's business4 ,he also knew what  
,i liked best to eat and to wear4 ,in   
return1 he confided his family secrets  
to me4 ,i knew his tastes and wishes4   
,there was no common ground where ,i met
 ,redmond and ,harry ,lothrop4 ,there   
were too many topics between ,redmond   
and myself to be avoided1 for us to     
venture upon private or familiar        
conversation4 ,harry ,lothrop was an    
accomplished1 fastidious man of the     
world1 ,i dreaded boring him1 and so ,i 
said little4 ,he was several years older
 than ,redmond1 and possessed more      
knowledge of men1 women1 and books4     
,redmond had no acquirements1 he knew   
enough by nature1 and ,i never saw a    
person with more fascination of manner  
and voice4  ,the evening before the     
sailing-party1 ,i had a melancholy fit4 
,i was restless1 and after dark ,i put a
 shawl over my head and went out to     

walk4 ,i went up a lonesome road1 beyond
 our house4 ,on one side ,i heard the   
water washing against the shore with    
regularity1 as if it were breathing4 ,on
 the other side were meadows1 where     
there were cows crunching the grass4 ,a 
mile farther was a low wood of oaks1    
through which ran a path4 ,i determined 
to walk through that4 ,the darkness and 
a sharp breeze which blew against me    
from limitless space made me feel as if 
,i were the only human creature the     
elements could find to contend with1 ,i 
turned down the little path into the    
deeper darkness of the wood1 sat down on
 a heap of dead leaves1 and began to    
cry4  ,mine is a miserable pride1 was my
 thought1--that of arming myself with   
beauty and talent and going through the 
world conquering6 ,girls are ignorant1  
till they are disappointed4 ,the only   
knowledge men proffer us is the         
knowledge of the heart2 it becomes us to
 profit by it4 ,redmond will marry that 
girl4 ,he must1 and shall4 ,i will empty

 the dust and ashes of my heart as soon 
as the fire goes down3 that is1 ,i think
 so2 but ,i know that ,i do not know    
myself4 ,i have two natures1--one that  
acts1 and one that is acted upon1--and  
,i cannot always separate the one from  
the other4  ,something darkened the     
opening into the path4 ,two persons     
passed in slowly4 ,i perceived the odor 
of violets1 and felt that one of them   
must be ,laura4 ,waiting till they      
passed beyond me1 ,i rose and went home4
  ,the next morning was cloudy1 and the 
sea was rough with a high wind2 but we  
were old sailors1 and decided to go on  
our excursion4 ,the sloop and ,redmond's
 boat left the wharf at the same time4  
,we expected to be several hours beating
 down to ,bird ,island1 for the wind was
 ahead4 ,laura and ,i1 muffled in       
cloaks1 were placed on the thwarts and  
neglected2 for ,redmond and ,maurice    
were busy with the boat4 ,laura was     
silent1 and looked ill4 ,redmond sat at 
the helm1 and kept the boat up to the   

wind1 which drove the hissing spray over
 us4 ,the sloop hugged the shore1 and   
did not feel the blast as we did4 ,i    
slid along my seat to be near ,redmond4 
,he saw me coming1 and put out his hand 
and drew me towards him1 looking so     
kindly at me that ,i was melted4 ,trying
 to get at my handkerchief1 which was in
 my dress-pocket1 my cloak flew open1   
the wind caught it1 and1 as ,i rose to  
draw it closer1 ,i nearly fell          
overboard4 ,redmond gave a spring to    
catch me1 and the boat lost her headway4
 ,the sail flapped with a loud bang4    
,maurice swore1 and we chopped about in 
the short sea4  ,it is your destiny to  
have a scene1 wherever you are1 said    
,laura4 ,if ,i did not feel desperate1  
,i should be frightened4 ,but these     
green1 crawling waves are so opaque1 if 
we fall in1 we shall not see ourselves  
drown4  ,courage6 the boat is under way1
 ,maurice cried out2 we are nearly      
there4  ,and rounding a little point1 we
 saw the light-house at last4 ,the sloop

 anchored a quarter of a mile from the  
shore1 the water being shoal1 and       
,redmond took off her party by          
instalments4  ,what the deuse was the   
matter with you at one time8 asked ,jack
 ,parker4 ,we saw you were having a sort
 of convulsion4 ,our cap'n said you were
 bold chaps to be trifling with such a  
top-heavy boat4  ,miss ,denham1 said    
,redmond1 thought she could steer the   
boat as well as ,i could1 and so the    
boat lost headway4  ,harry ,lothrop gave
 ,redmond one of his soft smiles1 and a 
vexed look passed over ,redmond's face  
when he saw it4  ,we had to scramble    
over a low range of rocks to get to the 
shore4 ,redmond anchored his boat by one
 of them4 ,bird ,island was a famous    
place for parties4 ,it was a mile in    
extent4 ,not a creature was on it except
 the light-house keeper1 his wife1 and  
daughter4 ,the gulls made their nests in
 its rocky borders2 their shrill cries1 
the incessant dashing of the waves on   
the ledges1 and the creaking of the     

lantern in the stone tower were all the 
sounds the family heard1 except when    
they were invaded by some noisy party   
like ours4 ,they were glad to see us4   
,the light-house keeper went into the   
world only when it was necessary to buy 
stores1 or when his wife and daughter   
wanted to pay a visit to the mainland4  
,the house was of stone1 one story high1
 with thick walls4 ,the small1 deep-set 
windows and the low ceilings gave the   
rooms the air of a prison2 but there was
 also an air of security about them3    
for1 in looking from the narrow windows1
 one felt that the house was a steadfast
 ship in the circle of the turbulent    
sea1 whose waves from every point seemed
 advancing towards it4 ,a pale1 coarse  
grass grew in the sand of the island4   
,it was too feeble to resist the acrid  
breath of the ocean1 so it shuddered    
perpetually1 and bent landward1 as if   
invoking the protection of its          
stepmother1 the solid earth4  ,it is    
perfect1 said ,redmond to me2 ,i have   

been looking for this spot all my life2 
,i am ready to swear that ,i will never 
leave it4  ,we were sitting in a window1
 facing each other4 ,he looked out      
toward the west1 and presently was lost 
in thought4 ,he folded his arms tightly 
across his breast1 and his eyes were a  
hundred miles away4 ,the sound of a     
fiddle in the long alley which led from 
the house to the tower broke his        
reverie4  ,we shall be uproarious before
 we leave1 ,i said2 we always are1 when 
we come here4  ,the fun had already set 
in4 ,some of the girls had pinned up    
their dresses1 and borrowed aprons from 
the light-house keeper's wife1 and with 
scorched faces were helping her to make 
chowder and fry fish4 ,others were      
arranging the table1 assisted by the    
young men1 who put the dishes in the    
wrong places4 ,others were singing in   
the best room4 ,one or two had brought  
novels along1 and were reading them in  
corners4 ,it was all merry and pleasant1
 but ,i felt quiet4 ,redmond entered    

into the spirit of the scene4 ,i had    
never seen him so gay4 ,he chatted with 
all the girls1 interfering or helping1  
as the case might be4 ,maurice brought  
his guitar1 and had a group about him at
 the foot of the tower-stairs4 ,he sung 
loud1 but his voice seemed to           
fluctuate2--now it rang through the     
tower1 now it was half overpowered by   
the roar of the sea4 ,his poetical      
temperament led him to choose songs in  
harmony with the place1 not to suit the 
company1--melancholy words set to wild1 
fitful chords1 which rose and died away 
according to the skill of the player4 ,i
 had gone near him1 for his singing had 
attracted me4  ,you are inspired1 ,i    
said4  ,he nodded4  ,you never sung so  
before4  ,i feel old to-day1 he         
answered1 and he swept his hands across 
all the strings2 my ditties are done4   
,after dinner ,laura asked me to go out 
with her4 ,we slipped away unseen1 and  
went to the beach1 and seated ourselves 
on a great rock whose outer side was    

lapped by the water4 ,the sun had broken
 through the clouds1 but shone luridly1 
giving the sea a leaden tint4 ,the wind 
was going down4 ,we had not been there  
long1 when ,redmond joined us4 ,he asked
 us to go round the island in his boat4 
,laura declined1 and said she would sit 
on the rock while we went1 if ,i chose  
to go4 ,i did choose to go1 and he      
brought the boat to the rock4 ,he       
hoisted the sail half up the mast1 and  
we sailed close to the shore4 ,it rose  
gradually along the east side of the    
island1 and terminated in a bold ledge  
which curved into the sea4 ,we ran      
inside the curve1 where the water was   
nearly smooth4 ,redmond lowered the sail
 and the boat drifted toward the ledge  
slowly4 ,a tongue of land1 covered with 
pale sedge1 was on the left side4 ,above
 the ledge1 at the right1 we could see  
the tower of the light-house4 ,redmond  
tied down the helm1 and1 throwing       
himself beside me1 leaned his head on   
his hand1 and looked at me a long time  

without speaking4 ,i listened to the    
water1 which plashed faintly against the
 bows4 ,he covered his face with his    
hands4 ,i looked out seaward over the   
tongue of land2 my heart quaked1 like   
the grass which grew upon it4 ,at last  
he rose1 and ,i saw that he was         
crying1--the tears rained fast4  ,my    
soul is dying1 he said1 in a stifled    
voice2 ,i am not more than mortal1--,i  
cannot endure it4  ,i pointed toward the
 open sea1 which loomed so vague in the 
distance4  ,the future is like that1--is
 it not8 ,courage6 we must drift through
 it2 we shall find something4  ,he      
stamped his foot on the deck4  ,women   
always talk so2 but men are different4  
,if there is a veil before us1 we must  
tear it away1--not sit muffled in its   
folds1 and speculate on what is behind  
it4 ,rise4  ,i obeyed him4 ,he held me  
firmly4 ,we were face to face4  ,look at
 me4  ,i did4 ,his eyes were blazing4   
,do you love me8  ,no4  ,he placed me on
 the bench1 hoisted the sail1 untied the

 helm1 and we were soon ploughing round 
to the spot where we had left ,laura2   
but she was gone4 ,on the rock where she
 was1 perched a solitary gull1 which    
flew away with a scream as we           
approached4  ,that day was the last that
 ,i saw ,redmond alone4 ,he was at the  
party at ,laura's house which took place
 the night before they left4 ,we did not
 bid each other adieu4  ,after the three
 friends had gone1 they sent us gifts of
 remembrance4 ,redmond's keepsake was a 
white fan with forget-me-nots painted on
 it4 ,to ,laura he sent the pen-holder1 
which was now mine4  ,we missed them1   
and should have felt their loss1 had no 
deep feeling been involved2 for they    
gave an impetus to our dull country     
life1 and the whole summer had been one 
of excitement and pleasure4 ,we settled 
by degrees into our old habits4 ,at     
,christmas1 ,frank came4 ,he looked     
worried and older4 ,he had heard        
something of ,laura's intimacy with     
,harry ,lothrop1 and was troubled about 

it1 ,i know3 but ,i believe ,laura was  
silent on the matter4 ,she was quiet and
 affectionate toward him during his     
visit1 and he went back consoled4  ,the 
winter passed4 ,spring came and went1   
and we were deep into the summer when   
,laura was taken ill4 ,she had had a    
little cough1 which no one except her   
mother noticed4 ,her spirits fell1 and  
she failed fast4 ,when ,i saw her last1 
she had been ill some weeks1 and had    
never felt strong enough to talk as much
 as she did in that interview4 ,she     
nerved herself to make the effort1 and  
as she bade me farewell1 bade farewell  
to life also4 ,and now it was all over  
with her6         99       99       99  
99       99  ,i fell asleep at length1  
and woke late4 ,it seemed as if a year  
had dropped out of the procession of    
,time4 ,my heart was still beating with 
the emotion which stirred it when       
,redmond and ,i were together last4     
,recollection had stung me to the quick4
 ,a terrible longing urged me to go and 

find him4 ,the feeling ,i had when we   
were in the boat1 face to face1 thrilled
 my fibres again4 ,i saw his gleaming   
eyes2 ,i could have rushed through the  
air to meet him4 ,but1 alas6 exaltation 
of feeling lasts only a moment2 it drops
 us where it finds us4 ,if it were not  
so1 how easy to be a hero6 ,the dull    
reaction of the present1 like a slow    
avalanche1 crushed and ground me into   
nothingness4  ,something must happen at 
last1 ,i thought1 to amuse me1 and make 
time endurable4  ,what can a woman do1  
when she knows that an epoch of feeling 
is rounded off1 finished1 dead8 ,go back
 to her story-books1 her dress-making1  
her worsted-work8 ,shall she attempt to 
rise to mediocrity on the piano or in   
drawing1 distribute tracts1 become      
secretary of a ,dorcas society8 or shall
 she turn her mind to the matter of     
cultivating another lover at once8 ,few 
of us women have courage enough to      
shoulder out the corpses of what men    
leave in our hearts4 ,we keep them      

there1 and conceal the ruins in which   
they lie4 ,we grow cunning and artful in
 our tricks1 the longer we practise     
them4 ,but how we palpitate and shrink  
and shudder1 when we are alone in the   
dark6  ,after ,redmond departed1 ,i had 
locked up my feelings and thrown the key
 away4 ,the death of ,laura1 and the    
awakening of my recollections1 caused by
 the appearance of ,harry ,lothrop1     
wrenched the door open4 ,hitherto ,i had
 acted with the bravery of a girl2 ,i   
must now behave with the resolution of a
 woman4 ,i looked into my heart closely4
 ,no skeleton was there1 but the image  
of a living man1--,redmond4  ,i love    
him1 ,i confessed4 ,to be his wife and  
the mother of his children is the only  
lot ,i ever care to choose4 ,he is      
noble1 handsome1 and loyal4 ,but ,i     
cannot belong to him1 nor can he ever be
 mine4    ',of love that never found his
 earthly close   ,what sequel8'  ,what  
did he do with the remembrance of me8   
,he scattered it1 perhaps1 with the     

ashes of the first cigar he smoked after
 he went from me1--made a mound of it1  
maybe1 in honor of ,duty4 ,i am as      
ignorant of him as if he no longer      
existed2 so this image must be torn     
away4 ,i will not burn the lamp of life 
before it1 but will build up the niche  
where it stands into a solid wall4  ,the
 ideal happiness of love is so sweet and
 powerful1 that1 for a while1 adverse   
influences only exalt the imagination4  
,when ,laura told me of ,redmond's      
engagement1 it did but change my dream  
of what might be into what might have   
been4 ,it was a mirage which continued  
while he was present and faded with his 
departure4 ,then my heart was locked in 
the depths of will1 till circumstance   
brought it a power of revenge4 ,i think 
now1 if we had spoken freely and truly  
to each other1 ,i should have suffered  
less when ,i saw his friend4 ,we feel   
better when the funeral of our dearest  
friend is over and we have returned to  
the house4 ,there is to be no more      

preparation1 no waiting2 the windows may
 be opened1 and the doors set wide2 the 
very dreariness and desolation force our
 attention towards the living4          
,something will come1 ,i thought2 and ,i
 determined not to have any more        
reveries4 ,mr4 ,harry ,lothrop is a     
pleasant riddle2 ,i shall see him soon1 
or he will write4  ,it occurred to me   
then that ,i had some letters of his    
already in my possession1--those he had 
written to ,laura4 ,i found the ebony   
box1 and1 taking from it the sealed     
package1 unfolded the letters one by    
one1 reading them according to their    
dates4 ,there was a note among them for 
me1 from ,laura4  ,when you read these  
letters1 ,margaret1 it said1 you will   
see that ,i must have studied the writer
 of them in vain4 ,you know now that he 
made me unhappy2 not that ,i was in love
 with him much1 but he stirred depths of
 feeling which ,i had no knowledge of1  
and which between ,frank1 my betrothed  
husband1 and myself had no existence4   

,but 'le roi s'amuse4' ,perhaps a strong
 passion will master this man2 but ,i   
shall never know4 ,will you8  ,i laid   
the letters back in their place1 and    
felt no very strong desire to learn     
anything more of the writer4 ,i did not 
know then how little trouble it would   
be1--my share of making the             
acquaintance4  ,it was not many weeks   
before ,mr4 ,lothrop came again1 and    
rather ostentatiously1 so that everybody
 knew of his visit to me4 ,but he saw   
none of the friends he had made during  
his stay the year before4 ,i happened to
 see him coming1 and went to the door to
 meet him4 ,almost his first words      
were1--  ,maurice is dead4 ,he went to  
,florida1--took the fever1--which killed
 him1 of course4 ,he died only a week   
after--after ,laura4 ,poor fellow6 did  
he interest you much8 ,i believe he was 
in love with you1 too2 but musical      
people are never desperate1 except when 
they play a false note4  ,yes1 ,i       
answered2 ,i was fond of him4 ,his      

conceit did not trouble me1 and he never
 fatigued me2 he had nothing to conceal4
 ,he was a commonplace man2 one liked   
him1 when with him1--and when away1 one 
had no thought about him4  ,i alone am  
left you1 said my visitor1 putting his  
hat on a chair1 and slowly pulling off  
his gloves1 finger by finger4  ,he had  
slender1 white hands1 like a woman's1   
and they were always in motion4 ,after  
he had thrown his gloves into his hat1  
he put his finger against his cheek1    
leaned his elbow on the arm of his      
chair1 crossed his legs1 and looked at  
me with a cunning self-possession4 ,i   
glanced at his feet2 they were small and
 well-booted4 ,i looked into his face2  
it was not a handsome one2 but he had   
magnetic eyes1 of a lightish blue1 and a
 clever1 loose mouth4 ,it is impossible 
to describe him1--just as impossible as 
it is for a man who was born a boor to  
attain the bearing of a gentleman2 any  
attempt at it would prove a bungling    
matter1 when compared with the original4

 ,he felt my scrutiny1 and knew1 too1   
that ,i had never looked at him till    
then4  ,do you sing nowadays8 he asked1 
tapping with his fingers the keys of the
 piano behind him4  ,psalms4  ,they suit
 you admirably2 but ,i perceive you     
attend to your dress still4 ,how        
effective those velvet bands are6 ,you  
look older than you did two years ago4  
,two years are enough to age a woman4   
,yes1 if she is miserable4 ,can you be  
unhappy8 he asked1 rising1 and taking a 
seat beside me4  ,there was a tone of   
sympathy in his voice which made me     
shudder1 ,i knew not why4 ,it was       
neither aversion nor liking2 but ,i     
dreaded to be thrown into any tumult of 
feeling4 ,i realized afterward more     
fully that it is next to impossible for 
a passionate woman to receive the       
sincere addresses of a manly man without
 feeling some fluctuation of soul4      
,ignorant spectators call her a coquette
 for this4 ,happily1 there are teachers 
among our own sex1 women of cold        

temperaments1 able to vindicate         
themselves from the imputation4 ,they   
spare themselves great waste of heart   
and some generous emotion1--also remorse
 and self-accusations regarding the want
 of propriety1 and the other ingredients
 which go to make up a white-muslin     
heroine4  ,harry ,lothrop saw that my   
cheek was burning1 and made a movement  
toward me4 ,i tossed my head back1 and  
moved down the sofa2 he did not follow  
me1 but smiled and mused in his old way4
  ,and so it went on1--not once1 but    
many times4 ,he wrote me quiet1         
persuasive1 eloquent letters4 ,by       
degrees ,i learned his own history and  
that of his family1 his prospects and   
his intentions4 ,he was rich4 ,i knew   
well what position ,i should have1 if ,i
 were his wife4 ,my beauty would be     
splendidly set4 ,i was well enough off1 
but not rich enough to harmonize all    
things according to my taste4 ,i was    
proud1 and he was refined2 if we were   
married1 what better promise of delicacy

 could be given than that of pride in a 
woman1 refinement in a man8 ,he brought 
me flowers or books1 when he came4 ,the 
flowers were not delicate and inodorous1
 but magnificent and deep-scented2 and  
the material of the books was stalwart  
and vigorous4 ,i read his favorite      
authors with him4 ,he was the first     
person who ever made any appeal to my   
intellect4 ,in short1 he was educating  
me for a purpose4  ,once he offered me a
 diamond cross4 ,i refused it1 and he   
never asked me to accept any gift again4
 ,his visits were not frequent1 and they
 were short4 ,however great the distance
 he accomplished to reach me1 he staid  
only an evening1 and then returned4 ,he 
came and went at night4 ,in time ,i grew
 to look upon our connection as an      
established thing4 ,he made me          
understand that he loved me1 and that he
 only waited for me to return it2 but he
 did not say so4  ,i lived an idle life1
 inhaling the perfume of the flowers he 
gave me1 devouring old literature1 the  

taste for which he had created1 and     
reading and answering his letters4 ,to  
be sure1 other duties were fulfilled1 ,i
 was an affectionate child to my        
parents1 and a proper acquaintance for  
my friends4 ,i never lost any sleep now1
 nor was ,i troubled with dreams4 ,i    
lived in the outward2 all my restless   
activity1 that constant questioning of  
the heavens and the earth1 had ceased   
entirely4 ,five years had passed since  
,i first saw ,redmond4 ,i was now       
twenty-four4 ,the ,fates grew tired of  
the monotony of my life1 ,i suppose1 for
 about this time it changed4  ,my oldest
 brother1 a bachelor1 lived in ,new     
,york4 ,he asked me to spend the winter 
with him2 he lived in a quiet hotel1 had
 a suite of rooms1 and could make me    
comfortable1 he said4 ,he had just asked
 somebody to marry him1 and that        
somebody wished to make my acquaintance4
 ,i was glad to go4 ,my heart gave a    
bound at the prospect of change2 ,i was 
still young enough to dream of the      

impossible1 when any chance offered     
itself to my imagination2 so ,i accepted
 my brother's invitation with some      
elation4  ,i had been in ,new ,york a   
month4 ,one day ,i was out with my      
future sister1 on a shopping raid2 with 
our hands full of little paper parcels1 
we stopped to look into ,goupil's       
window4 ,there was always a rim of crowd
 there1 so ,i paid no attention to the  
jostles we received4 ,we were looking at
 an engraving of ,ary ,scheffer's       
,franoise de ,rimini4 ,not the worst    
hell1 muttered a voice behind me1 which 
,i knew4 ,i started1 and pulled         
,leonora's arm2 she turned round1 and   
the fringe of her cloak-sleeve caught a 
button on the overcoat of one of the    
gentlemen standing together4 ,it was    
,redmond2 the other was his ancient1    
,harry ,lothrop4 ,leonora was arrested2 
,i stood still1 of course4 ,redmond had 
not seen my face1 for ,i turned it from 
him2 and his head was bent down to the  
task of disengaging his button4         

',each only as ,god wills   ,can work2  
,god's puppets1 best and worst1   ,are  
we2 there is no last nor first1'  ,i    
thought1 and turned my head4 ,he        
instinctively took off his hat1 and then
 planted it back on his head firmly1 and
 looked over to ,harry ,lothrop1 to whom
 ,i gave my hand4 ,he knew me before ,i 
saw him1 ,i am convinced2 but his       
dramatic sense kept him silent1--perhaps
 a deeper feeling4 ,there was an        
expression of pain in his face1 which   
impelled me to take his arm4  ,let us   
move on1 ,leonora1 ,i said2 these are   
some summer friends of mine1 and ,i     
introduced them to her4  ,my chief      
feeling was embarrassment1 which was    
shared by all the party2 for ,leonora   
felt that there was something unusual in
 the meeting4 ,the door of the hotel    
seemed to come round at last1 and as we 
were going in1 ,harry ,lothrop asked me 
if he might see me the next morning4    
,do come1 ,i answered aloud4  ,we all   
bowed1 and they disappeared4  ,what an  

elegant ,indian your tall friend is6    
said ,leonora4  ,yes1--of the ,camanche 
tribe4  ,but he would look better       
hanging from his horse's mane than he   
does in a long coat4  ,he is spoiled by 
civilization and white parents4 ,but1   
,leonora1 stay and dine with me1 in my  
own room4 ,john will not come home till 
it is time for the opera4 ,you know we  
are going4 ,you must make me splendid2  
you can torture me into style1 ,i know4 
,she consented1 provided ,i would send a
 note to her mother1 explaining that it 
was my invitation1 and not her old      
,john's1 as she irreverently called him4
 ,i did so1 and she was delighted to    
stay4  ,this is fast1 she said2 can't we
 have ,champagne and black coffee8  ,she
 fell to rummaging ,john's closets1 and 
brought out a dusty1 ,chinese-looking   
affair1 which she put on for a          
dressing-gown4 ,she found some ,chinese 
straw shoes1 and tucked her little feet 
into them1 and then braided her hair in 
a long tail1 and declared she was ready 

for dinner4 ,her gayety was refreshing1 
and ,i did not wonder at ,john's        
admiration4 ,my spirits rose1 too1 and  
,i astonished ,leonora at the table with
 my chat2 she had never seen me except  
when quiet4 ,i fell into one of those   
unselfish1 unasking moods which are the 
glory of youth3 ,i felt that the pure   
heaven of love was in the depths of my  
being2 my soul shone like a star in its 
atmosphere2 my heart throbbed1 and ,i   
cried softly to it1--,live6 live6 he is 
here6 ,i still chatted with ,leonora and
 made her laugh1 and the child for the  
first time thoroughly liked me4 ,we were
 finishing our dessert1 when we heard   
,john's knock4 ,we allowed him to come  
in for a moment1 and gave him some      
almonds1 which1 he leisurely cracked and
 ate4  ,somehow1 ,margaret1 he said1 you
 remind me of those women who enjoy the 
,indian festival of the funeral pile4 ,i
 have seen the thing done2 you have     
something of the sort in your mind2 be  
sure to immolate yourself handsomely4   

,women are the deuse4  ,finish your     
almonds1 ,john1 ,i said1 and go away2 we
 must dress4  ,he put his hand on my    
arm1 and whispered1--  ,smother that    
light in your eyes1 my girl2 it is      
dangerous4 ,and you have lived under    
your mother's eye all your life6 ,you   
see what ,i have done1--indicating      
,leonora with his eyebrows1--taken a    
baby on my hands4  ,john1 ,john6 ,i     
inwardly ejaculated1 you are an idiot4  
,she shall never suffer what you suffer2
 she shall have the benefit of the      
experience which other women have given 
me4  ,very likely1 ,i answered2 ,i know 
we often serve you as pioneers merely4  
,he gave a sad nod1 and ,i closed the   
door upon him4  ,put these pins into my 
hair1 ,leonora1 and tell me1 how do you 
like my new dress8  ,paris6 she cried4  
,it was a dove-colored silk with a black
 velvet stripe through it4 ,i showed her
 a shawl which ,john had given me1--a   
pale-yellow gauzy fabric with a         
gold-thread border1--and told her to    

make me up4 ,she produced quite a       
marvellous effect2 for this baby        
understood the art of dress to          
perfection4 ,she made my hair into a    
loose mass1 rolling it away from my     
face2 yet it was firmly fastened4 ,then 
she shook out the shawl1 and wrapped me 
in it1 so that my head seemed to be     
emerging from a pale-tinted cloud4 ,john
 said ,i looked outlandish1 but ,leonora
 thought otherwise4 ,she begged him for 
some ,indian perfume1 and he found an   
aromatic powder1 which she sprinkled    
inside my gloves and over my shawl4  ,we
 found the opera-house crowded4 ,our    
seats were near the stage4 ,john sat    
behind us1 so that he might slip out    
into the lobby occasionally2 for the    
opera was a bore to him4 ,the second act
 was over2 ,john had left his seat2 ,i  
was opening and shutting my fan         
mechanically1 half lost in thought1 when
 ,leonora1 who had been looking at the  
house with her lorgnette1 turned and    
said1--  ,is not that your friend of    

this morning1 on the other side1 in the 
second row1 leaning against the third   
pillar8 ,there is a queenish-looking old
 lady with him4 ,he hasn't spoken to her
 for a long time1 and she continually   
looks up at him4  ,i took her glass1 and
 discovered ,redmond4 ,he looked back at
 me through another2 ,i made a slight   
motion with my handkerchief2 he dropped 
his glass into the lap of the lady next 
him and darted out1 and in a moment he  
was behind me in ,john's seat4  ,who is 
with you8 he asked4  ,brother1 ,i       
answered4  ,you intoxicate me with some 
strange perfume2 don't fan it this way4 
,i quietly passed the fan to ,leonora1  
who now looked back and spoke to him4   
,he talked with her a moment1 and then  
she discreetly resumed her lorgnette4   
,what happened for two years after ,i   
left ,b48 ,the last year ,i know        
something of4  ,breakfast1 dinner1 and  
tea2 the ebb and flow of the tide2 and  
the days of the week4  ,nothing more8   
,and his voice came nearer4  ,a few     

trifles4  ,they are under lock and key1 
,i suppose8  ,we do not carry relics    
about with us4  ,there is the conductor2
 ,i must go4 ,turn your face toward me  
more4  ,i obeyed him1 and our eyes met4 
,his searching gaze made me shiver4  ,i 
have been married1 he said1 and his eyes
 were unflinching1 and my wife is dead4 
,all the lights went down1 ,i thought2  
,i struck out my arm to find ,leonora1  
who caught it and pressed it down4  ,i  
must get out1 ,i said2 and ,i walked up 
the alley to the door without stumbling4
  ,i knew that ,i was fainting or dying2
 as ,i had never fainted1 ,i did not    
know which4 ,redmond carried me through 
the cloak-room and put me on a sofa4  ,i
 never can speak to him again1 ,i       
thought1 and then ,i lost sight of them 
all4  ,a terribly sharp pain through my 
heart roused me1 and ,i was in a violent
 chill4 ,they had thrown water over my  
face2 my hair was matted1 and the water 
was dripping from it on my naked        
shoulders4 ,the gloves had been ripped  

from my hands1 and ,leonora was wringing
 my handkerchief4  ,the heat made you   
faint1 dear1 she said4  ,john was       
walking up and down the room with a     
phlegmatic countenance1 but he was      
fuming4  ,my new dress is ruined1 ,john1
 ,i said4  ,hang the dress6 ,how do you 
feel now8  ,it is drowned2 and ,i feel  
better2 shall we go home8  ,he went out 
to order the carriage1 and ,leonora     
whispered to me that she had forgotten  
,redmond's name4  ,no matter1 ,i        
answered4 ,i could not have spoken it   
then4  ,when ,john came1 ,leonora       
beckoned to ,redmond to introduce       
himself4 ,john shook hands with him1    
gave him an intent look1 and told us the
 carriage was ready4 ,redmond followed  
us1 and took leave of us at the         
carriage-door4  ,leonora begged me to   
stay at her house2 ,i refused1 for ,i   
wished to be alone4 ,john deposited her 
with her mother1 and we drove home4 ,he 
gave me one of his infallible medicines1
 and told me not to get up in the       

morning4 ,but when morning came1 ,i     
remembered ,harry ,lothrop was coming1  
and made myself ready for him4 ,as human
 nature is not quite perfect1 ,i felt   
unhappy about him1 and rather fond of   
him1 and thought he possessed some      
admirable qualities4 ,i never could read
 the old poets any more without a pang1 
unless he were with me1 directing my eye
 along their pages with his long white  
finger6 ,i never should smell tuberoses 
again without feeling faint1 unless they
 were his gift6  ,by the time he came ,i
 was in a state of romantic regret1 and 
in that state many a woman has answered1
 ,yes6 ,he asked me abruptly if ,i      
thought it would be folly in him to ask 
me to marry him4 ,the question turned   
the tide4  ,no1 ,i answered1--not folly2
 for ,i have thought many times in the  
last two years1 that ,i should marry    
you1 if you said ,i must4 ,but now ,i   
believe that it is not best4 ,you have  
pursued me patiently2 your self-love    
made the conquest of me a necessary     

pleasure4 ,that was well enough for me2 
for you made me feel all the while1     
that1 if ,i loved you1 you were worth   
possessing4 ,and you are4 ,i like you4  
,but my feeling for you did not prevent 
my fainting away at the opera-house last
 night1 when ,redmond told me that his  
wife was dead4  ,so1 he said1 the       
long-smothered fire has broken out      
again6 ,chance does not befriend me4 ,he
 saw you last night1 and yielded4 ,he   
said yesterday he should not tell you4  
,he asked me about you after we left    
you1 and wished to know if ,i had seen  
you much for the last year4 ,i offered  
him your last letter to read1--am ,i not
 generous8--but he refused it4  ',when  
,i see her1' he asked1 'am ,i at liberty
 to say what ,i choose8'  ,on that ,i   
could have said1 ',no4' ,redmond and ,i 
have not seen each other since the      
period of my first visit to you4 ,he has
 been nursing his wife in the mean time1
 taking journeys with her1 and trying   
all sorts of cures2 and now he seems    

tied to his aunt and mother-in-law4 ,he 
was merely passing through the city with
 her1 and this morning they have gone   
again4--,well1 after a pause1 there is  
no need of words between us4 ,i have in 
my possession a part of you4 ,beautiful 
women are like flowers which open their 
leaves wide enough for their perfume to 
attract wandering bees2 the perfume is  
wasted1 though the honey may be hid4    
,alas1 what a lesson this man is giving 
me6 ,i thought4  ,farewell1 then1 he    
said4 ,he bit his lips1 and his clenched
 hands trembled2 but he mastered his    
emotion4 ,you must think of me4  ,and   
see you1 too1 ,i answered4 ,everything  
comes round again1 if we live long      
enough4 ,dramatic unities are never     
preserved in life2 if they were1 how    
poetical would all these things be6 ,but
 ,time whirls us round1 showing us our  
many-sided feelings as carelessly as a  
child rattles the bits of glass in his  
kaleidoscope4  ,so be it6 he replied4   
,adieu6  ,that afternoon ,i staid at    

home1 and put ,john's room in order1 and
 cleaned the dust from his ,indian      
idols1 and was extremely busy till he   
came in4 ,then ,i kissed his whiskers1  
and told him all my sins1 and cried once
 or twice during my confession4 ,he     
petted me a good deal1 and made me eat  
twice as much dinner as ,i wanted2 he   
said it was good for me1 and ,i obeyed  
him1 for ,i felt uncommonly meek that   
day4  ,soon after1 ,redmond sent me a   
long letter4 ,he said he had been1 from 
a boy1 under an obligation to his aunt1 
the mother of his wife4 ,it was a common
 story1 and he would not trouble me with
 it4 ,he was married soon after ,harry  
,lothrop's first visit to me1 at the    
time they had received the news of      
,laura's death4 ,how much he had thought
 of ,laura afterward1 while he was      
watching the fading away of his pale    
blossom6 ,his aunt had been ill since   
the death of her daughter1 restless1 and
 discontented with every change4 ,he    
hoped she was now settled among some old

 friends with whom she might find       
consolation4 ,in conclusion1 he         
wrote1--,my aunt noticed our hasty exit 
from the opera-house that night1 when ,i
 was brute enough to nearly kill you4 ,i
 told her that ,i loved you4 ,she now   
feels1 after a struggle1 that she must  
let me go4 ',old women have no rights1' 
she said to me yesterday4 ,margaret1 may
 ,i come1 and never leave you again8    
,my answer may be guessed1 for one day  
he arrived4 ,it was the dusk of a cheery
 winter day1 the time when home wears so
 bright a look to those who seek it4 ,it
 was an hour before dinner1 and ,i was  
waiting for ,john to come in4 ,the amber
 evening sky gleamed before the windows1
 and the fire made a red core of light  
in the room4 ,john's sandal-wood boxes  
gave out strange odors in the heat1 and 
the pattern of the ,persian rug was just
 visible4 ,a servant came to the door   
with a card4 ,i held it to the grate1   
and the fire lit up his name4  ,show him
 up-stairs1 ,i said4  ,i stood in the   

doorway1 and heard his step on every    
stair4 ,when he came1 ,i took him by the
 hand1 and drew him into the room4 ,he  
was speechless4  ,oh1 ,redmond1 ,i love 
you6 ,how long you were away6  ,he      
kneeled by me1 and put my arms round his
 neck1 and we kissed each other with the
 first1 best kiss of passion4  ,john    
came in1 and ,i reached out my hand to  
him and said1 ,this is my husband4      
,that's comfortable1 he answered4 ,won't
 you stay to dinner8  ,oh1 yes1 replied 
,redmond2 this is my hotel4  ,i see1    
said ,john4  ,but after dinner they had 
a long talk together4 ,john sent me to  
my room1 and ,i was glad to go4 ,i      
walked up and down1 crying1 ,i must say1
 most of the time1 asking forgiveness of
 myself for my faults1 and remembering  
,laura and ,maurice1--and then thinking 
,redmond was mine1 with a contraction of
 the heart which threatened to stifle   
me4  ,john took us up to ,leonora's that
 evening2 he said he wanted to see if   
,puss would be tantalized with the sight

 of such a beautiful romantic couple    
just from fairy-land1 who were now      
prepared to live in peace4  ,we were    
married the next day in a church in a   
by-street4 ,john was the only witness1  
and flourished a large silk             
handkerchief1 so that it had the effect 
of a triumphal banner4 ,redmond put the 
ring on the wrong finger1--a mistake    
which the minister kindly rectified4    
,all ,i had new for the occasion was a  
pair of gloves4  ,one morning after my  
marriage1 when ,redmond and ,john were  
smoking together1 ,i was turning over   
some boxes1 for ,i was packing to go    
home on a visit to our mother4 ,i called
 ,redmond to leave his pipe and come to 
me4  ,you have not seen any of my       
property4 ,look1 here it is3--  ,one    
bitten handkerchief4  ,a fan never used4
  ,a gold pen-holder4  ,a draggled      
shawl4  ,margaret1 he said1 taking my   
chin in his hand and bringing his eyes  
close to mine1 ,i am wild with          
happiness4  ,your pipe has gone out1 we 

heard ,john say4         99       99    
99       99       99  ,,the ,,playmate4 
,the pines were dark on ,ramoth hill1   
,their song was soft and low2   ,the    
blossoms in the sweet ,may wind         
,were falling like the snow4    ,the    
blossoms drifted at our feet1     ,the  
orchard birds sang clear2   ,the        
sweetest and the saddest day     ,it    
seemed of all the year4    ,for1 more to
 me than birds or flowers1     ,my      
playmate left her home1   ,and took with
 her the laughing spring1     ,the music
 and the bloom4    ,she kissed the lips 
of kith and kin1     ,she laid her hand 
in mine3   ,what more could ask the     
bashful boy     ,who fed her father's   
kine8    ,she left us in the bloom of   
,may3     ,the constant years told o'er 
,their seasons with as sweet ,may morns4
     ,but she came back no more4    ,i  
walk1 with noiseless feet1 the round    
,of uneventful years2   ,still o'er and 
o'er ,i sow the spring     ,and reap the
 autumn ears4    ,she lives where all   

the golden year     ,her summer roses   
blow2   ,the dusky children of the sun  
,before her come and go4    ,there haply
 with her jewelled hands     ,she       
smooths her silken gown1--   ,no more   
the homespun lap wherein     ,i shook   
the walnuts down4    ,the wild grapes   
wait us by the brook1     ,the brown    
nuts on the hill1   ,and still the      
,may-day flowers make sweet     ,the    
woods of ,follymill4    ,the lilies     
blossom in the pond1     ,the bird      
builds in the tree1   ,the dark pines   
sing on ,ramoth hill     ,the slow song 
of the sea4    ,i wonder if she thinks  
of them1     ,and how the old time      
seems1--   ,if ever the pines of ,ramoth
 wood     ,are sounding in her dreams4  
,i see her face1 ,i hear her voice3     
,does she remember mine8   ,and what to 
her is now the boy     ,who fed her     
father's kine8    ,what cares she that  
the orioles build     ,for other eyes   
than ours1--   ,that other hands with   
nuts are filled1     ,and other laps    

with flowers8    ,o playmate in the     
golden time6     ,our mossy seat is     
green1   ,its fringing violets blossom  
yet1     ,the old trees o'er it lean4   
,the winds so sweet with birch and fern 
,a sweeter memory blow2   ,and there in 
spring the veeries sing     ,the song of
 long ago4    ,and still the pines of   
,ramoth wood     ,are moaning like the  
sea1--   ,the moaning of the sea of     
change     ,between myself and thee6    
,,the ,,maroons ,,of ,,surinam4   ,when 
that eccentric individual1 ,captain     
,john ,gabriel ,stedman1 resigned his   
commission in the ,english navy1 took   
the oath of abjuration1 and was         
appointed ensign in the ,scots brigade  
employed for two centuries by ,holland1 
he little knew that their ,high         
,mightinesses the ,states of the ,united
 ,provinces would send him out1 within a
 year1 to the forests of ,guiana1 to    
subdue rebel negroes4 ,he never imagined
 that the year #aggc would behold him   
beneath the rainy season in a tropical  

country1 wading through marshes and     
splashing through lakes1 exploring with 
his feet for submerged paths1 commanding
 impracticable troops and commanded by  
an insufferable colonel1 feeding on     
gree-gree worms and fed upon by         
mosquitoes1 howled at by jaguars1 hissed
 at by serpents1 and shot at by those   
exceedingly unattainable gentlemen1     
still longed for1 never seen1 the       
,maroons of ,surinam4  ,yet1 as our     
young ensign sailed up the ,surinam     
river1 the world of tropic beauty came  
upon him with enchantment4 ,dark1 moist 
verdure was close around him1 rippling  
waters below2 the tall trees of the     
jungle and the low mangroves beneath    
were all hung with long vines and       
lianas1 a maze of cordage1 like a fleet 
at anchor2 odd monkeys travelled        
ceaselessly up and down these airy      
paths1 in armies1 bearing their young1  
like knapsacks1 on their backs2 macaws  
and humming-birds1 winged jewels1 flew  
from tree to tree4 ,as they neared      

,paramaribo1 the river became a smooth  
canal among luxuriant plantations1 the  
air was perfumed music1 redolent of     
orange-blossoms and echoing with the    
songs of birds and the sweet plash of   
oars2 gay barges came forth to meet     
them2 while groups of naked boys and    
girls were promiscuously playing and    
flouncing1 like so many tritons and     
mermaids1 in the water4 ,and when the   
troops disembarked1--five hundred fine  
young men1 the oldest not thirty1 all   
arrayed in new uniforms and bearing     
orange-flowers in their caps1 a bridal  
wreath for beautiful ,guiana1--it is no 
wonder that the ,creole ladies were in  
ecstasy1 and the boyish recruits little 
foresaw the day1 when1 reduced to a few 
dozens1 barefooted and ragged as        
filibusters1 their last survivors would 
gladly rembark from a country beside    
which even ,holland looked dry and even 
,scotland comfortable4  ,for over all   
that earthly paradise there brooded not 
alone its terrible malaria1 its days of 

fever and its nights of deadly chill1   
but the worse shadows of oppression and 
of sin1 which neither day nor night     
could banish4 ,the first object which   
met ,stedman's eye1 as he stepped on    
shore1 was the figure of a young girl   
stripped to receive two hundred lashes1 
and chained to a hundred-pound-weight4  
,and the few first days gave a glimpse  
into a state of society worthy of this  
exhibition1--men without mercy1 women   
without modesty1 the black man a slave  
to the white man's passions1 and the    
white man a slave to his own4 ,the      
present ,west ,indian society in its    
worst forms is probably a mere dilution 
of the utter profligacy of those days4  
,greek or ,roman decline produced       
nothing more debilitating or destructive
 than the ordinary life of a ,surinam   
planter1 and his one virtue of          
hospitality only led to more unbridled  
excesses and completed the work of vice4
 ,no wonder that ,stedman himself1 who1 
with all his peculiarities1 was         

essentially simple and manly1 soon      
became disgusted1 and made haste to get 
into the woods and cultivate the society
 of the ,maroons4  ,the rebels against  
whom this expedition was sent were not  
the original ,maroons of ,surinam1 but a
 later generation4 ,the originals had   
long since established their            
independence1 and their leaders were    
flourishing their honorary              
silver-mounted canes in the streets of  
,paramaribo4 ,fugitive negroes had begun
 to establish themselves in the woods   
from the time when the colony was       
finally ceded by the ,english to the    
,dutch1 in #afgd4 ,the first open       
outbreak occurred in #agbf1 when the    
plantations on the ,seramica river      
revolted2 it was found impossible to    
subdue them1 and the government very    
imprudently resolved to make an example 
of eleven captives1 and thus terrify the
 rest of the rebels4 ,they were tortured
 to death1 eight of the eleven being    
women2 this drove the others to madness1

 and plantation after plantation was    
visited with fire and sword4 ,after a   
long conflict1 their chief1 ,adoe1 was  
induced to make a treaty1 in #agdi4 ,the
 rebels promised to keep the peace1 and 
in turn were promised freedom1 money1   
tools1 clothes1 and1 finally1 arms and  
ammunition4  ,but no permanent peace was
 ever made upon a barrel of gunpowder as
 a basis1 and of course an explosion    
followed this one4 ,the colonists       
naturally evaded the last item of the   
bargain1 and the rebels1 receiving the  
gifts and remarking the omission of the 
part of ,hamlet1 asked contemptuously if
 the ,europeans expected negroes to     
subsist on combs and looking-glasses8   
,new hostilities at once began2 a new   
body of slaves on the ,ouca river       
revolted2 the colonial government was   
changed in consequence1 and fresh troops
 shipped from ,holland2 and after four  
different embassies had been sent into  
the woods1 the rebels began to listen to
 reason4 ,the black generals1 ,captain  

,araby and ,captain ,boston1 agreed upon
 a truce for a year1 during which the   
colonial government might decide for    
peace or war1 the ,maroons declaring    
themselves indifferent4 ,finally the    
government chose peace1 delivered       
ammunition1 and made a treaty1 in #agfa2
 the white and black plenipotentiaries  
exchanged ,english oaths and then negro 
oaths1 each tasting a drop of the       
other's blood during the latter         
ceremony1 amid a volley of remarkable   
incantations from the black gadoman or  
priest4 ,after some final skirmishes1 in
 which the rebels almost always         
triumphed1 the treaty was at length     
accepted by all the various villages of 
,maroons4 ,had they known that at this  
very time five thousand slaves in       
,berbice were just rising against their 
masters and were looking to them for    
assistance1 the result might have been  
different2 but this fact had not reached
 them1 nor had the rumors of            
insurrection in ,brazil1 among negro and

 ,indian slaves4 ,they consented1       
therefore1 to the peace4 ,they write    
from ,surinam1 says the ,annual         
,register for ,january #bc1 #agfa1 that 
the ,dutch governor1 finding himself    
unable to subdue the rebel negroes of   
that country by force1 hath wisely      
followed the example of ,governor       
,trelawney at ,jamaica1 and concluded an
 amicable treaty with them2 in          
consequence of which1 all the negroes of
 the woods are acknowledged to be free1 
and all that is past is buried in       
oblivion4 ,so ended a war of thirty-six 
years1 and in ,stedman's day the        
original three thousand ,ouca and       
,seramica ,maroons had multiplied       
7almost incredibly7 to fifteen thousand4
  ,but for the slaves not sharing in    
this revolt it was not so easy to bury  
the whole past in oblivion4 ,the        
,maroons had told some very plain truths
 to the white ambassadors1 and had      
frankly advised them1 if they wished for
 peace1 to mend their own manners and   

treat their slaves humanely4 ,but the   
planters learned nothing by             
experience1--and indeed1 the terrible   
narrations of ,stedman were confirmed by
 those of ,alexander1 so lately as      
#ahca4 ,of course1 therefore1 in a      
colony comprising eighty thousand blacks
 to four thousand whites1 other revolts 
were stimulated by the success of this  
one4 ,they reached their highest point  
in #aggb1 when an insurrection on the   
,cottica river1 led by a negro named    
,baron1 almost gave the finishing blow  
to the colony2 the only adequate        
protection being found in a body of     
slaves liberated expressly for that     
purpose1--a dangerous and humiliating   
precedent4 ,we have been obliged to set 
three or four hundred of our stoutest   
negroes free to defend us1 says an      
honest letter from ,surinam in the      
,annual ,register for ,september #e1    
#aggb4 ,fortunately for the safety of   
the planters1 ,baron presumed too much  
upon his numbers1 and injudiciously     

built a camp too near the sea-coast1 in 
a marshy fastness1 from which he was    
finally ejected by twelve hundred ,dutch
 troops1 though the chief work was done1
 ,stedman thinks1 by the black rangers  
or liberated slaves4 ,checked by this   
defeat1 he again drew back into the     
forests1 resuming his guerrilla warfare 
against the plantations4 ,nothing could 
dislodge him2 bloodhounds were proposed1
 but the moisture of the country made   
them useless2 and thus matters stood    
when ,stedman came sailing1 amid        
orange-blossoms and music1 up the       
winding ,surinam4  ,our young officer   
went into the woods in the condition of 
,falstaff1 heinously unprovided4 ,coming
 from the unbounded luxury of the       
plantations1 he found himself entering  
the most horrid and impenetrable        
forests1 where no kind of refreshment   
was to be had1--he being provisioned    
only with salt pork and peas4 ,after a  
wail of sorrow for this inhuman neglect1
 he bursts into a gush of gratitude for 

the private generosity which relieved   
his wants at the last moment by the     
following list of supplies3--#bd bottles
 best claret1 #ab ditto ,madeira1 #ab   
ditto porter1 #ab ditto cider1 #ab ditto
 rum1 #b large loaves white sugar1 #b   
gallons brandy1 #f bottles muscadel1 #b 
gallons lemon-juice1 #b gallons ground  
coffee1 #b large ,westphalia hams1 #b   
salted bullocks' tongues1 #a bottle     
,durham mustard1 #f dozen spermaceti    
candles4 ,the hams and tongues seem1    
indeed1 rather a poor halfpennyworth to 
this intolerable deal of sack2 but this 
instance of ,surinam privation in those 
days may open some glimpse at the       
colonial standards of comfort4 ,from    
this specimen1 moralizes our hero1 the  
reader will easily perceive1 that1 if   
some of the inhabitants of ,surinam show
 themselves the disgrace of the creation
 by their cruelties and brutality1      
others1 by their social feelings1       
approve themselves an ornament to the   
human species4 ,with this instance of   

virtue and generosity ,i therefore      
conclude this chapter4  ,but the troops 
soon had to undergo worse troubles than 
those of the commisariat4 ,the rainy    
season had just set in4 ,as for the     
negroes1 said ,mr4 ,klynhaus1 the last  
planter with whom they parted1 you may  
depend on never seeing a soul of them1  
unless they attack you off guard2 but   
the climate1 the climate1 will murder   
you all4 ,bringing with them            
constitutions already impaired by the   
fevers and dissipation of ,paramaribo1  
the poor boys began to perish long      
before they began to fight4 ,wading in  
water all day1 hanging their hammocks   
over water at night1 it seemed a moist  
existence1 even compared with the       
climate of ,england and the soil of     
,holland4 ,it was ,invent a shovel and  
be a magistrate1 even more than ,andrew 
,marvell found it in the ,united        
,provinces4 ,in fact1 ,raynal evidently 
thinks that nothing but ,dutch          
experience in hydraulics could ever have

 cultivated ,surinam4  ,the two         
gun-boats which held one division of the
 expedition were merely old             
sugar-barges1 roofed over with boards1  
and looking like coffins4 ,they were    
pleasantly named the ,charon and the    
,cerberus1 but ,stedman thought that the
 ,sudden ,death and the ,wilful ,murder 
would have been titles more appropriate4
 ,the chief duty of the troops consisted
 in lying at anchor at the intersections
 of wooded streams1 waiting for rebels  
who never came4 ,it was dismal work1 and
 the raw recruits were full of the same 
imaginary terrors which have haunted    
other heroes less severely tested3 the  
monkeys never rattled the cocoa-nuts    
against the trees1 but they all heard   
the axes of ,maroon wood-choppers2 and  
when a sentinel declared1 one night1    
that he had seen a negro go down the    
river in a canoe1 with his pipe lighted1
 the whole force was called to          
arms--against a firefly4 ,in fact1 the  
insect race brought by far the most     

substantial dangers4 ,the rebels eluded 
the military1 but the chigres1 locusts1 
scorpions1 and bush-spiders were ever   
ready to come half-way to meet them2    
likewise serpents and alligators        
proffered them the freedom of the       
forests and exhibited a hospitality     
almost excessive4 ,snakes twenty feet   
long hung their seductive length from   
the trees2 jaguars volunteered their    
society through almost impenetrable     
marshes2 vampire bats perched by night  
with lulling endearments upon their     
toes4 ,when ,stedman describes himself  
as killing thirty-eight mosquitoes at   
one stroke1 we must perhaps pardon      
something to the spirit of martyrdom4   
,but when we add to these the other woes
 of his catalogue1--prickly-heat1       
ring-worm1 putrid-fever1 the growling of
 ,colonel ,fougeaud1 dry1 sandy         
savannas1 unfordable marshes1 burning   
hot days1 cold and damp nights1 heavy   
rains1 and short allowance1--we can     
hardly wonder that three captains died  

in a month1 and that in two months his  
detachment of forty-two was reduced to a
 miserable seven4  ,yet1 through all    
this1 ,stedman himself kept his health4 
,his theory of the matter almost recalls
 the time-honored prescription of ,a    
light heart and a thin pair of breeches1
 for he attributes his good condition to
 his keeping up his spirits and kicking 
off his shoes4 ,daily bathing in the    
river had also something to do with     
it1--and1 indeed1 hydropathy 7this may  
not be generally known7 was first       
learned of the ,west ,india ,maroons1   
who did their packing in wet clay1--and 
it was carried by ,dr4 ,wright to       
,england4 ,but his extraordinary        
personal qualities must have contributed
 most to his preservation4 ,never did a 
meagre1 starved1 black1 burnt1 and      
ragged tatterdemalion1 as he calls      
himself1 carry about him such a fund of 
sentiment1 philosophy1 poetry1 and art4 
,he had a great faculty for sketching1  
as the engravings in his volumes1 with  

all their odd peculiarities1 show2 his  
deepest woes he coined always into      
couplets1 and fortified himself against 
hopeless despair with ,ovid and         
,valerius ,flaccus1 ,pope's ,homer and  
,thomson's ,seasons4 ,above all reigned 
his passion for natural history1 a ready
 balm for every ill4 ,here he was never 
wanting to the occasion1 and1 to do     
justice to ,dutch ,guiana1 the occasion 
never was wanting to him4 ,were his men 
sickening1 the peccaries were always    
healthy without1 and the cockroaches    
within the camp2 just escaping from a   
she-jaguar1 he satisfies himself1 ere he
 flees1 that the print of her claws on  
the sand is precisely the size of a     
pewter dinner-plate2 bitten by a        
scorpion1 he makes sure of his          
scientific description in case he should
 expire of the bite2 is the water       
undrinkable1 there is at least some     
rational interest in the number of legs 
possessed by the centipedes which       
preoccupy it4 ,this is the highest      

triumph of man over his accidents1 when 
he thus turns his pains to gains1 and   
becomes an entomologist in the tropics4 
,meanwhile the rebels kept their own    
course in the forests1 and occasionally 
descended upon plantations beside the   
very river on whose upper waters the    
useless troops were sickening and dying4
 ,stedman himself made several          
campaigns1 with long intervals of       
illness1 before he came any nearer to   
the enemy than to burn a deserted       
village or destroy a rice-field4        
,sometimes they left the ,charon and the
 ,cerberus moored by grape-vines to the 
pine-trees1 and made expeditions into   
the woods single file4 ,our ensign1 true
 to himself1 gives the minutest schedule
 of the order of march1 and the oddest  
little diagram of manikins with cocked  
hats1 and blacker manikins bearing      
burdens4 ,first1 negroes with bill-hooks
 to clear the way2 then the van-guard2  
then the main body1 interspersed with   
negroes bearing boxes of                

ball-cartridges2 then the rear-guard1   
with many more negroes1 bearing         
camp-equipage1 provisions1 and new rum1 
surnamed kill-devil1 and appropriately  
followed by a sort of palanquin for the 
disabled4 ,thus arrayed1 they marched   
valorously forth into the woods1 to some
 given point2 then they turned1 marched 
back to the boats1 then rowed back to   
camp1 and straightaway went into the    
hospital4 ,immediately upon this1 the   
coast being clear4 ,baron and his rebels
 marched out again and proceeded to     
business4  ,in the course of years1     
these ,maroons had acquired their own   
peculiar tactics4 ,they built stockaded 
fortresses on marshy islands1 accessible
 by fords which they alone could        
traverse4 ,these they defended further  
by sharp wooden pins1 or crows'-feet1   
concealed beneath the surface of the    
miry ground1--and1 latterly1 by the more
 substantial protection of cannon1 which
 they dragged into the woods1 and       
learned to use4 ,their bush-fighting was

 unique4 ,having always more men than   
weapons1 they arranged their warriors in
 threes1--one to use the musket1 another
 to take his place1 if wounded or slain1
 and a third to drag away the body4     
,they had ,indian stealthiness and      
swiftness1 with more than ,indian       
discipline2 discharged their fire with  
some approach to regularity1 in three   
successive lines1 the signals being     
given by the captain's horn4 ,they were 
full of ingenuity3 marked their         
movements for each other by scattered   
leaves and blazed trees2 ran zigzag1 to 
dodge bullets2 gave wooden guns to their
 unarmed men1 to frighten the plantation
 negroes on their guerrilla expeditions2
 and borrowed the red caps of the black 
rangers whom they slew1 to bewilder the 
aim of the others4 ,one of them1 finding
 himself close to the muzzle of a       
ranger's gun1 threw up his hand hastily4
 ,what6 he exclaimed1 will you fire on  
one of your own party8 ,god forbid6     
cried the ranger1 dropping his piece1   

and was instantly shot through the body 
by the ,maroon1 who the next instant had
 disappeared in the woods4  ,these      
rebels were no saints3 their worship was
 obi-worship2 the women had not far     
outgrown the plantation standard of     
chastity1 and the men drank kill-devil  
like their betters4 ,stedman was struck 
with the difference between the meaning 
of the word good in rebellious circles  
and in reputable4 ,it must1 however1 be 
observed that what we ,europeans call a 
good character was by the ,africans     
looked upon as detestable1 especially by
 those born in the woods1 whose only    
crime consisted in avenging the wrongs  
done to their forefathers4 ,but if      
martial virtues be virtues1 such were   
theirs4 ,not a rebel ever turned traitor
 or informer1 ever flinched in battle or
 under torture1 ever violated a treaty  
or even a private promise4 ,but it was  
their power of endurance which was      
especially astounding2 ,stedman is never
 weary of paying tribute to this1 or of 

illustrating it in sickening detail2    
indeed1 the records of the world show   
nothing to surpass it2 the lifted axe1  
the agonizing wheel proved powerless to 
subdue it2 with every limb lopped1 every
 bone broken1 the victims yet defied    
their tormentors1 laughed1 sang1 and    
died triumphant4  ,of course1 they      
repaid these atrocities in kind4 ,if    
they had not1 it would have demonstrated
 the absurd paradox1 that slavery       
educates higher virtues than freedom4   
,it bewilders all the relations of human
 responsibility1 if we expect the       
insurrectionary slave to commit no      
outrages2 if slavery have not depraved  
him1 it has done him little harm4 ,if it
 be the normal tendency of bondage to   
produce saints like ,uncle ,tom1 let us 
all offer ourselves at auction          
immediately4 ,it is ,cassy and ,dred who
 are the normal protest of human nature 
against systems which degrade it4       
,accordingly1 these poor1 ignorant      
,maroons1 who had seen their brothers   

and sisters flogged1 burned1 mutilated1 
hanged on iron hooks1 broken on the     
wheel1 and had been all the while       
solemnly assured that this was paternal 
government1 could only repay the        
paternalism in the same fashion1 when   
they had the power4 ,stedman saw a negro
 chained to a red-hot                   
distillery-furnace2 he saw disobedient  
slaves1 in repeated instances1 punished 
by the amputation of a leg1 and sent to 
boat-service for the rest of their      
lives2 and of course the rebels borrowed
 these suggestions4 ,they could bear to 
watch their captives expire under the   
lash1 for they had previously watched   
their parents4 ,if the government       
rangers received twenty-five florins for
 every rebel right-hand which they      
brought in1 of course they risked their 
own right-hands in the pursuit4 ,the    
difference was1 that the one brutality  
was that of a mighty state1 and the     
other was only the retaliation of the   
victims4 ,and after all1 ,stedman never 

ventures to assert that the imitation   
equalled the original1 or that the      
,maroons had inflicted nearly so much as
 they had suffered4  ,the leaders of the
 rebels1 especially1 were men who had   
each his own story of wrongs to tell4   
,baron1 the most formidable1 had been   
the slave of a ,swedish gentleman1 who  
had taught him to read and write1 taken 
him to ,europe1 promised to manumit him 
on his return1--and then1 breaking his  
word1 sold him to a ,jew4 ,baron refused
 to work for his new master1 was        
publicly flogged under the gallows1 fled
 to the woods next day1 and became the  
terror of the colony4 ,joli ,coeur1 his 
first captain1 was avenging the cruel   
wrongs of his mother4 ,bonny1 another   
leader1 was born in the woods1 his      
mother having taken refuge there just   
previously1 to escape from his father1  
who was also his master4 ,cojo1 another1
 had defended his master against the    
insurgents until he was obliged by ill  
usage to take refuge among them2 and he 

still bore upon his wrist1 when ,stedman
 saw him1 a silver band1 with the       
inscription1-- ,true to the ,europeans4 
,in dealing with wrongs like these1 ,mr4
 ,carlyle would have found the despised 
negroes quite as ready as himself to    
take the total-abstinence pledge against
 rose-water4  ,in his first two months' 
campaign1 ,stedman never saw the trace  
of a ,maroon2 in the second1 he once    
came upon their trail2 in the third1 one
 captive was brought in1 two surrendered
 themselves voluntarily1 and a large    
party was found to have crossed a river 
within a mile of the camp1 ferrying     
themselves on palm-trunks1 according to 
their fashion4 ,deep swamps and         
scorching sands1--toiling through briers
 all day1 and sleeping at night in      
hammocks suspended over stagnant water1 
with weapons supported on sticks crossed
 beneath1--all this was endured for two 
years and a half1 before ,stedman       
personally came in sight of the enemy4  
,on ,august #bjth1 #agge1 the troops    

found themselves at last in the midst of
 the rebel settlements4 ,these villages 
and forts bore a variety of expressive  
names1 such as ,hide me1 ,o thou        
surrounding verdure1 ,i shall be taken1 
,the woods lament for me1 ,disturb me1  
if you dare1 ,take a tasting1 if you    
like it1 ,come1 try me1 if you be men1  
,god knows me and none else1 ,i shall   
moulder before ,i shall be taken4 ,some 
were only plantation-grounds with a few 
huts1 and were easily laid waste2 but   
all were protected more or less by their
 mere situations4 ,quagmires surrounded 
them1 covered by a thin crust of        
verdure1 sometimes broken through by one
 man's weight1 when the victim sank     
hopelessly into the black and bottomless
 depths below4 ,in other directions     
there was a solid bottom1 but           
inconveniently covered by three or four 
feet of water1 through which the troops 
waded breast-deep1 holding their muskets
 high in the air1 unable to reload them 
when once discharged1 and liable to be  

picked off by rebel scouts1 who         
ingeniously posted themselves in the    
tops of palm-trees4  ,through this      
delectable region ,colonel ,fougeaud and
 his followers slowly advanced1 drawing 
near the fatal shore where ,captain     
,meyland's detachment had just been     
defeated1 and where their mangled       
remains still polluted the beach4       
,passing this point of danger without   
attack1 they suddenly met a small party 
of rebels1 each bearing on his back a   
beautifully-woven hamper of snow-white  
rice3 these loads they threw down1 and  
disappeared4 ,next appeared an armed    
body from the same direction1 who fired 
upon them once and swiftly retreated2   
and in a few moments the soldiers came  
upon a large field of standing rice1    
beyond which lay1 like an amphitheatre1 
the rebel village4 ,but between the     
village and the field had been piled    
successive defences of logs and         
branches1 behind which simple redoubts  
the ,maroons lay concealed4 ,a fight    

ensued1 lasting forty minutes1 during   
which nearly every soldier and ranger   
was wounded1 but1 to their great        
amazement1 not one was killed4 ,this was
 an enigma to them until after the      
skirmish1 when the surgeon found that   
most of them had been struck1 not by    
bullets1 but by various substitutes1    
such as pebbles1 coat-buttons1 and bits 
of silver coin1 which had penetrated    
only skin-deep4 ,we also observed that  
several of the poor rebel negroes1 who  
had been shot1 had only the shards of   
,spa-water cans1 instead of flints1     
which could seldom do execution2 and it 
was certainly owing to these            
circumstances that we came off so well4 
,the rebels at length retreated1 first  
setting fire to their village2 a hundred
 or more lightly built houses1 some of  
them two stories high1 were soon in     
flames2 and as this conflagration       
occupied the only neck of land between  
two impassable morasses1 the troops were
 unable to follow1 and the ,maroons had 

left nothing but rice-fields to be      
pillaged4 ,that night the military force
 was encamped in the woods2 their       
ammunition was almost gone2 so they were
 ordered to lie flat on the ground1 even
 in case of attack2 they could not so   
much as build a fire4 ,before midnight  
an attack was made on them1 partly with 
bullets and partly with words2 the      
,maroons were all around them in the    
forest1 but their object was a puzzle3  
they spent most of the night in bandying
 compliments with the black rangers1    
whom they alternately denounced1        
ridiculed1 and challenged to single     
combat4 ,at last ,fougeaud and ,stedman 
joined in the conversation1 and         
endeavored to make this midnight volley 
of talk the occasion for a treaty4 ,this
 was received with inextinguishable     
laughter1 which echoed through the woods
 like a concert of screech-owls1 ending 
in a charivari of horns and hallooing4  
,the ,colonel1 persisting1 offered them 
life1 liberty1 victuals1 drink1 and all 

they wanted2 in return1 they ridiculed  
him unmercifully3 he was a half-starved 
,frenchman1 who had run away from his   
own country1 and would soon run away    
from theirs2 they profoundly pitied him 
and his soldiers2 they would scorn to   
spend powder on such scarecrows2 they   
would rather feed and clothe them1 as   
being poor white slaves1 hired to be    
shot at and starved for four-pence a    
day4 ,but as for the planters1          
overseers1 and rangers1 they should die1
 every one of them1 and ,bonny should be
 governor of the colony4 ,after this1   
they tinkled their bill-hooks1 fired a  
volley1 and gave three cheers2 which    
being answered by the rangers1 the      
clamor ended1 and the rebels dispersed  
with the rising sun4  ,very aimless     
nonsense it certainly appeared4 ,but the
 next day put a new aspect on it2 for it
 was found1 that1 under cover of all    
this noise1 the ,maroons had been busily
 occupied all night1 men1 women1 and    
children1 in preparing and filling great

 hampers of the finest rice1 yams1 and  
cassava1 from the adjacent              
provision-grounds1 to be used for       
subsistence during their escape1 leaving
 only chaff and refuse for the hungry   
soldiers4 ,this was certainly such a    
masterly trait of generalship in a      
savage people1 whom we affected to      
despise1 as would have done honor to any
 ,european commander4  ,from this time  
the ,maroons fulfilled their threats4   
,shooting down without mercy every black
 ranger who came within their           
reach1--one of these rangers being1 in  
,stedman's estimate1 worth six white    
soldiers1--they left ,colonel ,fougeaud 
and his regulars to die of starvation   
and fatigue4 ,the enraged ,colonel1     
finding himself thus foiled by a naked  
negro1 swore he would pursue ,bonny to  
the world's end4 ,but he never got any  
nearer than to ,bonny's kitchen-gardens4
 ,he put the troops on half-allowance1  
sent back for provisions and            
ammunition1--and within ten days changed

 his mind1 and retreated to the         
settlements in despair4 ,soon after1    
this very body of rebels1 under ,bonny's
 leadership1 plundered two plantations  
in the vicinity1 and nearly captured a  
powder-magazine1 which was1 however1    
successfully defended by some armed     
slaves4  ,for a year longer these       
expeditions continued4 ,the troops never
 gained a victory1 and they lost twenty 
men for every rebel killed2 but they    
gradually checked the plunder of        
plantations1 destroyed villages and     
planting-grounds1 and drove the rebels1 
for the time at least1 into the deeper  
recesses of the woods or into the       
adjacent province of ,cayenne4 ,they had
 the slight satisfaction of burning     
,bonny's own house1 a two-story wooden  
hut1 built in the fashion of our        
frontier guard-houses4 ,they often took 
single prisoners1--some child1 born and 
bred in the woods1 and frightened       
equally by the first sight of a white   
man and of a cow1--or some warrior1 who1

 on being threatened with torture1      
stretched forth both hands in disdain1  
and said1 with ,indian                  
eloquence1--,these hands have made      
tigers tremble4 ,as for ,stedman1 he    
still went bare-footed1 still quarrelled
 with his colonel1 still sketched the   
scenery and described the reptiles1     
still reared gree-gree worms for his    
private kitchen1 still quoted good      
poetry and wrote execrable1 still pitied
 all the sufferers around him1 black1   
white1 and red1 until finally he and his
 comrades were ordered back to ,holland 
in #aggf4  ,among all that wasted       
regiment of weary and broken-down men1  
there was probably no one but ,stedman  
who looked backward with longing as they
 sailed down the lovely ,surinam4 ,true1
 he bore all his precious collections   
with him1--parrots and butterflies1     
drawings on the backs of old letters1   
and journals kept on bones and          
cartridges4 ,but he had left behind him 
a dearer treasure2 for there runs       

through all his eccentric narrative a   
single thread of pure romance1 in his   
love for his beautiful quadroon wife and
 his only son4  ,within a month after   
his arrival in the colony1 our          
susceptible ensign first saw ,joanna1 a 
slave-girl of fifteen1 at the house of  
an intimate friend4 ,her extreme beauty 
and modesty first fascinated him1 and   
then her piteous narrative1--for she was
 the daughter of a planter1 who had just
 gone mad and died in despair from the  
discovery that he could not legally     
emancipate his own children from        
slavery4 ,soon after1 ,stedman was      
dangerously ill1 was neglected and      
alone2 fruits and cordials were         
anonymously sent to him1 which proved at
 last to have come from ,joanna1 and she
 came herself1 ere long1 and nursed him1
 grateful for the visible sympathy he   
had shown to her4 ,this completed the   
conquest2 the passionate young          
,englishman1 once recovered1 loaded her 
with presents1 which she                

refused1--talked of purchasing her and  
educating her in ,europe1 which she also
 declined1 as burdening him too         
greatly1--and finally1 amid the ridicule
 of all good society in ,paramaribo1    
surmounted all legal obstacles and was  
united to the beautiful girl in         
honorable marriage4 ,he provided a      
cottage for her1 where he spent his     
furloughs1 in perfect happiness1 for    
four years4  ,the simple idyl of their  
loves was unbroken by any stain or      
disappointment1 and yet always shadowed 
with the deepest anxiety for the future4
 ,though treated with the utmost        
indulgence1 she was legally a slave1 and
 so was the boy of whom she became the  
mother4 ,cojo1 her uncle1 was a captain 
among the rebels against whom her       
husband fought4 ,and up to the time when
 ,stedman was ordered back to ,holland1 
he was unable to purchase her freedom1  
nor could he1 until the very last       
moment1 procure the emancipation of his 
boy4 ,his perfect delight at this last  

triumph1 when obtained1 elicited some   
satire from his white friends4 ,while   
the well-thinking few highly applauded  
my sensibility1 many not only blamed1   
but publicly derided me for my paternal 
affection1 which was called a weakness1 
a whim4 ,nearly forty beautiful boys and
 girls were left to perpetual slavery by
 their parents of my acquaintance1 and  
many of them without being so much as   
once inquired after at all4  ,but       
,stedman was a true-hearted fellow1 if  
his sentiment did sometimes run to      
rodomontade2 he left his ,joanna only in
 the hope that a year or two in ,europe 
would repair his ruined fortunes1 and he
 could return to treat himself to the   
purchase of his own wedded wife4 ,he    
describes1 with unaffected pathos1 their
 parting scene1--though1 indeed1 there  
were several successive partings1--and  
closes the description in a manner      
worthy of that remarkable combination of
 enthusiasms which characterized him4   
,my melancholy having surpassed all     

description1 ,i at last determined to   
weather one or two painful years in her 
absence2 and in the afternoon went to   
dissipate my mind at a ,mr4 ,roux'      
cabinet of ,indian curiosities2 where as
 my eye chanced to fall on a            
rattlesnake1 ,i will1 before ,i leave   
the colony1 describe this dangerous     
reptile4  ,it was impossible to write   
the history of the ,maroons of ,surinam 
except through the biography of our     
,ensign1 7at last promoted ,captain17   
because nearly all we know of them is   
through his quaint and picturesque      
narrative1 with its profuse             
illustrations by his own hand4 ,it is   
not fair1 therefore1 to end without     
chronicling his safe arrival in         
,holland1 on ,june #c;d1 #aggg4 ,it is a
 remarkable fact1 that1 after his life  
in the woods1 even the ,dutch looked    
slovenly to his eyes4 ,the inhabitants1 
who crowded about us1 appeared but a    
disgusting assemblage of ill-formed and 
ill-dressed rabble1--so much had my     

prejudices been changed by living among 
,indians and blacks3 their eyes seemed  
to resemble those of a pig2 their       
complexions were like the color of foul 
linen2 they seemed to have no teeth1 and
 to be covered over with rags and dirt4 
,this prejudice1 however1 was not       
against these people only1 but against  
all ,europeans in general1 when compared
 to the sparkling eyes1 ivory teeth1    
shining skin1 and remarkable cleanliness
 of those ,i had left behind me4 ,yet1  
in spite of these superior attractions1 
he never recrossed the ,atlantic2 for   
his ,joanna died soon after1 and his    
promising son1 being sent to the father1
 was educated in ,england1 became a     
midshipman in the navy1 and was lost at 
sea4 ,with his elegy1 in which the last 
depths of bathos are sadly sounded by a 
mourning parent1--who is induced to     
print them only by the effect they had  
on the sympathetic and ingenious ,mrs4  
,cowley1--the ,narrative of a ,five     
,years' ,expedition closes4  ,the war1  

which had cost the government forty     
thousand pounds a year1 was ended1 and  
left both parties essentially as when it
 began4 ,the ,maroons gradually returned
 to their old abodes1 and1 being        
unmolested themselves1 left others      
unmolested thenceforward4 ,originally   
three thousand1--in ,stedman's time1    
fifteen thousand1--they were estimated  
at seventy thousand by ,captain         
,alexander1 who saw ,guiana in          
#ahca1--;and a recent ,american         
scientific expedition1 having visited   
them in their homes1 reported them as   
still enjoying their wild freedom1 and  
multiplying1 while the ,indians on the  
same soil decay4 ,the beautiful forests 
of ,surinam still make the morning      
gorgeous with their beauty1 and the     
night deadly with their chill2 the      
stately palm still rears1 a hundred feet
 in air1 its straight gray shaft and its
 head of verdure2 the mora builds its   
solid1 buttressed trunk1 a pedestal for 
the eagle2 the pine of the tropics holds

 out its myriad hands with water-cups   
for the rain and dews1 where all the    
birds and the monkeys may drink their   
fill2 the trees are garlanded with      
epiphytes and convolvuli1 and anchored  
to the earth by a thousand vines4 ,high 
among their branches1 the red and yellow
 mockingbirds still build their hanging 
nests1 uncouth storks and               
tree-porcupines cling above1 and the    
spotted deer and the tapir drink from   
the sluggish stream below4 ,the night is
 still made noisy with a thousand cries 
of bird and beast2 and the stillness of 
the sultry noon is broken by the slow   
tolling of the campaero1 or bell-bird1  
far in the deep1 dark woods1 like the   
chime of some lost convent4 ,and as     
,nature is unchanged there1 so          
apparently is man2 the ,maroons still   
retain their savage freedom1 still shoot
 their wild game and trap their fish1   
still raise their rice and cassava1 yams
 and plantains1--still make cups from   
the gourd-tree and hammocks from the    

silk-grass plant1 wine from the         
palm-tree's sap1 brooms from its leaves1
 fishing-lines from its fibres1 and salt
 from its ashes4 ,their life does not   
yield1 indeed1 the very highest results 
of spiritual culture2 its mental and    
moral results may not come up to the    
level of civilization1 but they rise far
 above the level of slavery4 ,in the    
changes of time1 the ,maroons may yet   
elevate themselves into the one1 but    
they will never relapse into the other4 
,,circumstance4   ,she had remained1    
during all that day1 with a sick        
neighbor1--those eastern wilds of ,maine
 in that epoch frequently making        
neighbors and miles synonymous1--and so 
busy had she been with care and sympathy
 that she did not at first observe the  
approaching night4 ,but finally the     
level rays1 reddening the snow1 threw   
their gleam upon the wall1 and1 hastily 
donning cloak and hood1 she bade her    
friends farewell and sallied forth on   
her return4 ,home lay some three miles  

distant1 across a copse1 a meadow1 and a
 piece of woods1--the woods being a     
fringe on the skirts of the great       
forests that stretch far away into the  
,north4 ,that home was one of a dozen   
log-houses lying a few furlongs apart   
from each other1 with their half-cleared
 demesnes separating them at the rear   
from a wilderness untrodden save by     
stealthy native or deadly panther       
tribes4  ,she was in a nowise exalted   
frame of spirit1--on the contrary1      
rather depressed by the pain she had    
witnessed and the fatigue she had       
endured2 but in certain temperaments    
such a condition throws open the mental 
pores1 so to speak1 and renders one     
receptive of every influence4 ,through  
the little copse she walked slowly1 with
 her cloak folded about her1 lingering  
to imbibe the sense of shelter1 the     
sunset filtered in purple through the   
mist of woven spray and twig1 the       
companionship of growth not sufficiently
 dense to band against her the sweet    

home-feeling of a young and tender      
wintry wood4 ,it was therefore just on  
the edge of the evening that she emerged
 from the place and began to cross the  
meadow-land4 ,at one hand lay the forest
 to which her path wound2 at the other  
the evening star hung over a tide of    
failing orange that slowly slipped down 
the earth's broad side to sadden other  
hemispheres with sweet regret4 ,walking 
rapidly now1 and with her eyes          
wide-open1 she distinctly saw in the air
 before her what was not there a moment 
ago1 a winding-sheet1--cold1 white1 and 
ghastly1 waved by the likeness of four  
wan hands1--that rose with a long       
inflation and fell in rigid folds1 while
 a voice1 shaping itself from the       
hollowness above1 spectral and          
melancholy1 sighed1--,the ,lord have    
mercy on the people6 ,the ,lord have    
mercy on the people6 ,three times the   
sheet with its corpse-covering outline  
waved beneath the pale hands1 and the   
voice1 awful in its solemn and          

mysterious depth1 sighed1 ,the ,lord    
have mercy on the people6 ,then all was 
gone1 the place was clear again1 the    
gray sky was obstructed by no deathly   
blot2 she looked about her1 shook her   
shoulders decidedly1 and1 pulling on her
 hood1 went forward once more4  ,she    
might have been a little frightened by  
such an apparition1 if she had led a    
life of less reality than frontier      
settlers are apt to lead2 but dealing   
with hard fact does not engender a      
flimsy habit of mind1 and this woman was
 too sincere and earnest in her         
character1 and too happy in her         
situation1 to be thrown by antagonism   
merely upon superstitious fancies and   
chimeras of the second-sight4 ,she did  
not even believe herself subject to an  
hallucination1 but smiled simply1 a     
little vexed that her thought could have
 framed such a glamour from the day's   
occurrences1 and not sorry to lift the  
bough of the warder of the woods and    
enter and disappear in their sombre     

path4 ,if she had been imaginative1 she 
would have hesitated at her first step  
into a region whose dangers were not    
visionary2 but ,i suppose that the      
thought of a little child at home would 
conquer that propensity in the most     
habituated4 ,so1 biting a bit of spicy  
birch1 she went along4 ,now and then she
 came to a gap where the trees had been 
partially felled1 and here she found    
that the lingering twilight was         
explained by that peculiar and perhaps  
electric film which sometimes sheathes  
the sky in diffused light for very many 
hours before a brilliant aurora4        
,suddenly1 a swift shadow1 like the     
fabulous flying-dragon1 writhed through 
the air before her1 and she felt herself
 instantly seized and borne aloft4 ,it  
was that wild beast--the most savage and
 serpentine and subtle and fearless of  
our latitudes--known by hunters as the  
,indian ,devil1 and he held her in his  
clutches on the broad floor of a        
swinging fir-bough4 ,his long sharp     

claws were caught in her clothing1 he   
worried them sagaciously a little1 then1
 finding that ineffectual to free them1 
he commenced licking her bare white arm 
with his rasping tongue and pouring over
 her the wide streams of his hot1 fetid 
breath4 ,so quick had this flashing     
action been that the woman had had no   
time for alarm2 moreover1 she was not of
 the screaming kind2 but now1 as she    
felt him endeavoring to disentangle his 
claws1 and the horrid sense of her fate 
smote her1 and she saw instinctively the
 fierce plunge of those weapons1 the    
long strips of living flesh torn from   
her bones1 the agony1 the quivering     
disgust1 itself a worse agony1--while by
 her side1 and holding her in his great 
lithe embrace1 the monster crouched1 his
 white tusks whetting and gnashing1 his 
eyes glaring through all the darkness   
like balls of red fire1--a shriek1 that 
rang in every forest hollow1 that       
startled every winter-housed thing1 that
 stirred and woke the least needle of   

the tasselled pines1 tore through her   
lips4 ,a moment afterward1 the beast    
left the arm1 once white1 now crimson1  
and looked up alertly4  ,she did not    
think at this instant to call upon ,god4
 ,she called upon her husband4 ,it      
seemed to her that she had but one      
friend in the world2 that was he2 and   
again the cry1 loud1 clear1 prolonged1  
echoed through the woods4 ,it was not   
the shriek that disturbed the creature  
at his relish2 he was not born in the   
woods to be scared of an owl1 you know2 
what then8 ,it mast have been the echo1 
most musical1 most resonant1 repeated   
and yet repeated1 dying with long sighs 
of sweet sound1 vibrated from rock to   
river and back again from depth to depth
 of cave and cliff4 ,her thought flew   
after it2 she knew1 that1 even if her   
husband heard it1 he yet could not reach
 her in time2 she saw that while the    
beast listened he would not gnaw1--and  
this she felt directly1 when the rough1 
sharp1 and multiplied stings of his     

tongue retouched her arm4 ,again her    
lips opened by instinct1 but the sound  
that issued thence came by reason4 ,she 
had heard that music charmed wild       
beasts1--just this point between life   
and death intensified every             
faculty1--and when she opened her lips  
the third time1 it was not for          
shrieking1 but for singing4  ,a little  
thread of melody stole out1 a rill of   
tremulous motion2 it was the cradle-song
 with which she rocked her baby2--how   
could she sing that8 ,and then she      
remembered the baby sleeping rosily on  
the long settee before the fire1--the   
father cleaning his gun1 with one foot  
on the green wooden rundle1--the merry  
light from the chimney dancing out and  
through the room1 on the rafters of the 
ceiling with their tassels of onions and
 herbs1 on the log walls painted with   
lichens and festooned with apples1 on   
the king's-arm slung across the shelf   
with the old pirate's-cutlass1 on the   
snow-pile of the bed1 and on the great  

brass clock1--dancing1 too1 and         
lingering on the baby1 with his fringed 
gentian eyes1 his chubby fists clenched 
on the pillow1 and his fine breezy hair 
fanning with the motion of his father's 
foot4 ,all this struck her in one1 and  
made a sob of her breath1 and she       
ceased4  ,immediately the long red      
tongue was thrust forth again4 ,before  
it touched1 a song sprang to her lips1 a
 wild sea-song1 such as some sailor     
might be singing far out on trackless   
blue water that night1 the shrouds      
whistling with frost and the sheets     
glued in ice1--a song with the wind in  
its burden and the spray in its chorus4 
,the monster raised his head and flared 
the fiery eyeballs upon her1 then       
fretted the imprisoned claws a moment   
and was quiet2 only the breath like the 
vapor from some hell-pit still swathed  
her4 ,her voice1 at first faint and     
fearful1 gradually lost its quaver1 grew
 under her control and subject to her   
modulation2 it rose on long swells1 it  

fell in subtile cadences1 now and then  
its tones pealed out like bells from    
distant belfries on fresh sonorous      
mornings4 ,she sung the song through1   
and1 wondering lest his name of ,indian 
,devil were not his true name1 and if he
 would not detect her1 she repeated it4 
,once or twice now1 indeed1 the beast   
stirred uneasily1 turned1 and made the  
bough sway at his movement4 ,as she     
ended1 he snapped his jaws together1 and
 tore away the fettered member1 curling 
it under him with a snarl1--when she    
burst into the gayest reel that ever    
answered a fiddle-bow4 ,how many a time 
she had heard her husband play it on the
 homely fiddle made by himself from     
birch and cherry-wood6 how many a time  
she had seen it danced on the floor of  
their one room1 to the patter of wooden 
clogs and the rustle of homespun        
petticoat6 how many a time she had      
danced it herself6--and did she not     
remember once1 as they joined clasps for
 right-hands-round1 how it had lent its 

gay1 bright measure to her life8 ,and   
here she was singing it alone1 in the   
forest1 at midnight1 to a wild beast6   
,as she sent her voice trilling up and  
down its quick oscillations between joy 
and pain1 the creature who grasped her  
uncurled his paw and scratched the bark 
from the bough2 she must vary the spell2
 and her voice spun leaping along the   
projecting points of tune of a hornpipe4
 ,still singing1 she felt herself       
twisted about with a low growl and a    
lifting of the red lip from the         
glittering teeth2 she broke the         
hornpipe's thread1 and commenced        
unravelling a lighter1 livelier thing1  
an ,irish jig4 ,up and down and round   
about her voice flew1 the beast threw   
back his head so that the diabolical    
face fronted hers1 and the torrent of   
his breath prepared her for his feast as
 the anaconda slimes his prey4          
,franticly she darted from tune to tune2
 his restless movements followed her4   
,she tired herself with dancing and     

vivid national airs1 growing feverish   
and singing spasmodically as she felt   
her horrid tomb yawning wider4 ,touching
 in this manner all the slogan and keen 
clan cries1 the beast moved again1 but  
only to lay the disengaged paw across   
her with heavy satisfaction4 ,she did   
not dare to pause2 through the clear    
cold air1 the frosty starlight1 she     
sang4 ,if there were yet any tremor in  
the tone1 it was not fear1--she had     
learned the secret of sound at last2 nor
 could it be chill1--far too high a     
fervor throbbed her pulses2 it was      
nothing but the thought of the log-house
 and of what might be passing within it4
 ,she fancied the baby stirring in his  
sleep and moving his pretty lips1--her  
husband rising and opening the door1    
looking out after her1 and wondering at 
her absence4 ,she fancied the light     
pouring through the chink and then shut 
in again with all the safety and comfort
 and joy1 her husband taking down the   
fiddle and playing lightly with his head

 inclined1 playing while she sang1 while
 she sang for her life to an ,indian    
,devil4 ,then she knew he was fumbling  
for and finding some shining fragment   
and scoring it down the yellowing hair1 
and unconsciously her voice forsook the 
wild war-tunes and drifted into the     
half-gay1 half-melancholy ,rosin the    
,bow4  ,suddenly she woke pierced with a
 pang1 and the daggered tooth           
penetrating her flesh2--dreaming of     
safety1 she had ceased singing and lost 
it4 ,the beast had regained the use of  
all his limbs1 and now1 standing and    
raising his back1 bristling and foaming1
 with sounds that would have been like  
hisses but for their deep and fearful   
sonority1 he withdrew step by step      
toward the trunk of the tree1 still with
 his flaming balls upon her4 ,she was   
all at once free1 on one end of the     
bough1 twenty feet from the ground4 ,she
 did not measure the distance1 but rose 
to drop herself down1 careless of any   
death1 so that it were not this4        

,instantly1 as if he scanned her        
thoughts1 the creature bounded forward  
with a yell and caught her again in his 
dreadful hold4 ,it might be that he was 
not greatly famished2 for1 as she       
suddenly flung up her voice again1 he   
settled himself composedly on the bough1
 still clasping her with invincible     
pressure to his rough1 ravenous breast1 
and listening in a fascination to the   
sad1 strange ,u-la-lu that now moaned   
forth in loud1 hollow tones above him4  
,he half closed his eyes1 and sleepily  
reopened and shut them again4  ,what    
rending pains were close at hand6       
,death6 and what a death6 worse than any
 other that is to be named6 ,water1 be  
it cold or warm1 that which buoys up    
blue ice-fields1 or which bathes        
tropical coasts with currents of balmy  
bliss1 is yet a gentle conqueror1 kisses
 as it kills1 and draws you down gently 
through darkening fathoms to its heart4 
,death at the sword is the festival of  
trumpet and bugle and banner1 with glory

 ringing out around you and distant     
hearts thrilling through yours4 ,no     
gnawing disease can bring such hideous  
end as this2 for that is a fiend bred of
 your own flesh1 and this--is it a      
fiend1 this living lump of appetites8   
,what dread comes with the thought of   
perishing in flames6 but fire1 let it   
leap and hiss never so hotly1 is        
something too remote1 too alien1 to     
inspire us with such loathly horror as a
 wild beast2 if it have a life1 that    
life is too utterly beyond our          
comprehension4 ,fire is not half        
ourselves2 as it devours1 arouses       
neither hatred nor disgust2 is not to be
 known by the strength of our lower     
natures let loose2 does not drip our    
blood into our faces from foaming chaps1
 nor mouth nor snarl above us with      
vitality4 ,let us be ended by fire1 and 
we are ashes1 for the winds to bear1 the
 leaves to cover2 let us be ended by    
wild beasts1 and the base1 cursed thing 
howls with us forever through the       

forest4 ,all this she felt as she       
charmed him1 and what force it lent to  
her song ,god knows4 ,if her voice      
should fail6 ,if the damp and cold      
should give her any fatal hoarseness6   
,if all the silent powers of the forest 
did not conspire to help her6 ,the dark1
 hollow night rose indifferently over   
her2 the wide1 cold air breathed rudely 
past her1 lifted her wet hair and blew  
it down again2 the great boughs swung   
with a ponderous strength1 now and then 
clashed their iron lengths together and 
shook off a sparkle of icy spears or    
some long-lain weight of snow from their
 heavy shadows4 ,the green depths were  
utterly cold and silent and stern4      
,these beautiful haunts that all the    
summer were hers and rejoiced to share  
with her their bounty1 these heavens    
that had yielded their largess1 these   
stems that had thrust their blossoms    
into her hands1 all these friends of    
three moons ago forgot her now and knew 
her no longer4  ,feeling her desolation1

 wild1 melancholy1 forsaken songs rose  
thereon from that frightful             
aerie1--weeping1 wailing tunes1 that sob
 among the people from age to age1 and  
overflow with otherwise unexpressed     
sadness1--all rude1 mournful            
ballads1--old tearful strains1 that     
,shakspeare heard the vagrants sing1 and
 that rise and fall like the wind and   
tide1--sailor-songs1 to be heard only in
 lone mid-watches beneath the moon and  
stars1--ghastly rhyming romances1 such  
as that famous one of the ,lady         
,margaret1 when  ,she slipped on her    
gown of green    ,a piece below the     
knee1-- ,and 'twas all a long1 cold     
winter's night    ,a dead corse followed
 she4  ,still the beast lay with closed 
eyes1 yet never relaxing his grasp4     
,once a half-whine of enjoyment escaped 
him1--he fawned his fearful head upon   
her2 once he scored her cheek with his  
tongue3 savage caresses that hurt like  
wounds4 ,how weary she was6 and yet how 
terribly awake6 ,how fuller and fuller  

of dismay grew the knowledge that she   
was only prolonging her anguish and     
playing with death6 ,how appalling the  
thought that with her voice ceased her  
existence6 ,yet she could not sing      
forever2 her throat was dry and hard2   
her very breath was a pain2 her mouth   
was hotter than any desert-worn         
pilgrim's2--if she could but drop upon  
her burning tongue one atom of the ice  
that glittered about her6--but both of  
her arms were pinioned in the giant's   
vice4 ,she remembered the winding-sheet1
 and for the first time in her life     
shivered with spiritual fear4 ,was it   
hers8 ,she asked herself1 as she sang1  
what sins she had committed1 what life  
she had led1 to find her punishment so  
soon and in these pangs1--and then she  
sought eagerly for some reason why her  
husband was not up and abroad to find   
her4 ,he failed her1--her one sole hope 
in life2 and without being aware of it1 
her voice forsook the songs of suffering
 and sorrow for old ,covenanting        

hymns1--hymns with which her mother had 
lulled her1 which the class-leader      
pitched in the chimney-corners1--grand  
and sweet ,methodist hymns1 brimming    
with melody and with all fantastic      
involutions of tune to suit that        
ecstatic worship1--hymns full of the    
beauty of holiness1 steadfast1 relying1 
sanctified by the salvation they had    
lent to those in worse extremity than   
hers1--for they had found themselves in 
the grasp of hell1 while she was but in 
the jaws of death4 ,out of this strange 
music1 peculiar to one character of     
faith1 and than which there is none more
 beautiful in its degree nor owning a   
more potent sway of sound1 her voice    
soared into the glorified chants of     
churches4 ,what to her was death by cold
 or famine or wild beasts8 ,though ,he  
slay me1 yet will ,i trust in ,him1 she 
sang4 ,high and clear through the frore 
fair night1 the level moonbeams         
splintering in the wood1 the scarce     
glints of stars in the shadowy roof of  

branches1 these sacred anthems          
rose1--rose as a hope from despair1 as  
some snowy spray of flower-bells from   
blackest mould4 ,was she not in ,god's  
hands8 ,did not the world swing at ,his 
will8 ,if this were in ,his great plan  
of providence1 was it not best1 and     
should she not accept it8  ,he is the   
,lord our ,god2 ,his judgments are in   
all the earth4  ,oh1 sublime faith of   
our fathers1 where utter self-sacrifice 
alone was true love1 the fragrance of   
whose unrequired subjection was pleasant
 as that of golden censers swung in     
purple-vapored chancels6  ,never ceasing
 in the rhythm of her thoughts1         
articulated in music as they thronged1  
the memory of her first communion       
flashed over her4 ,again she was in that
 distant place on that sweet spring     
morning4 ,again the congregation rustled
 out1 and the few remained1 and she     
trembled to find herself among them4    
,how well she remembered the devout1    
quiet faces2 too accustomed to the      

sacred feast to glow with their inner   
joy6 how well the snowy linen at the    
altar1 the silver vessels slowly and    
silently shifting6 and as the cup       
approached and passed1 how the sense of 
delicious perfume stole in and          
heightened the transport of her prayer1 
and she had seemed1 looking up through  
the windows where the sky soared blue in
 constant freshness1 to feel all        
heaven's balms dripping from the        
portals1 and to scent the lilies of     
eternal peace6 ,perhaps another would   
not have felt so much ecstasy as        
satisfaction on that occasion2 but it is
 a true1 if a later disciple1 who has   
said1 ,the ,lord bestoweth his blessings
 there1 where he findeth the vessels    
empty4--,and does it need the walls of a
 church to renew my communion8 she      
asked4 ,does not every moment stand a   
temple four-square to ,god8 ,and in that
 morning1 with its buoyant sunlight1 was
 ,i any dearer to the ,heart of the     
,world than now8 ,my beloved is mine1   

and ,i am his1 she sang over and over   
again1 with all varied inflection and   
profuse tune4 ,how gently all the       
winter-wrapt things bent toward her     
then6 into what relation with her had   
they grown6 how this common dependence  
was the spell of their intimacy6 how at 
one with ,nature had she become6 how all
 the night and the silence and the      
forest seemed to hold its breath1 and to
 send its soul up to ,god in her        
singing6 ,it was no longer despondency1 
that singing4 ,it was neither prayer nor
 petition4 ,she had left imploring1 ,how
 long wilt thou forget me1 ,o ,lord8    
,lighten mine eyes1 lest ,i sleep the   
sleep of death6 ,for in death there is  
no remembrance of thee2--with countless 
other such fragments of supplication4   
,she cried rather1 ,yea1 though ,i walk 
through the valley of the shadow of     
death1 ,i will fear no evil3 for thou   
art with me2 thy rod and thy staff1 they
 comfort me2--and lingered1 and         
repeated1 and sang again1 ,i shall be   

satisfied1 when ,i awake1 with thy      
likeness4  ,then she thought of the     
,great ,deliverance1 when he drew her up
 out of many waters1 and the flashing   
old psalm pealed forth triumphantly3--  
,the ,lord descended from above1   and  
bow'd the heavens hie2 ,and underneath  
his feet he cast   the darknesse of the 
skie4 ,on cherubs and on cherubins      
full royally he road3 ,and on the wings 
of all the winds   came flying all      
abroad4  ,she forgot how recently1 and  
with what a strange pity for her own    
shapeless form that was to be1 she had  
quaintly sung1--  ,oh1 lovely appearance
 of death6   ,what sight upon earth is  
so fair8 ,not all the gay pageants that 
breathe   ,can with a dead body compare6
  ,she remembered instead1--,in thy     
presence is fulness of joy2 at thy right
 hand there are pleasures forevermore2  
and1 ,god will redeem my soul from the  
power of the grave3 for he shall receive
 me2 ,he will swallow up death in       
victory4 ,not once now did she say1     

,lord1 how long wilt thou look on8      
rescue my soul from their destructions1 
my darling from the lions--for she knew 
that the young lions roar after their   
prey and seek their meat from ,god4 ,o  
,lord1 thou preservest man and beast6   
she said4  ,she had no comfort or       
consolation in this season1 such as     
sustained the ,christian martyrs in the 
amphitheatre4 ,she was not dying for her
 faith2 there were no palms in heaven   
for her to wave2 but how many a time had
 she declared1--,i had rather be a      
doorkeeper in the house of my ,god1 than
 to dwell in the tents of wickedness6   
,and as the broad rays here and there   
broke through the dense covert of shade 
and lay in rivers of lustre on crystal  
sheathing and frozen fretting of trunk  
and limb and on the great spaces of     
refraction1 they builded up visibly that
 house1 the shining city on the hill1   
and singing1 ,beautiful for situation1  
the joy of the whole earth1 is ,mount   
,zion1 on the sides of the ,north1 the  

city of the ,great ,king1 her vision    
climbed to that higher picture where the
 angel shows the dazzling thing1 the    
holy ,jerusalem descending out of heaven
 from ,god1 with its splendid           
battlements and gates of pearls1 and its
 foundations1 the eleventh a jacinth1   
the twelfth an amethyst1--with its great
 white throne1 and the rainbow round    
about it1 in sight like unto an         
emerald3--,and there shall be no night  
there1--for the ,lord ,god giveth them  
light1 she sang4  ,what whisper of dawn 
now rustled through the wilderness8 ,how
 the night was passing6 ,and still the  
beast crouched upon the bough1 changing 
only the posture of his head1 that again
 he might command her with those charmed
 eyes2--half their fire was gone2 she   
could almost have released herself from 
his custody2 yet1 had she stirred1 no   
one knows what malevolent instinct might
 have dominated anew4 ,but of that she  
did not dream2 long ago stripped of any 
expectation1 she was experiencing in her

 divine rapture how mystically true it  
is that he that dwelleth in the secret  
place of the ,most ,high shall abide    
under the shadow of the ,almighty4      
,slow clarion cries now wound from the  
distance as the cocks caught the        
intelligence of day and reechoed it     
faintly from farm to farm1--sleepy      
sentinels of night1 sounding the foe's  
invasion1 and translating that dim      
intuition to ringing notes of warning4  
,still she chanted on4 ,a remote crash  
of brushwood told of some other beast on
 his depredations1 or some night-belated
 traveller groping his way through the  
narrow path4 ,still she chanted on4 ,the
 far1 faint echoes of the chanticleers  
died into distance1--the crashing of the
 branches grew nearer4 ,no wild beast   
that1 but a man's step1--a man's form in
 the moonlight1 stalwart and strong1--on
 one arm slept a little child1 in the   
other hand he held his gun4 ,still she  
chanted on4  ,perhaps1 when her husband 
last looked forth1 he was half ashamed  

to find what a fear he felt for her4 ,he
 knew she would never leave the child so
 long but for some direst need1--and yet
 he may have laughed at himself1 as he  
lifted and wrapped it with awkward care1
 and1 loading his gun and strapping on  
his horn1 opened the door again and     
closed it behind him1 going out and     
plunging into the darkness and dangers  
of the forest4 ,he was more singularly  
alarmed than he would have been willing 
to acknowledge2 as he had sat with his  
bow hovering over the strings1 he had   
half believed to hear her voice mingling
 gayly with the instrument1 till he     
paused and listened if she were not     
about to lift the latch and enter4 ,as  
he drew nearer the heart of the forest1 
that intimation of melody seemed to grow
 more actual1 to take body and breath1  
to come and go on long swells and ebbs  
of the night-breeze1 to increase with   
tune and words1 till a strange1 shrill  
singing grew ever clearer1 and1 as he   
stepped into an open space of moonbeams1

 far up in the branches1 rocked by the  
wind1 and singing1 ,how beautiful upon  
the mountains are the feet of him that  
bringeth good tidings1 that publisheth  
peace1 he saw his wife1--his wife1--but1
 great ,god in heaven6 how8 ,some mad   
exclamation escaped him1 but without    
diverting her4 ,the child knew the      
singing voice1 though never heard before
 in that unearthly key1 and turned      
toward it through the veiling dreams4   
,with a celerity almost instantaneous1  
it lay1 in the twinkling of an eye1 on  
the ground at the father's feet1 while  
his gun was raised to his shoulder and  
levelled at the monster covering his    
wife with shaggy form and flaming       
gaze1--his wife so ghastly white1 so    
rigid1 so stained with blood1 her eyes  
so fixedly bent above1 and her lips1    
that had indurated into the chiselled   
pallor of marble1 parted only with that 
flood of solemn song4  ,i do not know if
 it were the mother-instinct that for a 
moment lowered her eyes1--those eyes1 so

 lately riveted on heaven1 now suddenly 
seeing all life-long bliss possible4 ,a 
thrill of joy pierced and shivered      
through her like a weapon1 her voice    
trembled in its course1 her glance lost 
its steady strength1 fever-flushes      
chased each other over her face1 yet she
 never once ceased chanting4 ,she was   
quite aware1 that1 if her husband shot  
now1 the ball must pierce her body      
before reaching any vital part of the   
beast1--and yet better that death1 by   
his hand1 than the other4 ,but this her 
husband also knew1 and he remained      
motionless1 just covering the creature  
with the sight4 ,he dared not fire1 lest
 some wound not mortal should break the 
spell exercised by her voice1 and the   
beast1 enraged with pain1 should rend   
her in atoms2 moreover1 the light was   
too uncertain for his aim4 ,so he       
waited4 ,now and then he examined his   
gun to see if the damp were injuring its
 charge1 now and then he wiped the great
 drops from his forehead4 ,again the    

cocks crowed with the passing hour1--the
 last time they were heard on that      
night4 ,cheerful home sound then1 how   
full of safety and all comfort and rest 
it seemed6 what sweet morning incidents 
of sparkling fire and sunshine1 of gay  
household bustle1 shining dresser1 and  
cooing baby1 of steaming cattle in the  
yard1 and brimming milk-pails at the    
door6 what pleasant voices6 what        
laughter6 what security6 and here----   
,now1 as she sang on in the slow1       
endless1 infinite moments1 the fervent  
vision of ,god's peace was gone4 ,just  
as the grave had lost its sting1 she was
 snatched back again into the arms of   
earthly hope4 ,in vain she tried to     
sing1 ,there remaineth a rest for the   
people of ,god1--her eyes trembled on   
her husband's1 and she could think only 
of him1 and of the child1 and of        
happiness that yet might be1 but with   
what a dreadful gulf of doubt between6  
,she shuddered now in the suspense2 all 
calm forsook her2 she was tortured with 

dissolving heats or frozen with icy     
blasts2 her face contracted1 growing    
small and pinched2 her voice was hoarse 
and sharp1--every tone cut like a       
knife1--the notes became heavy to       
lift1--withheld by some hostile         
pressure1--impossible4 ,one gasp1 a     
convulsive effort1 and there was        
silence1--she had lost her voice4  ,the 
beast made a sluggish                   
movement1--stretched and fawned like one
 awaking1--then1 as if he would have yet
 more of the enchantment1 stirred her   
slightly with his muzzle4 ,as he did so1
 a sidelong hint of the man standing    
below with the raised gun smote him2 he 
sprung round furiously1 and1 seizing his
 prey1 was about to leap into some      
unknown airy den of the topmost branches
 now waving to the slow dawn4 ,the late 
moon had rounded through the sky so that
 her gleam at last fell full upon the   
bough with fairy frosting2 the wintry   
morning light did not yet penetrate the 
gloom4 ,the woman1 suspended in mid-air 

an instant1 cast only one agonized      
glance beneath1--but across and through 
it1 ere the lids could fall1 shot a     
withering sheet of flame1--a            
rifle-crack1 half heard1 was lost in the
 terrible yell of desperation that      
bounded after it and filled her ears    
with savage echoes1 and in the wide arc 
of some eternal descent she was         
falling2--but the beast fell under her4 
,i think that the moment following must 
have been too sacred for us1 and perhaps
 the three have no special interest     
again till they issue from the shadows  
of the wilderness upon the white hills  
that skirt their home4 ,the father      
carries the child hushed again into     
slumber2 the mother follows with no such
 feeble step as might be                
anticipated1--and as they slowly climb  
the steep under the clear gray sky and  
the paling morning star1 she stops to   
gather a spray of the red-rose berries  
or a feathery tuft of dead grasses for  
the chimney-piece of the log-house1 or a

 handful of brown ones for the child's  
play1--and of these quiet1 happy folk   
you would scarcely dream how lately they
 had stolen from under the banner and   
encampment of the great ,king ,death4   
,the husband proceeds a step or two in  
advance2 the wife lingers over a        
singular foot-print in the snow1 stoops 
and examines it1 then looks up with a   
hurried word4 ,her husband stands alone 
on the hill1 his arms folded across the 
babe1 his gun fallen1--stands defined   
against the pallid sky like a bronze4   
,what is there in their home1 lying     
below and yellowing in the light1 to fix
 him with such a stare8 ,she springs to 
his side4 ,there is no home there4 ,the 
log-house1 the barns1 the neighboring   
farms1 the fences1 are all blotted out  
and mingled in one smoking ruin4        
,desolation and death were indeed there1
 and beneficence and life in the forest4
 ,tomahawk and scalping-knife1          
descending during that night1 had left  
behind them only this work of their     

accomplished hatred and one subtle      
foot-print in the snow4  ,for the       
rest1--the world was all before them1   
where to choose4         99       99    
99       99       99  ,,urania4   ,hast 
thou forgotten whose thou art8   ,to    
what high service consecrate8 ,i gave   
thee not a noble heart   ,to wed with   
such ignoble fate4  ,i found thee where 
the laurels grow   ,around the lonely   
,delphian shrine2 ,there1 where the     
sacred fountains flow1   ,i found thee1 
and ,i made thee mine4  ,i gave thy soul
 to agony1   ,and strange unsatisfied   
desire1 ,that thou mightst dearer be to 
me1   ,and worthier of thy burning lyre4
  ,o child1 thy fate had made thee ,god1
   ,to thee such powers divine were     
given2 ,the paths of fire thou mightst  
have trod   ,had led thee to the stars  
of heaven4  ,and those who in the early 
dawn   ,of beauty sat and sang of day1  
,deep in their twilight shades          
withdrawn1   ,had heard thy coming far  
away1--  ,with haunting music sweet and 

strange1   ,and airs ambrosial blown    
before1 ,vague breathings of the floral 
change   ,that glorifies the hills of   
yore3  ,had felt the joy those only find
   ,who in their secret souls have known
 ,the mystery of the poet mind   ,that  
through all beauty feels its own3  ,had 
felt the ,god within them rise   ,to    
meet thy radiant soul divine2 ,had      
searched with their prophetic eyes      
,the midnight luminous of thine4  ,so   
fondly did ,urania deem6   ,so proudly  
did she prophesy6 ,oh1 ruin of a noble  
dream   ,she thought too glorious to    
die6  ,nor knew thy passionate songs of 
yore   ,were as a promise unfulfilled1--
 ,a stately portal set before   ,the    
palace thou shall never build6  ,for is 
it come to this1 at last8   ,and thou   
forever must remain ,a godlike statue1  
formed and cast   ,in marble attitude of
 pain1--  ,proud lips that in their     
scorn are mute1   ,and haunting eyes of 
anguished love1 ,one hand that grasps a 
silent lute1   ,and one convulsd hand   

above  ,that will not strike8 ,ah1 scorn
 and shame6   ,shame for the apostate   
unforgiven1 ,beholding an unconquered   
fame   ,in undiscovered fields of       
heaven6  ,for ,beauty not by one alone  
,in her completeness is revealed3 ,the  
smiles and tears her face hath shown    
,to thee from others are concealed4     
,men see not in the midnight sky   ,all 
miracles she worketh there3 ,it is the  
blindness of the eye   ,that paints its 
darkness on the air4  ,two friends who  
wander by the shore   ,look not upon the
 selfsame seas1 ,hearing two voices in  
the roar1   ,because of different       
memories4  ,for him whose love the sea  
hath drowned1   ,it moans the music of  
his wrong2 ,for him whose life with love
 is crowned1   ,it breaks upon the beach
 in song4  ,so dreaming not another's   
dream1   ,but still interpreting thine  
own1 ,by woodland wild and quiet stream 
,thou wanderest in the world alone4     
,then what thou slayest none can save3  
,silent and dark oblivion rolls ,over   

the glory in the grave   ,of fierce and 
suicidal souls4  ,from that dark wave no
 pleading ghost   ,with pointing hand   
shall ever rise1 ,to say1--,the world   
hath treasure lost1   ,and here the     
buried treasure lies6  ,beware1 and yet 
beware6 my fear   ,unfolds a vision in  
the gloom ,of ,beauty borne upon her    
bier1   ,and ,darkness crouching in the 
tomb4  ,beware1 and yet beware6 her end 
,is thine2 or else1 her shadowy hearse  
,beside1 thy spirit shall descend   ,the
 vast sepulchral universe1  ,and1 with  
the passion that remains   ,in desolated
 hearts1 implore ,the spectre sitting   
bound in chains   ,to yield what he     
shall not restore3--  ,the mystery whose
 soul divine   ,breathed love1 and only 
love1 on thee2 ,which better far had not
 been thine1   ,than1 having been1 to   
cease to be4     ,,mary ,,somerville4   
,there have been in every age a few     
women of genius who have become the     
successful rivals of man in the paths   
which they have severally chosen4 ,three

 instances are of our time4 ,mrs4       
,browning is called a poet even by      
poets2 the artists admit that ,rosa     
,bonheur is a painter2 and the          
mathematicians accord to ,mary          
,somerville a high rank among           
themselves4  ,in pure mathematics1 said 
,humboldt1 ,mrs4 ,somerville is strong4 
,of no other woman of the age could the 
remark have been made2 and this would   
probably be true1 were the walks of     
science as marked by the feminine       
footprint as are those of literature4   
,to read mathematical works is an easy  
task2 the formula can be learned and    
their meaning apprehended3 to read the  
most profound of them1 with such        
appreciation that one stands side by    
side with the great minds who originated
 them1 requires a higher order of       
intellect2 and far-reaching indeed is   
that which1 pondering in the study on a 
few phenomena known by observation1     
develops the theory of worlds1 traces   
back for ages their history1 and        

sketches the outline of their future    
destiny4  ,caroline ,herschel1 the      
sister of ,sir ,william1 was doubtless  
gifted with much of the ,herschel       
talent1 and1 under other circumstances1 
her mind might have turned to original  
research2 but she belonged rather to the
 last century1 and ,hanover was not a   
region favorable to intellectual efforts
 in her sex4 ,she lived the life of a   
simple-hearted1 truth-loving woman2 most
 worthy of the name she bore1 she made  
notes for her brother1 she swept the    
heavens and found comets for him1 she   
computed and tabulated his observations2
 it seems never to have occurred to her 
to be other than the patient1 helping   
sister of a truly great man4  ,mrs4     
,somerville's life has been more        
individual4 ,she is the daughter of     
,admiral ,fairfax1 and was born in      
,fifeshire1 ,scotland1 ,december #bf1   
#aghj1 in the house of her uncle1 the   
father of her present husband4  ,the    
home training and the school education  

of the daughters of ,great ,britain are 
very unlike those of their ,american    
sisters4 ,the manners and customs of the
 ,old ,world change so slowly1 that one 
can scarcely assent to a remark made by 
,sir ,john ,herschel3--,the ,englishman 
sticks to his old ways1 but is not      
cemented to them4 ,the ,englishwoman    
submits to authority from her infancy2  
belonging to the middle class1 she does 
not expect the higher education of the  
nobility2 a woman1 she is not supposed  
to desire to enter into the studies of  
her brothers4 ,a governess1 generally   
the daughter of a curate1 who prefers   
this position to that of companion to a 
fine lady1 is provided for her in her   
early years4 ,if the choice be fortunate
 and the parents watchful1 the young    
girl is thoroughly taught in a few      
branches of what are commonly considered
 feminine studies4 ,she learns to read  
and to speak ,french2 tutors are        
employed for music and drawing3 every   
young lady above the rank of the        

tradesman's daughter plays well upon the
 piano2 every one has her portfolio of  
drawings1 in which sketches from ,nature
 can always be found1 and frequently the
 family portraits4 ,the history of the  
country is considered a study suitable  
for girls2 the ,englishman expects that 
his daughter shall know something of the
 past1 of which he is so justly proud4  
,but the more solid book-learning given 
to the girls of ,new ,england1 even in  
the public schools1 is known only to the
 daughters of the higher classes1 and   
among them an instance like that of     
,lady ,jane ,grey could scarcely now be 
found4 ,as the girls and boys are never 
taught in the same schools1 no taste is 
aroused by the example of manly studies4
 ,an ,english girl is astonished to hear
 that an ,american girl passes a public 
examination1 like her brothers1 and with
 them competes for prizes2 she doubts   
the truthfulness of some of the         
representations of life found in        
,american novels2 and so little is the  

freedom of manners understood1 that the 
,american traveller is frequently       
asked1--,can it really be as ,mrs4      
,stowe represents in ,america8 ,does a  
young lady really give a party herself8 
,the difference that one would expect is
 found between the women of ,england or 
,scotland and the women of ,new         
,england4 ,the young ,englishwoman is   
tasteful and elegant1 mindful of all the
 proprieties and graces of social life2 
she speaks slowly and cautiously1 and   
gives her opinions with great modesty4  
,these are not at present the           
characteristics of the ,american girl4  
,mary ,fairfax passed through the usual 
routine4 ,at fourteen she had read the  
books to be found in her father's house1
 including the few works on ,navigation 
which were necessary to him in his      
profession4 ,she had thus obtained an   
idea of the world of science1 and it was
 dull to return to worsted-work for     
amusement4 ,the needle1 which has been  
the fetter of so many women1 became1    

however1 in her hand1 magnetic1 and     
pointed her to her destiny4 ,she was in 
the habit of taking her work into her   
brother's study1 and listening to his   
recitations2 the revelations of         
,geometry were thus opened to her2 she  
listened and worked for a time1 until   
the desire to know more of this region  
of form and law1 of harmony and of      
relations1 became too strong to be      
resisted2 the worsted was thrown aside1 
and she ventured to ask the tutor to    
instruct her4 ,the honest man told her  
that he was no mathematician3 he could  
lend her ,euclid1 but he could do no    
more4  ,the first great step was now    
taken2 ,euclid was quickly read2 other  
books were borrowed from other friends2 
,bonnycastle's and ,euler's ,algebra    
were obtained1 and she exulted in the   
use of those mystic symbols1 x1 y1 and  
z4 ,her parents looked on with          
indifference2 so that the music were not
 neglected and the governess reported   
well of her studies1 they felt there was

 no harm in her amusing herself as she  
chose4 ,when the days of the governess  
were over1 the young lady came out in   
,edinburgh1 and mingled much with the   
best society4 ,this most picturesque    
city had long been the resort of the    
most gifted minds2 men of literature and
 men of science made the charm of its   
winter life4 ,never was it more the     
gathering-place of intellect than in the
 early part of this century2 but there  
was no room for a woman of genius1 and  
the young girl's friends advised her to 
conceal her pursuits4 ,move as quietly1 
however1 and as unobtrusively as she    
might in the brilliant circle1 her      
genius was not without recognition4     
,there was a word of encouragement from 
,professor ,playfair4 ,persevere in your
 study1 said he2 it will be a source of 
happiness to you when all else fails2   
for it is the study of truth4 ,she had a
 champion1 too1 in the dreaded critic1  
,jeffrey4 ,i am told1 said a friend1    
writing to him1 that the ladies of      

,edinburgh are literary1 and that one of
 them sets up as a blue-stocking and an 
astronomer4 ,the lady of whom you speak1
 replied ,jeffrey1 may wear blue        
stockings1 but her petticoats are so    
long that ,i have never seen them4      
,mrs4 ,somerville has been twice        
married4 ,her first husband1 a gentleman
 of the name of ,greig1 regarded her    
pursuits as her parents had1 simply with
 indifference4 ,dr4 ,somerville1 her    
present husband1 has taken the utmost   
pains to secure her time for her        
studies1 and has himself relieved her   
from many household cares4  ,the        
simplicity of character which belonged  
to her in early life was not lost when  
her reputation became established4 ,the 
,royal ,society1 whose doors do not open
 at every knock1 admitted her to        
membership1 and1 by their order1 her    
bust was sculptured by ,chantrey1 and   
now adorns the hall of the ,society in  
,somerset ,house4 ,during the sittings  
for this purpose1 a lady1 a friend of   

the sculptor1 him to introduce her to   
,mrs4 ,somerville4 ,chantrey consented1 
and made a dinner-party for the purpose4
 ,the two ladies were placed side by    
side at table1 and the benevolent artist
 rejoiced to perceive1 from the flow of 
talk1 that they were mutually pleased4  
,the next day1 to his astonishment1 his 
friend called on him in a state of great
 indignation1 believing herself the     
victim of a practical joke4 ,how could  
you do so8 said she4 ,you knew that ,i  
did not want to know that ,mrs4         
,somerville2 ,i wanted to know the      
astronomer3 that lady talked of the     
theatre1 the opera1 and common things4  
,the anecdote so often told of          
,laplace's compliment is literally true4
 ,mrs4 ,somerville dined with this great
 geometer in ,paris4 ,i write books1    
said ,laplace1 that no one can read4    
,only two women have ever read the      
',mcanique ,cleste'2 both are ,scotch   
women3 ,mrs4 ,greig and yourself4  ,upon
 the ,mcanique ,cleste ,mrs4            

,somerville's greatest work is founded4 
,i simply translated ,laplace's work1   
said she1 from algebra into common      
language4 ,that is1 she did what very   
few men and no other woman could do4 ,it
 is of this work of ,laplace that       
,bonaparte said1 ,i will give to it my  
first six months of leisure4 ,the       
student who reads it by the aid of ,dr4 
,bowditch's notes has little idea of the
 difficulties to be met in the original 
work4 ,even ,dr4 ,bowditch himself said1
 ,i never come across one of ,laplace's 
',thus it plainly appears1' without     
feeling sure that ,i have got hours of  
hard study before me1 to fill up the    
chasm and show how it plainly appears4  
,this translation into common language  
was undertaken at the request of ,lord  
,brougham1 who desired a mathematical   
work suited to the ,library of ,useful  
,knowledge4 ,the manuscript was         
submitted to ,sir ,john ,herschel1 who  
expressed himself delighted with        
it1--that it was a book for posterity1  

but quite above the class for which     
,lord ,brougham's course was intended4  
,it was published at once1 and became   
the text-book for the students of       
,cambridge4  ,the ,connection of the    
,physical ,sciences and the ,physical   
,geography are the later works of ,mrs4 
,somerville4 ,these volumes have        
probably been more read in our country  
than in ,europe2 for it is a common     
remark of the scientific writers of     
,great ,britain1 that their readers are 
found in the ,united ,states4 ,they     
contain vast collections of facts in all
 branches of ,physical ,science1        
connected together by the delicate web  
of ,mrs4 ,somerville's own thought1     
showing an amount and variety of        
learning to be compared only to that of 
,humboldt4  ,provided with an open      
sesame to her heart1 in the shape of a  
letter from her old friend1 ,lady       
,herschel1 we sought the acquaintance of
 ,mrs4 ,somerville in the spring of     
#aheh4 ,she was at that time residing in

 ,florence1 and1 sending the letter and 
a card to her by the servant1 we awaited
 the reply in the large ,florentine     
parlor1 in the fireplace of which a     
wood-fire blazed1 suggestive of ,english
 comfort1--a suggestion which in ,italy 
rarely becomes a reality4  ,there was   
the usual delay2 then a footstep came   
slowly through the outer room1 and a    
very old man1 exceedingly tall1 with a  
red silk handkerchief around his head1  
entered1 and introduced himself as      
,doctor ,somerville4 ,he is proud of his
 wife2 a pardonable weakness in any man1
 especially so in the husband of ,mary  
,somerville4 ,he began at once to talk  
of her4 ,mrs4 ,somerville1 he said1 was 
much interested in the ,americans1 for  
she claimed a connection with the family
 of ,washington4 ,washington's          
half-brother1 ,lawrence1 married ,anne  
,fairfax1 who was of the ,scotch family 
of that name4 ,when ,mrs4 ,somerville's 
father1 as ,lieutenant ,fairfax1 was    
ordered to ,america1 ,general           

,washington wrote to him as a family    
relative1 and invited him to his house4 
,lieutenant ,fairfax applied to his     
commanding officer for leave to accept  
the invitation1 and it was refused2 they
 never met4 ,much to the regret of the  
,somervilles1 the letter of ,washington 
has been lost4 ,the ,fairfaxes of       
,virginia are of the same family1 and   
occasionally some member of the         
,american branch visits his ,scotch     
cousins4  ,while ,doctor ,somerville was
 talking of these things1 ,mrs4         
,somerville came tripping into the room1
 speaking with the vivacity of a young  
person4 ,she was seventy-seven years    
old1 but appeared twenty years younger4 
,her face is pleasing1 the forehead low 
and broad1 the eyes blue1--the features 
so regular1 that1 as sculptured by      
,chantrey1 in the bust at ,somerset     
,house1 they convey the idea of a very  
handsome woman4 ,neither this bust nor  
the picture of her1 however1 gives a    
correct impression1 except in the       

outline of the head and shoulders4 ,she 
spoke with a strong ,scotch accent1 and 
was slightly affected by deafness4  ,at 
this time1 ,mrs4 ,somerville was        
re-writing her ,physical ,geography4    
,she said that she worked as well as    
when she was younger1 but was more      
quickly fatigued2 yet1 in order to gain 
time1 she had given up her afternoon    
nap1 without apparent injury to her     
health4 ,her working hours were in the  
morning1 and she never refused a visitor
 after noon4 ,for her first work she    
said she computed a good deal2 and here 
she stepped quickly into an adjoining   
room1 and brought out a mass of         
manuscript computations made for that   
work1 the mere sight of which would give
 a headache to most women4 ,the         
conversation was rather of the familiar 
and chatty order1 and marked by great   
simplicity4 ,she touched upon the recent
 discoveries in chemical science1--upon 
,california1 its gold and its           
consequences1 some good from which she  

thought would be found in the           
improvement of seamanship1--on the      
nebulae1 more and more of which she     
thought would be resolved1 while yet    
there might exist irresolvable nebulous 
matter1 such as composed the tails of   
comets1 or the satellites of the        
planets1 which she thought had other    
uses than as their subordinates4 ,of    
,doctor ,whewell's attempt to prove that
 our planet is the only one inhabited   
she spoke with disapprobation2 she said 
she believed that the other planets     
might be inhabited by beings of a higher
 order than ourselves4  ,on subsequent  
visits1 ,mrs4 ,somerville had much to   
say of the ,americans4 ,she regretted   
that she so rarely received scientific  
articles from ,america2 the papers of   
,lieutenant ,maury alone reached her4   
,she spoke of the late ,doctor ,bowditch
 with great interest1 and said she had  
had some correspondence with one of his 
sons2 of ,professor ,peirce as a great  
mathematician2 and she was much         

interested in the successful photography
 of the stars by ,mr4 ,whipple4 ,to a   
traveller1 thousands of miles from home1
 the mere mention of familiar names is  
cheering4  ,mrs4 ,somerville resides in 
,florence on account of the health of   
her husband4 ,a little garden1          
well-stocked with rose-bushes1 which she
 shows with great pride to her visitors1
 furnishes her with a means of healthy  
recreation after her severe studies4    
,her children are a son by ,mr4 ,greig  
and two daughters by ,doctor            
,somerville4 ,in early life1 ,mrs4      
,somerville was a fine musician3 the    
daughters have inherited this talent2   
and having lived long in ,florence1 they
 speak ,italian with a perfect accent4  
,i speak ,italian1 said ,mrs4           
,somerville2 but no one could ever take 
me for other than a ,scotchwoman4  ,no  
one can make the acquaintance of this   
remarkable woman without increased      
admiration for her4 ,the ascent of the  
steep and rugged path of science has not

 unfitted her for the drawing-room      
circle2 the hours of devotion to close  
study have not been incompatible with   
the duties of the wife and the mother2  
the mind that has turned to rigid       
demonstration has not thereby lost its  
faith in the truths which figures will  
not prove4 ,i have no doubt1 said she1  
in speaking of the heavenly bodies1 that
 in another state of existence we shall 
know more about these things4     ,,roba
 ,,di ,,roma4  ,,may ,,in ,,rome4   ,may
 has come again1--the delicate-footed   
,may1 her feet hidden in flowers as she 
wanders over the ,campagna1 and the cool
 breeze of the ,campagna blowing back   
her loosened hair4 ,she calls to us from
 the open fields to leave the wells of  
damp churches and shadowy streets1 and  
to come abroad and meet her where the   
mountains look down from roseate heights
 of vanishing snow upon plains of waving
 grain4 ,the hedges have put on their   
best draperies of leaves and flowers1   
and1 girdled in at their waist by double

 osier bands1 stagger luxuriantly along 
the road like a drunken ,bacchanal      
procession1 crowned with festive ivy1   
and holding aloft their snowy clusters  
of elder-blossoms like thyrsi4 ,among   
their green robes may be seen thousands 
of beautiful wild-flowers1--the         
sweet-scented laurustinus1 all sorts of 
running vetches and wild sweet-pea1 the 
delicate vases of dewy morning-glories1 
clusters of eglantine or sweetbrier     
roses1 fragrant acacia-blossoms covered 
with bees and buzzing flies1 the gold of
 glowing gorses1 and scores of purple   
and yellow flowers1 of which ,i know not
 the names4 ,on the gray walls1 vines1  
grass1 and the humble class of flowers  
which go by the ignoble name of weeds   
straggle and cluster2 and over them1    
held down by the green cord of the      
stalk1 balance the bursted balloons of  
hundreds of flaming scarlet poppies that
 seem to have fed on fire4 ,the         
undulating swell of the ,campagna is    
here ablaze with them for acres1 and    

there deepening with growing grain1 or  
snowed over with myriads of daisies4    
,music and song1 too1 are not wanting2  
hundreds of birds are in the hedges4    
,the lark1 from his moist cabinet       
rising1 rains down his trills of        
incessant song from invisible heights of
 blue sky2 and whenever one passes the  
wayside groves1 a nightingale is sure to
 bubble into song4 ,the oranges1 too1   
are in blossom1 perfuming the air2      
locust-trees are tasselled with odorous 
flowers2 and over the walls of the      
,campagna villa bursts a cascade of     
vines covered with foamy ,banksia roses4
  ,the ,carnival of the kitchen-gardens 
is now commencing4 ,peas are already an 
old story1 strawberries are abundant1   
and cherries are beginning to make their
 appearance1 in these first days of     
,may2 old women sell them at every      
corner1 tied together in tempting       
bunches1 as in the cherry-orchard which 
,miss ,edgeworth has made fairy-land in 
our childish memories4 ,asparagus also  

has long since come2 and artichokes make
 their daily appearance on the table1   
sliced up and fried1 or boiled whole1 or
 coming up roasted and gleaming with    
butter1 with more outside capes and     
coats than an ideal ,english coachman of
 the olden times4 ,finocchi1 too1 are   
here1 tasting like anisette1 and good to
 mix in the salads4 ,and great beans lie
 about in piles1 the contadini twisting 
them out of their thick pods with their 
thumbs1 to eat them raw4 ,nay1 even the 
signoria of the noble families do the   
same1 as they walk through the gardens1 
and think them such a luxury that they  
eat them raw for breakfast4 ,but over   
and above all other vegetables are the  
lettuces1 which are one of the great    
staples of food for the ,roman people1  
and so crisp1 fresh1 delicate1 and      
high-flavored1 that be who eats them    
once will hold ,nebuchadnezzar no longer
 a subject for compassion1 but rather of
 envy4 ,drowned in fresh olive-oil and  
strong with vinegar1 they are a feast   

for the gods2 and even in their natural 
state1 without condiments1 they are by  
no means to be despised4 ,at the corners
 of the streets they lie piled in green 
heaps1 and are sold at a baiocco for    
five heads4 ,at noontide1 the contadini 
and laborers feed upon them without even
 the condiment of salt1 crunching their 
white teeth through the crisp1 wet      
leaves1 and alternating a bite at a     
great wedge of bread2 and toward        
nightfall1 one may see carts laden high 
up with closely packed masses of them1  
coming in from the ,campagna for the    
market4 ,in a word1 the festa of the    
vegetables1 at which they do not eat1   
but are eaten1 and the ,carnival of the 
kitchen-garden have come4  ,but--a      
thousand1 thousand pardons1 ,o mighty   
,cavolo6--how have ,i dared omit thy    
august name8 ,on my knees1 ,o potentest 
of vegetables1 ,i crave forgiveness6 ,i 
will burn at thy shrine ten waxen       
candles1 in penance1 if thou wilt pardon
 the sin and shame of my forgetfulness6 

,the smoke of thy altar-fires1 the steam
 of thy incense1 and the odors of thy   
sanctity rise from every hypaethral     
shrine in ,rome4 ,out-doors and         
in-doors1 wherever the foot wanders1 on 
palatial stairs or in the hut of        
poverty1 in the convent pottage and the 
,lepre soup1 in the wooden platter of   
the beggar and the silver tureen of the 
prince1 thou fillest our nostrils1 thou 
satisfiest our stomach4 ,thou hast no   
false pride2 great as thou art1 thou    
condescendest to be exchanged for a     
baiocco4 ,dear enchantress6 to thee1 and
 to thy glorious cousin ,broccoli1 that 
tender-hearted1 efflorescent nymph1 the 
,egeria of the osteria con cucina1 the  
peerless maid that goes with the steak  
and accepts martyrdom without moan1 to  
drive away the demon of ,hunger from her
 devoted followers1--all honor6 ,far    
away1 whenever ,i inhale thy odor1 ,i   
shall think of ,roman ,joys2 a whiff    
from thine altar in a foreign land will 
bear me back to the ,eternal ,city1 the 

,city of the ,soul1 the ,city of the    
,cabbage1 the home of the ,dioscuri1    
,cavolo and ,broccoli6 ,yes1 as ,paris  
is recalled by the odor of chocolate1   
and ,london by the damp steam of malt1  
so shall ,rome come back when my        
nostrils are filled with thy penetrative
 fragrance6  ,saunter out at any of the 
city-gates1 or lean over the wall at    
,san ,giovanni1 7and where will you find
 a more charming spot87 or look down    
from the windows of the ,villa ,negroni1
 and your eye will surely fall on one of
 the ,roman kitchen-gardens1 patterned  
out in even rows and squares of green4  
,nothing can be prettier or more        
tasteful in their arrangement than these
 variegated carpets of vegetables4 ,a   
great cistern of running water crowns   
the height of the ground1 which is used 
for the purposes of irrigation1 and     
towards nightfall the vent is opened1   
and you may see the gardeners imbanking 
the channelled rows to let the          
inundation flow through hundreds of     

little lanes of intersection and canals 
between the beds1 and then banking them 
up at the entrance when a sufficient    
quantity of water has entered4 ,in this 
way they fertilize and refresh the soil1
 which else would parch under the       
continuous sun4 ,and this1 indeed1 is   
all the fertilization they need1--so    
strong is the soil all over the         
,campagna4 ,the accretions and decay of 
thousands of years have covered it with 
a loam whose richness and depth are     
astonishing4 ,dig where you will1 for   
ten feet down1 and you do not pass      
through its wonderfully fertile loam    
into gravel1 and the slightest labor is 
repaid a hundred-fold4  ,as one looks   
from the ,villa ,negroni windows1 he    
cannot fail to be impressed by the      
strange changes through which this      
wonderful city has passed4 ,the very    
spot on which ,nero1 the insane         
emperor-artist1 fiddled while ,rome was 
burning has now become a vast           
kitchen-garden1 belonging to ,prince    

,massimo1 7himself a descendant1 as he  
claims1 of ,fabius ,cunctator17 where   
men no longer1 but only lettuces1       
asparagus1 and artichokes1 are          
ruthlessly cut down4 ,the inundations   
are not for mock sea-fights among       
slaves1 but for the peaceful purposes of
 irrigation4 ,and though the fiddle of  
,nero is only traditional1 the trumpets 
of the ,french1 murdering many an       
unhappy strain near by1 are a most      
melancholy fact4 ,in the bottom of the  
valley1 a noble old villa1 covered with 
frescoes1 has been turned into a        
manufactory of bricks1 and the very     
,villa ,negroni itself is now doomed to 
be the site of a railway station4 ,yet  
here the princely family of ,negroni    
lived1 and the very lady at whose house 
,lucrezia ,borgia took her famous       
revenge may once have sauntered under   
the walls1 which still glow with        
ripening oranges1 to feed the gold-fish 
in the fountain1 or walked with stately 
friends through the long alleys of      

clipped cypresses1 and pic-nicked alia  
,giorgione on lawns which are now but   
kitchen-gardens1 dedicated to ,san      
,cavolo4 ,it pleases me1 also1          
descending in memories to a later time1 
to look up at the summer-house built    
above the gateway1 and recall the days  
when ,shelley and ,keats came there to  
visit their friend ,severn1 the artist1 
7for that was his studio17 and look over
 the same alleys and gardens1 and speak 
words one would have been so glad to    
hear1--and1 coming still later down1 to 
recall the hearty words and brave heart 
of ,america's best sculptor and my dear 
friend1 ,crawford4  ,but to return to   
the kitchen-gardens4 ,pretty as they are
 to the eye1 they are not considered to 
be wholesome2 and no ,roman will live in
 a house near one of them1 especially if
 it lie on the southern and western     
side1 so that the ,sirocco and the      
prevalent summer winds blow over it4    
,the daily irrigation1 in itself1 would 
be sufficient to frighten all ,italians 

away2 for they have a deadly fear of all
 effluvia arising from decomposing      
vegetable substances1 and suppose1 with 
a good deal of truth1 that1 wherever    
there is water on the earth1 there is   
decomposition4 ,but this is not the only
 reason2 for the same prejudice exists  
in regard to all kinds of gardens1      
whether irrigated or not1--and even to  
groves of trees and clusters of bushes1 
or vegetation of any kind1 around a     
house4 ,this is the real reason why1    
even in their country villas1 their     
trees are almost always planted at a    
distance from the house1 so as to expose
 it to the sun and to give it a free    
ventilation2 these they do not care for2
 damp is their determined foe1 and      
therefore they will not purchase the    
luxury of shade from trees at the risk  
of the damp it is supposed to engender4 
,on the north1 however1 gardens are not 
thought to be so prejudicial as on the  
south and west1--as the cold1 dry winds 
come from the former direction4 ,the    

malaria1 as we call it1 though the term 
is unknown to ,romans1 is never so      
dangerous as after a slight rain1 just  
sufficient to wet the surface of the    
earth without deeply penetrating it2 for
 decomposition is then stimulated1 and  
the miasma arising from the ,campagna is
 blown abroad4 ,so long as the earth is 
dry1 there is no danger of fever1 except
 at morning and nightfall1 and then     
simply because of the heavy dews which  
the porous and baked earth then inhales 
and expires4 ,after the autumn has given
 a thorough1 drenching rain1 ,rome is   
healthy and free from fever4  ,rome has 
with strangers the reputation of being  
unhealthy2 but this opinion ,i cannot   
think well founded1--to the extent1 at  
least1 of the common belief4 ,the       
diseases of children there are          
ordinarily very light1 while in ,america
 and ,england they are terrible4        
,scarlet and typhus fevers1 those       
fearful scourges in the ,north1 are     
known at ,rome only under most mitigated

 forms4 ,cholera has shown no virulence 
there2 and for diseases of the throat   
and lungs the air alone is almost       
curative4 ,the great curse of the place 
is the intermittent fever1 in which any 
other illness is apt to end4 ,but this1 
except in its peculiar phase of         
,perniciosa1 though a very annoying1 is 
by no means a dangerous disease1 and has
 the additional advantage of a specific 
remedy4 ,the ,romans themselves of the  
better class seldom suffer from it1 and 
,i cannot but think that with a little  
prudence it may be easily avoided4      
,those who are most attacked by it are  
the laborers and contadini on the       
,campagna2 and how can it be otherwise  
with them8 ,they sleep often on the bare
 ground1 or on a little straw under a   
capanna just large enough to admit them 
on all-fours4 ,their labor is           
exhausting1 and performed in the sun1   
and while in a violent perspiration they
 are often exposed to sudden draughts   
and checks4 ,their food is poor1 their  

habits careless1 and it would require an
 iron constitution to resist what they  
endure4 ,but1 despite the life they lead
 and their various exposures1 they are  
for the most part a very strong and     
sturdy class4 ,this intermittent fever  
is undoubtedly a far from pleasant      
thing2 but ,americans who are terrified 
at it in ,rome give it no thought in    
,philadelphia1 where it is more         
prevalent1--and while they call ,rome   
unhealthy1 live with undisturbed        
confidence in cities where scarlet and  
typhus fevers annually rage4  ,it is a  
curious fact1 that the ,french soldiers1
 who in #ahdh made the siege of ,rome1  
suffered no inconvenience or injury to  
their health from sleeping on the       
,campagna1 and that1 despite the        
prophecies to the contrary1 very few    
cases of fever appeared1 though the     
siege lasted during all the summer      
months4 ,the reason of this is doubtless
 to be found in the fact that they were 
better clothed1 better fed1 and in every

 way more careful of themselves1 than   
the contadini4 ,foreigners1 too1 who    
visit ,rome1 are very seldom attacked by
 intermittent fever2 and it may truly be
 said1 that1 when they are1 it is1 for  
the most part1 their own fault4 ,there  
is generally the grossest inconsistency 
between their theories and their        
practice4 ,believing as they do that the
 least exposure will induce fever1 they 
expose themselves with singular         
recklessness to the very causes of      
fever4 ,after hurrying through the      
streets and getting into a violent      
perspiration1 they plunge at once into  
some damp pit-like church or chill      
gallery1 where the temperature is at    
least ten degrees lower than the outer  
air4 ,the bald-headed1 rosy ,john ,bull1
 steaming with heat1 doffs at once the  
hat which he wore in the street1 and1 of
 course1 is astounded1 if the result    
prove just what it would be anywhere    
else1--and if he take cold and get a    
fever1 charges it to the climate1 and   

not to his own stupidity and            
recklessness4 ,beside this1 foreigners  
will always insist on carrying their    
home-habits with them wherever they go1 
and it is exceedingly difficult to      
persuade any one that he does not       
understand the climate better than the  
,italians themselves1 whom he puts down 
as a poor set of timid ignoramuses4     
,however1 the longer one lives in ,rome1
 the more he learns to value the        
,italian rules of health4 ,there is     
probably no people so careful in these  
matters as the ,italians1 and especially
 the ,romans4 ,they understand their own
 climate1 and they have a special       
dislike of death4 ,in ,france and       
,england suicides are very common2 in   
,italy they are almost unknown4 ,the    
,american recklessness of life          
completely astounds the ,italian4 ,he   
enjoys life1 studies every method to    
preserve it1 and considers any one who  
risks it unnecessarily as simply a fool4
  ,what1 then1 are their rules of life8 

,in the first place1 in all their habits
 they are very regular4 ,they eat at    
stated times1 and cannot be persuaded to
 partake of anything in the intervals4  
,if it be not their hour for eating1    
they will refuse the choicest viands1   
and will sit at your table fasting1     
despite every temptation you can offer  
them4 ,they are also very abstemious in 
their diet1 and gluttony is the very    
rarest of vices4 ,i do not believe there
 is another nation in ,europe that eats 
so sparingly4 ,in the morning they take 
a cup of coffee1 generally without milk1
 sopping in it some light brioche4      
,later in the day they take a slight    
lunch of soup and macaroni1 with a glass
 of wine4 ,this lasts them until dinner1
 which begins with a watery soup2 after 
which the lesso or boiled meat comes on 
and is eaten with one vegetable1 which  
is less a dish than a garnish to the    
meat2 then comes a dish of some         
vegetable eaten with bread2 then1       
perhaps1 a chop1 or another dish of     

meat1 garnished with a vegetable2 some  
light dolce or fruit1 and a cup of black
 coffee1--the latter for digestion's    
sake1--finish the repast4 ,the quantity 
is very small1 however1 compared to what
 is eaten in ,england1 ,france1         
,america1 or1 though last1 not least1   
,germany4 ,late in the evening they have
 a supper4 ,when dinner is taken in the 
middle of the day1 lunch is omitted4    
,this is the rule of the better classes4
 ,the workmen and middle classes1 after 
their cup of coffee and bit of bread or 
brioche in the morning1 take nothing    
until night1 except another cup of      
coffee and bread1--and their dinner     
finishes their meals after their work is
 done4 ,from my own observation1 ,i     
should say that an ,italian does not    
certainly eat more than half as much as 
a ,german1 or two-thirds as much as an  
,american4 ,the climate will not allow  
of gormandizing1 and much less food is  
required to sustain the vital powers    
than in ,america1 where the atmosphere  

is so stimulating to the brain and the  
digestion1 or in ,england1 where the    
depressing effects of the climate must  
be counteracted by stimulants4 ,go to   
any table d'hte in the season1 and you  
will at once know all the ,english who  
are new comers by their bottle of ale or
 claret or sherry or brandy2 for the    
,englishman assimilates with difficulty1
 and unwillingly puts off his           
home-habits4 ,the fresh ,american will  
always be recognized by the             
morning-dinner1 which he calls a        
breakfast4  ,if you wish to keep your   
health in ,italy1 follow the example of 
the ,italians4 ,eat a third less than   
you are accustomed to at home4 ,do not  
drink habitually of brandy1 porter1 ale1
 or even ,marsala1 but confine          
yourselves to the lighter wines of the  
country or of ,france4 ,do not walk much
 in the sun2 only ,englishmen and dogs  
do that1 as the proverb goes2 and       
especially take heed not to expose      
yourself1 when warm1 to any sudden      

changes of temperature4 ,if you have    
heated yourself with walking in the sun1
 be careful not to go at once1 and      
especially towards nightfall1 into the  
lower and shaded streets1 which have    
begun to gather the damps1 and which are
 kept cool by the high1 thick walls of  
the houses4 ,remember that the          
difference of temperature is very great 
between the narrow1 shaded streets and  
the high1 sunny ,pincio4 ,if you have   
the misfortune to be of the male sex1   
and especially if you suffer under the  
sorrow of the first great ,caesar in    
being bald1 buy yourself a little       
skullcap1 7it is as good as his laurels 
for the purpose17 and put it on your    
head whenever you enter the churches and
 cold galleries4 ,almost every fever    
here is the result of suddenly checked  
transpiration of the skin2 and if you   
will take the precaution to cool        
yourself before entering churches and   
galleries1 and not to expose yourself   
while warm to sudden changes of         

temperature1 you may live twenty years  
in ,rome without a fever4 ,do not stand 
in draughts of cold air1 and shut your  
windows when you go to bed4 ,there is   
nothing an ,italian fears like a current
 of air1 and with reason4 ,he will never
 sit between two doors or two windows4  
,if he has walked to see you and is in  
the least warm1 pray him to keep his hat
 on until he is cool1 if you would be   
courteous to him4 ,you will find that he
 will always use the same gentilezza to 
you4 ,the reason why you should shut    
your windows at night is very simple4   
,the night-air is invariably damp and   
cold1 contrasting greatly with the      
warmth of the day1 and it is then that  
the miasma from the ,campagna drifts    
into the city4 ,and oh1 my ,american    
friends6 repress your national love for 
hot rooms and great fires1 and do not   
make an oven of your salon4 ,bake       
yourselves1 kiln-dry yourselves1 if you 
choose1 in your furnaced houses at home1
 but1 if you value your health1 reform  

that altogether in ,italy4 ,increase    
your clothing and suppress your fires1  
and you will find yourselves better in  
head and in pocket4 ,with your great    
fires you will always be cold and always
 have colds2 for the houses are not     
tight1 and you only create great        
draughts thereby4 ,you will not persuade
 an ,italian to sit near them2--,scusa1 
,signore he will say1 mi fa male2 se non
 gli dispiace1 mi metto in questo       
cantone1--and with your permission he   
takes the farthest corner away from the 
fire4 ,seven winters in ,rome have      
convinced me of the correctness of their
 rule4 ,of course1 you do not believe me
 or them2 but it would be better for    
you1 if you did1--and for me1 too1 when 
,i come to visit you4  ,but ,i must beg 
pardon for all this advice2 and as my   
business is not to write a medical      
thesis here1 let me return to pleasanter
 things4  ,scarcely does the sun drop   
behind ,st4 ,peter's on the first day of
 ,may1 before bonfires begin to blaze   

from all the country towns on the       
mountain-sides1 showing like great      
beacons4 ,this is a custom founded in   
great antiquity1 and common to the      
,north and ,south4 ,the first of ,may is
 the ,festival of the ,holy ,apostles in
 ,italy2 but in ,germany1 and still     
farther north1 in ,sweden and ,norway1  
it is ,walpurgisnacht1--when goblins1   
witches1 hags1 and devils hold high     
holiday1 mounting on their brooms for   
the ,brocken4 ,and it was on this night 
that ,mephistopheles carried ,faust on  
his wondrous ride1 and showed him the   
spectre of ,margaret with the red line  
round her throat4 ,miss ,bremer1 in her 
,life in ,dalecarlia1 gives the         
following account of the origin of this 
custom3--,it is so old1 she says1 that  
there is no perfect certainty either of 
its origin or signification4 ,it is1    
however1 believed that it derives its   
origin from a heathen sacrificatory     
festival2 and there is ground for the   
acceptation that children were          

sacrificed alive at this very           
feast1--and this1 in fact1 in order to  
expel or reconcile the evil spirits1 of 
whom the people believed1 that1 partly  
flying1 partly riding1 they commenced   
their passages over fields and woods at 
the beginning of spring1 and which are  
to this day called enchanters1 witches1 
nymphs1 and so forth4 ,it is also       
believed that about this time the       
spirits of the earth came forth from out
 of the bosom of the earth and the heart
 of the mountains in order to seek      
intercourse with the children of men4   
,fires were frequently kindled upon the 
sepulchral hills1 and at these1         
sacrifices were offered1 chiefly to the 
good powers1 namely1 to those who       
provide for a fruitful year4 ,at present
 ,i should scarcely think there is an   
individual who believes in such         
superstitious stuff4 ,but they still1 as
 in days of yore1 kindle fires upon the 
mountains on this night1 and still look 
upon it as a bad omen1 if any common or 

ugly-formed creature1 whether beast or  
man1 makes its appearance at the fire4  
,in the ,neapolitan towns great fires   
are built on this festival1 around which
 the people dance1 jumping through the  
flames1 and flinging themselves about in
 every wild and fantastic attitude4 ,it 
is probably a relic of some old         
sacrificatory festival to ,maia1 who has
 given her name to this month1--the     
custom still remaining after its        
significance is gone4  ,the month of    
,may is the culmination of the spring   
and the season of seasons at ,rome4 ,no 
wonder that foreigners who have come    
when winter sets in and take wing before
 ,april shows her sky sometimes growl at
 the weather1 and ask if this is the    
beautiful ,italian clime4 ,they have    
simply selected the rainy season for    
their visit2 and one cannot expect to   
have sun the whole year through1 without
 intermission4 ,where will they find    
more sun in the same season8 where will 
they find milder and softer air8 ,days  

even in the middle of winter1 and       
sometimes weeks1 descend as it were from
 heaven to fill the soul with delight2  
and a lovely day in ,rome is lovelier   
than under any other sky on earth4 ,but 
just when foreigners go away in crowds1 
the weather is settling into the        
perfection of spring1 and then it is    
that ,rome is most charming4 ,the rains 
are over1 the sun is a daily blessing1  
all ,nature is bursting into leaf and   
flower1 and one may spend days on the   
,campagna without fear of colds and     
fever4 ,stay in ,rome during ,may1 if   
you wish to feel its beauty4  ,the best 
rule for a traveller who desires to     
enjoy the charms of every clime would be
 to go to the ,north in the winter and  
to the ,south in the spring and summer4 
,cold is the speciality of the ,north1  
and all its sports and gayeties take    
thence their tone4 ,the houses are built
 to shut out the demon of ,frost1 and   
protect one from his assaults of ice and
 snow4 ,let him howl about your windows 

and scrawl his wonderful landscapes on  
your panes and pile his fantastic       
wreaths outside1 while you draw round   
the blazing hearth and enjoy the        
artificial heat and warm in the social  
converse that he provokes4 ,your punch  
is all the better for his threats2 by   
contrast you enjoy the more4 ,or brave  
him outside in a flying sledge1         
careering with jangling bells over white
 wastes of snow1 while the stars1 as you
 go1 fly through the naked trees that   
are glittering with ice-jewels1 and your
 blood tingles with excitement1 and your
 breath is blown like a white incense to
 the skies4 ,that is the real ,north4   
,how tame he will look to you1 when you 
go back in ,august and find a few hard  
apples1 a few tough plums1 and some sour
 little things which are apologies for  
grapes6 ,he looks sneaky enough then1   
with his make-believe summer1 and all   
his furs off4 ,no1 then is the time for 
the ,south4 ,all is simmering outside1  
and the locust saws and shrills till he 

seems to heat the air4 ,you stay in the 
house at noon1 and know what a virtue   
there is in thick walls which keep out  
the fierce heats1 in gaping windows and 
doors that will not shut because you    
need the ventilation4 ,you will not now 
complain of the stone and brick floors  
that you cursed all winter long1 and on 
which you now sprinkle water to keep the
 air cool in your rooms4 ,the blunders  
and stupidities of winter are all over4 
,the breezy loggia is no longer a joke4 
,you are glad enough to sit there and   
drink your wine and look over the       
landscape4 ,manuccia brings in a great  
basket of grapes that are grapes1 which 
the wasp envies you as you eat1 and     
comes to share4 ,and here are luscious  
figs bursting with seedy sweetness1 and 
apricots rusted in the sun1 and velvety 
peaches that break into juice in your   
mouth1 and great black-seeded cocomeri4 
,nature empties her cornucopia of fruits
 and flowers and vegetables all over    
your table4 ,luxuriously you enjoy them 

and fan yourself and take your siesta1  
with full appreciation of your dolce far
 niente4 ,when the sun begins to slope  
westward1 if you are in the country1 you
 wander through the green lanes         
festooned with vines and pluck the      
grapes as you go2 or1 if you are in the 
city1 you saunter the evening long      
through the streets1 where all the world
 are strolling1 and take your granito of
 ice or sherbet1 and talk over the      
things of the day and the time1 and pass
 as you go home groups of singers and   
serenaders with guitars1 flutes1 and    
violins1--serenade1 perhaps1 sometimes1 
yourself2 and all the time the great    
planets and stars palpitate in the near 
heavens1 and the soft air full of       
fragrance blows against your cheek4 ,and
 you can really say1 ,this is ,italy6   
,for it is not what you do1 so much as  
what you feel1 that makes ,italy4  ,but 
pray remember1 when you go there1 that  
in the ,south every arrangement is made 
for the nine hot months1 and not for the

 three cold and rainy ones you choose to
 spend there1 and perhaps your views may
 be somewhat modified in respect of this
 miserable people1 who1 you say1 have no
 idea of comfort1--meaning1 of course1  
,english comfort4 ,perhaps1 ,i say2 for 
it is in the nature of travellers to    
come to sudden conclusions upon slight  
premises1 to maintain with obstinacy    
preconceived notions1 and to quarrel    
with all national traits except their   
own4 ,and being ,english1 unless you    
have a friend in ,india who has made you
 aware that cane-bottom chairs are      
,india-,english1 you will be pretty sure
 to believe that there is no comfort    
without carpets and coal2 or being an   
,american1 you will be apt to undervalue
 a gallery of pictures with only a      
three-ply carpet on the floor1 and to   
calculate1 that1 if they could see your 
house in ,washington ,street1 they would
 feel rather ashamed4 ,however1 there is
 a great deal of human nature in        
mankind1 wherever you go1--except in    

,paris1 perhaps1 where ,nature is rather
 inhuman and artificial4 ,and when ,i   
instance the ,englishman and ,american  
as making false judgments1 let me not be
 misunderstood as supposing them the    
only nations in that category4 ,no1 no6 
did not my ,parisian acquaintance the   
other day assure me very gravely1 after 
lamenting the absurdity of the          
,italians' not speaking ,french instead 
of their own language1--,but1 ,sir1 what
 is this ,italian8 nothing but bad      
,french6--and did not another of that   
same polished nation1 in describing his 
travels to ,naples1 say1 in answer to   
the question1 whether he had seen the   
grand old temples of ,paestum1--,ah1    
yes1 ,i have seen ,paestum2 'tis a      
detestable country6--like the ,campagna 
of ,rome8 ,i am perfectly aware that    
there are differences of opinion4  ,let 
me1 then1 beg you to remain in ,rome    
during the mouth of ,may1 if you can    
possibly make your arrangements to do   
so4  ,may is the month of the ,madonna1 

and on every festa-day you will see at  
the corners of the streets a little     
improvised shrine1 or it may be only a  
festooned print of the ,madonna hung    
against the walls of some house or      
against the back of a chair1 and tended 
by two or three children1 who hold out  
to you a plate1 as you pass1 and beg for
 charity1 sometimes1 ,i confess1 in the 
most pertinacious way1--the money thus  
raised to be expended in oil for the    
lamps before the ,madonna shrines in the
 streets4 ,the monasteries of nuns are  
also busy with processions and          
celebrations in honor of the ,mother of 
,god1 which are carried on pleasantly   
within their precincts and seen only of 
female friends4 ,sometimes you will meet
 a procession of ladies outside the     
gates following a cross on foot1 while  
their carriages come after in a long    
file4 ,these are societies which are    
making the pilgrimage of the ,seven     
,basilicas outside the ,walls4 ,they set
 out early in the morning1 stopping in  

each basilica for a half-hour to say    
their prayers1 and return to ,rome at   
,ave ,maria4  ,life1 too1 is altogether 
changed now4 ,all the windows are wide  
open1 and there is at least one head and
 shoulders leaning out at every house4  
,and the poorer families are all out on 
their door-steps1 working and chatting  
together1 while their children run about
 them in the streets1 sprawling1        
playing1 and fighting4 ,many a beautiful
 theme for the artist is now to be found
 in these careless and characteristic   
groups2 and curly-headed ,saint ,johns  
may be seen in every street1 half naked1
 with great black eyes and rounded arms 
and legs4 ,it is this which makes ,rome 
so admirable a residence for an artist4 
,all things are easy and careless in the
 out-of-doors life of the common        
people1--all poses unsought1 all        
groupings accidental1 all action        
unaffected and unconscious4 ,one meets  
,nature at every turn1--not braced up in
 prim forms1 not conscious in manners1  

not made up into the fashionable or the 
proper1 but impulsive1 free1 and simple4
 ,with the whole street looking on1 they
 are as unconscious and natural as if   
they were where no eye could see        
them1--ay1 and more natural1 too1 than  
it is possible for some people to be1   
even in the privacy of their solitary   
rooms4 ,they sing at the top of their   
lungs as they sit on their door-steps at
 their work1 and often shout from house 
to house across the street a long       
conversation1 and sometimes even read   
letters from upper windows to their     
friends below in the street4 ,the men   
and women who cry their fruits1         
vegetables1 and wares up and down the   
city1 laden with baskets or panniers1   
and often accompanied by a donkey1 stop 
to chat with group after group1 or get  
into animated debates about prices1 or  
exercise their wits and lungs at once in
 repartee in a very amusing way4        
,everybody is in dishabille in the      
morning1 but towards twilight the girls 

put on their better dresses1 and comb   
their glossy raven hair1 heaping it up  
in great solid braids1 and1 hanging two 
long golden ear-rings in their ears and 
collane round their full necks1 come    
forth conquering and to conquer1 and    
saunter bare-headed up and down the     
streets1 or lounge about the doorways or
 piazzas in groups1 ready to give back  
to any jeerer as good as he sends4 ,you 
see them marching along sometimes in a  
broad platoon of five or six1 all their 
brows as straight as if they had been   
ruled1 and their great dark eyes        
flashing out under them1 ready in a     
moment for a laugh or a frown4 ,what    
stalwart creatures they are6 ,what      
shoulders1 bosoms1 and backs they have6 
what a chance for the lungs under those 
stout busti6 and what finished and      
elegant heads6 ,they are certainly cast 
in a large mould1 with nothing belittled
 or meagre about them1 either in feature
 or figure4  ,early in the morning you  
will see streaming through the streets  

or gathered together in picturesque     
groups1 some standing1 some couching on 
the pavement1 herds of long-haired      
goats1 brown and white and black1 which 
have been driven1 or rather which have  
followed their shepherd1 into the city  
to be milked4 ,the majestical1          
long-bearded1 patriarchal rams shake    
their bells and parade solemnly         
round1--while the silken females clatter
 their little hoofs as they run from the
 hand of the milker when he has filled  
his can4 ,the shepherd is kept pretty   
busy1 too1 milking at everybody's door2 
and before the fashionable world is up  
at nine1 the milk is gone and the goats 
are off4  ,you may know that it is ,may 
by the orange and lemon stands1 which   
are erected in almost every piazza4     
,these are little booths covered with   
canvas1 and fantastically adorned with  
lemons and oranges intermixed1 which1   
piled into pyramids and disposed about  
everywhere1 have a very gay effect4     
,they are generally placed near a       

fountain1 the water of which is         
conducted through a canna into the      
centre of the booth1 and there1 finding 
its own level again1 makes a little     
spilling fountain from which the bibite 
are diluted4 ,here for a baiocco one    
buys lemonade or orangeade and all sorts
 of curious little drinks or bibite1    
with a feeble taste of anisette or some 
other herb to take off the mawkishness  
of the water1--or for a half-baiocco one
 may have the lemonade without sugar1   
and in this way it is usually drunk4 ,on
 all festa-days1 little portable tables 
are carried round the streets1 hung to  
the neck of the limonaro1 and set down  
at convenient spots1 or whenever a      
customer presents himself1 and the cries
 of ,acqua fresca1--limonaro1           
limonaro1--chi vuol bere8 are heard on  
all sides2 and ,i can assure you1 that1 
after standing on tiptoe for an hour in 
the heat and straining your neck and    
head to get sight of some ,church       
procession1 you are glad enough to go to

 the extravagance of even a lemonade    
with sugar2 and smacking your lips1 you 
bless the institution of the limonaro as
 one which must have been early         
instituted by the ,good ,samaritan4     
,listen to his own description of       
himself in one of the popular canzonetti
 sung about the streets by wandering    
musicians to the accompaniment of a     
violin and guitar3--    ,ma per altro   
son uomo ingegnoso1     ,non possiedo1  
ma sono padrone2     ,vendo l' acqua con
 spirto e limone   ,finche dura d'      
estate il calor4    ,ho an capello di   
paglia1--ma bello6     ,un zinale di    
sopra fino2     ,chi mi osserva nel mio 
tavolino1   ,gli vien sete1 se sete non 
ha4    ,spaccio spirti1 siroppi1        
acquavite     ,fo 'ranciate di nuova    
invenzione2     ,voi vedete quante      
persone   ,chiedon acqua1--e            
rispondo1--,son qu6  ,the limonaro is   
the exponent1 the algebraic power1 of   
the ,church processions which abound    
this month2 and he is as faithful to    

them as ,boswell to ,johnson2--wherever 
they appear1 he is there to console and 
refresh4 ,nor is his office a sinecure  
now2 and let us hope that he has his    
small profits1 as well as the           
,church1--though they spell theirs      
differently4  ,the great procession of  
the year takes place this month on      
,corpus ,domini1 and is well worth      
seeing1 as being the very finest and    
most characteristic of all the ,church  
festivals4 ,it was instituted in honor  
of the famous miracle at ,bolsena1 when 
the wafer dripped blood1 and is1        
therefore1 in commemoration of one of   
the cardinal doctrines of the ,roman    
,church1 ,transubstantiation1 and one of
 its most theological miracles4 ,the    
,papal procession takes place in the    
morning1 in the piazza of ,saint        
,peter's2 and if you would be sure of   
it1 you must be on the spot as soon as  
eight o'clock at the latest4 ,the whole 
circle of the piazza itself is covered  
with an awning1 festooned gayly with    

garlands of box1 under which the        
procession passes2 and the ground is    
covered with yellow sand1 over which box
 and bay are strewn4 ,the celebration   
commences with morning mass in the      
basilica1 and that over1 the procession 
issues from one door1 and1 making the   
whole circuit of the piazza1 returns    
into the church4 ,first come the        
,seminaristi1 or scholars and attendants
 of the various hospitals and           
charity-schools1 such as ,san ,michele  
and ,santo ,spirito1--all in white4     
,then follow the brown-cowled1          
long-bearded ,franciscans1 the white    
,carmelites1 and the black              
,benedictines1 bearing lighted candles  
and chanting hoarsely as they go4 ,you  
may see pass before you now all the     
members of these different conventual   
orders that there are in ,rome1 and have
 an admirable opportunity to study their
 physiognomies in mass4 ,if you are a   
convert to ,romanism1 you will perhaps  
find in their bald beads and shaven     

crowns and bearded faces a noble        
expression of reverence and humility2   
but1 suffering as ,i do under the       
misfortune of being a heretic1 ,i could 
but remark on their heads an enormous   
development of the two organs of        
reverence and firmness1 and a singular  
deficiency in the upper forehead1 while 
there was an almost universal           
enlargement of the lower jaw and of the 
base of the brain4 ,being1              
unfortunately1 a friend of ,phrenology1 
as well as a heretic1 ,i drew no very   
auspicious augury from these            
developments2 and looking into their    
faces1 the physiognomical traits were   
narrow-mindedness1 bigotry1 or cunning4 
,the ,benedictine heads showed more     
intellect and will2 the ,franciscans    
more dulness and good-nature4  ,but     
while ,i am criticizing them1 they are  
passing by1 and a picturesque set of    
fellows they are4 ,much as ,i dislike   
the conventual creed1 ,i should be sorry
 to see the costume disappear4 ,directly

 on the heels of their poverty come the 
three splendid triple crowns of the     
,pope1 glittering with gorgeous jewels1 
and borne in triumph on silken          
embroidered cushions1 and preceded by   
the court jeweller4 ,after them follow  
the chapters1 canons1 and choirs of the 
seven basilicas1 chanting in lofty altos
 and solid basses and clear ringing     
tenors from their old ,church books1    
each basilica bearing a typical tent of 
colored stripes and a wooden campanile  
and a bell which is constantly rung4    
,next come the canons of the churches   
and the monsignori1 in splendid dresses 
and rich capes of beautiful lace falling
 below their waists2 the bishops clad in
 cloth of silver with mitres on their   
heads2 the cardinals brilliant in gold  
embroidery and gleaming in the sun2 and 
at last the ,pope himself1 borne on a   
platform splendid with silver and gold1 
with a rich canopy over his head4       
,beneath this he kneels1 or rather1     
seems to kneel2 for1 though his splendid

 draperies and train are skilfully      
arranged so as to present this          
semblance1 being drawn behind him over  
two blocks which are so placed as to    
represent his heels1 yet in fact he is  
seated on a sunken bench or chair1 as   
any careful eye can plainly see4        
,however1 kneeling or sitting1 just as  
you will1 there he is1 before an altar1 
holding up the ostia1 which is the      
corpus ,domini1 the body of ,god1 and   
surrounded by officers of the ,swiss    
guards in glittering armor1 chamberlains
 in their beautiful black and ,spanish  
dresses with ruffs and swords1          
attendants in scarlet and purple        
costumes1 and the guardia nobile in     
their red dress uniforms4 ,nothing could
 be more striking than this group4 ,it  
is the very type of the                 
,church1--pompous1 rich1 splendid1      
imposing4 ,after them follow the        
dragoons mounted1--first a company on   
black horses1 then another on bays1 and 
then a third on grays2 foot-soldiers    

with flashing bayonets bring up the     
rear1 and the procession is over4 ,as   
the last soldiers enter the church1     
there is a stir among the gilt equipages
 of the cardinals which line one side of
 the piazza1--the horses toss their     
scarlet plumes1 the liveried servants   
sway as the carriages lumber on1 and you
 may spend a half-hour hunting out your 
own humble vehicle1 if you have one1 or 
throng homeward on foot with the crowd  
through the ,borgo and over the bridge  
of ,sant' ,angelo4  ,this grand         
procession strikes the note of all the  
others1 and in the afternoon each parish
 brings out its banners1 arrays itself  
in its choicest dresses1 and with pomp  
and music bears the ostia through the   
streets1 the crowd kneeling before it1  
and the priests chanting4 ,during the   
next ottava or eight days1 all the      
processions take place in honor of this 
festival2 and when the week has passed1 
everything ends with the ,papal         
procession in ,saint ,peter's piazza1   

when1 without music1 and with uncovered 
heads1 the ,pope1 cardinals1 monsignori1
 canons1 and the rest of the priests and
 officials1 make the round of the       
piazza1 bearing great ,church banners4  
,one of the most striking of their      
celebrations took place this year at the
 church of ,san ,rocco in the ,ripetta1 
when the church was made splendid with  
lighted candles and gold bands1 and a   
preacher held forth to a crowded        
audience in the afternoon4 ,at ,ave     
,maria there was a great procession1    
with banners1 music1 and torches1 and   
all the evening the people sauntered to 
and fro in crowds before the church1    
where a platform was erected and draped 
with old tapestries1 from which a band  
played constantly4 ,do not believe1 my  
dear ,presbyterian friend1 that these   
spectacles fail deeply to affect the    
common mind4 ,so long as human nature   
remains the same1 this splendor and pomp
 of processions1 these lighted torches  
and ornamented churches1 this triumphant

 music and glad holiday of religion will
 attract more than your plain           
conventicles1 your ugly meeting-houses1 
and your compromise with the bass-viol4 
,for my own part1 ,i do not believe that
 music and painting and all the other   
arts really belong to the ,devil1 or    
that ,god gave him joy and beauty to    
deceive with1 and kept only the ugly1   
sour1 and sad for himself4 ,we are      
always better when we are happy2 and we 
are about as sure of being good when we 
are happy1 as of being happy when we are
 good4 ,cheerfulness and happiness are1 
in my humble opinion1 duties and habits 
to be cultivated2 but1 if you don't     
think so1 ,i certainly would not deny   
you the privilege of being wretched3    
don't let us quarrel about it4  ,rather 
let us turn to the ,artists' ,festival1 
which takes place in this month1 and is 
one of the great attractions of the     
season4 ,formerly1 this festival took   
place at ,cerbara1 an ancient ,etruscan 
town on the ,campagna1 of which only    

certain subterranean caves remain4 ,but 
during the revolutionary days which     
followed the disasters of #ahdh1 it was 
suspended for two or three years by the 
interdict of the ,papal government1 and 
when it was again instituted1 the place 
of meeting was changed to ,fidenae1 the 
site of another ,etruscan town1 with    
similar subterranean excavations1 which 
were made the head-quarters of the      
festival4 ,but the new railway to       
,bologna having been laid out directly  
over this ground1 the artists have been 
again driven away1 and this year the    
festa was held1 for the first time1 in  
the grove of ,egeria1 one of the most   
beautiful spots on the whole            
,campagna1--and here it is to be hoped  
it will have an abiding rest4  ,this    
festival was instituted by the ,german  
artists1 and1 though the artists of all 
nations now join in it1 the ,germans    
still remain its special patrons and    
directors4 ,early in the morning1 the   
artists rendezvous at an appointed      

osteria outside the walls1 dressed in   
every sort of grotesque and ludicrous   
costume which can be imagined4 ,all the 
old dresses which can be rummaged out of
 the studios or theatres1 or pieced     
together from masking wardrobes1 are now
 in requisition4 ,indians and ,chinese1 
ancient warriors and mediaeval heroes1  
militia-men and ,punches1 generals in   
top-boots and pigtails1 doctors in      
gigantic wigs and small-clothes1        
,falstaffs and justices with fair round 
belly with good capon lined1 magnificent
 foolscaps1 wooden swords with terrible 
inscriptions1 gigantic chapeaus with    
plumes made of vegetables1 in a word1   
every imaginable absurdity is to be     
seen4 ,arrived at the place of          
rendezvous1 they all breakfast1 and then
 the line of march is arranged4 ,a great
 wooden cart1 adorned with quaint       
devices1 garlanded with laurel and bay1 
bears the president and committee4 ,this
 is drawn by great white oxen1 who are  
decorated with wreaths and flowers and  

gay trappings1 and from it floats the   
noble banner of ,cerbara or ,fidenae4   
,after this follows a strange and motley
 train1--some mounted on donkeys1 some  
on horses1 and some afoot1--and the line
 of march is taken up for the grove of  
,egeria4 ,what mad jests and wild fun   
now take place it is impossible to      
describe2 suffice it to say1 that all   
are right glad of a little rest when    
they reach their destination4  ,now     
begin to stream out from the city       
hundreds of carriages1--for all the     
world will be abroad to-day to see1--and
 soon the green slopes are swarming with
 gay crowds4 ,some bring with them a    
hamper of provisions and wine1 and1     
spreading them on the grass1 lunch and  
dine when and where they will2 but those
 who would dine with the artists must   
have the order of the mezzo baiocco     
hanging to their buttonhole1 which is   
distributed previously in ,rome to all  
the artists who purchase tickets4 ,some 
few there are who also bear upon their  

breasts the nobler medal of troppo      
merito1 gained on previous days1 and    
those are looked upon with due          
reverence4  ,but before dinner or lunch 
there is a high ceremony to take        
place1--the great feature of the day4   
,it is the mock-heroic play4 ,this year 
it was the meeting of ,numa with the    
nymph ,egeria at the grotto2 and thither
 went the festive procession2 and the   
priest1 befilletted and draped in white1
 burned upon the altar as a sacrifice a 
great toy sheep1 whose offence smelt to 
heaven2 and then from the niches        
suddenly appeared ,numa1 a gallant youth
 in spectacles1 and ,egeria1 a ,spanish 
artist with white dress and fillet1 who 
made vows over the smoking sheep1 and   
then were escorted back to the sacred   
grove with festal music by a joyous1    
turbulent crowd4  ,last year1 however1  
at ,fidenae1 it was better4 ,we had a   
travesty of the taking of ,troy1 which  
was eminently ludicrous1 and which      
deserves a better description than ,i   

can give4 ,troy was a space inclosed    
within paper barriers1 about            
breast-high1 painted to present a wall1 
and within these were the ,trojans1 clad
 in red1 and all wearing gigantic paper 
helmets4 ,there was old ,priam1 in      
spectacles1 with his crown and          
robes1--,laocon1 in white1 with a white 
wool beard and wig1--,ulysses1 in a     
long1 yellow beard and mantle1--and     
,aeneas1 with a bald head1 in a blue1   
long-tailed coat1 and tall dickey1      
looking like the traditional ,englishman
 in the circus who comes to hire the    
horse4 ,the ,grecians were encamped at a
 short distance4 ,all had round1        
basket-work shields1--some with their   
names painted on them in great letters1 
and some with an odd device1 such as a  
cat or pig4 ,there were ,ulysses1       
,agamemnon1 ,ajax1 ,nestor1 ,patroclus1 
,diomedes1 ,achilles1 all honorable men4
 ,the drama commenced with the issuing  
of ,paris and ,helen from the walls of  
,troy1--he in a tall1 black ,french hat1

 girdled with a gilt crown1 and she in a
 white dress1 with a great wig hanging  
round her face in a profusion of        
carrotty curls4 ,queer figures enough   
they were1 as they stepped along        
together1 caricaturing love in a        
pantomime1 he making terrible           
demonstrations of his ardent passion1   
and she finally falling on his neck in  
rapture4 ,this over1 they seated        
themselves near by two large pasteboard 
rocks1 he sitting on his shield and     
taking out his flute to play to her1    
while she brought forth her knitting and
 ogled him as he played4 ,while they    
were thus engaged1 came creeping up with
 the stage stride of a double step1 and 
dragging one foot behind him1 ,menelaus1
 whom ,thersites had1 meantime1 been    
taunting1 by pointing at him two great  
ox-horns4 ,he walked all round the      
lovers1 pantomiming rage and jealousy in
 the accredited ballet style1 and then1 
suddenly approaching1 crushed poor      
,paris's great black hat down over his  

eyes4 ,both1 very much frightened1 then 
took to their heels and rushed into the 
city1 while ,menelaus1 after shaking    
,paris's shield1 in defiance1 at the    
walls1 retired to the ,grecian camp4    
,then came the preparations for battle4 
,the ,trojans leaned over their paper   
battlements1 with their fingers to their
 noses1 twiddling them in scorn1 while  
the ,greeks shook their fists back at   
them4 ,the battle now commenced on the  
ringing-plains of ,troy1 and was        
eminently absurd4 ,paris1 in hat and    
pantaloons1 7 la mode de ,paris17 soon  
showed the white feather1 and           
incontinently fled4 ,everybody hit      
nowhere1 fiercely striking the ground or
 the shields1 and always carefully      
avoiding1 as on the stage1 to hit in the
 right place4 ,at last1 however1        
,patroclus was killed1 whereupon the    
battle was suspended1 and a grand       
tableau of surprise and horror took     
place1 from which at last they          
recovered1 and the ,greeks prepared to  

carry him off on their shoulders4 ,then 
terrible to behold was the grief of     
,achilles4 ,homer himself would have    
wept to see him4 ,he flung himself on   
the body1 and shrieked1 and tore his    
hair1 and violently shook the corpse1   
which1 under such demonstrations1 now   
and then kicked up4 ,finally1 he rises  
and challenges ,hector to single combat1
 and out comes the valiant ,trojan1 and 
a duel ensues with wooden axes4 ,such   
blows and counter blows were never seen1
 only they never hit1 but often whirled 
the warrior who dealt them completely   
round2 they tumbled over their own      
blows1 panted with feigned rage1 lost   
their robes and great pasteboard        
helmets1 and were even more absurd than 
,richmond and ,richard ever were on the 
country boards at a fifth-rate theatre4 
,but ,hector is at last slain and borne 
away1 and a ludicrous lay figure is laid
 out to represent him1 with bunged-up   
eyes and a general flabbiness of body   
and want of features1 charming to       

behold4 ,on their necks the ,trojans    
bear him to their walls1 and with a     
sudden jerk pitch him over them head    
first1 and he tumbles1 in a heap1 into  
the city4 ,then ,ulysses harangues the  
,greeks4 ,he has brought out a          
quarteruola barrel of wine1 which1 with 
most expressive pantomime1 he shows to  
be the wooden horse that must be carried
 into ,troy4 ,his proposition is        
joyfully accepted1 and1 accompanied by  
all1 he rolls the cask up to the walls1 
and1 flourishing a tin cup in one hand1 
invites the ,trojans to partake4 ,at    
first there is confusion in the city1   
and fingers are twiddled over the walls1
 but after a time all go out and drink1 
and become ludicrously drunk1 and       
stagger about1 embracing each other in  
the most maudlin style4 ,even ,helen    
herself comes out1 gets tipsy with the  
rest1 and dances about like the most    
disreputable of ,maenades4 ,a great     
scena1 however1 takes place as they are 
about to drink4 ,laocon1 got up in white

 wool1 appears1 and violently endeavors 
to dissuade them1 but in vain4 ,in the  
midst of his harangue1 a long string of 
blown up sausage-skins is dragged in for
 the serpent1 and suddenly cast about   
his neck4 ,his sons and he then form a  
group1 the sausage-snake is twined about
 them1--only the old story is reversed1 
and he bites the serpent instead of the 
serpent biting him1--and all die in     
agony1 travestying the ancient group4   
,all1 being now drunk1 go in1 and       
,ulysses with them4 ,a quantity of straw
 is kindled1 the smoke rises1 the       
,greeks approach and dash in the paper  
walls with clubs1 and all is confusion4 
,then ,aeneas1 in his blue long-tailed  
circus-coat1 broad white hat1 and tall  
shirt-collar1 carries off old ,anchises 
on his shoulders with a cigar in his    
mouth1 and bears him to a painted       
section of a vessel1 which is rocked to 
and fro by hand1 as if violently        
agitated by the waves4 ,aeneas and      
,anchises enter the boat1 or rather     

stand behind it so as to conceal their  
legs1 and off it sets1 rocked to and fro
 constantly1--,aeolus and ,tramontana   
following behind1 with bellows to blow  
up a wind1 and ,fair ,weather1 with his 
name written on big back1 accompanying  
them4 ,the violent motion1 however1 soon
 makes ,aeneas sick1 and as he leans    
over the side in a helpless and         
melancholy manner1 and almost gives up  
the ghost1 as well as more material     
things1 the crowd burst into laughter4  
,however1 at last they reach two painted
 rocks1 and found ,latium1 and a general
 rejoicing takes place4--,the donkey who
 was to have ended all by dragging the  
body of ,hector round the walls came too
 late1 and this part of the programme   
did not take place4  ,so much of the    
entertainment over1 preparations are    
made for dinner4 ,in the grove of       
,egeria the plates are spread in        
circles1 while all the company sing     
part-songs and dance4 ,at last all is   
ready1 the signal is given1 and the     

feast takes place after the most rustic 
manner4 ,great barrels of wine covered  
with green branches stand at one side1  
from which flagons are filled and passed
 round1 and the good appetites soon make
 direful gaps in the beef and mighty    
plates of lettuce4 ,after this1 and a   
little sauntering about for digestion's 
sake1 come the afternoon sports4 ,and   
there are donkey races1 and tilting at a
 ring1 and foot-races1 and running in   
sacks4 ,nothing can be more picturesque 
than the scene1 with its motley         
masqueraders1 its crowds of spectators  
seated along the slopes1 its little     
tents here and there1 its races in the  
valley1 and1 above all1 the glorious    
mountains looking down from the         
distance4 ,not till the golden light    
slopes over the ,campagna1 gilding the  
skeletons of aqueducts1 and drawing a   
delicate veil of beauty over the        
mountains1 can we tear ourselves away1  
and rattle back in our carriage to      
,rome4  ,the wealthy ,roman families1   

who have villas in the immediate        
vicinity of ,rome1 now leave the city to
 spend a month in them and breathe the  
fresh air of spring4 ,many and many a   
tradesman who is well to do in the world
 has a little vigna outside the gates1  
where he raises vegetables and grapes   
and other fruits2 and every festa-day   
you will be sure to find him and his    
family out in his little villetta1      
wandering about the grounds or sitting  
beneath his arbors1 smoking and chatting
 with his children around him4 ,his     
friends who have no villas of their own 
here visit him1 and often there is a    
considerable company thus collected1    
who1 if one may judge from their        
cheerful countenances and much laughter1
 enjoy themselves mightily4 ,knock at   
any of these villa-gates1 and1 if you   
happen to have the acquaintance of the  
owner1 or are evidently a stranger of   
respectability1 you will be received    
with much hospitality1 invited to       
partake of the fruit and wine1 and      

overwhelmed with thanks for your        
gentilezza when you take your leave2 for
 the ,italians are a most good-natured  
and social people1 and nothing pleases  
them better than a stranger who breaks  
the common round of topics by accounts  
of his own land4 ,everything new is to  
them wonderful1 just as it is to a      
child4 ,they are credulous of everything
 you tell them about ,america1 which is 
to them in some measure what it was to  
the ,english in the days of ,raleigh1   
,drake1 and ,hawkins1 and say ,per      
,bacco6 to every new statement4 ,and    
they are so magnificently ignorant1 that
 you have carte blanche for your        
stories4 ,never did ,i know any one     
staggered by anything ,i chose to say1  
but once4 ,i was walking with my        
respectable old padrone1 ,nisi1 about   
his little garden one day1 when an      
ambition to know something about        
,america inflamed his breast4  ,are     
there any mountains8 he asked4  ,i told 
him ,yes1 and1 with a chuckle of        

delight1 he cried1--  ,per ,bacco6 ,and 
have you any cities8  ,yes1 a few little
 ones1--for ,i thought ,i would sing    
small1 contrary to the general ',ercles 
vein of my countrymen4 ,he was evidently
 pleased that they were small1 and1     
swelling with natural pride1 said1--    
,large as ,rome1 of course1 they could  
not be2 then1 after a moment1 he added1 
interrogatively1 ,and rivers1 too1--have
 you any rivers8  ,a few1 ,i answered4  
,but not as large as our ,tiber1 he     
replied1--feeling assured1 that1 if the 
cities were smaller than ,rome1 as a    
necessary consequence1 the rivers that  
flowed by them must be in the same      
category4  ,the bait now offered was too
 tempting4 ,i measured my respectable   
and somewhat obese friend carefully with
 my eye1 for a moment1 and then hurled  
this terrible fact at him3--  ,we have  
some rivers three thousand miles long4  
,the effect was awful4 ,he stood and    
stared at me1 as if petrified1 for a    
moment4 ,then the blood rushed into his 

face1 and1 turning on his heel1 he took 
off his hat1 said suddenly1 ,buona sera1
 and carried my fact and his opinions   
together up into his private room4 ,i am
 afraid that ,don ,pietro decided1 on   
consideration1 that ,i had been taking  
unwarrantable liberties with him1 and   
exceeding all proper bounds1 in my      
attempt to impose on his good-nature4   
,from that time forward he asked me no  
more questions about ,america4  ,and    
here1 by the way1 ,i am reminded of an  
incident1 which1 though not exactly     
pertinent1 may find here a parenthetical
 place1 merely as illustrating some     
points of ,italian character4 ,one fact 
and two names relating to ,america they 
know universally1--,columbus and his    
discovery of ,america1 and ,washington4 
,s1 ,signore1 said a respectable person 
some time since1 as he was driving me to
 see a carriage which he wished to sell 
me1 and therefore desired to be         
particularly polite to me and my        
nation1--a great man1 your ,vashintoni6 

but ,i was sorry to hear1 the other day1
 that his father had died in ,london4   
,his father dead1 and in ,london8 ,i    
stammered1 completely confounded at this
 extraordinary news1 and fearing lest ,i
 had been too stupid in misunderstanding
 him4  ,yes1 he said1 it is too true    
that his father ,vellintoni is dead4 ,i 
read it in the ,diario di ,roma4  ,but  
better than this was the ingenious      
argument of a ,frate1 whom ,i met on    
board a steamer in going from ,leghorn  
to ,genoa1 and who1 having pumped out   
the fact that ,i was an ,american1      
immediately began to improve it in a    
discourse on ,columbus4 ,so he informed 
me that ,columbus was an ,italian1 and  
that he had discovered ,america1 and was
 a remarkable man2 to all of which ,i   
readily assented1 as being true1 if not 
new4 ,but now a severe abstract question
 began to tax my friend's powers4 ,he   
said1 ,but how could he ever have       
imagined that the continent of ,america 
was there8 ,that's the question4 ,it is 

extraordinary indeed6 ,and so he sat    
cogitating1 and saying1 at intervals1   
,curioso6 ,straordinario6 ,at last a    
light broke in upon his brain4 ,some    
little bird whispered the secret4 ,his  
face lightened1 and1 looking at me1 he  
said1 ,perhaps he may have read that it 
was there in some old book1 and so went 
to see if it were or no4 ,vainly ,i     
endeavored to show him that this view   
would deprive ,columbus of his greatest 
distinction4 ,he answered invariably1   
,but without having read it1 how could  
he ever have known it8--thus putting the
 earth upon the tortoise and leaving the
 tortoise to account for his own        
support4  ,imagine that ,i have told you
 these stories sitting under the vine   
and fig-tree of some villetta1 while    
,angiolina has gone to call the padrone1
 who will only be too glad to see you4  
,but1 ecco6 at last our padrone comes4  
,no1 it is not the padrone1 it is the   
vignarualo1 who takes care of his grapes
 and garden1 and who recognizes us as   

friends of the padrone1 and tells us    
that we are ourselves padroni of the    
whole place1 and offers us all sorts of 
fruits4  ,one old custom1 which existed 
in ,rome some fifteen years ago1 has now
 passed away with other good old things4
 ,it was the celebration of the         
,fravolata or ,strawberry-,feast1 when  
men in gala-dress at the height of the  
strawberry-season went in procession    
through the streets1 carrying on their  
heads enormous wooden platters heaped   
with this delicious fruit1 accompanied  
by girls in costume1 who1 beating their 
tamburelli1 danced along at their sides 
and sung the praises of the strawberry4 
,after threading the streets of the     
city1 they passed singing out of the    
gates1 and at different places on the   
,campagna spent the day in festive      
sports and had an out-door dinner and   
dance4  ,one of these festivals still   
exists1 however1 in the picturesque town
 of ,genzano1 which lies above the old  
crater now filled with the still waters 

of ,lake ,nemi1 and is called the       
,infiorata di ,genzano1 ,the            
,flower-,festival of ,genzano4 ,it takes
 place on the eighth day of the ,corpus 
,domini1 and receives its name from the 
popular custom of spreading flowers upon
 the pavements of the streets so as to  
represent heraldic devices1 figures1    
arabesques1 and all sorts of ornamental 
designs4 ,the people are all dressed in 
their effective costumes1--the girls in 
busti and silken skirts1 with all their 
corals and jewels on1 and the men with  
white stockings on their legs1 their    
velvet jackets dropping over one        
shoulder1 and flowers and rosettes in   
their conical hats4 ,the town is then   
very gay1 the bells clang1 the incense  
steams from the censer in the church1   
where the organ peals and mass is said1 
and a brilliant procession marches over 
the strewn flower-mosaic1 with music and
 crucifixes and ,church-banners4        
,hundreds of strangers1 too1 are there  
to look on2 and on the ,cesarini ,piazza

 and under the shadow of the long       
avenues of ilexes that lead to the tower
 are hundreds of handsome girls1 with   
their snowy tovaglie peaked over their  
heads4 ,the rub and thrum of tamburelli 
and the clicking of castanets are heard1
 too1 as twilight comes on1 and the     
salterello is danced by many a group4   
,this is the national ,roman dance1 and 
is named from the little jumping step   
which characterizes it4 ,any number of  
couples dance it1 though the dance is   
perfect with two4 ,some of the movements
 are very graceful and piquant1 and     
particularly that where one of the      
dancers kneels and whirls her arms on   
high1 clicking her castanets1 while the 
other circles her round and round1      
striking his hands together1 and        
approaching nearer and nearer1 till he  
is ready to give her a kiss1 which she  
refuses3 of course it is the old story  
of every national dance1--love and      
repulse1 love and repulse1 until the    
maiden yields4 ,as one couple panting   

and rosy retires1 another fresh one     
takes its place1 while the bystanders   
play on the accordion the whirling1     
circling1 never-ending tune of the      
,tarantella1 which would put a spirit of
 youth in everything4  ,if you are tired
 of the festival1 roam up a few paces   
out of the crowd1 and you stand upon the
 brink of ,lake ,nemi4 ,over opposite1  
and crowning the height where the little
 town of ,nemi perches1 frowns the old  
feudal castle of the ,colonna1 with its 
tall1 round tower1 where many a princely
 family has dwelt and many an unprincely
 act has been done4 ,there1 in turn1    
have dwelt the ,colonna1 ,borgia1       
,piccolomini1 ,cenci1 ,frangipani1 and  
,braschi1 and there the descendants of  
the last-named family still pass a few  
weeks in the summer4#a ,below you1      
silent and silvery1 lies the lake       
itself1--and rising around it1 like a   
green bowl1 tower its richly wooded     
banks1 covered with gigantic oaks1      
ilexes1 and chestnuts4 ,this was the    

ancient grove dedicated to ,diana1 which
 extended to ,l',ariccia2 and here are  
still to be seen the vestiges of an     
ancient villa built by ,julius ,caesar4 
,here1 too1 if you trust some of the    
antiquaries1 once stood the temple of   
,diana ,nemorensis1#b where human       
sacrifices were offered1 and whose      
chief-priest1 called ,rex ,nemorensis1  
obtained his office by slaying his      
predecessor1 and reigned over these     
groves by force of his personal arm4    
,times have1 indeed1 changed since the  
priesthood was thus won and baptized by 
blood2 and as you stand there1 and look1
 on the one side1 at the site of this   
ancient temple1 which some of the       
gigantic chestnut-trees may almost have 
seen in their youth1 and1 on the other  
side1 at the campanile of the ,catholic 
church at ,genzano1 with its            
flower-strewn pavements1 you may have as
 sharp a contrast between the past and  
the present as can easily be found4     
,footnote #a3 ,on the ,genzano side     

stands the castellated villa of the     
,cesarini ,sforza1 looking peacefully   
across the lake at the rival tower1     
which in the old baronial days it used  
to challenge1--and in its garden-pond   
you may see stately white swans oaring  
their way with rosy feet along4         
,footnote #b3 ,the better opinion of    
late seems to be that it was on the     
slopes of the ,val d',ariccia4 ,but who 
shall decide1 when doctors disagree8    
,,threnodia4   ,,addressed ,,to ,,alfred
 ,,tennyson1 ,p4,l41 ,,in ,,response    
,,to ,,verses ,,of ,,his ,,on ,a ,,late 
,,event ,,in ,,england4    ,i heard you 
,in your ,english home1-- ,i read you by
 my little brook1   ,thousands of miles 
from ,british foam1 ,hid in my dear ,new
 ,england nook3 ,but heard you with a   
sullen look2   ,but read you with a     
gloomy brow2 ,and thus unto my ,muse ,i 
spoke3--   ,who is there to write       
history now8    ,hallam is dead6 and    
,prescott gone6 ,and ,irving sleeps at  
,sunnyside6   ,and now that ,lord has   

wandered on1 ,whose laurels must with   
theirs abide3 ,i greatly mourned the man
 who died   ,first on this dismal roll  
of death1-- ,and him1 of all observers  
eyed1   ,my townsman here1 who spent his
 breath    ,in telling of the things of 
,spain1 ,and doing friendly things to   
friends1   ,prescott1 well known beyond 
the main ,and past the ,pillars1 to     
earth's ends3 ,both had my tears3 but   
,england sends   ,another word across   
the seas1 ,might rouse the dying from   
his bed3   ,oh1 bear it gently1         
ocean-breeze6 ,that bitter word1--,thy  
friend is dead6    ,macaulay dead1 who  
made to live ,past kingdoms1 with his   
vivid brain6   ,who could such warmth to
 shadows give1 ,by the mere magic of his
 pen1 ,that ,charles and ,england rose  
again6   ,well sleeps he 'mid the       
,abbey's dust3 ,and1 ,laureate6 thy     
funereal verse   ,shall have such echo  
as it must ,from hearts just wrung at   
,irving's hearse4    ,these are two     
names to mark the year ,as one of       

memorable woe1   ,two men to the two    
nations dear ,laid in one fatal winter  
low6 ,about the streets the mourners go2
   ,but ,i within my chamber rest1 ,or  
walk the room with measured tread1      
,murmuring1 with head upon my breast1   
,my ,god6 and is ,macaulay dead8        
,,general ,,miranda',s ,,expedition4    
,in ,november1 #ahje1 a good-looking    
foreigner1 gentlemanlike in dress and in
 manner1 and apparently fifty years of  
age1 arrived in ,new ,york from         
,england1 and took lodgings at ,mrs4    
,avery's1 ,state ,street4 ,he called    
himself ,george ,martin2 but this       
incognito was intended only for the     
vulgar4 ,some of the principal citizens 
of ,new ,york1 who recollected his first
 visit to this country twenty years     
before1 knew him as ,don ,francisco de  
,miranda of ,caracas1 one of the most   
distinguished adventurers of that       
revolutionary era1--a favorite of the   
,empress of ,russia1 a friend of ,mr4   
,pitt1 and second in command under      

,dumouriez in the ,belgian campaign of  
#agic4 ,to these gentlemen he avowed    
that for many years he had meditated the
 independence of the ,spanish-,american 
,colonies1 and meant to make an attempt 
to carry out his plans4 ,on ,evacuation 
,day1 a ,new ,york festival1 which is   
now nearly worn out1 they invited him to
 a ,corporation dinner1 as a foreign    
officer of rank1 and toasted him1       
wishing him the same success in ,south  
,america that we had had here4 ,he then 
went to ,washington1 under the name of  
,molini4 ,there1 as everywhere1 he was  
received by the best society as ,general
 ,miranda4 ,the ,president and the      
,secretary of ,state1 ,mr4 ,madison1    
granted him several private interviews4 
,in ,january he returned to ,new        
,york1--and on the #b;d of ,february    
departed thence mysteriously in the     
,leander1 a ship belonging to ,mr4      
,samuel ,g4 ,ogden1 merchant4  ,while   
the ,leander lay at anchor off ,staten  
,island1 a gentleman notified the ,naval

 ,officer of the ,port1 that large      
quantities of arms and ammunition had   
been taken on board of her in boats1 at 
night4 ,he was informed in return1 that 
the ,leander was cleared for ,jacquemel1
 and that no law existed to prevent her 
from sailing4 ,no other attempt was made
 to detain her2 but a few weeks later1  
rumors affecting the character of the   
ship broke out in a more decided form4  
,it was generally believed at the       
,tontine ,coffee-,house that the        
,leander had been fitted out by ,miranda
 to attack the ,spanish possessions in  
the ,west ,india ,islands or on the     
,main4 ,and yet the ,new ,york journals 
took no notice of her until the #bast of
 ,february1 nineteen days after she     
sailed4 ,in the mean time the ,marquis  
,yrujo1 backed by the ,french           
,ambassador1 had made a formal complaint
 to ,government1 and had caused the     
insertion in the ,philadelphia ,gazette 
of a series of interrogatories to ,mr4  
,madison1 which indirectly accused the  

,administration of encouraging          
,miranda's preparations1 or at least of 
conniving at the expedition4 ,this      
perverse ,marquis1 who gave ,mr4        
,jefferson a taste of the annoyance     
which ,genet1 ,adet1 and ,fauchet had   
inflicted upon the previous             
administrations1 was clamorous and      
persisting4 ,the authorities in         
,washington thought it proper to order  
the arrest of ,mr4 ,ogden1 and of       
,colonel ,william ,smith1 son-in-law of 
,john ,adams and ,surveyor of the ,port 
of ,new ,york1 under the ,act of #agid4 
,the prisoners were taken before ,judge 
,tallmadge of the ,united ,states       
,district ,court4 ,they were refused    
counsel1 and were forced by threats of  
imprisonment to submit to a searching   
examination4 ,they were then held to    
bail1 both as principals and witnesses1 
in the sum of twenty thousand dollars4  
,soon after1 the ,president removed     
,colonel ,smith from his office4  ,such 
a waste of editorial raw-material       

appears very singular to                
newspaper-readers of the present day1   
accustomed as they are to see in print  
everything that has happened or that    
might have happened2 but we must        
recollect that our grandfathers found   
the excitement necessary to civilized   
man in party politics1 national and     
local4 ,this game they played with a    
fierce eagerness which is now limited to
 a small class of inferior men4  ,to the
 violence and personal spitefulness of  
their newspaper articles we have        
fortunately nothing comparable1 even in 
the speeches of ,honorable ,members on  
,helper and ,john ,brown4 ,the ,tu      
quoque and the ,vos damnamini were their
 favorite logical processes1 and ,fool  
and ,liar the simple and conclusive     
arguments with which they established a 
principle4 ,not that these ancients     
suffered at all from a lack of stirring 
news4 ,bonaparte's wonderful campaigns1 
7,austerlitz had just been heard of in  
,new ,york17 the outrages on our sailors

 by ,english cruisers1 our merchantmen  
plundered by ,french and ,spanish       
privateers1 the irritating behavior of  
the ,dons in ,louisiana1 kept them      
abundantly supplied with this staff of  
mental life4 ,but they did not care much
 for news in the abstract as news1      
unless they could work it up into       
political ammunition and discharge it at
 each other's heads4 ,we must not       
forget1 too1 that newspaper-editing1 the
 ,california of the spiritually         
vagabond1 as ,carlyle calls it1 was a   
recent discovery1 and that the rich mine
 was but surface-worked4 ,our own       
,reporter was1 like ,milton's original  
lion1 only half unearthed2 and deep     
hidden from mortal eyes as yet lay the  
sensation-items-man1 who has made the   
last-dying-speech-and-confession style  
of literature the principal element of  
our daily press4  ,at last the ,federal 
editors gave tongue4 ,it was high time2 
the town was in an uproar4 ,they        
perceived that ,miranda might become a  

useful ally against ,mr4 ,t4 ,jefferson4
 ,his expedition came opportunely1 as   
the ,mammoth ,cheese and ,black ,sally  
were beginning to grow stale4 ,mr4 ,lang
 opened the cry in the ,new ,york       
,gazette by asserting the complicity of 
,government1 on the authority of a      
gentleman of the first                  
respectability1--meaning ,mr4 ,rufus    
,king4--,cheetham1 of the ,citizen1     
barked back at ,lang1 a would-be        
,solomon1 a foul and abominable         
slanderer4 ,mr4 ,king1 he could prove1  
had been examined1 and had nothing to   
reveal4--,tom ,paine wrote to the       
,citizen to mention that he had known   
,miranda in ,new ,york in #aghc and in  
,paris in #agic4 ,mr4 ,littlepage of    
,virginia1 ,chamberlain to the ,king of 
,poland1 had then informed him that the 
,empress ,catharine had given ,miranda  
four thousand pounds as a retaining fee1
 and that ,mr4 ,pitt had also paid him  
twelve hundred pounds for his services  
in the ,nootka ,sound business4--,all   

the ,federal papers charged the         
,government with connivance4 ,you knew  
the destination of the ,leander2 you did
 not prevent her from sailing2 you      
nourished the offence until it attained 
maturity1 and then1 after permitting the
 principals to go upon this expedition1 
you seize upon the accessories who      
remain at home4 ,and in how shameful and
 illegal a way6 ,you examine them before
 a single judge1 with no counsel to     
advise them4 ,you force them to         
criminate themselves1 and to sign their 
confessions1 by the threat of           
imprisonment2 and you punish ,colonel   
,smith before you have tried him1 by    
depriving him of his office4 ,why1 such 
a proceeding is worse than any          
,inquisitorial ,tribunal or             
,star-,chamber ,court4--,nonsense6      
answered the ,democrats4 ,ogden's and   
,smith's testimony does not implicate   
the ,government in the least4 ,it only  
proves that ,smith has been the dupe of 
,miranda4 ,the ,president knew nothing  

about the matter4 ,if the object of the 
,leander's outfit was so generally      
spoken of1 why did it escape the notice 
of the ,marquis ,yrujo8 ,why did he not 
demand her seizure before she sailed8   
,this charge against the ,government is 
a mere ,federal trick4 ,your friends1   
the ,british1 are at the bottom of the  
expedition1 and they have artfully      
employed ,rufus ,king1 a ,federal chief1
 to throw the blame upon the ,executive 
of the ,united ,states4 ,by ascribing to
 those who administer the government the
 atrocities committed by ,transatlantic 
rulers1 you aim a deadly blow at the    
character of our system2 and your       
conduct1 base in any view we can take of
 it1 is particularly reprehensible in   
the delicate state of our relations with
 ,spain4  ,mr4 ,cadwallader ,golden1 of 
counsel for the defendants1 made a      
motion before ,judge ,tallmadge for an  
order to prevent the ,district ,attorney
 from using the preliminary evidence    
taken at the private examinations4 ,it  

was a proceeding1 he said1 arbitrary and
 subversive of the first principles of  
law and liberty1--which would have      
disgraced the reign of ,charles and     
stained the character of ,jeffries4 ,the
 ,district ,attorney was heard in       
opposition1 and was successful4  ,on the
 #gth of ,april1 the ,grand ,jury found 
a bill against ,smith1 ,ogden1 ,miranda1
 and ,thomas ,lewis1 captain of the     
,leander1 for setting on foot and       
beginning with force and arms a certain 
military enterprise or expedition1 to be
 carried on from the ,united ,states    
against the dominions of a foreign      
prince3 to wit1 the dominions of the    
,king of ,spain2 the said ,king of      
,spain then and there being at peace    
with the ,united ,states4 ,the ,grand   
,jury1 as an evidence of their          
impartiality1 or of the public feeling1 
also handed the ,judge a presentment of 
himself1 which he put into his pocket1  
censuring his conduct in the private    
examinations1 because unusual1          

oppressive1 and contrary to law4  ,the  
trial was set down for the #adth of     
,july4 ,messrs4 ,ogden and ,smith did   
not wait so long for a hearing4 ,they   
laid their case at once before the      
public1 in two memorials addressed to   
,congress1 complaining bitterly of the  
prosecution1 not to say persecution1    
instituted against them by the          
authorities in ,washington1 and of the  
cruel and oppressive measures taken by  
,judge ,tallmadge to carry out the      
mandates of his superiors4 ,if they had 
done wrong1 they urged1 it was          
innocently4 ,a war with ,spain was      
imminent4 ,the critical position of the 
,louisiana ,boundary question1 the      
,president's ,message of the #fth of    
,december1 and the documents            
accompanying it1 left no doubts on that 
point4 ,were they not right1 then1 in   
supposing1 that1 under these            
circumstances1 the ,president would     
encourage an expedition against the     
colonies of a hostile power8 ,as        

evidence of ,mr4 ,jefferson's knowledge 
of ,miranda's schemes1 they stated that 
the ,general had brought with him from  
,england a letter to a gentleman of the 
first consequence in ,new ,york1 7,mr4  
,king17 which contained a sketch of his 
project3 this letter was forwarded to   
the ,secretary of ,state and laid before
 the ,president by him4 ,miranda then   
went to ,washington1 saw the ,president 
and the ,secretary1 and wrote to the    
memorialists that he had fully unfolded 
his plans to both4 ,in the course of a  
long conversation with ,mr4 ,madison1 he
 asked for pecuniary assistance and for 
open encouragement1 on the ground that  
individuals might not be willing to join
 in the enterprise1 if ,government did  
not approve it1--particularly as a bill 
was then before ,congress to prohibit   
the exportation of arms4 ,he also       
requested leave of absence for ,colonel 
,smith1 who wished to accompany him4    
,mr4 ,madison answered1 that the        
sentiments of the ,president could not  

be doubted1 but that the ,government of 
the ,united ,states could afford no     
assistance of any kind4 ,private        
individuals were at liberty to act as   
they pleased1 provided they did not     
violate the laws2 and ,new ,york        
merchants would always advance money1 if
 they saw their advantage in it4 ,as to 
the bill ,miranda had spoken of1 it was 
unlikely that it would pass1--and1 in   
fact1 it did not4 ,it was impossible1   
,mr4 ,madison added1 to grant leave of  
absence to ,colonel ,smith1 although he 
thought him better fitted for military  
employment than for the custom-house4   
,he closed the interview by recommending
 the greatest discretion4  ,miranda1    
continued the memorialists1 remained    
fourteen days in ,washington after this 
conversation1 and returned to ,new ,york
 confident of the silent approval of    
,government4 ,eleven days before the    
,leander sailed1 he sent a letter to    
,mr4 ,madison1 inclosing another to ,mr4
 ,jefferson1 both of which he read to   

,ogden and to ,smith4 ,he assured ,mr4  
,madison that he had conformed in every 
way to the intentions of ,government1   
and requested him to keep the secret4   
,to ,mr4 ,jefferson he wrote in a strain
 more fashionable ten years before than 
then1 but well adapted to the           
sentimentality1 both scientific and     
political1 of the ,philosophic          
,president4 ,here it is3--  ,i have the 
honor to send you1 inclosed1 the        
',natural and ,civil ,history of        
,chili1' of which we conversed at       
,washington1--and in which you will1    
perhaps1 find more than in those which  
have been before published on the same  
subject1 concerning this beautiful      
country4  ,if ever the happy prediction1
 which you have pronounced on the future
 destiny of our dear ,columbia1 is to be
 accomplished in our day1 may           
,providence grant that it may be under  
your auspices1 and by the generous      
efforts of her own children6 ,we shall  
then1 in some sort1 behold the revival  

of that age1 the return of which the    
,roman bard invoked in favor of the     
human race3--  ',the last great age     
foretold by sacred rhymes   ,renews its 
finished course2 ,saturnian times       
,roll round again2 and mighty years1    
begun   ,from this first orb1 in radiant
 circles run4'  ,on ,miranda's reports1 
these letters1 and the fact that the    
,leander had not been seized1 they      
rested their case1 and prayed for the   
interference of ,congress in their      
behalf4  ,congress unanimously granted  
the petitioners leave to withdraw4 ,such
 evidence as this1 not only hearsay1 but
 heard from the party most interested in
 misrepresenting the ,administration1   
was not entitled to much consideration4 
,it had1 moreover1 the additional       
disadvantage of proving nothing against 
the ,president and ,secretary1 even if  
every word of it were admitted as true4 
,public attention was diverted from the 
,leander1 ,captain ,lewis1 to the       
,leander1 ,captain ,whitby4 ,this       

,english frigate was cruising off ,sandy
 ,hook1 bringing to inward and outward  
bound vessels1 searching them for       
articles contraband of war1 and helping 
herself to able-bodied seamen who looked
 like ,british subjects4 ,all of which  
was meekly submitted to in #ahjf4 ,mr4  
,jefferson could not overcome his doubts
 as to the constitutionality of a fleet1
 and the ,opposition had the twofold    
pleasure of chuckling over the insults  
offered by ,john ,bull to a government  
with ,french proclivities1 and of       
reproaching the party in power with its 
supineness and want of spirit4  ,but the
 accident of the #beth of ,april brought
 the ,american people to a proper sense 
of their situation1 for the moment4 ,on 
that day1 ,his ,british ,majesty's ship 
,leander fired a round-shot into the    
sloop ,richard1 bound to ,new ,york1 and
 killed the man at the helm1 ,john      
,pierce4 ,the body was brought to the   
city and borne through the principal    
streets1 in the midst of universal      

excitement1 anger1 and cries for        
vengeance4 ,black streamers were        
displayed from the houses2 shops were   
closed2 the newspapers appeared in      
mourning4 ,a public funeral was attended
 by the whole population4 ,captain      
,whitby was indicted for murder1 and    
took care to keep out of the reach of   
,united ,states law-officers4 ,this     
homicide happened just in time for the  
,may election in ,new ,york4 ,both      
parties attempted to make use of it4    
,the ,federalists proclaimed that the   
blood of ,pierce was on the head of     
,jefferson and his followers4 ,these    
retorted1 that the ,english pirates were
 the friends and comrades of the        
,federalists4 ,cheetham had seen the    
first lieutenant of the ,leander1       
disguised1 in company with eight or ten 
of them1 some days after the murder666  
,and the ,democratic ,republicans1 as   
was and is still usual1 had a majority  
at the polls4  ,from time to time short 
paragraphs appeared in the papers1      

advertising ,miranda's success4 ,his    
flag was flying on every fort from      
,cumana to ,laguayra4 ,the whole of this
 fine country may be considered as lost 
to ,spain4 ,then came tidings of sadder 
complexion4 ,he had been beaten off with
 the loss of forty men1 taken prisoners4
 ,the ,spaniards had threatened to hang 
them as pirates1 but they would not dare
 to do it4 ,the ,british had furnished  
,miranda with forty ,spanish prisoners1 
as hostages1 to avenge the threatened   
insult to the feelings of every friend  
to the rights of self-government in     
every part of the world4 ,at last1 news 
arrived from the ,gulf which left       
,miranda's failure in his first attempt 
to land no longer doubtful4 ,this1 of   
course1 made the position of ,ogden and 
,smith more dangerous1 and their case   
more difficult to manage4  ,when the    
trial of ,colonel ,smith came on1 public
 interest revived1 and became stronger  
than before4 ,the court-room was crowded
 by intelligent spectators during the   

whole course of the proceedings1 ,the   
case was peculiar1 and had almost a     
dramatic interest4 ,here was a          
,government prosecution against a man   
well known in the community1 for an     
offence new to our courts2 and the heads
 of that ,government1 ,jefferson and    
,madison1 were indirectly on trial at   
the same time3--,for1 if ,smith and     
,ogden are acquitted1 said the ,federal 
papers1 then must the whole guilt rest  
on the ,administration4 ,apart from the 
political interest of the trial1 the    
eminence of the counsel employed would  
have commanded an audience anywhere4    
,never1 since ,new ,york has had courts 
of justice1 have so many distinguished  
lawyers adorned and dignified her bar as
 in the first twenty years of this      
century4 ,in this case1 nearly all of   
the leaders were retained3 ,nathan      
,sandford1 ,district ,attorney1 and     
,pierrepoint ,edwards1 for the          
prosecution2 for the defence1           
,cadwallader ,colden1 ,josiah ,ogden    

,hoffman1 ,thomas ,addis ,emmet1        
,richard ,harrison1 and ,washington     
,morton499  ,footnote 993 ,judge        
,patterson1 of the ,united ,states      
,court1 occupied the bench with ,judge  
,tallmadge1 until ill-health obliged him
 to withdraw4 ,he died soon after4  ,mr4
 ,colden handed the ,clerk a list of his
 witnesses1 and requested him to call   
their names4 ,among them were those of  
,madison1 ,dearborn1 ,gallatin1         
,granger1 and ,robert ,smith1 all       
members of the ,government4 ,he then    
read the affidavit of service of        
subpoenas upon them on the #beth of     
,may1 and1 inasmuch as these gentlemen  
had not obeyed the subpoena1 and as     
,colonel ,smith could not safely proceed
 to trial without their testimony1 he   
moved that an attachment issue against  
them4  ,the ,district ,attorney opposed 
the motion1 on the ground that the      
testimony of these witnesses could not  
possibly be of any use to the defendant4
 ,none of them were present in ,new     

,york when the ,leander was fitted out4 
,and even if it could be shown by these 
witnesses that the ,administration had  
approved of this illegal expedition1 it 
would not help the defendant4 ,this is a
 country governed by laws1 and not by   
arbitrary edicts4 ,if ,colonel ,smith   
had violated these laws1 he had rendered
 himself liable to punishment4 ,he could
 not escape by making the ,president a  
particeps criminis4 ,an amusing letter  
was read from ,madison1 ,dearborn1 and  
,smith1 which stated1 that the          
,president1 taking into view the state  
of our public affairs1 has specially    
signified to us that our official duties
 cannot consistently therewith be at    
this juncture dispensed with4 ,they     
suggested that a commission should issue
 for the purpose of taking their        
respective testimonies4  ,colden        
insisted that this was an attempt of the
 ,executive to interfere with the       
,judiciary1 which ought not to be       
tolerated4 ,counsel in criminal cases   

had always the right to stand face to   
face with witnesses4 ,it was outrageous 
that the ,president should first approve
 of the conduct of ,colonel ,smith1 then
 order a prosecution against him and    
forbid his witnesses to attend the      
trial4  ,the ,court refused to grant an 
attachment4 ,and later in the trial1    
when the defence offered ,rufus ,king to
 prove the ,president's knowledge and   
approbation of the enterprise1 the      
,court decided against the admission of 
the evidence4  ,the history of the      
expedition in ,new ,york1 as shown by   
the testimony1 was briefly              
this3--,colonel ,smith introduced       
,miranda to ,ogden2 and ,ogden agreed to
 furnish his armed ship ,leander1 and to
 load her with the necessary provisions1
 stores1 arms1 and ammunition4 ,he      
estimated his expenditure at seventy    
thousand dollars4 ,miranda had brought  
with him from ,london a bill of exchange
 on ,new ,york for eight hundred pounds1
 which had been paid1 and had drawn     

bills on ,england and on ,trinidad for  
seven thousand pounds1 which had not    
been paid4 ,this was all that ,ogden had
 received4 ,but if the enterprise were  
successful1 he was to be paid two       
hundred per cent1 advance on the ship   
and cargo4 ,smith had engaged fifteen or
 twenty officers1 without informing them
 of the object of the expedition1 but   
expressly stipulating in writing that   
they would not be employed against      
,england or ,france1 and giving them a  
general verbal assurance that they would
 speedily make their fortunes4 ,in this 
he was sincere1 for he took his son from
 college and sent him with ,miranda4    
,smith had employed ,john ,fink1 a      
,bowery butcher1 to engage men who could
 serve on horseback4 ,fink enlisted     
twenty-three at fifteen dollars a month1
 and fifteen more as a bounty4 ,they    
were not to be taken out of the         
territory of the ,united ,states4 ,some 
of them were told that the ,president   
was raising a mounted guard2 others1    

that they were to guard the mail from   
,washington to ,new ,orleans4 ,one of   
,fink's papers was shown on the trial1  
indorsed1 ,muster-,roll for the         
,president's ,guard4 ,smith had         
furnished the bounty-money1 but it did  
not appear that he had authorized these 
misrepresentations of ,fink1 who        
developed a talent in this business     
which forty years later would have made 
his fortune as an emigrant-runner4      
,abundant proofs of the purchase of     
military clothing1 arms1 powder1 shot1  
and cannon were produced4  ,the ,counsel
 for ,colonel ,smith1 unable to get the 
connivance of the ,administration before
 the ,jury in the shape of evidence1    
coolly assumed it as established1 and   
urged it in defence of their client4    
,they used his memorial to ,congress as 
their brief1 enlarged upon the arbitrary
 conduct of the ,judge in the           
examinations and upon the tyrannical    
interference of the ,president with     
their witnesses4 ,as ,mr4 ,emmet        

cleverly and classically remarked1      
quoting from ,tacitus's description of  
the funeral of ,junia1 ,perhaps their   
very absence rendered them more decided 
witnesses in our favor4 ,they also      
maintained that the ,act of #agid1 under
 which the prisoner was indicted1 did   
not prohibit an enterprise of this      
character4 ,even if it did1 no proof    
existed that this expedition was        
organized in ,new ,york4 ,on the        
contrary1 it was known that ,miranda had
 gone hence to ,jacquemel1 and had made 
his preparations there1 in a port out of
 our jurisdiction4  ,this point made1   
they boldly went a step farther1 and    
declared that the ,united ,states were  
actually at war with ,spain4 ,the affair
 of the ,kempers1 and of ,flanagan in   
,louisiana1 the obstruction of the      
,mobile ,kiver1 the depredations upon   
our commerce by ,spanish privateers1    
were sufficient proof of a state of war4
 ,we had a right to meet force by force4
 ,the ,president must have been of this 

opinion1 else he could not have violated
 his trust by authorizing this          
expedition4  ,the case for the defence1 
considered in a logical point of view1  
was desperate2 but no case is desperate 
before a ,jury2 and when ,mr4 ,colden1  
,mr4 ,hoffman1 and ,mr4 ,emmet had each 
in his own peculiar mode of eloquence   
appealed to the ,jury to protect their  
client1 already punished by removal from
 his place1 without a trial or even a   
hearing1 for an offence committed with1 
the sanction of his superior            
officers1--when they compared this      
,state prosecution to the attempts made 
by despotic ,european governments to    
crush innocent men by the machinery of  
law1 and asserted that it was instituted
 solely to gratify the malice of the    
,king of ,spain1 a bitter enemy to the  
,united ,states1--and when they enlarged
 upon the grandeur of an undertaking to 
give liberty to the down-trodden victims
 of ,colonial tyranny1 comparing        
,miranda and his friends to our own     

,revolutionary heroes1 there could be   
but little doubt of the verdict4 ,but   
there was an uneasy feeling after the   
,district ,attorney had closed4 ,he     
demolished with ease the arguments of   
the other side1 for not one of them had 
sufficient strength to stand alone4     
,smith's perpetual excuse1 that he had  
been led astray by the belief of        
connivance in ,washington1 was          
preposterous4 ,if he had been anxious to
 know the sentiments of ,government on  
the subject1 he might at any time within
 six days have ascertained whether      
,miranda told him truth or not4 ,he     
spoke of the cruelty and reckless folly 
of all such attempts upon a neighboring 
people2 asked the ,jury how they would  
like to see an armed force landed upon  
our shores to take part with one or the 
other of the great political parties2   
and closed with a few strong words1 as  
true at this day as then3--,if you      
acquit the defendant1 you say to the    
world that the ,united ,states have     

renounced the law of nations1--that they
 permit their citizens not only to      
violate their own laws with impunity1   
but to invade the people of other       
countries with hostile force in a time  
of peace1 as avarice1 ambition1 or the  
thought of plunder may dictate4 ,such a 
decision would justify the acts of the  
pirate on the ocean1 and would sink our 
national character to the barbarism of  
savage tribes4  ,the ,jury were out two 
hours1 and brought in a verdict of not  
guilty1 which gave great satisfaction to
 ,federal editors4 ,a few days          
afterward1 ,mr4 ,ogden was acquitted4#a 
,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,jefferson1 after the
 expiration of his second term1 wrote to
 ,don ,valentino de ,fornonda as        
follows3--  ,your predecessor ,yrujo    
wished it to be believed that we were in
 unjustifiable coperation in ,miranda's 
expedition4  ,i solemnly and on my      
personal truth and honor declare to you 
that this was entirely without          
foundation1 and that there was neither  

coperation nor connivance on our part4  
,he informed us he was about to attempt 
the liberation of his native country    
from bondage1 and intimated a hope of   
our aid1 or connivance at least4 ,he was
 at once informed1 that1 though we had  
great cause of complaint against ,spain1
 and even of war1 yet1 whenever we      
should think proper to act as her enemy1
 it should be openly and aboveboard1 and
 that our hostility should never be     
exercised by such petty means4 ,we had  
no suspicion that he expected to engage 
men here1 but merely to purchase        
military stores4 ,against this there was
 no law1 nor1 consequently1 any         
authority for us to interpose4 ,on the  
other hand1 we deemed it improper to    
betray his voluntary communication to   
the agents of ,spain4 ,although his     
measures were many days in preparation  
at ,new ,york1 we never had the least   
intimation or suspicion of his engaging 
men in his enterprise until he was gone2
 and ,i presume that the secrecy of his 

proceedings kept them equally unknown to
 the ,marquis ,yrujo and to the ,spanish
 ,consul at ,new ,york1 since neither of
 them gave us any information of the    
enlistment of men until it was too late 
for any measures taken at ,washington to
 prevent their departure4  ,this is a   
brief account of the first              
filibuster-trial in the ,united ,states4
 ,other heroes of this profession1      
compared with whom ,smith and ,ogden    
were spotless1 have since come before   
our courts only to be turned loose upon 
the world again4 ,no other result is to 
be anticipated4 ,it is an established   
principle with our fellow-citizens1 that
 no man is happy1 or ought to be1 who   
lives under any other system of         
government than our own4 ,let a lawyer  
pronounce the magic formula1 ,liberty to
 the oppressed1 or ,free institutions to
 the victims of despotism1 and1         
presto6--rascality is metamorphosed into
 merit4 ,after all1 it makes such a     
difference1 when it is only our         

neighbor's ox that is gored6  ,here     
closed the first act of the expedition4 
,colonel ,smith lost his office1 and    
,mr4 ,ogden stopped payment4 ,the       
passengers by the ,leander fared worse4 
,there were two hundred men on board3   
one hundred and twenty belonged to the  
ship2 the others had been engaged by    
,smith and his agent ,fink as officers1 
dragoons1 printers1 and armorers4 ,with 
the exception of two or three1 none of  
them had seen their commander or knew   
their destination4 ,the officers1 all   
gentlemen of crooked fortunes1 supposed 
that they were sailing to enlarge the   
area of freedom somewhere in ,america2  
but what particular region of the       
,spanish dominions was to be subjected  
to this wholesome treatment they neither
 knew nor cared1 provided they could    
improve their own financial condition4  
,both officers and privates were for the
 most part serviceable1 steady men1     
worthy of a more efficient leader4  ,on 
the #abth of ,february1 they were       

overhauled and searched by ,h4,b4,m4    
ship ,cleopatra4 ,nineteen men with     
,american protections were carried off  
in the frigate's boat1 and twelve native
 ,americans taken out of prizes sent    
back to replace them4 ,the ,leander's   
papers were examined and pronounced     
unsatisfactory4 ,miranda was obliged to 
go on board the ,cleopatra1 where he had
 a long private conversation with the   
captain4 ,he returned with full liberty 
to proceed1 and with a written pass to  
prevent detention or search by ,british 
cruisers4 ,this adventure was made to   
give an air of respectability to the    
enterprise2 and ,miranda hinted to his  
suite that the ,english captain had     
promised to join him with his frigate4  
,a day or two later1 the ,leander took  
other airs upon herself4 ,meeting a     
small ,spanish schooner1 laden with     
logwood1 off the ,haytian coast1 ,lewis 
fired into her1 and ordered the captain 
on board with his papers1 for the mere  
pleasure of exercising power4 ,the      

,spaniard1 as soon as he got back to his
 own craft1 made the best of his way    
home and gave the first alarm4  ,on the 
#ahth of ,february1 they cast anchor at 
,jacquemel4 ,lewis went immediately to  
,port au-,prince1 to engage the         
,emperor1 a ship commanded by his       
brother1 to join the expedition4        
,miranda remained behind to organize his
 followers4 ,he at last announced to    
them that he intended to land near      
,caracas2 the whole country would rise  
at his name2 his brave ,americans would 
form the nucleus and the heart of a     
great army2 there was no ,spanish force 
in the province to resist him4 ,in a    
general order1 ,parole1 ,america2       
,countersign1 ,liberty1 he assigned to  
his officers their rank in the          
,columbian army1 distributing them into 
the ,engineers1 ,artillery1 ,dragoons1  
,riflemen1 and ,foot4 ,another general  
order1 ,parole1 ,warren2 ,countersign1  
,bunker's ,hill1 fixed the uniforms of  
the different corps1--to be             

distinguished by blue1 yellow1 or green 
facings4 ,all hands were set to work    
upon the crowded deck4 ,printers struck 
off proclamations and blank commissions 
in the name of ,don ,francisco de       
,miranda1 ,commander-in-,chief of the   
,columbian ,army2 carpenters made       
pike-handles2 armorers repaired the arms
 bought in ,new ,york2 7they had cost   
little1 and were worth less27 the       
regimental tailor and his disciples     
stitched the gay facings upon the new   
uniforms2 files of awkward fellows were 
put through the manual exercise by an   
old drill-sergeant2 and the young       
gentlemen officers read diligently in   
treatises on war1 or listened to the    
discourses of their general upon the    
noble art4 ,in the midst of this stir of
 preparation1 ,lewis returned           
unsuccessful1 without the ship ,emperor2
 but ,miranda seemed in no hurry to     
depart4 ,he continued his lectures and  
his drilling until the #bhth of ,march4 
,at last he hoisted the new ,columbian  

flag1--a tricolor1 blue1 yellow1 and    
red1--fired a grand salute1 and stood   
gallantly out of the harbor1 where he   
had wasted six precious weeks4  ,captain
 ,lewis had chartered at                
,port-au-,prince the ,bee1 a small1     
unarmed schooner1 and had bought the    
,bacchus1 a vessel of the same class1   
last from ,laguayra1 whose captain and  
men disappeared mysteriously after their
 arrival at ,jacquemel4 ,some of the    
,leander's hands volunteered for the    
schooners1 to get out of the crowded    
ship2 others were forced on board1 to   
make up a crew4 ,the little fleet       
steered for ,bonair1 but1 through the   
ignorance of their pilot1 or of their   
captain1 found themselves1 after a      
ten-days' cruise1 seventy miles to      
leeward1 off the ,gulf of ,venezuela4   
,the ,leander was a dull sailer2 and1   
with the wind and current against her1  
it took them four days to beat up to the
 ,island of ,aruba1 and seven more to   
reach ,bonair4 ,on the evening of the   

#bgth of ,april1 they were lying to off 
,puerto ,cabello1 preparing to land1 and
 sure of success1 when they made out two
 ,spanish guardacostas close in shore1  
beating up to windward4 ,miranda thought
 them unworthy of attention1 and gave   
the order to stand in4 ,but the pilot   
mistook the landmarks1 owing to the     
darkness1 and missed the point agreed   
upon for landing4 ,the ,bacchus was sent
 in to reconnoitre and did not return1  
although signals of recall were repeated
 throughout the night4 ,about midnight  
signals were noticed passing between the
 fort at ,puerto ,cabello and the       
guardacostas2 ,captain ,lewis beat to   
quarters1 and kept his men at their guns
 until morning4 ,at daybreak the        
,bacchus was seen close in shore1       
carrying a press of sail and closely    
pursued by the ,spanish vessels4 ,the   
,leander bore down with a flowing sheet 
upon the enemy1 fired a few ineffective 
shot1 and then1 for some reason best    
known to her captain1 or to ,miranda1   

hauled on to the wind1 and sailed away1 
leaving the schooners to take care of   
themselves4 ,the guardacostas soon took 
possession of both1 and carried their   
prizes1 with sixty prisoners1 into      
,puerto ,cabello1#a before the eyes of  
their astonished and indignant comrades1
 who could not understand such a want of
 courage or conduct on the part of their
 chief4  ,footnote #a3 ,the unfortunate 
men taken in the schooners were tried at
 ,puerto ,cabello for piracy4 ,ten      
officers were hanged1 their heads cut   
off and stuck upon poles1 and six of    
them sent to ,caracas1 two to ,laguayra1
 and two set up at ,puerto ,cabello4    
,the other prisoners were sentenced to  
the chain-gang4 ,the execution took     
place on the #bast of ,july1 the day    
before ,smith was acquitted in ,new     
,york4  ,after this disaster1 the       
,leander sailed for ,bonair for water4  
,miranda still assumed a confident tone1
 and called a council of war to         
deliberate whether they should attempt a

 landing at ,coro4 ,the council decided1
 that1 in view of the loss they had     
sustained1 it would be advisable to make
 for ,trinidad in search of             
reinforcements4 ,with wind and tide     
against them1 and a slow ship1 the      
voyage was long4 ,they were reduced to  
their last barrel of bread1 when they   
fell in with the ,english sloop-of-war  
,lily1 ,captain ,campbell1 who was      
looking for ,miranda1 and who sent      
supplies of all kinds on board4 ,on the 
#fth of ,june1 they ran into            
,bridgetown1 ,barbadoes4 ,admiral       
,cochrane1 who commanded on that        
station1 gave ,miranda every assistance 
in his power1 and offered to put some of
 his smaller vessels under his orders1  
upon condition that all goods imported  
into the new state of ,columbia in      
,british bottoms should be assessed ten 
per cent1 lower than the products of any
 other nation1 except the ,united       
,states4 ,miranda signed a formal       
agreement to this effect1 and sailed for

 ,trinidad1 accompanied by ,h4,b4,m4    
ships ,lily and ,express1 and the       
,trimmer1 a transport schooner4 ,captain
 ,lewis1 whose repeated quarrels with   
,miranda had affected the discipline of 
the force1 resigned at ,barbadoes4 ,he  
was succeeded by ,captain ,johnson1 a   
daring fellow1 who risked and lost life 
and property in this expedition4  ,the  
,governor of ,trinidad1 like all the    
,english of the ,gulf1 was well disposed
 to aid in an attack on the ,spanish    
,provinces4 ,eighty volunteers of all   
nations1 most of them worthless fellows 
and candidates for a commission1 joined 
the fleet at this place4 ,miranda was   
once more in high spirits4 ,his army    
amounted to four hundred men1 and he had
 secured the cooperation of the         
,english4 ,success seemed certain4 ,he  
issued a new proclamation to his        
followers1 headed ,to ,victory and      
,wealth1 and set sail1 accompanied by   
seven small ,british war-vessels and    
three transports4  ,on the #b;d of      

,august1 the fleet anchored within nine 
miles of ,la ,vela de ,coro4 ,the next  
day two hundred and ninety men were     
landed in the boats of the squadron4    
,they were all ,mirandanians1 the       
,english furnishing only the means of   
transportation and the necessary        
supplies4 ,as the boats approached the  
shore1 they were fired upon from the    
bushes which lined the beach4 ,the      
,columbians jumped into the water and   
charged2 the ,spaniards retreated to a  
fort near the shore4 ,this was carried1 
sword in hand1--the ,spaniards leaping  
from the walls and flying in all        
directions4 ,miranda then formed his    
party1 and marched to the town1 a       
quarter of a mile distant1 which was    
evacuated by the ,spaniards with such   
precipitation that they left their      
cannon loaded4 ,the inhabitants had     
fled1 as well as the military1 carrying 
off all their movable property4 ,the    
,columbian colors were hoisted1 flags of
 truce sent in all directions1 the      

printed proclamations distributed about 
the neighboring country2 but in vain2   
nobody appeared4  ,the same evening the 
,liberators marched twelve miles in a   
northwesterly direction to ,coro4 ,they 
arrived an hour before dawn1 and found  
the town silent and deserted4 ,dividing 
themselves into two parties1 they       
entered cautiously on opposite sides1   
for fear of an ambuscade1--but1         
unfortunately1 when the detachments met 
in the ,grand ,plaza1 they mistook each 
other1 in the dusk of the morning1 for  
the enemy1 and fired4 ,miranda's most   
efficient officer fell1 shot through    
both thighs4 ,one man was killed1 and   
seven others badly wounded4 ,not a soul 
was found in the place1 except those who
 were too old or too ill to move1 and   
the occupants of the prison4 ,the jailer
 presented himself1 surrendered his     
keys1 and informed the ,general that the
 ,governor had forced the citizens to   
leave their homes4 ,miranda remained in 
the deserted town for five days1        

endeavoring1 by the most alluring       
proclamations1 to bring the inhabitants 
back4 ,but it was useless4 ,not a man   
presented himself4 ,he then lost heart1 
and1 instead of advancing into the      
country1 ordered a retreat to ,la ,vela1
 and reembarked on the #aith4  ,those he
 left behind in the ,leander had been   
still more unfortunate4 ,captain        
,johnson had gone in the boats to a     
river three or four miles to the        
eastward1 for water1 and1 while filling 
his casks1 was set upon by a party of   
,spanish soldiers4 ,he was killed1      
fighting bravely1 with fifteen of his   
men4 ,the remainder escaped with        
difficulty4  ,the discomfited invaders  
sailed for the ,island of ,aruba1 where 
their ,english allies1 pretty well      
satisfied that nothing could be done    
with this expedition1 left them4        
,miranda landed his men and took formal 
possession of the island4 ,he sent an   
ambassador to the ,governor of the      
neighboring island of ,curaoa1          

requesting him to surrender4 ,this      
request was declined4 ,he was equally   
unsuccessful in a mission to ,jamaica1  
begging for assistance from ,admiral    
,dacres4 ,dacres refused1 on the ground 
that he had no orders from his          
,government4  ,miranda remained at      
,aruba1 drilling1 issuing proclamations1
 and holding courts martial1 until the  
want of provisions brought the          
enterprise to an end4 ,an ,english      
ship-of-war1 which touched at the       
island1 offered him a safe means of     
escape4 ,on the #bith of ,october1 after
 a passage of twenty-five days1 the     
,liberators arrived at ,trinidad1 and   
disbanded in disgrace4 ,the blue and    
yellow uniforms they had worn with      
pride1 as ,columbians1 on their last    
visit1 were hastily laid aside to escape
 the scoff of the rabble1 who jeered    
them as adventurers and merry-andrews4  
,miranda kept out of sight until he     
could get the opportunity of a passage  
to ,england4 ,all his followers who     

could find means to quit the island made
 their way home as best they could4 ,to 
conclude the business1 the ,leander was 
sold by order of the courts1 and the few
 poor fellows who had remained by her   
received a small share of the proceeds4 
,nobody else was paid the smallest      
fraction of the sums the ,general had so
 liberally promised4  ,that a commander1
 safely landed with three hundred       
fighting men1 in possession of ,coro1   
whose peninsular situation might have   
afforded him an inexpugnable position1  
master of the sea1 and backed by an     
,english fleet1 should have retreated1  
without effecting anything1 from a      
country ripe for rebellion since the    
conspiracy of #agig1 can be explained   
only in one way3 he must have been      
ignorant of the real feelings of the    
people1 and totally unfit to lead such  
an expedition4 ,miranda had what we may 
call a pretty talent for war4 ,he had   
studied the principles of the art1 and  
had seen some service4 ,excited by the  

splendid career of ,washington1 he1 like
 a certain distinguished ,frenchman1    
determined to imitate him and become the
 liberator of his country4 ,when the    
,giant at a show bends the iron bar1 it 
seems so easy that every strong man in  
the crowd thinks he can do as much1     
until he tries4 ,it needs a ,giant of   
the first class to handle a people in   
revolution4 ,miranda was not made of    
that kind of stuff4 ,he was weak and    
inefficient1 fond of mystery and pomp1  
easily affected by flattery1 loving     
dearly to hear himself talk1 and unable 
to control his temper4 ,his incessant   
quarrels with ,captain ,lewis were one  
cause of the loss of the schooners off  
,puerto ,cabello4 ,a want of quickness  
and energy was felt in all his          
operations4 ,delays are proverbially    
dangerous1 but in a coup de main fatal4 
,the time wasted by him at ,jacquemel   
and at ,aruba was employed by the       
,spaniards in making preparations for   
defence4 ,they had few troops1 and did  

not dare to trust the natives with arms1
 but they succeeded in persuading them  
that ,miranda and his men were pagans   
and pirates1 whose triumph would be ten 
times more insufferable than the rule of
 the mother country4  ,if ,miranda was  
incompetent to carry out a liberating   
expedition1 he had wonderful success in 
talking it up4 ,for twenty years he had 
carried this project about with him in  
,america and in ,europe4 ,it was        
elaborated to perfection in every part1 
and there were answers prepared to every
 objection4 ,the new government was to  
be modelled upon the ,english           
,constitution1--an hereditary chief1 to 
be called ,inca1--a senate1 nominated by
 the chief1 composed of nobles1 but not 
hereditary1--and a chamber elected by   
suffrage1 limited by a property         
qualification4 ,he had collected all the
 statistics of population and of trade1 
to show what commercial advantages the  
world might expect from a free ,south   
,american government4 ,and1 rising upon 

a wind of prophecy1 he already saw in   
the future a ship-canal across the      
,isthmus of ,panama1 and the ,nicaragua 
route opened4 ,he had laid these plans  
before ,catharine of ,russia1 who gave  
him money to help them on4 ,mr4 ,pitt   
listened1 promised him assistance in    
return for commercial privileges1 and   
kept him in pay for years4 ,the ,french 
,revolutionists were eager to furnish   
him with an army and a fleet4 ,rufus    
,king1 ,american ,ambassador at ,london1
 sent word of the scheme to ,hamilton   
and ,knox1 who both approved of it4     
,miranda seems to have made the same    
impression upon everybody4 ,his         
extensive travels and acquaintance with 
distinguished men1 his knowledge of     
facts1 dates1 and figures1 his retentive
 and ready memory1 his wonderful        
cleverness in persuading his hearers1   
are spoken of in the same terms by all4 
,dr4 ,rush wrote to a friend1 that      
,miranda had dined with him1 and had    
talked about ,european politics as if he

 had been in the inside of all the kings
 and princes4 ,he might have been a     
second ,count de ,st4 ,germain1 if he   
had lived in the reign of ,louis ,,xiv41
 instead of in an era when men had      
abandoned the philosopher's stone1 and  
were seeking in politics for a new      
magnum opus1 ,constitutions1 as the     
certain means of perfecting the human   
species4  ,everybody was mistaken in    
him4 ,although he talked like an angel1 
in action he was worthless4 ,if he had  
never undertaken to carry out his plans1
 he might have left an excellent        
reputation1 and have remained in ,south 
,american memory as the possible ,father
 of his ,country3 ,capax imperii1 nisi  
imperasset4 ,a short sketch of his      
career may be interesting1 before we    
dismiss him again to the oblivion from  
which we have evoked him for this month4
  ,miranda entered the ,spanish army in 
,america at the age of seventeen1 and   
was advanced to be ,colonel1 a grade    
seldom or never before reached by a     

,creole4 ,he left the service before the
 close of the ,revolutionary ,war1      
travelled in the ,united ,states1 and   
was admitted to the society of          
,washington and of the leading men of   
the day4 ,here1 his attainments1        
quickness1 and insatiable curiosity     
attracted attention4 ,he knew the       
topography and strategy of every battle 
fought during the war better than our   
officers who had been on the field1 and 
soon made himself familiar with parties1
 and even with family connections in    
this country4 ,his constant topic was   
the independence of ,south ,america4    
,after the peace of #aghc1 ,miranda went
 to ,england3 ,colonel ,smith was then  
,secretary of ,john ,adams1 the         
,american ,minister1 and the            
acquaintance between them began in      
,london1 which ended so disastrously    
twenty years later in ,new ,york4       
,leaving ,england1 he travelled over    
,europe4 ,at ,cherson1 he attracted the 
notice of ,prince ,potemkin1 who        

presented him to the ,empress at ,kiew4 
,in #agij1 when the dispute about       
,nootka ,sound99 threatened to produce a
 war between ,great ,britain and ,spain1
 he reappeared in ,london1 and proposed 
to ,mr4 ,pitt his scheme for            
revolutionizing the ,american ,colonies4
 ,pitt at once engaged his services1 but
 ,spain yielded1 and the project could  
not be carried out4 ,miranda crossed to 
,france1 accepted a command in the      
,republican army1 and served1 with      
credit1 in the ,netherlands1 under      
,dumouriez1 until the ,battle of        
,neerwinden4 ,in ,november1 #agib1 the  
,french rulers conceived the idea of    
revolutionizing ,spain1 both in ,europe 
and in ,america4 ,brissot suggested     
,miranda as the fittest person for this 
purpose4 ,he was to take twelve thousand
 troops of the line from ,st4 ,domingo1 
enlist1 in addition1 ten or fifteen     
thousand braves multres1 and make a     
descent1 with this force1 upon the      
,main4 ,le nom de ,miranda1 wrote       

,brissot to ,dumouriez1 lui vaudra une  
arme2 et ses talens1 son courage1 son   
gnie1 tout nous rpond du succs4 ,monge1 
,gensonn1 ,clavire1 ,ption1 were pleased
 with the plan1 but ,miranda started    
difficulties4 ,the ,french system was   
too democratic for his taste1 and the   
pressure of affairs in ,europe soon     
turned the attention of ,brissot and his
 friends in another direction4          
,footnote 993 ,in ,may1 #aghi1 the      
,spanish sloop-of-war ,princesa seized  
four ,english vessels engaged in a trade
 with the natives of ,vancouver's       
,island1 and took them into a ,mexican  
port as prizes1 on the ground that they 
had violated the ,spanish ,colonial     
laws4 ,the ,english government denied   
the claim of ,spain to those distant    
regions1 and insisted upon ample        
satisfaction4 ,the ,king of ,spain was  
obliged to submit to avoid war1 but the 
question of territory was left open4    
,after the disastrous affair of         
,neerwinden1 ,miranda was accused of    

misconduct1 arrested1 and sent to ,paris
 for trial1 but was acquitted by the    
,tribunal ,rvolutionnaire1 and conducted
 home in triumph4 ,he was again         
imprisoned for incivisme1 during the    
,reign of ,terror1 and did not recover  
his liberty until the general           
jail-delivery which followed the death  
of ,robespierre4 ,he was seized for the 
third time in #agig1 by the ,directory1 
as an adherent of the ,pichegru faction1
 and banished from ,france4  ,in        
,january1 #agih1 ,mr4 ,pitt again sent  
for ,miranda1 and a new plan was        
arranged for the emancipation of ,south 
,america4 ,on this occasion1 the        
coperation of the ,united ,states was   
confidently relied upon4 ,both ,pitt and
 our own rulers foresaw that ,spain must
 inevitably fall a prey to ,france1 and 
that the whole of her ,american         
possessions would probably share her    
fate4 ,our relations with ,france were  
in so critical a condition1 that we were
 making preparations for defence2 and it

 was1 of course1 of the highest         
importance to our safety1 that the      
,floridas and ,louisiana should not fall
 into the hands of a powerful enemy4 ,it
 was proposed1 consequently1 to form a  
commercial and defensive alliance       
between ,england1 the ,united ,states1  
and ,south ,america4 ,we were to get the
 ,floridas and ,louisiana to the        
,mississippi1 and in return to furnish a
 land-force of ten thousand men4 ,great 
,britain would provide the fleet1 in    
consideration of certain important      
advantages in trade4 ,miranda kept his  
friends in the ,united ,states fully    
advised of the progress of affairs4     
,hamilton and ,knox were in favor of the
 project1 provided war were declared4   
,our provisional army might then have   
played a brilliant part4 ,but there was 
no war4 ,president ,adams refused to    
listen to ,miranda's communications1 and
 patched up our difficulties with       
,france4 ,nothing was done by the       
,english4  ,in #ahja ,lord ,sidmouth    

revived ,miranda's hopes1 but the ,peace
 of ,amiens put a stop to the           
preparations4 ,in #ahjd ,mr4 ,pitt was  
again at the head of affairs1 and       
renewed his intercourse with ,miranda4  
,orders were given to prepare ships and 
to enrol men1 when the hopes of the     
third coalition again suspended the     
execution of the project4  ,it was after
 this last blow from ,fortune that      
,miranda came to ,new ,york and fitted  
out the expedition we have undertaken to
 describe4 ,his disastrous failure      
seemed neither to destroy his hopes1 nor
 to shake the confidence of his ,english
 friends in his pretensions4 ,when he   
returned to ,england from ,trinidad1 he 
found ministers prepared to embark with 
energy in the ,south ,american scheme4  
,this time a fleet and an army were     
really assembled at ,cork1 and ,sir     
,arthur ,wellesley was to command       
them1--when the ,spanish ,revolution    
broke out1 altered at once the face of  
affairs in ,europe1 and turned ,sir     

,arthur and his army toward ,portugal1  
to begin that brilliant series of       
campaigns which drove the ,french out of
 the ,peninsula4  ,few men fix their    
minds pertinaciously upon an object1 and
 adhere to the pursuit through life1    
without at least a partial attainment of
 it4 ,miranda1 the victim of so many    
bitter disappointments1 at last found   
himself for a few months in the position
 he had so often dreamed of4 ,when the  
news of the fall of ,seville1 and of the
 dispersion of the ,junta who governed  
in the name of ,ferdinand ,,vii41       
reached ,south ,america1 open rebellion 
broke out at ,caracas4 ,king ,joseph    
,bonaparte had sent over a proclamation1
 imploring his trusty and well-beloved  
,south ,americans to come to his        
paternal arms1--or1 if they would not do
 that1 at least to set up a government  
for themselves1 and not take part with  
,ferdinand and ,england4 ,his emissaries
 were hunted down and hanged1 wherever  
caught4 ,revolutionary ,juntas were     

established all over the country4 ,on   
the #aith of ,april1 #ahaj1 the         
,american ,confederation of ,venezuela1 
in ,congress assembled1 undertook to    
rule in the name of ,ferdinand ,,vii41  
but in reality as an independent        
government4 ,miranda was called to the  
command of the native army4 ,on the #eth
 of ,july1 #ahaa1 the ,congress         
published their ,declaration of         
,independence1 and a ,constitution1 both
 of them remarkable state-papers4 ,in   
point of liberality of sentiment and    
elegance of style they will bear        
comparison with our own celebrated      
documents of '#gf and '#hg4 ,indeed1 in 
all these ,spanish political plays1 the 
plot has been good1 the text admirable1 
but the actors so poor as to spoil the  
piece4 ,so it fell out in ,venezuela4   
,at first the ,patriots were successful2
 ,miranda defeated the ,royalists and   
took ,valencia4 ,the principal towns    
fell into the hands of the insurgents4  
,then1 came the terrible earthquake of  

#ahab1 which not only shattered the     
resources of the ,patriots1 but was     
skilfully used by the ,church as a proof
 that ,providence had taken sides       
against the rebels4 ,monteverde1 the    
,spanish general1 recaptured ,valencia4 
,congress placed the dictatorship with  
unlimited power in ,miranda's hands1 but
 he was not the man for desperate       
situations4 ,on the #fth of ,july1 the  
,royalists took ,puerto ,cabello2       
,caracas fell on the #bhth2 and         
,miranda1 betrayed by his own party into
 the hands of the ,spaniards1 was sent a
 prisoner to ,cadiz in ,october4 ,simon 
,bolivar and others1 men of different   
mettle1 regained all that had been lost1
 and cut loose the ,colonies from       
,spain4 ,from ,california to ,cape ,horn
 the inestimable system of              
self-government was established4        
,according to the theory1 the ,south    
,americans should have been prosperous  
and happy2 but1 unfortunately1 the      
result has been murder1 robbery1 and    

general ruin4 ,the burden of taking care
 of one's self1 which the ,north        
,american had the strength to bear1 has 
crushed the poor half-caste ,spaniard4  
,there are persons who assert that a    
political regimen which agrees so well  
with us must therefore be good for all  
others4 ,it may be instructive to such  
believers in system to compare          
,humboldt's narrative of the cultivation
 shown by the great ,colonial           
,universities of ,mexico1 ,quito1 and   
,lima1 of the pleasing ,creole society  
that entertained him1 and the peaceful  
quiet and security he noticed throughout
 country1 with the relations of modern  
travellers or newspaper-correspondents  
who visit those semi-barbarous regions4 
,don ,francisco de ,miranda did not live
 to hear of the freedom of his          
,columbia4 ,before the close of the year
 #ahab he died in prison1 at ,cadiz4    
,thus perished the most gentlemanlike of
 filibusters1 since the days when ,jason
 sailed in the ,argo to extend the      

blessing of ,greek institutions over    
,colchis and to appropriate the ,golden 
,fleece4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,,the ,,professor',s       
,,story4   ,,chapter ,,viii4  ,,the     
,,morning ,,after4   ,colonel ,sprowle's
 family arose late the next morning4    
,the fatigues and excitements of the    
evening and the preparation for it were 
followed by a natural collapse1 of which
 somnolence was a leading symptom4 ,the 
sun shone into the window at a pretty   
well opened angle when the ,colonel     
first found himself sufficiently awake  
to address his yet slumbering spouse4   
,sally6 said the ,colonel1 in a voice   
that was a little husky1--for he had    
finished off the evening with an extra  
glass or two of ,madary1 and had a      
somewhat rusty and headachy sense of    
renewed existence1 on greeting the      
rather advanced dawn1--,sally6  ,take   
care o' them custard-cups6 ,there they  
go6  ,poor ,mrs4 ,sprowle was fighting  
the party over in her dream2 and as the 

visionary custard-cups crashed down     
through one lobe of her brain into      
another1 she gave a start as if an inch 
of lightning from a quart ,leyden jar   
had jumped into one of her knuckles with
 its sudden and lively poonk6  ,sally6  
said the ,colonel1--wake up1 wake up6   
,what 'r' y' dreamin' abaout8  ,mrs4    
,sprowle raised herself1 by a sort of   
spasm1 sur son sant1 as they say in     
,france1--up on end1 as we have it in   
,new ,england4 ,she looked first to the 
left1 then to the right1 then straight  
before her1 apparently without seeing   
anything1 and at last slowly settled    
down1 with her two eyes1 blank of any   
particular meaning1 directed upon the   
,colonel4  ,what time is't8 she said4   
,ten o'clock4 ,what 'y' been dreamin'   
abaout8 ,y' giv a jump like a           
hoppergrass4 ,wake up1 wake up6 ,th'    
party's over1 and y' been asleep all the
 mornin'4 ,the party's over1 ,i tell ye6
 ,wake up6  ,over6 said ,mrs4 ,sprowle1 
who began to define her position at     

last1--over6 ,i should think 'twas time 
'twas over6 ,it's lasted a hundud year4 
,i've been workin' for that party longer
 'n ,methuselah's lifetime1 sence ,i    
been asleep4 ,the pies wouldn' bake1 and
 the blo'monge wouldn' set1 and the     
ice-cream wouldn' freeze1 and all the   
folks kep' comin' 'n' comin' 'n'        
comin'1--everybody ,i ever knew in all  
my life1--some of 'em's been dead this  
twenty year 'n' more1--'n' nothin' for  
'em to eat nor drink4 ,the fire wouldn' 
burn to cook anything1 all we could do4 
,we blowed with the belluses1 'n' we    
stuffed in paper 'n' pitch-pine         
kindlin's1 but nothin' could make that  
fire burn2 'n' all the time the folks   
kep' comin'1 as if they'd never         
stop1--'n' nothin' for 'em but empty    
dishes1 'n' all the borrowed chaney     
slippin' round on the waiters 'n'       
chippin' 'n' crackin'4 ,i wouldn' go    
through what ,i been through t'-night   
for all th' money in th' ,bank1--,i do  
believe it's harder t' have a party than

 t'----  ,mrs4 ,sprowle stated the case 
strongly4  ,the ,colonel said he didn't 
know how that might be4 ,she was a      
better judge than he was4 ,it was bother
 enough1 anyhow1 and he was glad that it
 was over4 ,after this1 the worthy pair 
commenced preparations for rejoining the
 waking world1 and in due time proceeded
 down-stairs4  ,everybody was late that 
morning1 and nothing had got put to     
rights4 ,the house looked as if a small 
army had been quartered in it over      
night4 ,the tables were of course in    
huge disorder1 after the protracted     
assault they had undergone4 ,there had  
been a great battle evidently1 and it   
had gone against the provisions4 ,some  
points had been stormed1 and all their  
defences annihilated1 but here and there
 were centres of resistance which had   
held out against all attacks1--large    
rounds of beef1 and solid loaves of     
cake1 against which the inexperienced   
had wasted their energies in the        
enthusiasm of youth or uninformed       

maturity1 while the longer-headed guests
 were making discoveries of             
shell-oysters and patridges and similar 
delicacies4  ,the breakfast was         
naturally of a somewhat fragmentary     
character4 ,a chicken that had lost his 
legs in the service of the preceding    
campaign was once more put on duty4 ,a  
great ham stuck with cloves1 as ,saint  
,sebastian was with arrows1 was again   
offered for martyrdom4 ,it would have   
been a pleasant sight for a medical man 
of a speculative turn to have seen the  
prospect before the ,colonel's family of
 the next week's breakfasts1 dinners1   
and suppers4 ,the trail that one of     
these great rural parties leaves after  
it is one of its most formidable        
considerations4 ,every door-handle in   
the house is suggestive of sweetmeats   
for the next week1 at least4 ,the most  
unnatural articles of diet displace the 
frugal but nutritious food of           
unconvulsed periods of existence4 ,if   
there is a walking infant about the     

house1 it will certainly have a more or 
less fatal fit from overmuch of some    
indigestible delicacy4 ,before the week 
is out1 everybody will be tired to death
 of sugary forms of nourishment and long
 to see the last of the remnants of the 
festival4  ,the family had not yet      
arrived at this condition4 ,on the      
contrary1 the first inspection of the   
tables suggested the prospect of days of
 unstinted luxury2 and the younger      
portion of the household1 especially1   
were in a state of great excitement as  
the account of stock was taken with     
reference to future internal            
investments1 ,some curious facts came to
 light during these researches4         
,where's all the oranges gone to8 said  
,mrs4 ,sprowle4 ,i expected there'd be  
ever so many of 'em left4 ,i didn't see 
many of the folks eatin' oranges4       
,where's the skins of 'em8 ,there ought 
to be six dozen orange-skins round on   
the plates1 and there a'n't one dozen4  
,and all the small cakes1 too1 and all  

the sugar things that was stuck on the  
big cakes4--,has anybody counted the    
spoons8 ,some of 'em got swallered1     
perhaps4 ,i hope they was plated ones1  
if they did6  ,the failure of the       
morning's orange-crop and the deficit in
 other expected residual delicacies were
 not very difficult to account for4 ,in 
many of the two-story ,rockland         
families1 and in those favored          
households of the neighboring villages  
whose members had been invited to the   
great party1 there was a very general   
excitement among the younger people on  
the morning after the great event4 ,did 
y' bring home somethin' from the party8 
,what is it8 ,what is it8 ,is it        
frt-cake8 ,is it nuts and oranges and   
apples8 ,give me some6 ,give me some6   
,such a concert of treble voices        
uttering accents like these had not been
 heard since the great ,temperance      
,festival with the celebrated colation  
in the open air under the trees of the  
,parnassian ,grove1--as the place was   

christened by the young ladies of the   
,institute4 ,the cry of the children was
 not in vain4 ,from the pockets of      
demure fathers1 from the bags of        
sharp-eyed spinsters1 from the folded   
handkerchiefs of light-fingered sisters1
 from the tall hats of sly-winking      
brothers1 there was a resurrection of   
the missing oranges and cakes and       
sugar-things in many a rejoicing        
family-circle1 enough to astonish the   
most hardened caterer that ever         
contracted to feed a thousand people    
under canvas4  ,the tender recollection 
of those dear little ones whom extreme  
youth or other pressing considerations  
detain from scenes of festivity--a trait
 of affection by no means uncommon among
 our thoughtful people --dignifies those
 social meetings where it is manifested1
 and sheds a ray of sunshine on our     
common nature4 ,it is an oasis in the   
desert1--to use the striking expression 
of the last year's ,valedictorian of the
 ,apollinean ,institute4 ,in the midst  

of so much that is purely selfish1 it is
 delightful to meet such disinterested  
care for others4 ,when a large family of
 children are expecting a parent's      
return from an entertainment1 it will   
often require great exertions on his    
part to provide himself so as to meet   
their reasonable expectations4 ,a few   
rules are worth remembering by all who  
attend anniversary dinners in ,faneuil  
,hall or elsewhere4 ,thus3 ,lobsters'   
claws are always acceptable to children 
of all ages4 ,oranges and apples are to 
be taken one at a time1 until the       
coat-pockets begin to become            
inconveniently heavy4 ,cakes are injured
 by sitting upon them2 it is1 therefore1
 well to carry a stout tin box of a size
 to hold as many pieces as there are    
children in the domestic circle4 ,a very
 pleasant amusement1 at the close of one
 of these banquets1 is grabbing for the 
flowers with which the table is         
embellished4 ,these will please the     
ladies at home very greatly1 and1 if the

 children are at the same time          
abundantly supplied with fruits1 nuts1  
cakes1 and any little ornamental        
articles of confectionery which are of a
 nature to be unostentatiously removed1 
the kind-hearted parent will make a     
whole household happy1 without any      
additional expense beyond the outlay for
 his ticket4  ,there were fragmentary   
delicacies enough left1 of one kind and 
another1 at any rate1 to make all the   
,colonel's family uncomfortable for the 
next week4 ,it bid fair to take as long 
to get rid of the remains of the great  
party as it had taken to make ready for 
it4  ,in the mean time ,mr4 ,bernard had
 been dreaming1 as young men dream1 of  
gliding shapes with bright eyes and     
burning cheeks1 strangely blended with  
red planets and hissing meteors1 and1   
shining over all1 the white1 unwandering
 star of the ,north1 girt with its      
tethered constellations4  ,after        
breakfast he walked into the parlor1    
where he found ,miss ,darley4 ,she was  

alone1 and1 holding a school-book in her
 hand1 was at work with one of the      
morning's lessons4 ,she hardly noticed  
him as he entered1 being very busy with 
her book1--and he paused a moment before
 speaking1 and looked at her with a kind
 of reverence4 ,it would not have been  
strictly true to call her beautiful4    
,for years1--since her earliest         
womanhood1--those slender hands had     
taken the bread which repaid the toil of
 heart and brain from the coarse palms  
that offered it in the world's rude     
market4 ,it was not for herself alone   
that she had bartered away the life of  
her youth1 that she had breathed the hot
 air of school-rooms1 that she had      
forced her intelligence to posture      
before her will1 as the exigencies of   
her place required1--waking to mental   
labor1--sleeping to dream of            
problems1--rolling up the stone of      
education for an endless twelvemonth's  
term1 to find it at the bottom of the   
hill again when another year called her 

to its renewed duties1--schooling her   
temper in unending inward and outward   
conflicts1 until neither dulness nor    
obstinacy nor ingratitude nor insolence 
could reach her serene self-possession4 
,not for herself alone4 ,poorly as her  
prodigal labors were repaid in          
proportion to the waste of life they    
cost1 her value was too well established
 to leave her without what1 under other 
circumstances1 would have been a more   
than sufficient compensation4 ,but there
 were others who looked to her in their 
need1 and so the modest fountain which  
might have been filled to its brim was  
continually drained through             
silent-flowing1 hidden sluices4  ,out of
 such a life1 inherited from a race     
which had lived in conditions not unlike
 her own1 beauty1 in the common sense of
 the term1 could hardly find leisure to 
develop and shape itself4 ,for it must  
be remembered1 that symmetry and        
elegance of features and figure1 like   
perfectly formed crystals in the mineral

 world1 are reached only by insuring a  
certain necessary repose to individuals 
and to generations4 ,human beauty is an 
agricultural product in the country1    
growing up in men and women as in corn  
and cattle1 where the soil is good4 ,it 
is a luxury almost monopolized by the   
rich in cities1 bred under glass like   
their forced pine-apples and peaches4   
,both in city and country1 the evolution
 of the physical harmonics which make   
music to our eyes requires a combination
 of favorable circumstances1 of which   
alternations of unburdened tranquillity 
with intervals of varied excitement of  
mind and body are among the most        
important4 ,where sufficient excitement 
is wanting1 as often happens in the     
country1 the features1 however rich in  
red and white1 get heavy1 and the       
movements sluggish2 where excitement is 
furnished in excess1 as is frequently   
the case in cities1 the contours and    
colors are impoverished1 and the nerves 
begin to make their existence known to  

the consciousness1 as the face very soon
 informs us4  ,helen ,darley could not1 
in the nature of things1 have possessed 
the kind of beauty which pleases the    
common taste4 ,her eye was calm1        
sad-looking1 her features very still1   
except when her pleasant smile changed  
them for a moment1 all her outlines were
 delicate1 her voice was very gentle1   
but somewhat subdued by years of        
thoughtful labor1 and on her smooth     
forehead one little hinted line         
whispered already that ,care was        
beginning to mark the trace which ,time 
sooner or later would make a furrow4    
,she could not be a beauty2 if she had  
been1 it would have been much harder for
 many persons to be interested in her4  
,for1 although in the abstract we all   
love beauty1 and although1 if we were   
sent naked souls into some ultramundane 
warehouse of soul-less bodies and told  
to select one to our liking1 we should  
each choose a handsome one1 and never   
think of the consequences1--it is quite 

certain that beauty carries an          
atmosphere of repulsion as well as of   
attraction with it1 alike in both sexes4
 ,we may be well assured that there are 
many persons who no more think of       
specializing their love of the other sex
 upon one endowed with signal beauty1   
than they think of wanting great        
diamonds or thousand-dollar horses4 ,no 
man or woman can appropriate beauty     
without paying for it1--in endowments1  
in fortune1 in position1 in             
self-surrender1 or other valuable stock2
 and there are a great many who are too 
poor1 too ordinary1 too humble1 too     
busy1 too proud1 to pay any of these    
prices for it4 ,so the unbeautiful get  
many more lovers than the beauties2     
only1 as there are more of them1 their  
lovers are spread thinner and do not    
make so much show4  ,the young master   
stood looking at ,helen ,darley with a  
kind of tender admiration4 ,she was such
 a picture of the martyr by the slow    
social combustive process1 that it      

almost seemed to him he could see a pale
 lambent aureole round her head4  ,i did
 not see you at the great party last    
evening1 he said1 presently4  ,she      
looked up and answered1 ,no4 ,i have not
 much taste for such large companies4   
,besides1 ,i do not feel as if my time  
belonged to me after it has been paid   
for4 ,there is always something to do1  
some lesson or exercise1--and it so     
happened1 ,i was very busy last night   
with the new problems in geometry4 ,i   
hope you had a good time4  ,very4 ,two  
or three of our girls were there4 ,rosa 
,milburn4 ,what a beauty she is6 ,i     
wonder what she feeds on6 ,wine and musk
 and chloroform and coals of fire1 ,i   
believe2 ,i didn't think there was such 
color and flavor in a woman outside the 
tropics4  ,miss ,darley smiled rather   
faintly2 the imagery was not just to her
 taste3 femineity often finds it very   
hard to accept the fact of muliebrity4  
,was----8  ,she stopped short2 but her  
question had asked itself4  ,elsie      

there8 ,she was1 for an hour or so4 ,she
 looked frightfully handsome4 ,i meant  
to have spoken to her1 but she slipped  
away before ,i knew it4  ,i thought she 
meant to go to the party1 said ,miss    
,darley4 ,did she look at you8  ,she    
did4 ,why8  ,and you did not speak to   
her8  ,no4 ,i should have spoken to her1
 but she was gone when ,i looked for    
her4 ,a strange creature6 ,isn't there  
an odd sort of fascination about her8   
,you have not explained all the mystery 
about the girl4 ,what does she come to  
this school for8 ,she seems to do pretty
 much as she likes about studying4      
,miss ,darley answered in very low      
tones4 ,it was a fancy of hers to come1 
and they let her have her way4 ,i don't 
know what there is about her1 except    
that she seems to take my life out of me
 when she looks at me4 ,i don't like to 
ask other people about our girls4 ,she  
says very little to anybody1 and        
studies1 or makes believe study1 almost 
what she likes4 ,i don't know what she  

is1 7,miss ,darley laid her hand1       
trembling1 on the young master's        
sleeve17 but ,i can tell when she is in 
the room without seeing or hearing her4 
,oh1 ,mr4 ,langdon1 ,i am weak and      
nervous1 and no doubt foolish1--but--if 
there were women now1 as in the days of 
our ,saviour1 possessed of devils1 ,i   
should think there was something not    
human looking out of ,elsie ,venner's   
eyes6  ,the poor girl's breast rose and 
fell tumultuously as she spoke1 and her 
voice labored1 as if some obstruction   
were rising in her throat4  ,a scene    
might possibly have come of it1 but the 
door opened4 ,mr4 ,silas ,peckham4 ,miss
 ,darley got away as soon as she well   
could4  ,why did not ,miss ,darley go to
 the party last evening8 said ,mr4      
,bernard4  ,well1 the fact is1 answered 
,mr4 ,silas ,peckham1 ,miss ,darley1    
she's pootty much took up with the      
school4 ,she's an industris young       
woman1--yis1 she is industris1--but     
perhaps she a'n't quite so spry a worker

 as some4 ,maybe1 considerin' she's paid
 for her time1 she isn't fur out o' the 
way in occoopyin' herself               
evenin's1--that is1 if so be she a'n't  
smart enough to finish up all her work  
in the daytime4 ,edoocation is the great
 business of the ,institoot4            
,amoosements are objec's of a secondary 
natur'1 accordin' to my v'oo4 ,the      
unspellable pronunciation of this word  
is the touchstone of ,new ,england      
,brahminism4  ,mr4 ,bernard drew a deep 
breath1 his thin nostrils dilating1 as  
if the air did not rush in fast enough  
to cool his blood1 while ,silas ,peckham
 was speaking4 ,the ,head of the        
,apollinean ,institute delivered himself
 of these judicious sentiments in that  
peculiar acid1 penetrating tone1 wadded 
with a nasal twang1 which not rarely    
becomes hereditary after three or four  
generations raised upon east winds1 salt
 fish1 and large1 white-bellied1 pickled
 cucumbers4 ,he spoke deliberately1 as  
if weighing his words well1 so that1    

during his few remarks1 ,mr4 ,bernard   
had time for a mental accompaniment with
 variations1 accented by certain bodily 
changes1 which escaped ,mr4 ,peckham's  
observation4 ,first there was a feeling 
of disgust and shame at hearing ,helen  
,darley spoken of like a dumb working   
animal4 ,that sent the blood up into his
 cheeks4 ,then the slur upon her        
probable want of force--her incapacity1 
who made the character of the school and
 left this man to pocket its            
profits--sent a thrill of the old       
,wentworth fire through him1 so that his
 muscles hardened1 his hands closed1 and
 he took the measure of ,mr4 ,silas     
,peckham1 to see if his head would      
strike the wall in case he went over    
backwards all of a sudden4 ,this would  
not do1 of course1 and so the thrill    
passed off and the muscles softened     
again4 ,then came that state of         
tenderness in the heart1 overlying wrath
 in the stomach1 in which the eyes grow 
moist like a woman's1 and there is also 

a great boiling-up of objectionable     
terms out of the deep-water vocabulary1 
so that ,prudence and ,propriety and all
 the other pious ,ps have to jump upon  
the lid of speech to keep them from     
boiling over into fierce articulation4  
,all this was internal1 chiefly1 and of 
course not recognized by ,mr4 ,silas    
,peckham4 ,the idea1 that any           
full-grown1 sensible man should have any
 other notion than that of getting the  
most work for the least money out of his
 assistants1 had never suggested itself 
to him4  ,mr4 ,bernard had gone through 
this paroxysm1 and cooled down1 in the  
period while ,mr4 ,peckham was uttering 
these words in his thin1 shallow whine1 
twanging up into the frontal sinuses4   
,what was the use of losing his temper  
and throwing away his place1 and so1    
among the consequences which would      
necessarily follow1 leaving the poor    
lady-teacher without a friend to stand  
by her ready to lay his hand on the     
grand-inquisitor before the windlass of 

his rack had taken one turn too many8   
,no doubt1 ,mr4 ,peckham1 he said1 in a 
grave1 calm voice1 there is a great deal
 of work to be done in the school2 but  
perhaps we can distribute the duties a  
little more evenly after a time4 ,i     
shall look over the girls' themes       
myself1 after this week4 ,perhaps there 
will be some other parts of her labor   
that ,i can take on myself4 ,we can     
arrange a new programme of studies and  
recitations4  ,we can do that1 said ,mr4
 ,silas ,peckham4 ,but ,i don't propose 
mater'lly alterin' ,miss ,darley's      
dooties4 ,i don't think she works to    
hurt herself4 ,some of the ,trustees    
have proposed interdoosin' new branches 
of study1 and ,i expect you will be     
pootty much occoopied with the dooties  
that belong to your place4 ,on the      
,sabbath you will be able to attend     
divine service three times1 which is    
expected of our teachers4 ,i shall      
continoo myself to give ,sabbath        
,scriptur'-readin's to the young ladies4

 ,that is a solemn dooty ,i can't make  
up my mind to commit to other people4   
,my teachers enjoy the ,lord's day as a 
day of rest4 ,in it they do no manner of
 work1--except in cases of necessity or 
mercy1 such as fillin' out diplomas1 or 
when we git crowded jest at the end of a
 term1 or when there is an extry number 
of poopils1 or other ,providential call 
to dispense with the ordinance4  ,mr4   
,bernard had a fine glow in his cheeks  
by this time1--doubtless kindled by the 
thought of the kind consideration ,mr4  
,peckham showed for his subordinates in 
allowing them the between-meeting-time  
on ,sundays except for some special     
reason4 ,but the morning was wearing    
away2 so he went to the school-room1    
taking leave very properly of his       
respected principal1 who soon took his  
hat and departed4  ,mr4 ,peckham visited
 certain stores or shops1 where he made 
inquiries after various articles in the 
provision-line1 and effected a purchase 
or two4 ,two or three barrels of        

potatoes1 which had sprouted in a       
promising way1 he secured at a bargain4 
,a side of feminine beef was also       
obtained at a low figure4 ,he was       
entirely satisfied with a couple of     
barrels of flour1 which1 being invoiced 
slightly damaged1 were to be had at a   
reasonable price4  ,after this1 ,silas  
,peckham felt in good spirits4 ,he had  
done a pretty stroke of business4 ,it   
came into his head whether he might not 
follow it up with a still more brilliant
 speculation4 ,so he turned his steps in
 the direction of ,colonel ,sprowle's4  
,it was now eleven o'clock1 and the     
battlefield of last evening was as we   
left it4 ,mr4 ,peckham's visit was      
unexpected1 perhaps not very well timed1
 but the ,colonel received him civilly4 
,beautifully lighted1--these rooms last 
night6 said ,mr4 ,peckham4              
,winter-strained8  ,the ,colonel nodded4
  ,how much do you pay for your         
winter-strained8  ,the ,colonel told him
 the price4  ,very hahnsome             

supper1--very hahnsome6 ,nothin' ever   
seen like it in ,rockland4 ,must have   
been a great heap of things left over4  
,the compliment was not ungrateful1 and 
the ,colonel acknowledged it by smiling 
and saying1 ,i should think the' was a  
trifle6 ,come and look4  ,when ,silas   
,peckham saw how many delicacies had    
survived the evening's conflict1 his    
commercial spirit rose at once to the   
point of a proposal4  ,colonel ,sprowle1
 said he1 there's meat and cakes and    
pies and pickles enough on that table to
 spread a hahnsome colation4 ,if you'd  
like to trade reasonable1 ,i think      
perhaps ,i should be willin' to take 'em
 off your hands4 ,there's been a talk   
about our havin' a celebration in the   
,parnassian ,grove1 and ,i think ,i     
could work in what your folks don't want
 and make myself whole by chargin' a    
small sum for tickets4 ,broken meats1 of
 course1 a'n't of the same valoo as     
fresh provisions2 so ,i think you might 
be willin' to trade reasonable4  ,mr4   

,peckham paused and rested on his       
proposal4 ,it would not1 perhaps1 have  
been very extraordinary1 if ,colonel    
,sprowle had entertained the            
proposition4 ,there is no telling       
beforehand how such things will strike  
people4 ,it didn't happen to strike the 
,colonel favorably4 ,he had a little    
red-blooded manhood in him4  ,sell you  
them things to make a colation out of8  
the ,colonel replied4 ,walk up to that  
table1 ,mr4 ,peckham1 and help yourself6
 ,fill your pockets1 ,mr4 ,peckham6     
,fetch a basket1 and our hired folks    
shall fill it full for ye6 ,send a cart1
 if y' like1 'n' carry off them leavin's
 to make a celebration for your pupils  
with6 ,only let me tell ye this3--as    
sure's my name's ,hezekiah ,spraowle1   
you'll be known through the taown 'n'   
through the caounty1 from that day      
forrard1 as the ,principal of the       
,broken-,victuals ,institoot6  ,even    
provincial human-nature sometimes has a 
touch of sublimity about it4 ,mr4 ,silas

 ,peckham had gone a little deeper than 
he meant1 and come upon the hard pan1 as
 the well-diggers call it1 of the       
,colonel's character1 before he thought 
of it4 ,a militia-colonel standing on   
his sentiments is not to be despised4   
,that was shown pretty well in ,new     
,england two or three generations ago4  
,there were a good many plain officers  
that talked about their rigiment and    
their caounty who knew very well how to 
say ,make ready6 ,take aim6 ,fire6--in  
the face of a line of grenadiers with   
bullets in their guns and bayonets on   
them4 ,and though a rustic uniform is   
not always unexceptionable in its cut   
and trimmings1 yet there was many an    
ill-made coat in those old times that   
was good enough to be shown to the      
enemy's front rank1 too often to be left
 on the field with a round hole in its  
left lapel that matched another going   
right through the brave heart of the    
plain country captain or major or       
colonel who was buried in it under the  

crimson turf4  ,mr4 ,silas ,peckham said
 little or nothing4 ,his sensibilities  
were not acute1 but he perceived that he
 had made a miscalculation4 ,he hoped   
that there was no offence1--thought it  
might have been mutooally agreeable1    
conclooded he would give up the idee of 
a colation1 and backed himself out as if
 unwilling to expose the less guarded   
aspect of his person to the risk of     
accelerating impulses4  ,the ,colonel   
shut the door1--cast his eye on the toe 
of his right boot1 as if it had had a   
strong temptation1--looked at his watch1
 then round the room1 and1 going to a   
cupboard1 swallowed a glass of deep-red 
brandy and water to compose his         
feelings4   ,,chapter ,,ix4  ,,the      
,,doctor ,,orders ,,the ,,best ,,sulky4 
7,with a ,digression on ,hired ,help7   
,abel6 ,slip ,cassia into the new sulky1
 and fetch her round4  ,abel was ,dr4   
,kittredge's hired man4 ,he was born in 
,new ,hampshire1 a queer sort of a      
,state1 with fat streaks of soil and    

population where they breed giants in   
mind and body1 and lean streaks which   
export imperfectly nourished young men  
with promising but neglected appetites1 
who may be found in great numbers in all
 the large towns1 or could be until of  
late years1 when they have been half    
driven out of their favorite            
basement-stories by foreigners1 and half
 coaxed away from them by ,california4  
,new ,hampshire is in more than one     
sense the ,switzerland of ,new ,england4
 ,the ,granite ,state being naturally   
enough deficient in pudding-stone1 its  
children are apt to wander southward in 
search of that deposit1--in the         
unpetrified condition4  ,abel ,stebbins 
was a good specimen of that             
extraordinary hybrid or mule between    
democracy and chrysocracy1 a native-born
 ,new-,england serving-man4 ,the ,old   
,world has nothing at all like him4 ,he 
is at once an emperor and a subordinate4
 ,in one hand he holds one              
five-millionth part 7be the same more or

 less7 of the power that sways the      
destinies of the ,great ,republic4 ,his 
other hand is in your boot1 which he is 
about to polish4 ,it is impossible to   
turn a fellow-citizen whose vote may    
make his master--say1 rather1           
employer--,governor or ,president1 or   
who may be one or both himself1 into a  
flunky4 ,that article must be imported  
ready-made from other centres of        
civilization4 ,when a ,new-,englander   
has lost his self-respect as a citizen  
and as a man1 he is demoralized1 and    
cannot be trusted with the money to pay 
for a dinner4  ,it may be supposed1     
therefore1 that this fractional emperor1
 this continent-shaper1 finds his       
position awkward when he goes into      
service1 and that his employer is apt to
 find it still more embarrassing4 ,it is
 always under protest that the hired man
 does his duty4 ,every act of service is
 subject to the drawback1 ,i am as good 
as you are4 ,this is so common1 at      
least1 as almost to be the rule1 and    

partly accounts for the rapid           
disappearance of the indigenous domestic
 from the basements above mentioned4    
,paleontologists will by-and-by be      
examining the floors of our kitchens for
 tracks of the extinct native species of
 serving-man4 ,the female of the same   
race is fast dying out2 indeed1 the time
 is not far distant when all the        
varieties of young woman will have      
vanished from ,new ,england1 as the dodo
 has perished in the ,mauritius4 ,the   
young lady is all that we shall have    
left1 and the mop and duster of the last
 ,almira or ,lozy will be stared at by  
generations of ,bridgets and ,noras as  
that famous head and foot of the lost   
bird are stared at in the ,ashmolean    
,museum4  ,abel ,stebbins1 the ,doctor's
 man1 took the true ,american view of   
his difficult position4 ,he sold his    
time to the ,doctor1 and1 having sold   
it1 he took care to fulfil his half of  
the bargain4 ,the ,doctor1 on his part1 
treated him1 not like a gentleman1      

because one does not order a gentleman  
to bring up his horse or run his        
errands1 but he treated him like a man4 
,every order was given in courteous     
terms4 ,his reasonable privileges were  
respected as much as if they had been   
guarantied under hand and seal4 ,the    
,doctor lent him books from his own     
library1 and gave him all friendly      
counsel1 as if he were a son or a       
younger brother4  ,abel had             
,revolutionary blood in his veins1 and  
though he saw fit to hire out1 he could 
never stand the word servant1 or        
consider himself the inferior one of the
 two high contracting parties4 ,when he 
came to live with the ,doctor1 he made  
up his mind he would dismiss the old    
gentleman1 if he did not behave         
according to his notions of propriety4  
,but he soon found that the ,doctor was 
one of the right sort1 and so determined
 to keep him4 ,the ,doctor soon found1  
on his side1 that he had a trustworthy1 
intelligent fellow1 who would be        

invaluable to him1 if he only let him   
have his own way of doing what was to be
 done4  ,the ,doctor's hired man had not
 the manners of a ,french valet4 ,he was
 grave and taciturn for the most part1  
he never bowed and rarely smiled1 but   
was always at work in the daytime and   
always reading in the evening4 ,he was  
hostler1 and did all the housework that 
a man could properly do1 would go to the
 door or tend table1 bought the         
provisions for the family1--in short1   
did almost everything for them but get  
their clothing4 ,there was no office in 
a perfectly appointed household1 from   
that of steward down to that of         
stable-boy1 which he did not cheerfully 
assume4 ,his round of work not consuming
 all his energies1 he must needs        
cultivate the ,doctor's garden1 which he
 kept in one perpetual bloom1 from the  
blowing of the first crocus to the      
fading of the last dahlia4  ,this garden
 was ,abel's poem4 ,its half-dozen beds 
were so many cantos4 ,nature crowded    

them for him with imagery such as no    
,laureate could copy in the cold mosaic 
of language4 ,the rhythm of alternating 
dawn and sunset1 the strophe and        
antistrophe still perceptible through   
all the sudden shifts of our dithyrambic
 seasons and echoed in corresponding    
floral harmonies1 made melody in the    
soul of ,abel1 the plain serving- man4  
,it softened his whole otherwise rigid  
aspect4 ,he worshipped ,god according to
 the strict way of his fathers2 but a   
florist's ,puritanism is always colored 
by the petals of his flowers1--and      
,nature never shows him a black corolla4
  ,perhaps he may have little or nothing
 to do in this narrative2 but as there  
must be some who confound the           
,new-,england hired man1 native-born1   
with the servant of foreign birth1 and  
as there is the difference of two       
continents and two civilizations between
 them1 it did not seem fair to let ,abel
 bring round the ,doctor's mare and     
sulky without touching his features in  

half-shadow into our background4  ,the  
,doctor's mare1 ,cassia1 was so called  
by her master from her cinnamon color1  
cassia being one of the professional    
names for that spice or drug4 ,she was  
of the shade we call sorrel1 or1 as an  
,englishman would perhaps say1          
chestnut1--a genuine ,morgan mare1 with 
a low forehand1 as is common in this    
breed1 but with strong quarters and flat
 hocks1 well ribbed up1 with a good eye 
and a pair of lively ears1--a first-rate
 doctor's beast1--would stand until her 
harness dropped off her back at the door
 of a tedious case1 and trot over hill  
and dale thirty miles in three hours1 if
 there was a child in the next county   
with a bean in its windpipe and the     
,doctor gave her a hint of the fact4    
,cassia was not large1 but she had a    
good deal of action1 and was the        
,doctor's show-horse4 ,there were two   
other animals in his stable3 ,quassia or
 ,quashy1 the black horse1 and ,caustic1
 the old bay1 with whom he jogged round 

the village4  ,a long ride to-day8 said 
,abel1 as he brought up the equipage4   
,just out of the village1--that's       
all4--,there's a kink in her mane1--pull
 it out1 will you8  ,goin' to visit some
 of the great folks1 ,abel said to      
himself4 ,wonder who it is4--,then to   
the ,doctor1--,anybody get sick at      
,sprowles's8 ,they say ,deacon ,soper   
had a fit1 after eatin' some o' their   
frozen victuals4  ,the ,doctor smiled4  
,he guessed the ,deacon would do well   
enough4 ,he was only going to ride over 
to the ,dudley mansion-house4           
,,chapter ,x4  ,,the ,,doctor ,,calls   
,,on ,,elsie ,,venner4   ,if that       
primitive physician1 ,,chiron1 ,m4,d41  
appears as a ,centaur1 as we look at him
 through the lapse of thirty centuries1 
the modern country-doctor1 if he could  
be seen about thirty miles off1 could   
not be distinguished from a             
wheel-animalcule4 ,he inhabits a        
wheel-carriage4 ,he thinks of stationary
 dwellings as ,long ,tom ,coffin did of 

land in general2 a house may be well    
enough for incidental purposes1 but for 
a stiddy residence give him a kerridge4 
,if he is classified in the ,linnaean   
scale1 he must be set down thus3 ,genus 
,homo2 ,species ,rotifer                
infusorius1--the wheel-animal of        
infusions4  ,the ,dudley mansion was not
 a mile from the ,doctor's2 but it never
 occurred to him to think of walking to 
see any of his patients' families1 if he
 had any professional object in his     
visit4 ,whenever the narrow sulky turned
 in at a gate1 the rustic who was       
digging potatoes1 or hoeing corn1 or    
swishing through the grass with his     
scythe in wave-like crescents1 or       
stepping short behind a loaded          
wheel-barrow1 or trudging lazily by the 
side of the swinging1 loose-throated1   
short-legged oxen1 rocking along the    
road as if they had just been landed    
after a three-months' voyage1--the      
toiling native1 whatever he was doing1  
stopped and looked up at the house the  

doctor was visiting4  ,somebody sick    
over there t' ,haynes's4 ,guess th' old 
man's ailin' ag'in4 ,winder's haf-way   
open in the chamber1--shouldn't wonder  
'f he was dead and laid aout4 ,docterin'
 a'n't no use1 when y' see the winders  
open like that4 ,wahl1 money a'n't much 
to speak of to th' old man naow6 ,he    
don't want but tew cents1--and old      
,widah ,peake1 she knows what he wants  
them for6  ,or again1--  ,measles raound
 pootty thick4 ,briggs's folks's' buried
 two children with 'em last week4 ,th'  
old ,doctor1 he'd h' ker'd 'em threugh4 
,struck in 'n' p'dooeed mot'f           
cation1--so they say4  ,this is only    
meant as a sample of the kind of way    
they used to think or talk1 when the    
narrow sulky turned in at the gate of   
some house where there was a visit to be
 made4  ,oh1 that narrow sulky6 ,what   
hopes1 what fears1 what comfort1 what   
anguish1 what despair1 in the roll of   
its coming or its parting wheels6 ,in   
the spring1 when the old people get the 

coughs which give them a few shakes and 
their lives drop in pieces like the     
ashes of a burned thread which have kept
 the threadlike shape until they were   
stirred1--in the hot summer noons1 when 
the strong man comes in from the fields1
 like the son of the ,shunamite1 crying1
 ,my head1 my head1--in the dying autumn
 days1 when youth and maiden lie        
fever-stricken in many a household1     
still-faced1 dull-eyed1 dark-flushed1   
dry-lipped1 low-muttering in their      
daylight dreams1 their fingers moving   
singly like those of slumbering         
harpers1--in the dead winter1 when the  
white plague of the ,north has caged its
 wasted victims1 shuddering as they     
think of the frozen soil which must be  
quarried like rock to receive them1 if  
their perpetual convalescence should    
happen to be interfered with by any     
untoward accident1--at every season1 the
 narrow sulky rolled round freighted    
with unmeasured burdens of joy and woe4 
,the ,doctor drove along the southern   

foot of ,the ,mountain4 ,the ,dudley    
mansion was near the eastern edge of    
this declivity1 where it rose steepest1 
with baldest cliffs and densest patches 
of over-hanging wood4 ,it seemed almost 
too steep to climb1 but a practised eye 
could see from a distance the zigzag    
lines of the sheep-paths which scaled it
 like miniature ,alpine roads4 ,a few   
hundred feet up ,the ,mountain's side   
was a dark1 deep dell1 unwooded1 save   
for a few spindling1 crazy--looking     
hackmatacks or native larches1 with     
pallid green tufts sticking out         
fantastically all over them4 ,it shelved
 so deeply1 that1 while the             
hemlock-tassels were swinging on the    
trees around its border1 all would be   
still at its springy bottom1 save that  
perhaps a single fern would wave slowly 
backward and forward like a sabre1 with 
a twist as of a feathered oar1--and     
this1 when not a breath could be felt1  
and every other stem and blade were     
motionless4 ,there was an old story of  

one having perished here in the winter  
of '#hf1 and his body having been found 
in the spring1--whence its common name  
of ,dead-,man's ,hollow4 ,higher up     
there were huge cliffs with chasms1 and1
 it was thought1 concealed caves1 where 
in old times they said that ,tories lay 
hid1--some hinted not without occasional
 aid and comfort from the ,dudleys then 
living in the mansion-house4 ,still     
higher and farther west lay the accursed
 ledge1--shunned by all1 unless it were 
now and then a daring youth1 or a       
wandering naturalist who ventured to its
 edge in the hope of securing some      
infantile ,crotalus durissus1 who had   
not yet cut his poison-teeth4  ,long1   
long ago1 in old ,colonial times1 the   
,honorable ,thomas ,dudley1 ,esquire1 a 
man of note and name and great          
resources1 allied by descent to the     
family of ,tom ,dudley1 as the early    
,governor is sometimes irreverently     
called by our most venerable1 but still 
youthful antiquary1--and to the other   

public ,dudleys1 of course1--of all of  
whom he made small account1 as being    
himself an ,english gentleman1 with     
little taste for the splendors of       
provincial office1--early in the last   
century1 ,thomas ,dudley had built this 
mansion4 ,for several generations it had
 been dwelt in by descendants of the    
same name1 but soon after the           
,revolution it passed by marriage into  
the hands of the ,venners1 by whom it   
had ever since been held and tenanted4  
,as the ,doctor turned an angle in the  
road1 all at once the stately old house 
rose before him4 ,it was a skilfully    
managed effect1 as it well might be1 for
 it was no vulgar ,english architect who
 had planned the mansion and arranged   
its position and approach4 ,the old     
house rose before the ,doctor crowning a
 terraced garden1 flanked at the left by
 a double avenue of tall elms4 ,the     
flower-beds were edged with box1 which  
diffused around it that dreamy balsamic 
odor1 full of ante-natal reminiscences  

of a lost ,paradise1 dimly fragrant as  
might be the bdellium of ancient        
,havilah1 the land compassed by the     
river ,pison that went out of ,eden4    
,the garden was somewhat neglected1 but 
not in disgrace1--and in the time of    
tulips and hyacinths1 of roses1 of      
snowballs1 of honeysuckles1 of lilacs1  
of syringas1 it was rich with blossoms4 
,from the front-windows of the mansion  
the eye reached a far blue              
mountain-summit1--no rounded heap1 such 
as often shuts in a village-landscape1  
but a sharp peak1 clean-angled as       
,ascutney from the ,dartmouth green4 ,a 
wide gap through miles of woods had     
opened this distant view1 and showed    
more1 perhaps1 than all the labors of   
the architect and the landscape-gardener
 the large style of the early ,dudleys4 
,the great stone chimney of the         
mansion-house was the centre from which 
all the artificial features of the scene
 appeared to flow4 ,the roofs1 the      
gables1 the dormer-windows1 the porches1

 the clustered offices in the rear1 all 
seemed to crowd about the great chimney4
 ,to this central pillar the paths all  
converged4 ,the single poplar behind the
 house1--,nature is jealous of proud    
chimneys1 and always loves to put a     
poplar near one1 so that it may fling a 
leaf or two down its black throat every 
autumn1--the one tall poplar behind the 
house seemed to nod and whisper to the  
grave square column1 the elms to sway   
their branches towards it4 ,and when the
 blue smoke rose from its summit1 it    
seemed to be wafted away to join the    
azure haze which hung around the peak in
 the far distance1 so that both should  
bathe in a common atmosphere4  ,behind  
the house were clumps of lilacs with a  
century's growth upon them1 and looking 
more like trees than like shrubs4       
,shaded by a group of these was the     
ancient well1 of huge circuit1 and with 
a low arch opening out of its wall about
 ten feet below the surface1--whether   
the door of a crypt for the concealment 

of treasure1 or of a subterranean       
passage1 or merely of a vault for       
keeping provisions cool in hot weather1 
opinions differed4  ,on looking at the  
house1 it was plain that it was built   
with ,old-,world notions of strength and
 durability1 and1 so far as might be1   
with ,old-,world materials4 ,the hinges 
of the doors stretched out like arms1   
instead of like hands1 as we make them4 
,the bolts were massive enough for a    
donjon-keep4 ,the small window-panes    
were actually inclosed in the wood of   
the sashes1 instead of being stuck to   
them with putty1 as in our modern       
windows4 ,the broad staircase was of    
easy ascent1 and was guarded by quaintly
 turned and twisted balusters4 ,the     
ceilings of the two rooms of state were 
moulded with medallion-portraits and    
rustic figures1 such as may have been   
seen by many readers in the famous old  
,philipse house1--,washington's         
headquarters1--in the town of ,yonkers4 
,the fireplaces1 worthy of the          

wide-throated central chimney1 were     
bordered by pictured tiles1 some of them
 with ,scripture stories1 some with     
,watteau-like figures1--tall damsels in 
slim waists and with spread enough of   
skirt for a modern ballroom1 with       
bowing1 reclining1 or musical swains of 
what everybody calls the conventional   
sort1--that is1 the swain adapted to    
genteel society rather than to a literal
 sheep-compelling existence4  ,the house
 was furnished1 soon after it was       
completed1 with many heavy articles made
 in ,london from a rare wood just then  
come into fashion1 not so rare now1 and 
commonly known as mahogany4 ,time had   
turned it very dark1 and the stately    
bedsteads and tall cabinets and         
claw-footed chairs and tables were in   
keeping with the sober dignity of the   
ancient mansion4 ,the old hangings were 
yet preserved in the chambers1 faded1   
but still showing their rich            
patterns1--properly entitled to their   
name1 for they were literally hung upon 

flat wooden frames like trellis-work1   
which again were secured to the naked   
partitions4 ,there were portraits of    
different date on the walls of the      
various apartments1 old painted         
coats-of-arms1 bevel-edged mirrors1 and 
in one sleeping-room a glass case of    
wax-work flowers and spangly symbols1   
with a legend signifying that ,e4,m4    
7supposed to be ,elizabeth ,mascarene7  
wished not to be forgot    ,when ,i am  
dead and lay'd in dust   ,and all my    
bones are----  ,poor ,e4,m46 ,poor      
everybody that sighs for earthly        
remembrance in a planet with a core of  
fire and a crust of fossils6  ,such was 
the ,dudley mansion-house1--for it kept 
its ancient name in spite of the change 
in the line of descent4 ,its spacious   
apartments looked dreary and desolate2  
for here ,dudley ,venner and his        
daughter dwelt by themselves1 with such 
servants only as their quiet mode of    
life required4 ,he almost lived in his  
library1 the western room on the        

ground-floor4 ,its window looked upon a 
small plat of green1 in the midst of    
which was a single grave marked by a    
plain marble slab4 ,except this room1   
and the chamber where he slept1 and the 
servants' wing1 the rest of the house   
was all ,elsie's4 ,she was always a     
restless1 wandering child from her early
 years1 and would have her little bed   
moved from one chamber to               
another1--flitting round as the fancy   
took her4 ,sometimes she would drag a   
mat and a pillow into one of the great  
empty rooms1 and1 wrapping herself in a 
shawl1 coil up and go to sleep in a     
corner4 ,nothing frightened her2 the    
haunted chamber1 with the torn hangings 
that flapped like wings when there was  
air stirring1 was one of her favorite   
retreats4  ,she had been a very hard    
creature to manage4 ,her father could   
influence1 but not govern her4 ,old     
,sophy1 born of a slave mother in the   
house1 could do more with her than      
anybody1 knowing her by long instinctive

 study4 ,the other servants were afraid 
of her4 ,her father had sent for        
governesses1 but none of them ever      
stayed long4 ,she made them nervous2 one
 of them had a strange fit of sickness2 
not one of them ever came back to the   
house to see her4 ,a young ,spanish     
woman who taught her dancing succeeded  
best with her1 for she had a passion for
 that exercise1 and had mastered some of
 the most difficult dances4  ,long      
before this period1 she had manifested  
some most extraordinary singularities of
 taste or instinct4 ,the extreme        
sensitiveness of her father on this     
point prevented any allusion to them2   
but there were stories floating round1  
some of them even getting into the      
papers1--without her name1 of           
course1--which were of a kind to excite 
intense curiosity1 if not more anxious  
feelings4 ,this thing was certain1 that 
at the age of twelve she was missed one 
night1 and was found sleeping in the    
open air under a tree1 like a wild      

creature4 ,very often she would wander  
off by day1 always without a companion1 
bringing home with her a nest1 a flower1
 or even a more questionable trophy of  
her ramble1 such as showed that there   
was no place where she was afraid to    
venture4 ,once in a while she had stayed
 out over night1 in which case the alarm
 was spread1 and men went in search of  
her1 but never successfully1--so that   
some said she hid herself in trees1 and 
others that she had found one of the old
 ,tory caves4  ,some1 of course1 said   
she was a crazy girl1 and ought to be   
sent to an ,asylum4 ,but old ,dr4       
,kittredge had shaken his head1 and told
 them to bear with her1 and let her have
 her way as much as they could1 but     
watch her1 as far as possible1 without  
making her suspicious of them4 ,he      
visited her now and then1 under the     
pretext of seeing her father on         
business1 or of only making a friendly  
call4         99       99       99      
99       99  ,the ,doctor fastened his  

horse outside the gate1 and walked up   
the garden-alley4 ,he stopped suddenly  
with a start4 ,a strange sound had      
jarred upon his ear4 ,it was a sharp    
prolonged rattle1 continuous1 but rising
 and falling as if in rhythmical        
cadence4 ,he moved softly towards the   
open window from which the sound seemed 
to proceed4  ,elsie was alone in the    
room1 dancing one of those wild ,moorish
 fandangos1 such as a matador hot from  
the ,plaza de ,toros of ,seville or     
,madrid might love to lie and gaze at4  
,she was a figure to look upon in       
silence4 ,the dancing frenzy must have  
seized upon her while she was dressing2 
for she was in her bodice1 bare-armed1  
her hair floating unbound far below the 
waist of her barred or banded skirt4    
,she had caught up her castanets1 and   
rattled them as she danced with a kind  
of passionate fierceness1 her lithe body
 undulating with flexuous grace1 her    
diamond eyes glittering1 her round arms 
wreathing and unwinding1 alive and      

vibrant to the tips of the slender      
fingers4 ,some passion seemed to exhaust
 itself in this dancing paroxysm2 for   
all at once she reeled from the middle  
of the floor1 and flung herself1 as it  
were in a careless coil1 upon a great   
tiger's-skin which was spread out in one
 corner of the apartment4  ,the old     
,doctor stood motionless1 looking at her
 as she lay panting on the tawny1       
black-lined robe of the dead monster1   
which stretched out beneath her1 its    
rude flattened outline recalling the    
,terror of the ,jungle as he crouched   
for his fatal spring4 ,in a few moments 
her head drooped upon her arm1 and her  
glittering eyes closed1--she was        
sleeping4 ,he stood looking at her      
still1 steadily1 thoughtfully1 tenderly4
 ,presently he lifted his hand to his   
forehead1 as if recalling some fading   
remembrance of other years4  ,poor      
,catalina6  ,this was all he said4 ,he  
shook his head1--implying that his visit
 would be in vain to-day1--returned to  

his sulky1 and rode away1 as if in a    
dream4         99       99       99     
99       99  ,,nathaniel ,,hawthorne4   
,the romance of ,the ,marble ,faun will 
be widely welcomed1 not only for its    
intrinsic merits1 but because it is a   
sign that its writer1 after a silence of
 seven or eight years1 has determined to
 resume his place in the ranks of       
authorship4 ,in his preface he tells us1
 that in each of his previous           
publications he had unconsciously one   
person in his eye1 whom he styles his   
gentle reader4 ,he meant it for that one
 congenial friend1 more comprehensive of
 his purposes1 more appreciative of his4
 success1 more indulgent of his         
short-comings1 and1 in all respects1    
closer and kinder than a brother1--that 
all-sympathizing critic1 in short1 whom 
an author never actually meets1 but to  
whom he implicitly makes his appeal1    
whenever he is conscious of having done 
his best4 ,he believes that this reader 
did once exist for him1 and duly        

received the scrolls he flung upon      
whatever wind was blowing1 in the faith 
that they would find him out4 ,but1 he  
questions1 is he extant now8 ,in these  
many years since he last heard from me1 
may he not have deemed his earthly task 
accomplished1 and have withdrawn to the 
paradise of gentle readers1 wherever it 
may be1 to the enjoyments of which his  
kindly charity on my behalf must surely 
have entitled him8 ,as we feel assured  
that ,hawthorne's reputation has been   
steadily growing with the lapse of time1
 he has no cause to fear that the       
longevity of his gentle reader will not 
equal his own4 ,as long as he writes1   
there will be readers enough to admire  
and appreciate4  ,the publication of    
this new romance seems to offer us a    
fitting occasion to attempt some        
description of the peculiarities of the 
genius of which it is the latest        
offspring1 and to hazard some judgments 
on its predecessors4 ,it is more than   
twenty-five years since ,hawthorne began

 that remarkable series of stories and  
essays which are now collected in the   
volumes of ,twice-,told ,tales1 ,the    
,snow ,image and other ,tales1 and      
,mosses from an ,old ,manse4 ,from the  
first he was recognized by such readers 
as he chanced to find as a man of       
genius1 yet for a long time he enjoyed1 
in his own words1 the distinction of    
being the obscurest man of letters in   
,america4 ,his readers were gentle      
rather than enthusiastic2 their fine    
delight in his creations was a private  
perception of subtile excellences of    
thought and style1 too refined and      
self-satisfying to be contagious2 and   
the public was untouched1 whilst the    
gentle reader was full of placid        
enjoyment4 ,indeed1 we fear that this   
kind of reader is something of an       
,epicurean1--receives a new genius as a 
private blessing1 sent by a benign      
,providence to quicken a new life in his
 somewhat jaded sense of intellectual   
pleasure2 and after having received a   

fresh sensation1 he is apt to be        
serenely indifferent whether the creator
 of it starve bodily or pine mentally   
from the lack of a cordial human shout  
of recognition4  ,there would appear1 on
 a slight view of the matter1 no reason 
for the little notice which ,hawthorne's
 early productions received4 ,the       
subjects were mostly drawn from the     
traditions and written records of ,new  
,england1 and gave the beautiful        
strangeness of imagination to objects1  
incidents1 and characters which were    
familiar facts in the popular mind4 ,the
 style1 while it had a purity1          
sweetness1 and grace which satisfied the
 most fastidious and exacting taste1    
had1 at the same time1 more than the    
simplicity and clearness of an ordinary 
school-book4 ,but though the subjects   
and the style were thus popular1 there  
was something in the shaping and        
informing spirit which failed to awaken 
interest1 or awakened interest without  
exciting delight4 ,misanthropy1 when it 

has its source in passion1--when it is  
fierce1 bitter1 fiery1 and              
scornful1--when it vigorously echoes the
 aggressive discontent of the world1 and
 furiously tramples on the institutions 
and the men luckily rather than         
rightfully in the ascendant1--this is   
always popular2 but a misanthropy which 
springs from insight1--a misanthropy    
which is lounging1 languid1 sad1 and    
depressing1--a misanthropy which        
remorselessly looks through cursing     
misanthropes and chirping men of the    
world with the same sure1 detecting     
glance of reason1--a misanthropy which  
has no fanaticism1 and which casts the  
same ominous doubt on subjectively      
morbid as on subjectively moral         
action1--a misanthropy which has no     
respect for impulses1 but has a terrible
 perception of spiritual laws1--this is 
a misanthropy which can expect no wide  
recognition2 and it would be vain to    
deny that traces of this kind of        
misanthropy are to be found in          

,hawthorne's earlier1 and are not       
altogether absent from his later works4 
,he had spiritual insight1 but it did   
not penetrate to the sources of         
spiritual joy2 and his deepest glimpses 
of truth were calculated rather to      
sadden than to inspire4 ,a blandly      
cynical distrust of human nature was the
 result of his most piercing glances    
into the human soul4 ,he had humor1 and 
sometimes humor of a delicious kind2 but
 this sunshine of the soul was but      
sunshine breaking through or lighting up
 a sombre and ominous cloud4 ,there was 
also observable in his earlier stories a
 lack of vigor1 as if the power of his  
nature had been impaired by the very    
process--which gave depth and           
excursiveness to his mental vision4     
,throughout1 the impression is conveyed 
of a shy recluse1 alternately bashful in
 disposition and bold in thought1 gifted
 with original and various capacities1  
but capacities which seemed to have     
developed themselves in the shade1      

without sufficient energy of will or    
desire to force them1 except fitfully1  
into the sunlight4 ,shakspeare calls    
moonlight the sunlight sick2 and it is  
in some such moonlight of the mind that 
the genius of ,hawthorne found its first
 expression4 ,a mild melancholy1        
sometimes deepening into gloom1         
sometimes brightened into a humorous    
sadness1 characterized his early        
creations4 ,like his own ,hepzibah      
,pyncheon1 he appeared to be walking in 
a dream2 or rather1 the life and reality
 assumed by his emotions made all       
outward occurrences unsubstantial1 like 
the teasing phantasms of an unconscious 
slumber4 ,though dealing largely in     
description1 and with the most accurate 
perceptions of outward objects1 he      
still1 to use again his own words1 gives
 the impression of a man chiefly        
accustomed to look inward1 and to whom  
external matters are of little value or 
import1 unless they bear relation to    
something within his own mind4 ,but that

 something within his own mind was often
 an unpleasant something1 perhaps a     
ghastly occult perception of deformity  
and sin in what appeared outwardly fair 
and good2 so that the reader felt a     
secret dissatisfaction with the         
disposition which directed the genius1  
even in the homage he awarded to the    
genius itself4 ,as psychological        
portraits of morbid natures1 his        
delineations of character might have    
given a purely intellectual             
satisfaction2 but there was audible1 to 
the delicate ear1 a faint and muffled   
growl of personal discontent1 which     
showed they were not mere exercises of  
penetrating imaginative analysis1 but   
had in them the morbid vitality of a    
despondent mood4  ,yet1 after admitting 
these peculiarities1 nobody who is now  
drawn to the ,twice-,told ,tales1 from  
his interest in the later romances of   
,hawthorne1 can fail to wonder a little 
at the limited number of readers they   
attracted on their original publication4

 ,for many of these stories are at once 
a representation of early ,new-,england 
life and a criticism on it4 ,they have  
much of the deepest truth of history in 
them4 ,the ,legends of the ,province    
,house1 ,the ,gray ,champion1 ,the      
,gentle ,boy1 ,the ,minister's ,black   
,veil1 ,endicott and the ,red ,cross1   
not to mention others1 contain important
 matter which cannot be found in        
,bancroft or ,grahame4 ,they exhibit the
 inward struggles of ,new-,england men  
and women with some of the darkest      
problems of existence1 and have more    
vital import to thoughtful minds than   
the records of ,indian or ,revolutionary
 warfare4 ,in the ,prophetic ,pictures1 
,fancy's ,show-,box1 ,the ,great        
,carbuncle1 ,the ,haunted ,mind1 and    
,edward ,fane's ,rose-,bud1 there are   
flashes of moral insight1 which light   
up1 for the moment1 the darkest recesses
 of the individual mind2 and few sermons
 reach to the depth of thought and      
sentiment from which these seemingly    

airy sketches draw their sombre life4   
,it is common1 for instance1 for        
religious moralists to insist on the    
great spiritual truth1 that wicked      
thoughts and impulses1 which            
circumstances prevent from passing into 
wicked acts1 are still deeds in the     
sight of ,god2 but the living truth     
subsides into a dead truism1 as enforced
 by commonplace preachers4 ,in ,fancy's 
,show-,box1 ,hawthorne seizes the       
prolific idea2 and the respectable      
merchant and respected church-member1 in
 the still hour of his own meditation1  
convicts himself of being a liar1 cheat1
 thief1 seducer1 and murderer1 as he    
casts his glance over the mental events 
which form his spiritual biography4     
,interspersed with serious histories and
 moralities like these1 are others which
 embody the sweet and playful1 though   
still thoughtful and slightly saturnine 
action of ,hawthorne's mind1--like ,the 
,seven ,vagabonds1 ,snow-,flakes1 ,the  
,lily's ,quest1 ,mr4 ,higgenbotham's    

,catastrophe1 ,little ,annie's ,ramble1 
,sights from a ,steeple1 ,sunday at     
,home1 and ,a ,rill from the            
,town-,pump4  ,the ,mosses from an ,old 
,manse are intellectually and           
artistically an advance from the        
,twice-,told ,tales4 ,the twenty-three  
stories and essays which make up the    
volumes are almost perfect of their     
kind4 ,each is complete in itself1 and  
many might be expanded into long        
romances by the simple method of        
developing the possibilities of their   
shadowy types of character into         
appropriate incidents4 ,in description1 
narration1 allegory1 humor1 reason1     
fancy1 subtilty1 inventiveness1 they    
exceed the best productions of ,addison2
 but they want ,addison's sensuous      
contentment and sweet and kindly spirit4
 ,though the author denies that he has  
exhibited his own individual attributes 
in these ,mosses1 though he professes   
not to be one of those supremely        
hospitable people who serve up their own

 hearts delicately fried1 with          
brain-sauce1 as a titbit for their      
beloved public1--yet it is none the less
 apparent that he has diffused through  
each tale and sketch the life of the    
mental mood to which it owed its        
existence1 and that one individuality   
pervades and colors the whole           
collection4 ,the defect of the serious  
stories is1 that character is           
introduced1 not as thinking1 but as the 
illustration of thought4 ,the persons   
are ghostly1 with a sad lack of flesh   
and blood4 ,they are phantasmal symbols 
of a reflective and imaginative analysis
 of human passions and aspirations4 ,the
 dialogue1 especially1 is bookish1 as   
though the personages knew their speech 
was to be printed1 and were careful of  
the collocation and rhythm of their     
words4 ,the author throughout is        
evidently more interested in his large1 
wide1 deep1 indolently serene1 and      
lazily sure and critical view of the    
conflict of ideas and passions1 than he 

is with the individuals who embody them4
 ,he shows moral insight without moral  
earnestness4 ,he cannot contract his    
mind to the patient delineation of a    
moral individual1 but attempts to use   
individuals in order to express the last
 results of patient moral perception4   
,young ,goodman ,brown and ,roger       
,malvin are not persons2 they are the   
mere1 loose1 personal expression of     
subtile thinking4 ,the ,celestial       
,railroad1 ,the ,procession of ,life1   
,earth's ,holocaust1 ,the ,bosom        
,serpent1 indicate thought of a         
character equally deep1 delicate1 and   
comprehensive1 but the characters are   
ghosts of men rather than substantial   
individualities4 ,in the ,mosses from an
 ,old ,manse1 we are really studying the
 phenomena of human nature1 while1 for  
the time1 we beguile ourselves into the 
belief that we are following the        
fortunes of individual natures4  ,up to 
this time the writings of ,hawthorne    
conveyed the impression of a genius in  

which insight so dominated over impulse1
 that it was rather mentally and morally
 curious than mentally and morally      
impassioned4 ,the quality evidently     
wanting to its full expression was      
intensity4 ,in the romance of ,the      
,scarlet ,letter he first made his      
genius efficient by penetrating it with 
passion4 ,this book forced itself into  
attention by its inherent power2 and the
 author's name1 previously known only to
 a limited circle of readers1 suddenly  
became a familiar word in the mouths of 
the great reading public of ,america and
 ,england4 ,it may be said1 that it     
captivated nobody1 but took everybody   
captive4 ,its power could neither be    
denied nor resisted4 ,there were growls 
of disapprobation from novel-readers1   
that ,hester ,prynne and the ,rev4 ,mr4 
,dimmesdale were subjected to cruel     
punishments unknown to the jurisprudence
 of fiction1--that the author was an    
inquisitor who put his victims on the   
rack1--and that neither amusement nor   

delight resulted from seeing the        
contortions and hearing the groans of   
these martyrs of sin2 but the fact was  
no less plain that ,hawthorne had for   
once compelled the most superficial     
lovers of romance to submit themselves  
to the magic of his genius4 ,the readers
 of ,dickens voted him1 with three times
 three1 to the presidency of their      
republic of letters2 the readers of     
,hawthorne were caught by a coup d'tat1 
and fretfully submitted to a despot whom
 they could not depose4  ,the success of
 ,the ,scarlet ,letter is an example of 
the advantage which an author gains by  
the simple concentration of his powers  
on one absorbing subject4 ,in the       
,twice-,told ,tales and the ,mosses from
 an ,old ,manse ,hawthorne had exhibited
 a wider range of sight and insight than
 in ,the ,scarlet ,letter4 ,indeed1 in  
the little sketch of ,endicott and the  
,red ,cross1 written twenty years       
before1 he had included in a few        
sentences the whole matter which he     

afterwards treated in his famous story4 
,in describing the various inhabitants  
of an early ,new-,england town1 as far  
as they were representative1 he touches 
incidentally on a young woman1 with no  
mean share of beauty1 whose doom it was 
to wear the letter ,a on the breast of  
her gown1 in the eyes of all the world  
and her own children4 ,and even her own 
children knew what that initial         
signified4 ,sporting with her infamy1   
the lost and desperate creature had     
embroidered the fatal token in scarlet  
cloth1 with golden thread and the nicest
 art of needle-work2 so that the capital
 ,a might have been thought to mean     
,admirable1 or anything1 rather than    
,adulteress4 ,here is the germ of the   
whole pathos and terror of ,the ,scarlet
 ,letter2 but it is hardly noted in the 
throng of symbols1 equally pertinent1 in
 the few pages of the little sketch from
 which we have quoted4  ,two            
characteristics of ,hawthorne's genius  
stand plainly out1 in the conduct and   

characterization of the romance of ,the 
,scarlet ,letter1 which were less       
obviously prominent in his previous     
works4 ,the first relates to his        
subordination of external incidents to  
inward events4 ,mr4 ,james's solitary   
horseman does more in one chapter than  
,hawthorne's hero in twenty chapters2   
but then ,james deals with the arms of  
men1 while ,hawthorne deals with their  
souls4 ,hawthorne relies almost entirely
 for the interest of his story on what  
is felt and done within the minds of his
 characters4 ,even his most picturesque 
descriptions and narratives are only    
one-tenth matter to nine-tenths spirit4 
,the results that follow from one       
external act of folly or crime are to   
him enough for an ,iliad of woes4 ,it   
might be supposed that his whole theory 
of ,romantic ,art was based on these    
tremendous lines of ,wordsworth3--      
,action is momentary1--   ,the motion of
 a muscle1 this way or that3            
,suffering is long1 obscure1 and        

infinite4  ,the second characteristic of
 his genius is connected with the first4
 ,with his insight of individual souls  
he combines a far deeper insight of the 
spiritual laws which govern the         
strangest aberrations of individual     
souls4 ,but it seems to us that his     
mental eye1 keen-sighted and far-sighted
 as it is1 overlooks the merciful       
modifications of the austere code whose 
pitiless action it so clearly discerns4 
,in his long and patient brooding over  
the spiritual phenomena of ,puritan     
life1 it is apparent1 to the least      
critical observer1 that he has imbibed a
 deep personal antipathy to the         
,puritanic ideal of character2 but it is
 no less apparent that his intellect and
 imagination have been strangely        
fascinated by the ,puritanic idea of    
justice4 ,his brain has been subtly     
infected by the ,puritanic perception of
 ,law1 without being warmed by the      
,puritanic faith in ,grace4             
,individually1 he would much prefer to  

have been one of his own ,seven         
,vagabonds rather than one of the       
austerest preachers of the primitive    
church of ,new ,england2 but the        
austerest preacher of the primitive     
church of ,new ,england would have been 
more tender and considerate to a real   
,mr4 ,dimmesdale and a real ,hester     
,prynne than this modern romancer has   
been to their typical representatives in
 the world of imagination4 ,throughout  
,the ,scarlet ,letter we seem to be     
following the guidance of an author who 
is personally good-natured1 but         
intellectually and morally relentless4  
,the ,house of the ,seven ,gables1      
,hawthorne's next work1 while it has    
less concentration of passion and       
tension of mind than ,the ,scarlet      
,letter1 includes a wider range of      
observation1 reflection1 and character2 
and the morality1 dreadful as fate1     
which hung like a black cloud over the  
personages of the previous story1 is    
exhibited in more relief4 ,although the 

book has no imaginative creation equal  
to little ,pearl1 it still contains     
numerous examples of characterization at
 once delicate and deep4 ,clifford1     
especially1 is a study in psychology1 as
 well as a marvellously subtile         
delineation of enfeebled manhood4 ,the  
general idea of the story is this1--that
 the wrong-doing of one generation lives
 into the successive ones1 and1         
divesting itself of every temporary     
advantage1 becomes a pure and           
uncontrollable mischief2 and the mode in
 which this idea is carried out shows   
great force1 fertility1 and refinement  
of mind4 ,a weird fancy1 sporting with  
the facts detected by a keen            
observation1 gives to every gable of the
 ,seven ,gables1 every room in the      
,house1 every burdock growing rankly    
before the door1 a symbolic             
significance4 ,the queer mansion is     
haunted1--haunted with thoughts which   
every moment are liable to take ghostly 
shape4 ,all the ,pyncheons who have     

resided in it appear to have infected   
the very timbers and walls with the     
spiritual essence of their lives1 and   
each seems ready to pass from a memory  
into a presence4 ,the stern theory of   
the author regarding the hereditary     
transmission of family qualities1 and   
the visiting of the sins of the fathers 
on the heads of their children1 almost  
wins our reluctant assent through the   
pertinacity with which the generations  
of the ,pyncheon race are made not      
merely to live in the blood and brain of
 their descendants1 but to cling to     
their old abiding-place on earth1 so    
that to inhabit the house is to breathe 
the ,pyncheon soul and assimilate the   
,pyncheon individuality4 ,the whole     
representation1 masterly as it is1      
considered as an effort of intellectual 
and imaginative power1 would still be   
morally bleak1 were it not for the      
sunshine and warmth radiated from the   
character of ,phoebe4 ,in this          
delightful creation ,hawthorne for once 

gives himself up to homely human nature1
 and has succeeded in delineating a     
,new-,england girl1 cheerful1 blooming1 
practical1 affectionate1 efficient1 full
 of innocence and happiness1 with all   
the handiness and native sagacity of her
 class1 and so true and close to ,nature
 that the process by which she is       
slightly idealized is completely hidden4
  ,in this romance there is also more   
humor than in any of his other works4   
,it peeps out1 even in the most serious 
passages1 in a kind of demure rebellion 
against the fanaticism of his           
remorseless intelligence4 ,in the       
description of the ,pyncheon poultry1   
which we think unexcelled by anything in
 ,dickens for quaintly fanciful humor1  
the author seems to indulge in a sort of
 parody on his own doctrine of the      
hereditary transmission of family       
qualities4 ,at any rate1 that strutting 
chanticleer1 with his two meagre wives  
and one wizened chicken1 is a sly side  
fleer at the tragic aspect of the law of

 descent4 ,miss ,hepzibah ,pyncheon1 her
 shop1 and her customers1 are so        
delightful1 that the reader would       
willingly spare a good deal of ,clifford
 and ,judge ,pyncheon and ,holgrave1 for
 more details of them and ,phoebe4      
,uncle ,venner1 also1 the old           
wood-sawyer1 who boasts that he has seen
 a good deal of the world1 not only in  
people's kitchens and back-yards1 but at
 the street-corners1 and on the wharves1
 and in other places where his business 
called him1 and who1 on the strength of 
this comprehensive experience1 feels    
qualified to give the final decision in 
every case which tasks the resources of 
human wisdom1 is a very much more humane
 and interesting gentleman than the     
,judge4 ,indeed1 one cannot but regret  
that ,hawthorne should be so economical 
of his undoubted stores of humor1--and  
that1 in the two romances he has since  
written1 humor1 in the form of          
character1 does not appear at all4      
,before proceeding to the consideration 

of ,the ,blithedale ,romance1 it is     
necessary to say a few words on the     
seeming separation of ,hawthorne's      
genius from his will4 ,he has none of   
that ability which enabled ,scott and   
enables ,dickens to force their powers  
into action1 and to make what was begun 
in drudgery soon assume the character of
 inspiration4 ,hawthorne cannot thus use
 his genius2 his genius always uses him4
 ,this is so true1 that he often        
succeeds better in what calls forth his 
personal antipathies than in what calls 
forth his personal sympathies4 ,his life
 of ,general ,pierce1 for instance1 is  
altogether destitute of life2 yet in    
writing it he must have exerted himself 
to the utmost1 as his object was to urge
 the claims of an old and dear friend to
 the ,presidency of the ,republic4 ,the 
style1 of course1 is excellent1 as it is
 impossible for ,hawthorne to write bad 
,english1 but the genius of the man has 
deserted him4 ,general ,pierce1 whom he 
loves1 he draws so feebly1 that one     

doubts1 while reading the biography1 if 
such a man exists2 ,hollingsworth1 whom 
he hates1 is so vividly characterized1  
that the doubt is1 while we read the    
romance1 whether such a man can possibly
 be fictitious4  ,midway between such a 
work as the ,life of ,general ,pierce   
and ,the ,scarlet ,letter may be placed 
,the ,wonder-,book and ,tanglewood      
,tales4 ,in these ,hawthorne's genius   
distinctly appears1 and appears in its  
most lovable1 though not in its deepest 
form4 ,these delicious stories1 founded 
on the mythology of ,greece1 were       
written for children1 but they delight  
men and women as well4 ,hawthorne never 
pleases grown people so much as when he 
writes with an eye to the enjoyment of  
little people4  ,now ,the ,blithedale   
,romance is far from being so pleasing a
 performance as ,tanglewood ,tales1 yet 
it very much better illustrates the     
operation1 indicates the quality1 and   
expresses the power1 of the author's    
genius4 ,his great books appear not so  

much created by him as through him4     
,they have the character of             
revelations1--he1 the instrument1 being 
often troubled with the burden they     
impose on his mind4 ,his profoundest    
glances into individual souls are like  
the marvels of clairvoyance4 ,it would  
seem1 that1 in the production of such a 
work as ,the ,blithedale ,romance1 his  
mind had hit accidentally1 as it were1  
on an idea or fact mysteriously related 
to some morbid sentiment in the inmost  
core of his nature1 and connecting      
itself with numerous scattered          
observations of human life1 lying       
unrelated in his imagination4 ,in a sort
 of meditative dream1 his intellect     
drifts in the direction to which the    
subject points1 broods patiently over   
it1 looks at it1 looks into it1 and at  
last looks through it to the law by     
which it is governed4 ,gradually1       
individual beings1 definite in spiritual
 quality1 but shadowy in substantial    
form1 group themselves around this      

central conception1 and by degrees      
assume an outward body and expression   
corresponding to their internal nature4 
,on the depth and intensity of the      
mental mood1 the force of the           
fascination it exerts over him1 and the 
length of time it holds him captive1    
depend the solidity and substance of the
 individual characterizations4 ,in this 
way ,miles ,coverdale1 ,hollingsworth1  
,westervelt1 ,zenobia1 and ,priscilla   
become real persons to the mind which   
has called them into being4 ,he knows   
every secret and watches every motion of
 their souls1 yet is1 in a measure1     
independent of them1 and pretends to no 
authority by which he can alter the     
destiny which consigns them to misery or
 happiness4 ,they drift to their doom by
 the same law by which they drifted     
across the path of his vision4          
,individually1 he abhors ,hollingsworth1
 and would like to annihilate           
,westervelt1 yet he allows the superb   
,zenobia to be their victim2 and if his 

readers object that the effect of the   
whole representation is painful1 he     
would doubtless agree with them1 but    
profess his incapacity honestly to alter
 a sentence4 ,he professes to tell the  
story as it was revealed to him2 and the
 license in which a romancer might      
indulge is denied to a biographer of    
spirits4 ,show him a fallacy in his     
logic of passion and character1 point   
out a false or defective step in his    
analysis1 and he will gladly alter the  
whole to your satisfaction2 but four    
human souls1 such as he has described1  
being given1 their mutual attractions   
and repulsions will end1 he feels       
assured1 in just such a catastrophe as  
he has stated4  ,eight years have passed
 since ,the ,blithedale ,romance was    
written1 and during nearly the whole of 
this period ,hawthorne has resided      
abroad4 ,the ,marble ,faun1 which must1 
on the whole1 be considered the greatest
 of his works1 proves that his genius   
has widened and deepened in this        

interval1 without any alteration or     
modification of its characteristic      
merits and characteristic defects4 ,the 
most obvious excellence of the work is  
the vivid truthfulness of its           
descriptions of ,italian life1 manners1 
and scenery2 and1 considered merely as a
 record of a tour in ,italy1 it is of   
great interest and attractiveness4 ,the 
opinions on ,art1 and the special       
criticisms on the masterpieces of       
architecture1 sculpture1 and painting1  
also possess a value of their own4 ,the 
story might have been told1 and the     
characters fully represented1 in        
one-third of the space devoted to them1 
yet description and narration are so    
artfully combined that each assists to  
give interest to the other4 ,hawthorne  
is one of those true observers who      
concentrate in observation every power  
of their minds4 ,he has accurate sight  
and piercing insight4 ,when he modifies 
either the form or the spirit of the    
objects he describes1 he does it either 

by viewing them through the medium of an
 imagined mind or by obeying            
associations which they themselves      
suggest4 ,we might quote from the       
descriptive portions of the work a      
hundred pages1 at least1 which would    
demonstrate how closely accurate        
observation is connected with the       
highest powers of the intellect and     
imagination4  ,the style of the book is 
perfect of its kind1 and1 if ,hawthorne 
had written nothing else1 would entitle 
him to rank among the great masters of  
,english composition4 ,walter ,savage   
,landor is reported to have said of an  
author whom he knew in his youth1 ,my   
friend wrote excellent ,english1 a      
language now obsolete4 ,had ,the ,marble
 ,faun appeared before he uttered this  
sarcasm1 the wit of the remark would    
have been pointless4 ,hawthorne not only
 writes ,english1 but the sweetest1     
simplest1 and clearest ,english that    
ever has been made the vehicle of equal 
depth1 variety1 and subtilty of thought 

and emotion4 ,his mind is reflected in  
his style as a face is reflected in a   
mirror2 and the latter does not give    
back its image with less appearance of  
effort than the former4 ,his excellence 
consists not so much in using common    
words as in making common words express 
uncommon things4 ,swift1 ,addison1      
,goldsmith1 not to mention others1 wrote
 with as much simplicity2 but the style 
of neither embodies an individuality so 
complex1 passions so strange and        
intense1 sentiments so fantastic and    
preternatural1 thoughts so profound and 
delicate1 and imaginations so remote    
from the recognized limits of the ideal1
 as find an orderly outlet in the pure  
,english of ,hawthorne4 ,he has hardly a
 word to which ,mrs4 ,trimmer would     
primly object1 hardly a sentence which  
would call forth the frosty anathema of 
,blair1 ,hurd1 ,kames1 or ,whately1 and 
yet he contrives to embody in his simple
 style qualities which would almost     
excuse the verbal extravagances of      

,carlyle4  ,in regard to the            
characterization and plot of ,the       
,marble ,faun1 there is room for widely 
varying opinions4 ,hilda1 ,miriam1 and  
,donatello will be generally received as
 superior in power and depth to any of  
,hawthorne's previous creations of      
character2 ,donatello1 especially1 must 
be considered one of the most original  
and exquisite conceptions in the whole  
range of romance2 but the story in which
 they appear will seem to many an       
unsolved puzzle1 and even the tolerant  
and interpretative gentle reader will be
 troubled with the unsatisfactory       
conclusion4 ,it is justifiable for a    
romancer to sting the curiosity of his  
readers with a mystery1 only on the     
implied obligation to explain it at     
last2 but this story begins in mystery  
only to end in mist4 ,the suggestive    
faculty is tormented rather than        
genially excited1 and in the end is left
 a prey to doubts4 ,the central idea of 
the story1 the necessity of sin to      

convert such a creature as ,donatello   
into a moral being1 is also not happily 
illustrated in the leading event4 ,when 
,donatello kills the wretch who         
malignantly dogs the steps of ,miriam1  
all readers think that ,donatello       
committed no sin at all2 and the reason 
is1 that ,hawthorne has deprived the    
persecutor of ,miriam of all human      
attributes1 made him an allegorical     
representation of one of the most       
fiendish forms of unmixed evil1 so that 
we welcome his destruction with         
something of the same feeling with      
which1 in following the allegory of     
,spenser or ,bunyan1 we rejoice in the  
hero's victory over the ,blatant ,beast 
or ,giant ,despair4 ,conceding1 however1
 that ,donatello's act was murder1 and  
not justifiable homicide1 we are still  
not sure that the author's conception of
 his nature and of the change caused in 
his nature by that act1 are carried out 
with a felicity corresponding to the    
original conception4  ,in the first     

volume1 and in the early part of the    
second1 the author's hold on his design 
is comparatively firm1 but it somewhat  
relaxes as he proceeds1 and in the end  
it seems almost to escape from his      
grasp4 ,few can be satisfied with the   
concluding chapters1 for the reason that
 nothing is really concluded4 ,we are   
willing to follow the ingenious         
processes of ,calhoun's deductive logic1
 because we are sure1 that1 however     
severely they task the faculty of       
attention1 they will lead to some       
positive result2 but ,hawthorne's logic 
of events leaves us in the end          
bewildered in a labyrinth of guesses4   
,the book is1 on the whole1 such a great
 book1 that its defects are felt with   
all the more force4  ,in this rapid     
glance at some of the peculiarities of  
,hawthorne's genius1 we have not1 of    
course1 been able to do full justice to 
the special merits of the works we have 
passed in review2 but we trust that we  
have said nothing which would convey the

 impression that we do not place them   
among the most remarkable romances      
produced in an age in which             
romance-writing has called forth some of
 the highest powers of the human mind4  
,in intellect and imagination1 in the   
faculty of discerning spirits and       
detecting laws1 we doubt if any living  
novelist is his equal2 but his genius1  
in its creative action1 has been        
heretofore attracted to the dark rather 
than the bright side of the interior    
life of humanity1 and the geniality     
which evidently is in him has rarely    
found adequate expression4 ,in the many 
works which he may still be expected to 
write1 it is to be hoped that his mind  
will lose some of its sadness of tone   
without losing any of its subtilty and  
depth2 but1 in any event1 it would be   
unjust to deny that he has already done 
enough to insure him a commanding       
position in ,american literature as long
 as ,american literature has an         
existence4         99       99       99 

99       99  ,,reviews ,,and ,,literary 
,,notices4   ,le ,prime ,quattro        
,edizioni della ,divina ,commedia       
,letteralmente ,ristampate per ,cura di 
,g4,g4 ,,warren ,,lord ,,vernon4        
,londra3 ,presso ,tommaso e ,guglielmo  
,boone4 ,,mdccclviii4 #dto4 pp4 xxvi41  
#gdh4  ,the zeal with which the study of
 ,dante has been followed by students in
 every country of ,europe1 during the   
last forty years1 is one of the most    
illustrative facts of the moral as well 
as of the intellectual character of the 
period4 ,the interest which has         
attracted men of the most different     
tempers and persuasions to this study is
 not due alone to the poetic or historic
 value of his works1 however high we may
 place them in these respects1 but also 
and especially to the circumstance that 
they present a complete and distinct    
view of the internal life and spiritual 
disposition of an age in which the      
questions which still chiefly concern   
men were for the first time positively  

stated1 and which exhibited in its      
achievements and its efforts some of the
 highest qualities of human nature in a 
condition of vigor such as they have    
never since shown4 ,dante himself       
combined a power of imagination beyond  
that of any other poet with an intensity
 and directness of individual character 
not less extraordinary4 ,the tendency of
 modern civilization is to diminish     
rather than to strengthen the           
originality and independence of         
individuals4 ,autocracy and democracy   
seem to have a like effect in reducing  
men to a uniform level of thought and   
effort4 ,and thus during a time when    
these two principles have been brought  
into sharp conflict1 it is not          
surprising that the most thoughtful     
students should turn to the works of a  
man who by actual experience1 or by     
force of imagination1 comprehended all  
the conditions of his own age1 and      
exhibited in his life and in his        
writings an individualism of the noblest

 sort4 ,the conservative and the        
reformer1 the king and the radical1 the 
priest and the heretic1 the man of      
affairs and the man of letters1 have    
taken their seats1 side by side1 on the 
scholars' benches1 before the same      
teacher1 and1 after listening to his    
large discourse1 have discussed among   
themselves the questions in religion1 in
 philosophy1 in morals1 politics1 or    
history1 which his words suggested or   
explained4  ,the success which has      
attended these studies has been in some 
degree proportioned to the zeal with    
which they have been pursued4 ,dante is 
now better understood and more          
intelligently commented than ever       
before4 ,much remains to be done as     
regards the clearing up of some         
difficult points and the explanation of 
some dark passages1--and the obscurity  
in which ,dante intentionally involved  
some portions of his writings is such as
 to leave little hope that their        
absolute meaning will ever be           

satisfactorily established4 ,the history
 of the study of the poet1 of the       
comments on his meaning or his text1 of 
the formation of the commonly received  
text1 and of the translations of the    
,divina ,commedia1 affords much curious 
and entertaining matter to the lover of 
purely literary and bibliographic       
narrative1 and incidentally illustrates 
the general character of each century   
since his death4 ,as regards the        
settlement of the text1 no single       
publication has ever appeared of equal  
value to that of the magnificent volume 
the title of which stands at the head of
 this notice4 ,lord ,vernon has been    
known for many years as the most        
munificent fosterer of ,dantesque       
publications4 ,one after another1       
precious and costly books upon ,dante   
have appeared1 edited and printed at his
 expense1 showing both a taste and a    
liberality as honorable as unusual4     
,the first four editions of the ,divina 
,commedia1 of which this volume is a    

reprint1 are all of excessive rarity4   
,although each is a document of the     
highest importance in determining the   
text1 few of the editors of the poem    
have had the means of consulting more   
than one or two of them4 ,the volumes   
are to be found united only in the      
,library of the ,british ,museum1 and it
 is but a few years that even that great
 collection has included them all4 ,they
 were printed originally between #adgj  
and #adhj at ,foligno1 ,jesi1 ,mantua1  
and ,naples2 and their chief value      
arises from the fact that they present  
the various readings of three1 if not   
four1 early and selected manuscripts4   
,the doubt whether four manuscripts are 
represented by them is occasioned by the
 similarity between the editions of     
,foligno and ,naples1 which are of such 
a sort 7for instance1 correspondence in 
the most unlikely and odd misprints7 as 
to prove that one must have served as   
the basis of the other4 ,but at the same
 time there are such differences between

 them as indicate a separate revision of
 each1 and possibly the consultation by 
their editors of different codices4     
,unfortunately1 there is no edition of  
the ,divina ,commedia which can claim   
any special authority1--none which has  
even in a small degree such authority as
 belongs to the first folio of          
,shakspeare's plays4 ,the text1 as now  
received1 rests upon a comparison of    
manuscripts and early printed editions2 
and as affording to scholars the means  
of an independent critical judgment upon
 it1 a knowledge of the readings of     
these earliest editions is              
indispensable4 ,but reprints of old     
books are proverbially open to error4   
,the reprint of the first folio         
,shakspeare is so full of mistakes as to
 be of comparatively little use4 ,the   
character of the ,italian language is   
such that inaccuracies are both easier  
and more dangerous than in ,english4    
,unless the reprint of the first four   
editions were literally correct1 it     

would be of little value4 ,to secure    
this correctness1 so far as was         
possible1 ,lord ,vernon engaged ,mr4    
,panizzi1 the chief librarian of the    
,british ,museum1 to edit the volume4 ,a
 more competent editor never lived4 ,mr4
 ,panizzi is distinguished not more for 
his thorough and appreciative           
acquaintance with the poetic literature 
of his country than for the extent and  
accuracy of his bibliographical         
knowledge and the refinement of his     
bibliographic skill4 ,there can be no   
doubt that the reprint is as exact as   
the most rigid critic could desire4 ,it 
is a monument of patience and of        
unpretending labor1 as well as of       
typographic beauty1--the work of the    
editor having been well seconded by that
 well-known disciple of ,aldus1 ,mr4    
,charles ,whittingham4  ,nor is it only 
in essential variations that these four 
texts are important1 but also in the    
illustration which their different      
spelling and their varying grammatical  

forms afford in regard to the language  
used by ,dante4 ,at the time when these 
editions appeared1 the orthography of   
the ,italian tongue was not yet         
established1 and its grammatical        
inflections not in all cases definitely 
settled4 ,printing had not yet been long
 enough in use to fix a permanent form  
upon words4 ,moreover1 the misprints    
themselves1 which in these early        
editions are very numerous1 often give  
hints as to the changes which they may  
have induced1 or as to the misplacing of
 letters most likely to occur1 and      
consequently most likely to lead to     
unobserved errors of the text4  ,the    
style of the printing in these first    
editions1 and the aid it may give1 or   
the difficulty it may occasion1 are     
hardly to be understood without an      
extract4 ,we open at ,paradiso1 xv4 #gj4
 ,cacciaguida has just spoken to his    
descendant1 and then follows1 according 
to the ,foligno1 the following          
passage3--    ,io mi uolfi abeatrice et 

quella udio     pria chio parlaffi et   
arofemi un cenno     che fece crefcer   
lali aluoler mio    ,poi cominciai con  
leefftto elfenno     come laprima       
equalita napparfe     dun pefo per      
ciafchun di noi fi fenno    ,pero chel  
fole che nallumo et arfe     colcaldo et
 conlaluce et fi iguali     che tutte   
fimiglianze fono fcarfe4  ,this looks   
different enough from the common text1  
that1 for example1 of the ,florentine   
edition of #ahdd4    ,i' mi volsi a     
,beatrice1 e quella udio     ,pria ch'  
io parlassi1 ed arrisemi un cenno       
,che fece crescer l' ale al voler mio4  
,poi cominciai cosi3 ,l' affetto e il   
senno1     ,come la prima egualit v'    
apparse1     ,d' un peso per ciascun di 
voi si fenno2    ,perocch al ,sol1 che  
v' allum ed arse     ,col caldo e con la
 luce1 en s iguali1     ,che tutte      
simiglianze sono scarse4  ,i turned to  
,beatrice1 and she heard before ,i      
spoke1 and smiled on me a sign which    
added wings to my desire4 ,then ,i began

 thus3 ,love and wisdom1 as soon as the 
primal ,equality has appeared to you1   
become of one weight in each one of you2
 since in that ,sun1 which illuminates  
and warms you with heat and light1 they 
are so equal1 that every comparison     
falls short4  ,the three other ancient  
texts are each quite as different from  
the modern one as that which we have    
given1 nor is the passage one that      
affords example of unusual variations4  
,it would have been easy to select many 
others varying much more than this1 but 
our object is to show the general       
character of these first editions4 ,the 
second line of the quotation offers a   
various reading which is supported by   
the arrossemi of the ,jesi edition1 and 
the arossemi of that of ,naples1 as well
 as by the text of the comment of       
,benvenuto da ,imola1 and some other    
early authorities4 ,but even were the   
weight of evidence in its favor far     
greater than it is1 it could never be   
received in place of the thoroughly     

,dantesque and exquisite expression1    
arrisemi un cenno1 which is found in the
 ,mantua edition4 ,the napparse and the 
noi of the fifth and sixth lines and the
 nallumo of the seventh are plainly     
mistakes of the scribe1 puzzled by the  
somewhat obscure meaning of the passage4
 ,not one of the four editions before us
 gives us the right pronouns1 but they  
are found in the ,bartolinian codex1 7as
 well as many others17 and they are     
established in the rare ,aldine edition 
of #aejb1 the chief source of the modern
 text4 ,in the eighth line1 where we now
 read en s iguali1 the four give us et  
or e si iguali1 a reading from which it 
is difficult to extract a meaning1      
unless1 with the ,bartolinian1 we omit  
the che in the preceding line1 and      
suppose the pero chel to stand1 not for 
perocch al1 but for perocch il1--or1    
retaining the che1 read the first words 
perocch'  il ,sol1 and take the clause  
as a parenthesis4 ,the meaning1         
according to the first supposition1     

would be1 ,love and wisdom are of one   
measure in you1 7since the ,sun sc4 the 
primal ,equality warmed and enlightened 
you17 and so equal that1 etc4 ,according
 to the second supposition1 we should   
translate1 ,since it the primal         
,equality is the sun which1 etc4        
,benvenuto da ,imola gives still a third
 reading1 making the e si iguali into ee
 si iguale1 or1 in modern orthography1  
s iguale2 but1 as this spoils the rhyme1
 it may be left out of account4 ,there  
seems to us to be some ground for       
believing the second reading suggested  
above1    ,perocch'  il ,sol che v'     
allum ed arse   ,con caldo e con la     
luce1 e s iguali4  to be the true one1  
not only from its correspondence with   
most of the early copies1 but from the  
rarity of the use of en by ,dante4      
,there is but one other passage in the  
poem where it is found 7,purgatory1 xvi4
 #aba74  ,such is an example1 taken at  
random1 of the doubts suggested and the 
illustration afforded by these editions 

in the study of the text4 ,of course    
such minute criticism is of interest    
only to those few who reckon ,dante's   
words at their true worth4 ,the common  
reader may be content with the text as  
he finds it in common editions1 ,but    
,dante1 more than any other author1     
stimulates his student to research as to
 his exact words2 for no other author   
has been so choice in his selection of  
them4 ,he is not only the greatest      
modern master of condensation in style1 
but he has the deepest insight into the 
value and force of separate words1 the  
most delicate sense of appropriateness  
in position1 and in the highest degree  
the poetic faculty of selecting the word
 most fitting for the thought and most  
characteristic in expression4 ,it rarely
 happens that the place of a word of any
 importance is a matter of indifference 
in his verse1 no regard being had to the
 rhythm2 and every one sufficiently     
familiar with the language in which he  
wrote to be conscious of its indefinable

 powers will feel1 though he may be     
unable to point out specifically1 a     
marked distinction in the quality and   
combinations of the words in the        
different parts of the poem4 ,the       
description of the entrance to ,hell1 in
 the third canto of the ,inferno is1 for
 instance1 hardly more different from   
the description of the ,terrestrial     
,paradise1 7,purgatory1 xxviii417 in    
scenery and imagery1 than it is in the  
vague but absolute qualities of         
language1 in its rhythmical and verbal  
essence4  ,but1 leaving these           
subtilties1 let us look at some of the  
disputed passages of the poem1 upon     
which the texts before us may give their
 evidence4  ,in the episode of          
,francesca da ,rimini1 ,mr4 ,barlow has 
recently attempted to give currency to a
 various reading long known1 but never  
accepted1 in the line 7,inferno1 v4     
#ajb7 in which ,francesca expresses her 
horror at the manner of her death4 ,she 
says1 il modo ancor m' offende1 the     

manner still offends me4 ,but for il    
modo ,mr4 ,barlow would substitute il   
mondo1 the world still offends me1--that
 is1 as we suppose1 by holding a false  
opinion of her conduct4 ,mr4 ,barlow's  
suggestions are always to be received   
with respect1 but we cannot but think   
him wrong in proposing this change4 ,the
 spirits in ,hell are not supposed to be
 aware of what is passing upon earth2   
they are self-convicted1 7,purgatory1   
xxvi4 #he1 #hf17 and ,francesca being   
doomed to eternal woe1 the world could  
not do her wrong by taxing her with sin2
 while1 further1 the shudder at the     
method of her death1 lasting even in    
torment1 seems to us a far more         
imaginative conception than the one     
proposed in its stead4 ,our four texts  
read elmodo4  ,in the famous simile     
7,inferno1 iii4 #aab-aad7 in which      
,dante compares the spirits falling from
 the bank of ,acheron to the dead leaves
 fluttering from a bough in autumn1     
giving1 as ,mr4 ,ruskin says1 the most  

perfect image possible of their utter   
lightness1 feebleness1 passiveness1 and 
scattering agony of despair1 our common 
texts have    infin che il ramo   ,rende
 alla terra tutte le sue spoglie1       
,until the branch gives to the earth all
 its spoils2 but the texts of ,jesi and 
,mantua1 as well as those of the        
,bartolinian and the ,aldus1 and many   
other early authorities1 here put the   
word ,vede in place of ,rende1 giving a 
variation which for its poetic worth    
well deserves to be marked1 if not to be
 introduced into the received text4     
,until the branch sees all its spoils   
upon the earth is a personification     
quite in ,dante's manner4 ,a            
confirmation of the value of this       
reading is given by the fact that ,tasso
 preferred it to the more common one1   
and in his treatise on the ,art of      
,poetry praises it as full of energy4   
,the value of this work of ,lord        
,vernon's to the students of ,dante1 in 
enabling them to secure accuracy in     

their statements in regard to the early 
texts1 has been illustrated to us by    
finding that ,blanc1 in his useful and  
excellent ,vocabolario ,dantesco1 has   
not unfrequently fallen into error      
through his inability to consult those  
first editions4 ,for example1 in the    
line1 7,inferno1 xviii4 #dc17 ,perci a  
figuralo i piedi affissi1 as it is      
commonly given1 or1 ,perci a firgurarlo 
gli occhi affissi1 as it appears in some
 editions1 ,blanc1 who prefers the      
latter reading1 states that gli occhi is
 found in toutes les anciennes ditions4 
,but the truth is1 that those of        
,foligno and ,naples read ipedi1 that of
 ,jesi has in piedi1 and that of ,mantua
 i pie4 ,the ,aldine of #aejb is the    
earliest edition we have seen which has 
gli occhi4  ,in the episode of ,ugolino1
 7,inferno1 xxxiii417 the verse which   
has given rise to more comment1 perhaps 
than any other is that 7the #bfth7 in   
which the ,count says1 according to the 
usual reading1 that the narrow window in

 his tower had shown him many moons     
before he dreamed his evil dream3 ,pi   
lune gi1 quand' i' feci il mal sonno1   
,many moons already1 when ,i had my ill 
slumber4 ,but another reading1 found in 
a majority of the early ,,mss4 and      
editions1 including those of ,jesi and  
,mantua gives the variation1 pi lume2   
while the editions of ,foligno and      
,naples give lieve1 which1 affording no 
intelligible meaning1 must be regarded  
as a mere misprint4 ,in spite of the    
weight of early authority for lume1 the 
reading lune is perhaps to be preferred1
 as giving in a word a brief expressive 
statement of a weary length of          
imprisonment1--while lume would only    
serve to fix the moment of the dream as 
having been between the first dawn and  
the full day4 ,it is rare that the      
difference between an n and an m is of  
such marked effect4  ,in the sixth canto
 of ,purgatory1 verse #eh1 ,virgil says1
 ,behold there a soul which a posta     
looks toward us4 ,such at least is the  

common reading1 and the words a posta   
are explained as meaning fixedly4 ,but  
this signification is somewhat forced1 a
 posta1 or apposta1 being more properly 
used with the meaning of on purpose or  
deliberately1--and the first four       
editions supply a reading without this  
difficulty1 and one which adds a new and
 significant feature to the description4
 ,they unite in the omission of the     
letter a4 ,the passage then bears the   
meaning1--,but behold there a soul      
which1 fixed1 or placed1 alone and all  
apart1 looks toward us4 ,this reading1  
beside being supported by the weight of 
ancient authority1 finds confirmation1  
in the context1 in the terms in which   
,sordello's aspect is described3 ,how   
lofty and disdainful didst thou stand6  
how slow and decorous in the moving of  
thy eyes6  ,a curious example of the    
mistakes of the old copies is afforded  
in the charming description of the      
,terrestrial ,paradise in the           
twenty-eighth canto of the ,purgatory4  

,dante says1 that the leaves on the     
trees1 trembling in the soft air1 were  
not so disturbed that the little birds  
in their tops ceased from any of their  
arts1--             che gli augelletti  
per le cime   ,lasciasser d' operare    
ogni lor arte4  ,the lines are so plain 
that a mistake is difficult in them2    
but1 of our four editions1 the ,jesi is 
the only one which gives them correctly4
 ,foligno and ,naples read angeleti for 
augelletti1 while ,mantua gives us the  
astonishing word intelletti4 ,again1 in 
line #ih of the same canto1 all four    
read1 exaltation dell' acqua1 for the   
simple and correct esalazion dell'      
acqua4 ,and in line #aca1 for ,eunoe si 
chiama1 ,jesi supplies the curious word 
curioce si chiama4  ,these examples of  
error are not of great importance in    
themselves1 and are easily corrected1   
but they serve to illustrate the great  
frequency of error in all the early     
texts of the ,divina ,commedia1 and the 
probability that many errors not so     

readily discovered may still exist in   
the text1 making difficulties where none
 originally existed4 ,they are of value1
 furthermore1 in the wider range of     
critical studies1 as illustrating in a  
striking way the liability to error     
which existed in all books so long as   
they were preserved only by the work of 
scribes4 ,here is a poem which was      
transmitted in manuscript for only about
 one hundred and fifty years1 the first 
four printed editions of which show     
differences in almost every line4 ,it is
 no exaggeration to say that the        
variations between the editions of      
,foligno1 ,jesi1 and ,mantua1 in        
orthography1 inflection1 and other      
grammatical and dialectic forms1 not to 
speak of the less frequent1 though still
 numerous differences in the words      
themselves1 greatly exceed1 throughout  
the poem1 the number of lines of which  
it is composed4 ,yet by a comparison of 
them one with another a consistent and  
generally satisfactory text has been    

formed4 ,the bearing of this upon the   
views to be taken of the condition of   
the text of more ancient works1 as1 for 
instance1 that of the ,gospels1 is      
plain4  ,the work before us is so full  
of matter interesting to the student of 
,dante1 that we are tempted to go on    
with further illustrations of it1 though
 well aware that there are few who have 
zeal or patience enough to continue the 
examination with us4 ,but the number of 
those in ,america who are beginning to  
read the ,divina ,commedia1 as something
 more than a mere exercise in the       
,italian language1 is increasing1 and   
some of them1 at least1 will take       
pleasure with us in this inquiry        
concerning the words1 that is1 the      
thoughts of ,dante4 ,why should the     
minute1 but not fruitless criticism of  
texts be reserved for the ancient       
classic writers8 ,the great poet of the 
,middle ,ages deserves this work at our 
hands far more than any of the ,latin   
poets1 not excluding even his own master

 and guide4  ,the eleventh canto of the 
,paradiso is chiefly occupied with the  
noble narrative of the life of ,st4     
,francis4 ,reading it as we do1 at such 
a distance from the time of the events  
which it records1 and with feelings that
 have never been warmed into fervor by  
the facts or the legends concerning the 
,saint1 it is hard for us to appreciate 
at its full worth the beauty of this    
canto1 and its effect upon those who had
 seen and conversed with the first      
,franciscans4 ,not a century had yet    
passed since the death of ,st4 ,francis1
 and the order which he had founded kept
 his memory alive in every part of the  
,catholic world4 ,a story which may be  
true or false1 and it matters little    
which1 tells us that ,dante himself in  
his early manhood had proposed to enter 
its ranks4 ,there is no doubt that its  
vows of poverty and chastity1 its       
arduous but invigorating rule during its
 early days1 appealed with strong force 
to his temperament and his imagination1 

as promising a withdrawal from those    
worldly temptations of which he was     
conscious1 from that pressure of private
 and public affairs of which he was     
impatient4 ,the contrast between the    
effects which the life of ,st4 ,francis 
and that of ,st4 ,dominic had upon the  
poet's mind is shown by the contrast in 
tone in which in successive cantos he   
tells of these two great pillars of the 
,church4  ,in lines #ga and #gb1        
speaking of ,poverty1 the bride of the  
,saint1 he says1--    ,si che dove      
,maria rimase giuso1   ,ella con ,cristo
 salse in sulia croce3  ,so that whilst 
,mary remained below1 she mounted the   
cross with ,christ1 ,such is the common 
reading4 ,now in all four of the        
editions which are in ,lord ,vernon's   
reprint1 in ,benvenuto da ,imola1 in the
 ,bartolinian codex1 in the precious    
codex of ,cortona1 and in many other    
early manuscripts and editions1 the word
 pianse is found in the place of salse2 
,she lamented upon the cross with       

,christ4 ,the antithesis1 though less   
direct1 is not less striking1 and the   
phrase seems to us to become simpler1   
more natural1 and more touching4 ,yet   
this reading has found little favor with
 recent editors1 and one of them goes so
 far as to say1 che non solo            
impoverisce1 ma adultera l' idea4       
,passing over other variations1 some of 
them of importance1 in this eleventh    
canto1 we find the last verses standing 
in most modern editions1--    ,e vedr il
 coreggier che argomenta   ,u' ben s'   
impingua1 se non si vaneggia4  ,and the 
meaning is explained as being1--,and he 
who is girt with a leathern cord 7i4e4  
the ,dominican7 will see what is meant  
by ',where well they fatten1 if they do 
not stray4' ,but to this there are      
several objections4 ,no other example of
 coreggier thus used is1 we believe1 to 
be found4 ,moreover1 the introduction of
 a ,dominican to learn this lesson is   
forced1 for it was ,dante himself who   
had had a doubt as to the meaning of    

these words1 and it was for his         
instruction that the discourse in which 
they were explained was held4 ,we       
prefer1 therefore1 the reading which is 
found in the editions of ,jesi1         
,foligno1 and ,naples1 7in part in that 
of ,mantua17 and which is given by many 
other ancient texts3 ,vedrai or ,e      
vedrai il correger che argomenta3 ,thou 
wilt see the reproof which ',where well 
they fatten1 if they do not stray1'     
conveys4 ,this reading has been adopted 
by ,mr4 ,cayley in his remarkable       
translation4  ,one more instance of the 
value of ,lord ,vernon's work1 and we   
have done4 ,the #ajfth1 #ajgth1 and     
#ajhth verses of the twenty-sixth canto 
of the ,paradiso are among the most     
difficult of the poem1 and have given   
rise to great variety of comment4 ,in   
the edition of ,florence of #ahcj1 in   
those of ,foscolo1 and of ,costa1 and   
many others1 they stand1--    ,perch' io
 la veggio nel verace speglio   ,che fa 
di se pareglie l' altre cose   ,e nulla 

face lui di se pareglio4  ,and they are 
explained by ,bianchi as meaning1       
,because ,i see it in that true mirror  
7i4 e4 ,god7 which makes other things   
like to themselves1 7that is1 represents
 them as they are17 while nothing can   
represent ,him like to ,himself4 ,those 
who love the quarrels of commentators   
should look at the notes in the         
,variorum editions of ,padua or         
,florence to see with what amusing      
asperity they have treated each other's 
solutions of the passage4 ,italian words
 of abuse have a sonorous quality which 
gives grandeur to a skirmish of critics4
 ,one is declared by his opponent to    
have ingarbugliato the clearest meaning2
 another guasta il sentimento and       
sproposita in grammatica2 a third brings
 falso and assurdo to the charge1 and1  
not satisfied with their force1 adds    
blasfemo2 a fourth declares that the    
third has contrived capovolgere la      
consegitenza2 and so on2--from all which
 the reader1 trying to find shelter from

 the pelting of hard words1 discovers   
that the meaning is not clear even to   
the most confident of the critics4 ,but1
 standing apart from the battle1 and    
looking only at the text1 and not at the
 bewildered comment1 we find in the     
editions of ,foligno1 ,jesi1 and        
,naples1 and in many other ancient      
texts1 a reading which seems to us      
somewhat easier than the one commonly   
adopted4 ,we copy the lines after the   
,foligno3--    ,per chio laueggio       
neluerace speglio   che fa dise pareglio
 alaltre cose   et nulla face lui dise  
pareglio4  ,and we would translate them1
 ,because ,i see it in that true mirror 
who in ,himself affords a likeness to or
 of all other things1 while nothing     
gives back to ,him a likeness of        
,himself4 ,here pareglio corresponds    
with the ,provenal parelh and the later 
,french pareil1--and the ,provenal      
phrase rendre le parelha affords an     
example of similar application to that  
of the word in ,dante4  ,with us in     

,america1 criticism is not rated as it  
deserves2 it is little followed as a    
study1 and the love for the great       
masters and poets of other times and    
other tongues than our own fails to     
stimulate the ardor of students to the  
thorough examination of their thoughts  
and words4 ,no doubt1 criticism1 as it  
has too often been pursued1 is of small 
worth1 displaying itself in useless     
inquiries1 and lavishing time and labor 
upon insoluble and uninteresting        
questions4 ,but such is not its true    
end4 ,verbal criticism1 rightly viewed1 
has a dignity which belongs to few other
 studies2 for it deals with words as the
 symbols of thoughts1--with words1 which
 are the most spiritual of the          
instruments of human power1 the most    
marvellous of human possessions4 ,it    
makes thought accurate1 and perception  
fine4 ,it adds truth to the creations of
 imagination by teaching the modes by   
which they may be best expressed1 and it
 thus leads to fuller and more          

appreciative understanding and enjoyment
 of the noblest works of the past4      
,there can1 indeed1 be no thorough      
culture without it4  ,to restore the    
balance of our lives1 in these days of  
haste1 novelty1 and restlessness1 there 
is a need of a larger infusion into them
 of pursuits which have no end of       
immediate publicity or instant return of
 tangible profit1--of pursuits which1   
while separating us from the intrusive  
world around us1 should introduce us    
into the freer1 tranquiller1 and more   
spacious world of noble and everlasting 
thought4 ,the greener and lonelier      
precincts of our minds are now trampled 
upon by the hurrying feet of daily      
events and transient interests4 ,if we  
would keep that spiritual region        
unpolluted1 we need to acquaint         
ourselves with some other literature    
than that of newspapers and magazines1  
and to entertain as familiars the men   
long dead1 yet living in their works4   
,as ,americans1 our birthrights in the  

past are imperfect2 we are born into the
 present alone4 ,but he who lives only  
in present things lives but half a life1
 and death comes to him as an           
impertinent interruption3 by living also
 in the past we learn to value the      
present at its worth1 to hold ourselves 
ready for its end4 ,with ,dante1 taking 
him as a guide and companion in our     
privater moods1 we may1 even in the     
natural body1 pass through the world of 
spirit4  ,it will be a good indication  
of the improvement in the intellectual  
disposition of our people1 when the     
study of ,dante becomes more general4   
,meanwhile1 on the part of his few      
students in ,america1 we would offer our
 thanks to ,lord ,vernon and to ,mr4    
,panizzi for the aid which the          
liberality of the one and the skill and 
learning of the other have given to us1 
and for the honor they have done to the 
memory of our common ,author and        
,leader4  ,notes of ,travel and ,study  
in ,italy4 ,by ,,charles ,,eliot        

,,norton4 ,boston3 ,ticknor  ,fields4   
#ahfj4 pp4 x41 #cbj4  ,there is1        
perhaps1 no country with which we are so
 intimate as with ,italy1--none of which
 we are always so willing to hear more4 
,poets and prosers have alike compared  
her to a beautiful woman2 and while one 
finds nothing but loveliness in her1    
another shudders at her fatal           
fascination4 ,she is the very           
,witch-,venus of the ,middle ,ages4     
,roger ,ascham says1 ,i was once in     
,italy myself1 but ,i thank ,god my     
abode there was but nine days2 and yet  
,i saw in that little time1 in one city1
 more liberty to sin than ever ,i heard 
tell of in our noble city of ,london in 
nine years4 ,he quotes triumphantly the 
proverb1--,inglese italianato1 diavolo  
incarnato4 ,a century later1 the        
entertaining ,richard ,lassels1 ,gent41 
who ,travelled through ,italy ,five     
times as ,tutor to several of the       
,english ,nobility and ,gentry1 and who 
is open to new engagements in that kind1

 declares1 that1 ,for the ,country      
itself1 it seemed to me to be ,nature's 
,darling1 and the ,eldest ,sister of all
 other ,countries2 carrying away from   
them all the greatest blessings and     
favours1 and receiving such gracious    
looks from the ,sun and ,heaven1 that1  
if there be any fault in ,italy1 it is1 
that her ,mother ,nature hath cockered  
her too much1 even to make her become   
,wanton4 ,plainly1 our ,tannhuser is but
 too ready to go back to the            
,venus-berg6  ,a new book on ,italy     
seems a dangerous experiment4 ,has not  
all been told and told and told again8  
,is it not one chief charm of the land1 
that it is changeless without being     
,chinese8 ,did not ,abbot ,samson1 in   
#aaei1 ,scotti habitum induens1 7which  
must have shown his massive calves to   
great advantage47 probably see much the 
same popular characteristics that       
,hawthorne saw seven hundred years      
later8 ,shall a man try to be           
entertaining after ,montaigne1 aesthetic

 after ,winckelmann1 wise after ,goethe1
 or trenchant after ,forsyth8 ,can he   
hope to bring back anything so useful as
 the fork1 which honest ,tom ,coryate   
made prize of two centuries and a half  
ago1 and put into the greasy fingers of 
,northern barbarians8 ,is not the       
,descrittione of ,leandro ,alberti still
 a competent itinerary8 ,and can one    
hope to pick up a fresh ,latin          
quotation1 when ,addison and ,eustace   
have been before him with their         
scrap-baskets8  ,if there be anything   
which a person of even moderate         
accomplishments may be presumed to know1
 it is ,italy4 ,the only open question  
left seems to be1 whether ,shakespeare  
were the only man that could write his  
name who had never been there4 ,we have 
read our share of ,italian travels1 both
 in prose and verse1 but1 as the nicely 
discriminating ,dutchman found that too 
moch brahndee was too moch1 but too moch
 lager-beer was jost hright1 so we are  
inclined to say that too much ,italy is 

just what we want4 ,after ,des ,brosses1
 we are ready for ,henri ,beyle1 and    
,ampre1 and ,hillard1 and ,about1 and   
,gallenga1 and ,julia ,kavanagh2        
,corinne only makes us hungry for       
,george ,sand4 ,that no one can tell us 
anything new is as undeniable as the    
compensating fact that no one can tell  
us anything too old4  ,there are two    
kinds of travellers1--those who tell us 
what they went to see1 and those who    
tell us what they saw4 ,the latter class
 are the only ones whose journals are   
worth the sifting2 and the value of     
their eyes depends on the amount of     
individual character they took with     
them1 and of the previous culture that  
had sharpened and tutored the faculty of
 observation4 ,in our conscious age the 
frankness and navet of the elder        
voyagers is impossible1 and we are weary
 of those humorous confidences on the   
subject of fleas with which we are      
favored by some modern travellers1 whose
 motto should be 7slightly altered7 from

 ,horace1--,flea-bit1 et toto cantabitur
 orbe4 ,a naturalist self-sacrificing   
enough may have this experience more    
cheaply at home4  ,the book before us is
 the record of a second residence in    
,italy1 of about two years4 ,this in    
itself is an advantage2 since a renewed 
experience1 after an interval of absence
 and distraction1 enables us to         
distinguish what had merely interested  
us by its strangeness from what is      
permanently worthy of study and         
remembrance4 ,in a second visit we know 
at least what we do not wish to see1 and
 our first impressions have so defined  
themselves that they afford us a safer  
standard of comparison4 ,to most        
travellers ,italy is a land of pure     
vacation1 a lotus-eating region1 in     
which it seemeth always afternoon4 ,but 
,mr4 ,norton1 whose book shows bow well 
his time had been employed at home1     
could not but spend it to good purpose  
abroad4 ,the word study has a right to  
its place on his title-page1 and his    

volume is worthy of a student4 ,he shows
 himself to be one who1 like            
,wordsworth1 does not much or oft       
delight in personal talk2 there is no   
gossip between the covers of his book1  
no impertinent self-obtrusion4 ,familiar
 with what has been written about ,italy
 by others1 he has known how to avoid   
the trite highways1 and by going back to
 what was old has found topics that are 
really fresh and delightful4 ,the ,italy
 of the ancient ,romans is a foreign    
country to us1 and must always continue 
so2 but the ,italy of the ,middle ,ages 
is nearer1 not so much in time1 as      
because there is no impassable rift of  
religious faith1 and consequently of    
ideas and motives1 between us and it4   
,far enough away in the centuries to be 
picturesque1 it is near enough in the   
sympathy of belief and thought to be    
thoroughly intelligible4 ,the chapter on
 the ,brotherhood of the ,misericordia  
at ,florence is remarkably interesting1 
and the coincidence which ,mr4 ,norton  

points out in a note between the        
circumstances which led to its          
foundation and those in which a somewhat
 similar society originated in          
,california so lately as #ahei is not   
only curious1 but pleasant1 as showing  
that there is a natural piety proper to 
man in all ages alike4 ,in his account  
of the building of the ,cathedral of    
,orvieto1 and his notices of ,rome as it
 was when ,dante and ,petrarch saw it1  
,mr4 ,norton has struck a rich vein1    
which we hope he will find time to work 
more thoroughly hereafter4 ,by the      
essential fairness of his mind1 his     
patience in investigation1 and his      
sympathy with what is noble in character
 and morally influential in events1 he  
seems to us peculiarly fitted for that  
middle ground occupied by the historical
 essayist1 to whom literature is        
something cordinate with politics1 and  
who finds a great book more eventful    
than a small battle4  ,but if1 as a     
scholar and lover of ,art1 ,mr4 ,norton 

naturally turns to the past1 he does not
 fail to tell us whatever he finds worth
 knowing in the present4 ,his tone of   
mind and habitual subjects of thought   
may be inferred from the character of   
the topics that interest him4 ,the      
glimpses he gives us of the actual      
condition of the people of ,italy1 as   
indicated by their practical conception 
of the religious dogmas of their        
,church1 by the quality of the cheap    
literature that is popular among them1  
of the tracts provided for their        
spiritual aliment by ecclesiastical     
authority1 and of the caricatures       
produced in #ahdh-i1 7as in his notice  
of ,don ,pirlone17 are of special value1
 and show that he knows where to look   
for signs of what lies beneath the      
surface4 ,his appreciation of the       
beautiful in ,art has not been          
cultivated at the expense of his        
interest in the moral1 political1 and   
physical well-being of man4 ,his        
touching sketch of the life of          

,letterato1 the founder of ,ragged      
,schools1 shows that moral loveliness   
attracts his sympathy as much when      
embodied in a life of obscure usefulness
 as when it gleams in the saints and    
angels of ,fra ,angelico4 ,a            
conscientious ,protestant1 he exposes   
the corruptions of the ,established     
,church in ,italy1 not as an            
anti-,romanist1 but because he sees that
 they are practically operative in the  
social and political degradation of the 
people4 ,what good there is never       
escapes his attention1 and we learn from
 him much that is new and interesting   
concerning public charities and private 
efforts for the elevation of the lower  
orders4 ,the miles of statuary in the   
,vatican do not weary him so much that  
he cannot at night make the round of    
evening schools for the poor4  ,we have 
not read a pleasanter or more           
instructive book of ,italian travel than
 this4 ,mr4 ,norton's range of interest 
is so wide that we are refreshed with   

continual variety of topic2 and his     
style is pure1 clear1 and chaste1       
without any sacrifice of warmth or      
richness4 ,it is always especially      
agreeable to us to encounter an         
,american who is a scholar in the true  
sense of the word1 in which sense it is 
never dissociated from gentleman4 ,when1
 as in the present instance1 scholarship
 is united with a deep and active       
interest in whatever concerns the       
practical well-being of men1 we have one
 of the best results of our modern      
civilization4 ,we are no lovers of      
dilettantism1 but we see in these       
scholarly tastes and habits which do not
 seclude a man from the duties of real  
life and useful citizenship the only    
safeguard against the evils which the   
rapid heaping-up of wealth is sure to   
bring with it4  ,we do not always agree 
with ,mr4 ,norton in his estimate of the
 comparative merit of different artists4
 ,we think he sometimes makes ,mr4      
,ruskin's mistake of attributing to     

positive religious sentiment what is    
rather to be ascribed to the negative   
influence of circumstances and date4 ,we
 cannot help thinking that the mere     
arrangement of their figures by such    
painters as ,cima da ,conegliano and    
,francesco ,francia1 the architectural  
regularity of their disposition1 the    
sculpturesque dignity of their          
attitudes1 and the consequent impression
 of simplicity and repose which they    
convey1 have much to do with the        
religious effect they produce on the    
mind1 as contrasted with the more       
dramatic and picturesque conceptions of 
later artists4 ,when we look at ,john   
,bellino's ,gods come down to taste the 
,fruits of the ,earth1 we cannot think  
him essentially a more religious man    
than his great pupil who painted that   
truly divine countenance of ,christ in  
,the ,tribute-,money4 ,at the same time 
we go along with ,mr4 ,norton heartily1 
where1 in the concluding pages of his   
book1 with equal learning and eloquence1

 he points out the causes and traces the
 progress of the moral and artistic     
decline which came over ,italy in the   
sixteenth century1 and whose effect made
 the seventeenth almost a desert4 ,this 
is one of the most striking passages in 
the volume1 and the lesson of it is     
brought home to us with a force and     
fervor worthy of the theme4 ,it also    
affords a good type of the quiet vigor  
of thought and the high moral purpose   
which are characteristic of the author4 
#a4 ,an ,american ,dictionary of the    
,english ,language1 etc41 etc4 ,by      
,,noah ,,webster1 ,,ll4 ,d4 ,revised and
 enlarged by ,,chauncey ,a4 ,,goodrich1 
,professor in ,yale ,college4           
,springfield1 ,mass43 ,g4  ,c4 ,merriam4
 #ahei4 pp4 ccxxxvi41 #aeab4  #b4 ,a    
,dictionary of the ,english ,language4  
,by ,,joseph ,e4 ,,worcester1 ,,ll4 ,d4 
,boston3 ,hickling1 ,swan1  ,brewer4    
#ahfj4 pp4 lxviii11 #aghf4  ,since the  
famous ,battle of the ,books in ,st4    
,james's ,library1 no literary          

controversy has been more sharply waged 
than that between the adherents of the  
rival ,dictionaries of ,doctors         
,worcester and ,webster4 ,the attack was
 begun thirty years ago1 by ,dr4        
,webster's publishers1 when ,dr4        
,worcester's ,comprehensive ,dictionary 
first appeared in print4 ,on the        
publication of his ,universal and       
,critical ,dictionary1 in #ahdf1 it was 
renewed1 and1 not to speak of occasional
 skirmishes during the interval1 the    
appearance of ,dr4 ,worcester's enlarged
 and finished work brought matters to   
the crisis of a pitched battle4  ,from  
this long conflict ,dr4 ,worcester has  
unquestionably come off victorious4 ,dr4
 ,webster seemed to assume that he had a
 kind of monopoly in the ,english       
language1 and that whoever ventured to  
compile a dictionary was guilty of      
infringing his patent-right4 ,he drew up
 a list of words1 and triumphantly asked
 ,dr4 ,worcester where he had found     
them1 unless in his two quartos of      

#ahbh4 ,dr4 ,worcester replied by       
showing that most of the words were to  
be found in previous ,english           
dictionaries1 and added1 with sly humor1
 that he freely acknowledged ,dr4       
,webster's exclusive property in the    
word bridegoom1 and others like it1     
which would be sought for vainly in any 
volumes but his own4 ,dr4 ,webster's    
attack was as unfair as the result of it
 was unfortunate for himself4  ,we have 
several reasons1 which seem to us       
sufficient1 for preferring ,dr4         
,worcester's ,dictionary2 but we are    
not1 on that account1 disposed to       
underrate the remarkable merits of its  
rival4 ,dr4 ,webster was a man of       
vigorous mind1 and endowed with a       
genuine faculty of independent thinking4
 ,he has hardly received justice at the 
hands of his countrymen1 a large portion
 of whom have too hastily taken a few   
obstinate whimsies as the measure of his
 powers4 ,utterly fanciful as are many  
of his etymologies1 we should be false  

to our duty as critics1 if we did not   
acknowledge that ,dr4 ,webster possessed
 in very large measure the chief        
qualities which go to the making of a   
great philologist4 ,the very tendency to
 theorize1 which led him to adopt those 
oddities of spelling by which he may be 
said to be chiefly known1 united as it  
was to an understanding of uncommon     
breadth and clearness1 would under more 
favorable auspices have given him a very
 eminent place among the philosophic    
students of language4 ,his great mistake
 was in attempting to force his peculiar
 notions upon the world in his          
,dictionary1 instead of confining them  
to his ,preface1 or putting them forward
 tentatively in a separate treatise4    
,the importance which he attached to    
these trifles ought to have given him a 
hint that others might be as obstinate  
on the other side1 and that the         
prejudices of taste have much tougher   
roots than those of opinion4 ,we are    
inclined to think that many of the      

changes proposed by ,dr4 ,webster will  
be adopted in the course of time4 ,but  
it is a matter of little consequence1   
and the progress of such reforms is     
slow4 ,already two hundred years ago1   
,james ,howel 7the author of ,charles   
,lamb's favorite ,epistolae             
,ho-,elianae7 advocated similar reforms1
 and1 as far as the printers would let  
him1 carried them out in practice4 ,the 
printer hath not bin so careful as he   
should have bin1 he complains4 ,he      
especially condemns the superfluous     
letters in many of our words1 choosing  
to write don1 com1 and som1 rather than 
done1 come1 and some4 ,moreover1 he     
says1 those words that have the ,latin  
for their original1 the author prefers  
that orthography rather than the        
,french1 whereby divers letters are     
spar'd3 as ,physic1 ,logic1 ,afric1 not 
,physique1 ,logique1 ,afrique2 favor1   
honor1 labor1 not favour1 honour1       
labour1 and very many more2 as also he  
omits the ,dutch k in most words2 here  

you shall read peeple1 not pe-ople1     
tresure1 not tre-asure1 toung1 not      
ton-gue1 c42 ,parlement1 not            
,parliament2 busines1 witnes1 sicknes1  
not businesse1 witnesse1 sicknesse2     
star1 war1 far1 not starre1 warre1      
farre2 and multitudes of such words1    
wherein the two last letters may well be
 spar'd4 ,here you shall also read pity1
 piety1 witty1 not piti-e1 pieti-e1     
witti-e1 as strangers at first sight    
pronounce them1 and abundance of such   
like words4  ,howel gives a weak reason 
for making the changes he proposes1     
namely1 that the language will thereby  
be simplified to foreigners4 ,he hints  
at the true one when he says that we do 
not speak as we write4 ,dr4 ,webster    
also1 speaking of certain words ending  
in our1 says1 ,what motive could induce 
them to write these words1 and errour1  
honour1 favour1 inferiour1 c41 in this  
manner1 following neither the ,latin nor
 the ,french1 ,i cannot conceive4 ,had  
,dr4 ,webster's knowledge of the written

 ,english language been as great as it  
undoubtedly was of its linguistic       
relations1 he would have seen that the  
spelling followed the accent4 ,the third
 verse of the ,prologue to the          
,canterbury ,tales would have satisfied 
him3--    ,and bathd every root in such 
licor2  and a little farther on1--      
,or swinken with his houds and labore4  
,in this respect the spelling of our    
older writers1 where it can be depended 
on1 and especially of reformers like    
,howel1 is of value1 as throwing some   
light on the question1 how long the     
,norman pronunciation lingered in       
,england4 ,warner1 for instance1 in his 
,albion's ,england1 spells creator and  
creature as they are spelt now1 but     
gives the ,french accent to both2 and we
 are inclined to think that the charge  
of speaking right ,chaucer1 brought     
against the courtiers of ,queen         
,elizabeth1 referred rather to accent   
than diction4  ,the very title of ,dr4  
,webster's ,dictionary indicates a      

radical misapprehension as to the nature
 and office of such a work4 ,he calls   
the result of his labors an ,american   
,dictionary of the ,english ,language1  
as if provincialism were a merit4 ,he   
evidently thought that the business of a
 lexicographer was to regulate1 not to  
record4 ,sometimes also his zeal as an  
etymologist misled him1 as in his famous
 attempt to make the word bridegroom    
more conformable to its supposed        
,anglo-,saxon root and its modern       
,teutonic congeners4 ,it never occurred 
to him that we were still as far as ever
 from the goal1 and that it would be    
quite as inconvenient to explain that   
the termination goom was a derivation   
from the ,anglo-,saxon guma as that it  
was a corruption of it2 the point to be 
gained being1 after all1 that we should 
be able to find out the meaning of the  
,english word bridegroom1 having no     
pressing need of guma for conversational
 purposes4 ,we have spoken of this word 
only because we have heard it brought up

 against ,dr4 ,webster as often as      
anything else1 and because the          
disproportionate antipathy produced by  
this and a few similar oddities shows1  
that1 the primary object of all writing 
being the clear conveyance of meaning1  
and not only so1 but its conveyance in  
the most winning way1 a writer blunders 
who wilfully estranges the reader's eye 
or jars upon its habitual associations1 
and that a lexicographer blunders still 
more desperately1 who1 upon system1     
teaches to offend in that kind4 ,and it 
is amusing in respect to this very word 
bridegoom1 that the whimsey is not ,dr4 
,webster's own1 but that the bee was put
 into his bonnet by ,horne ,tooke4      
,webster in these matters was a bit of a
 ,hotspur4 ,he thought to deal with     
language as the vehement ,percy would   
have done with the ,trent4 ,the smug and
 silver stream was to be allowed no more
 wilful windings1 but to run    ,in a   
new channel fair and evenly4  ,he found 
an equally hot-headed ,glendower1       

wherever there was an educated man1     
ready with the answer1--    ,not wind8  
it shall2 it must2 you see it     doth4 
,you see it doth is an argument whose   
force no theorist ever takes into his   
reckoning4  ,we said that the title     
,american ,dictionary of the ,english   
,language was an absurdity4 ,fancy a    
,cuban ,dictionary of the ,spanish      
,language4 ,it would be of value only to
 the comparative philologist1 curious in
 the changes of meaning1 pronunciation1 
and the like1 which circumstances are   
always bringing about in languages      
subjected to new conditions of life and 
climate4 ,but we must not forget to say 
that the title chosen by ,dr4 ,webster  
conveyed also a meaning creditable to   
his spirit and judgment4 ,he always     
stoutly maintained the right of ,english
 as spoken in ,america to all the       
privileges of a living language4 ,in    
opposition to the purists who would have
 clasped the language forever within the
 covers of ,johnson1 he insisted on the 

necessity of coining new words or       
adapting old ones to express new things 
and new relations4 ,it is many years    
since we read his ,remarks 7if that was 
the title7 on ,pickering's ,vocabulary1 
and in answer to the rather supercilious
 criticisms on himself in the           
,anthology2 but the impression left on  
our mind by that pamphlet is one of     
great respect for the good sense1       
acuteness1 and courage of its author4   
,and of his ,dictionary it may safely be
 said1 that1 with all its mistakes1 no  
work of the kind had then appeared so   
learned and so comprehensive4 ,it may be
 doubted if any living language         
possessed at that time a dictionary1 or 
one1 at least1 the work of a single man1
 in all respects its equal4  ,but       
etymologies are not the most important  
part of a good working dictionary1 the  
intention of which is not to inform     
readers and writers what a word may have
 meant before the ,dispersion1 but what 
it means now4 ,the pedigree of an       

adjective or substantive is of little   
consequence to ninety-nine men in a     
hundred1 and the writers who have       
wielded our mother-tongue with the      
greatest mastery have been men who knew 
what words had most meaning to their    
neighbors and acquaintances1 and did not
 stay their pens to ask what ideas the  
radicals of those words may possibly    
have conveyed to the mind of a          
bricklayer going up from ,padanaram to  
seek work on the ,tower of ,babel4 ,a   
thoroughly good etymological dictionary 
of ,english is yet to seek2 and even if 
we should ever get one1 it will be for  
students1 and not for the laity4 ,nor is
 it the primary object of a common      
dictionary to trace the history of the  
language4 ,of great interest and        
importance to scholars1 it is of        
comparatively little to ,smith and      
,brown and their children at the public 
school4 ,it is a work apart1 which we   
hope to see accomplished by the ,london 
,philological ,society in a manner      

worthy of comparison with what has been 
partly done for ,german by the brothers 
,grimm1--alas that the illustrious      
duality should have been broken by      
death6 ,a lexicon of that kind should be
 an index to all the more eminent books 
in the language2 but we do not hold this
 to be the office of a dictionary for   
daily reference4 ,a dictionary that     
should embrace every unusual word1 every
 new compound1 every metaphorical turn  
of meaning1 to be found in our great    
writers1 would be a compendium of the   
genius of our authors rather than of our
 language2 and a lexicographer who rakes
 the books of second and third-rate men 
for out-of-the-way phrases is doing us  
no favor4 ,a dictionary is not a        
drag-net to bring up for us the broken  
pots and dead kittens1 the sewerage of  
speech1 as well as its living fishes4   
,nor do we think it a fair test of such 
a work1 that one should seek in it for  
every odd word that may have tickled his
 fancy in a favorite author4 ,like most 

middle-aged readers1 we have our        
specially private volumes4 ,one of      
these--but we will not betray the secret
 of our loves--contains some rare words1
 such as the ,gallicism mistresse-piece1
 and the delightful hybrid pundonnore   
for trifling points-of-honor2 yet we by 
no means complain that we can find      
neither of them in ,worcester1 and only 
the former 7with a ludicrously mistaken 
definition7 in ,webster4  ,a conclusive 
reason with us for preferring ,dr4      
,worcester's ,dictionary is1 that its   
author has properly understood his      
functions1 and has aimed to give us a   
true view of ,english as it is1 and not 
as he himself may have wished it should 
be or thought it ought to he4 ,its      
etymologies are sufficient for the      
ordinary reader1--sometimes             
superfluously full1 as where the same   
word is given over and over again in    
cognate languages4 ,we do not see the   
use1 under the word ,,plain1 of taking  
up room with a list like the following3 

,l4 planus2 ,it4 piano2 ,sp4 piano2 ,fr4
 plain4 ,not content with this1 ,dr4    
,worcester gives it once more under     
,,plan3 ,l4 planus1 flat2 ,it4 piano1 a 
plan2 ,sp4 piano2 ,fr4 plan4--,dut41    
,ger41 ,dan41 and ,sw4 plan4 ,even yet  
we have not done with it1 for under     
,,plane we find ,l4 planus2 ,it4 piano2 
,sp4plano1 ,fr4 plan4 ,one would think  
this rather a ,polyglot ,lexicon than an
 ,english ,dictionary4 ,it seems to us  
that no ,romanic derivative of the      
,latin root should he given1 unless to  
show that the word has come into        
,english by that channel4 ,and so of the
 ,teutonic languages4 ,if we have       
,danish1 ,swedish1 ,german1 and ,dutch1 
why not ,scotch1 ,icelandic1 ,frisic1   
,swiss1 and every other conceivable     
dialectic variety8  ,another fault of   
superfluousness we find in the number of
 compounded words1 where the meaning is 
obvious1--such1 for instance1 as are    
formed with the adverb out1 which the   
genius of the language permits without  

limit in the case of verbs4 ,dr4        
,worcester gives us1 among many         
others1--  ,,out-,,babble1 v4 a4 ,to    
surpass in ,idle prattle2 to exceed in  
babbling4 ,milton4  ,,out-,,bellow1 v4  
a4 ,to bellow more or louder than2 to   
exceed or surpass in bellowing4 ,bp4    
,hall4  ,,out-,,bleat1 v4 a4 ,to bleat  
more than2 to exceed in bleating4 ,bp4  
,hall4  ,,out-,,brag1 v4 a4 ,to surpass 
in bragging4 ,shak4  ,,out-,,bribe1 v1  
a4 ,to exceed in bribing4 ,blair4       
,,out-,,burn1 v4 a4 ,to exceed in       
burning4 ,young4 ,the definition here is
 hardly complete2 since the word means  
also to burn longer than4  ,,out-,,cant1
 v4 a4 ,to surpass in canting4 ,pope4   
,,out-,,cheat1 v4 a4 ,to surpass in     
cheating4  ,,out-,,curse1 v4 a4 ,to     
surpass in cursing4  ,,out-,,drink1 v4  
a4 ,to exceed in drinking4 ,donne4      
,,out-,,fawn1 v4 a4 ,to excel in        
fawning4 ,hudibras4  ,,out-,,feat1 v4 a4
 ,to surpass in feats4 ,smart4          
,,out-,,flash1 v4 a4 ,to surpass in     

flashing4 ,clarke4  ,similar words occur
 at frequent intervals through nine     
columns4 ,dr4 ,webster is equally       
relentless1 7even roping in a few       
estrays in his ,appendix17 and we hardly
 know which has out-worded the other4   
,we were surprised to find in neither   
the useful and legitimate substantive   
form of outgo1 as the opposite of       
income4 ,this superfluousness 7unless we
 apply ,voltaire's saying1 ,le superflu1
 chose bien ncessaire to dictionaries   
also7 is the result1 we suppose1 of the 
rivalry of publishers1 who have done    
their best to persuade the public that  
numerosity is the chief excellence in   
works of this kind1 and that whoever    
buys their particular quarto may be sure
 of an honest pennyworth and of owning a
 thousand or two more words than his    
less judicious neighbors4 ,in this way a
 false standard is manufactured1 to     
which the lexicographer must conform1 if
 he would have a remunerative sale for  
his book4 ,he accordingly explores every

 lane and impasse in the purlieus of    
,grub ,street1 and pounces on a new word
 as a naturalist would on a new         
bug1--the stranger and uglier1 the      
better4 ,we regret that this kind of    
rivalry has been forced on ,dr4         
,worcester2 but he is so thorough1      
patient1 and conscientious1 that he     
leaves little behind him for the        
gleaner4 ,we confess that the amplitude 
of his research has surprised us1 highly
 as we were prepared to rate him in this
 respect by our familiarity with his    
former works4 ,we have subjected his    
,dictionary to a pretty severe test4    
,from the time of its publication we    
have made a point of seeking in it every
 unusual word1 old or new1 that we met  
with in our reading4 ,we have been      
disappointed in hardly a single         
instance1 and we are not acquainted with
 any other dictionary of which we could 
say as much4  ,an attempt has been made 
to damage ,dr4 ,worcester's work by a   
partial comparison of his definitions   

with those of ,dr4 ,webster2 and here1  
again1 the assumption has been1 that    
number was of more importance than      
concise completeness4 ,in the case of a 
quarto dictionary1 we suppose an honest 
reviewer may confess that he has not    
read through the subject of his         
criticism4 ,we have opened ,dr4         
,webster's volume at random1 and have   
found some of his definitions as        
extraordinarily inaccurate as many of   
his etymologies4 ,they quite justify a  
double-entendre of ,daniel ,webster's1  
which we heard him utter many years ago 
in court4 ,he had forced such a meaning 
upon some word in a paper connected with
 the case on trial1 that the opposing   
counsel interrupted him to ask in what  
dictionary he found the word so defined4
 ,he silenced his questioner instantly  
with a happy play upon the name common  
to himself and the lexicographer3 ,in   
,webster's ,dictionary1 ,sir6 ,we find  
in ,webster1 for example1 the following 
definition of a word as to whose meaning

 he could have been set right by any    
coasting-skipper that sailed out of ,new
 ,haven3--  ,,amid-,,ships2 in marine   
language1 the middle of a ship with     
regard to her length and breadth4 ,now1 
when one ship runs into another at sea  
and strikes her amid-ships1 how is she  
to contrive to accomplish it so as to   
satisfy the requirements of this        
definition8 ,or if a sailor is said to  
be standing amidships1 must he be       
planted precisely in what he would      
probably agree with ,dr4 ,webster in    
spelling the center of the main-hatch8  
,dr4 ,worcester1 quoting ,falconer1 is  
of course right4  ,we give another of   
,dr4 ,webster's definitions1 which      
caught our eye in looking over his array
 of words compounded with out4          
,,outward-,,bound2 proceeding from a    
port or country4 ,now ,dr4 ,webster does
 not tell his readers that the term is  
exclusively applicable to vessels2 and  
we should like to know whence a vessel  
is likely to proceed1 unless from a     

port1--and where ports are commonly     
situated1 unless in countries8 ,if an   
,american ship be proceeding from the   
port of ,liverpool to some port in the  
,united ,states1 how soon does she enter
 on what lexicographers call the state  
of being homeward-bound8 ,the narrow    
limits to which ,dr4 ,webster confines  
the word would not extend beyond the    
jaws of the harbor from which the ship  
is sailing4 ,dr4 ,worcester's definition
 is1 ,,outward-,,bound4 7,naut47 ,bound 
outward or to foreign parts4 ,crabb4    
,under the word ,,moresque we find in   
,webster the following definition3 ,a   
species of painting or carving done     
after the ,moorish manner1 consisting of
 grotesque pieces and compartments      
promiscuously interspersed2 arabesque4  
,gwilt4 7,the ,italics are our own47 ,we
 have not ,mr4 ,gwilt's ,encyclopaedia  
at hand2 but if this be a fair          
representation of one of its            
definitions1 it is a very untrustworthy 
authority4 ,the last term to be applied 

to arabesque-work is grotesque1 or      
promiscuously interspersed2 and the     
description here given leaves out the   
most beautiful kind of arabesque1       
namely1 the inlaid work of geometrical  
figures in colored marbles1 in which the
 ,arabs far surpassed the older opus    
,alexandrinum4 ,nothing could be less   
grotesque1 less promiscuously           
interspersed1 or more beautiful in its  
harmonious variety1 than the work of    
this kind in the famous ,capella ,reale 
at ,palermo4  ,dr4 ,webster defines     
,,night-,,piece as a piece of painting  
so colored as to be supposed seen by    
candle-light1--a description which we   
suspect would have somewhat puzzled     
,gherardo della ,notte4  ,we might give 
other instances1 had we time and space2 
but our object is not to depreciate     
,webster1 but only to show that the     
claim set up for him of superior        
exactness in definition is altogether   
gratuitous4 ,we have found no           
inaccuracies comparable with these in   

,dr4 ,worcester's ,dictionary1 which we 
tried in precisely the same way1 by     
opening it here and there at random4    
,moreover1 looking at his work1 not     
absolutely1 but in comparison with ,dr4 
,webster's1 7as we are challenged to    
do17 we cannot leave out of view that   
the former is a first edition1 while the
 latter has had the advantage of        
repeated revisions4  ,under the word    
,,magdalen1 we find ,webster superior to
 ,worcester4 ,under ,,ulan1 we find them
 both wrong4 ,dr4 ,worcester says it    
means a species of militia among the    
modern ,tartars2 and ,dr4 ,webster1 a   
certain description of militia among the
 modern ,tartars4 ,in any ,polish       
dictionary they would have found the    
word defined as meaning lancer1 and the 
,uhlans in the ,austrian army can hardly
 be described as modern ,tartar militia4
 ,both ,dictionaries give ,,slaw1 and   
neither explains it rightly4 ,the word  
does not properly belong in an ,english 
dictionary1 unless as an ,american      

provincialism of very narrow range4 ,as 
such1 it will be found1 properly        
defined1 in ,mr4 ,bartlett's excellent  
,vocabulary4 ,lexicographers who so     
often cite the ,dutch equivalents of    
,english words should own ,dutch        
dictionaries4 ,under ,,imagination1 a   
good kind of test-word1 we find         
,worcester much superior to ,webster1   
especially in illustrative citations4   
,we have been astonished by some        
instances of slovenly writing to be     
found here and there in ,dr4 ,webster's 
,dictionary1 because he was capable of  
writing pure and vigorous ,english4     
,under ,,magazine 7and by the way1 ,dr4 
,webster's definition omits altogether  
the metaphorical sense of the word7 we  
read that ,the first publication of this
 bind in ,england was the ,gentleman's  
,magazine1 which first appeared in      
#agca1 under the name of ,sylvanus      
,urban1 by ,edward ,cave1 and which is  
still continued4 ,a reader who knew     
nothing about the facts would be puzzled

 to say what the name of the new        
periodical really was1 whether          
,gentleman's ,magazine or ,sylvanus     
,urban2 and a reader who knew little    
about ,english would be led to think    
that appeared by was equivalent to was  
commenced by1 unless1 indeed1 he came to
 the conclusion that its apparition took
 place in the neighborhood of some      
cavern known by the name of ,edward4    
,we have only a word to say as to the   
illustrations1 as they are called1 a    
mistaken profuseness in which disfigures
 both ,dictionaries1 another evil result
 of bookselling competition4 ,the       
greater part of them1 especially those  
in ,webster1 are fitter for a child's   
scrap-book than for a volume intended to
 go into a student's library4 ,such     
adjuncts seem to us allowable only1 if  
at all1 somewhat as they were introduced
 by ,blunt in his ,glossographia1 to    
make terms of heraldry more easily      
comprehensible4 ,they might be admitted 
to save trouble in describing           

geometrical figures1 or in explaining   
certain of the more frequently occurring
 terms in architecture and mechanics1   
but beyond this they are childish4 ,the 
publishers of ,webster give us all the  
coats-of-arms of the ,states of the     
,american ,union1 among other equally   
impertinent woodcuts4 ,we enter a       
protest against the whole thing1 as an  
equally unfair imputation on the taste  
and the standard of judgment of         
intelligent ,americans4 ,if we must have
 illustrations1 let them be strictly so1
 and not primer-pictures4 ,both         
,dictionaries give us the figure of a   
crossbow1 for instance1 as if there     
could be anywhere a boy of ten years old
 who did not know the implement1 at     
least under its other name of bow-gun4  
,neither cut would give the slightest   
notion of the thing as a weapon1 nor of 
the mode in which it was wound up and   
let off4 ,dr4 ,worcester says that it   
was intended for shooting arrows1 which 
is not strictly correct1 since the      

proper name of the missile it discharged
 was bolt1--something very unlike the   
shaft used by ordinary bowmen4  ,we     
believe ,dr4 ,worcester's ,dictionary to
 be the most complete and accurate of   
any hitherto published4 ,he intrudes no 
theories of his own as to pronunciation 
or orthography1 but cites the opinions  
of the best authorities1 and briefly    
adds his own where there is occasion4   
,he is no bigot for the present spelling
 of certain classes of words1 but gives 
them1 as he should do1 in the way they  
are written by educated men1 at the same
 time expressing his belief that the    
drift of the language is toward a       
change1 wherever he thinks such to be   
the case4 ,we reprobate1 in the name of 
literary decency1 the methods which have
 been employed to give an unfair        
impression of his work1 as if it had    
been compiled merely to supplant        
,webster1 and as if the whole matter    
were a question of blind partisanship   
and prejudice4 ,the assigning of such   

motives as these1 even by implication1  
to such men1 among many others1 as ,mr4 
,marsh and ,mr4 ,bryant1 both of whom   
have expressed themselves in favor of   
the new ,dictionary1 is an insult to    
,american letters4 ,mr4 ,marsh1 by the  
extent of his learning1 is probably     
better qualified than any other man in  
,america to pronounce judgment in such a
 case2 and ,mr4 ,bryant has not left it 
doubtful that he knows what pure and    
vigorous ,english is1 whether in verse  
or prose1 or that he could not employ it
 except to maintain a well-grounded     
conviction4  ,apart from more general   
considerations1 there are several       
reasons which would induce us to prefer 
,dr4 ,worcester's ,dictionary4 ,it has  
the great advantage1 not only that it is
 constructed on sounder principles1 as  
it seems to us1 but that it is the      
latest4 ,stereotyping is an unfortunate 
invention1 when it tends to perpetuate  
error or incompleteness1 and already the
 ,appendix of added words in ,webster   

amounts to eighty pages4 ,for all the   
words it contains1 accordingly1 the     
reader is put to double pains3 he must  
first search the main body of the work1 
and then the supplement4 ,again1 in     
,worcester1 the synonymes are given1    
each under its proper head1 in the main 
work2 in ,webster they form a separate  
treatise4 ,one other advantage of       
,worcester would be conclusive with us1 
even were other things equal1--and that 
is the size of the type1 and the greater
 clearness of the page1 owing to the    
freshness of the stereotype-plates4  ,we
 know the inadequacy of such            
hand-to-mouth criticism as that of a    
monthly reviewer must be upon works     
demanding so minute an examination as a 
dictionary deserves4 ,for ourselves1 we 
should wish to own both ,webster and    
,worcester1 but1 if we could possess    
only one1 we should choose the latter4  
,it is a monument to the industry1      
judgment1 and accuracy of the author1 of
 which he may well be proud4   ,elements

 of ,mechanics1 for the ,use of         
,colleges1 ,academies1 and ,high        
,schools4 ,by ,,william ,g4 ,,peck1     
,professor of ,mathematics1 ,columbia   
,college4 ,new ,york3 ,a4,s4 ,barnes    
,burr4 #ahei4  ,text-books on ,mechanics
 are of three sorts4 ,many teachers1    
school-committees1 and parents wish to  
add a taste of ,mechanics to the        
smatterings of twenty or thirty         
different subjects which constitute     
liberal education1 as understood in     
,american high schools and colleges4    
,for this purpose it is of the first    
importance that the text-book should be 
brief1 for the time to be devoted to it 
is very short2 secondly1 it must divest 
the subject of every perplexity and     
difficulty1 that it may be readily      
understood by all young persons1 though 
of small capacity and less application4 
,such a text-book can contain nothing   
beyond the statement1 without proof1 of 
the more important principles1          
illustrated by familiar examples1 and   

simple explanations of the commonest    
phenomena of motion1 and of the machines
 and mechanical forces used in the arts4
 ,to a few it seems that more light     
comes into a room through two or three  
broad windows1 though they be all on one
 side1 than through fifty bull's-eyes1  
scattered on every wall4 ,but the many  
prefer bull's-eyes1--fifty narrow1      
distorted glimpses in as many           
directions1 rather than a broad1 clear  
view of the heavens and the earth in one
 direction4 ,hence superficial1 scanty  
text-books on science are the only ones 
which are popular and salable4  ,the    
thorough study of ,mechanics is1 or     
should be1 an essential part of the     
training of an architect1 an engineer1  
or a machinist2 and there are several   
text-books1 like ,weisbach's ,mechanics 
and ,engineering1 intended for students 
preparing for any of these professions1 
which are complete mathematical         
treatises upon the subject4 ,such       
text-books are invaluable2 they become  

standard works1 and win for their       
authors a well-deserved reputation4     
,professor ,peck's book belongs to      
neither of the two classes of text-books
 indicated1 but to a class intermediate 
between the two4 ,it is at once too     
good1 too difficult a book for general1 
popular use1 and too incomplete for the 
purposes of the professional student4   
,as it assumes that the student is      
already acquainted with the elements of 
,algebra1 ,trigonometry1 ,analytic      
,geometry1 and the ,calculus1 the       
successful use of this text-book in the 
general classes of any academy or       
college will be good evidence that the  
,mathematics are there taught more      
thoroughly than is usual in this        
country4 ,in few ,american colleges is  
the study of the ,calculus required of  
all students4 ,in preparing a scientific
 text-book of this sort1 originality is 
neither aimed at nor required4 ,a       
judicious selection of materials1       
correct translation from the excellent  

,french and ,german hand-books1 with    
such changes in the notation as will    
better adapt it for ,american use1 and a
 clear1 logical arrangement are the     
chief merits of such a treatise2 and    
these are merits which seldom gain much 
praise1 though their absence would      
expose the author to censure4 ,the      
definitions of ,professor ,peck's book  
are exact and concise1 every proposition
 is rigidly demonstrated1 and the       
illustrations and descriptions are      
brief1 pointed1 and intelligible4       
,professor ,peck says in the ,preface1  
that the book was prepared to supply a  
want felt by the author when engaged in 
teaching ,natural ,philosophy to college
 classes2 but surely a teacher who      
prepares a text-book for his own classes
 must need a double share of patience   
and zeal4 ,every error which the book   
contains will be exposed1 and the author
 will have ample opportunity to repent  
of all the inaccuracies which may have  
crept into his work4 ,again1 the        

instructor who uses his own text-book   
encounters1 besides the inevitable      
monotony of teaching the same subject   
year after year1 the additional         
weariness of finding in the pages of his
 text-book no mind but his own1 which he
 has read so often and with so little   
satisfaction4 ,even in teaching         
,mechanics1 there is no exception to the
 general rule1 that two heads are better
 than one4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,stories from ,famous      
,ballads4 ,for ,children4 ,by ,,grace   
,,greenwood1 ,author of ,history of my  
,pets1 ,merrie ,england1 etc41 etc4     
,with ,illustrations by ,,billings4     
,boston3 ,ticknor  ,fields4  ,all famous
 ballads are so close to ,nature in     
their conceptions1 emotions1 incidents1 
and expressions1 that it seems hardly   
possible to change their form without   
losing their soul4 ,the present little  
volume proves that they may be turned   
into prose stories for children1 and yet
 preserve much of the vitality of their 

sentiment and the interest of their     
narrative4 ,grace ,greenwood1 well known
 for her previous successes in writing  
works for the young1 has contrived in   
this1 her most difficult task1 to       
combine simplicity with energy and      
richness of diction1 and to present the 
events and characters of the ,ballads in
 the form best calculated to fill the   
youthful imagination and kindle the     
youthful love of action and adventure4  
,among the subjects are ,patient        
,griselda1 ,the ,king of ,france's      
,daughter1 ,chevy ,chase1 ,the ,beggar's
 ,daughter of ,bednall ,green1 ,sir     
,patrick ,spens1 and ,auld ,robin ,gray4
 ,much of the author's success in giving
 prose versions of these1 without making
 them prosaic1 is due to the intense    
admiration she evidently feels for the  
originals4 ,among ,american children's  
books1 this volume deserves a high      
place4         99       99       99     
99       99  ,mary ,staunton2 or the    
,pupils of ,marvel ,hall4 ,by the       

,author of ,portraits of1 my ,married   
,friends4 ,new ,york3 ,d4 ,appleton     
,co4  ,this story has a practical aim1  
the exposure of the faults of           
fashionable boarding-schools4 ,a good   
plot1 and full of expectation1 as       
,hotspur said2 but the author had not   
the ability to execute the design4 ,the 
satire and denunciation are both weak1  
and are not relieved by the introduction
 of a very silly and threadbare         
love-story4         99       99       99
       99       99  ,poems4 ,by the     
,author of ,john ,halifax1 ,a ,life for 
a ,life1 etc4 ,boston3 ,ticknor         
,fields4  ,some of the verses in this   
little volume are quite pretty1         
especially those entitled1 ,by the ,alma
 ,river1 ,the ,night before the ,mowing1
 ,my ,christian ,name1 and ,my ,love    
,annie4 ,miss ,muloch is not able to    
take any high rank as a poetess1 and    
very sensibly does not try4         99  
99       99       99       99           
,title-,hunting4 ,by ,e4 ,l4            

,,llewellyn1 ,philadelphia3 ,j4 ,b4     
,lippincott  ,co4  ,this is a           
miraculously foolish book4 ,titled      
villains1 impossible parvenus1          
abductions1 and convents abound in its  
pages1 and all are as stupid as they are
 improbable4     ,,recent ,,american    
,,publications  ,,received ,,by ,,the   
,,editors ,,of ,,the ,,atlantic         
,,monthly4   ,the ,haunted ,homestead1  
and other ,nouvellettes4 ,with an       
,autobiography of the ,author4  ,by     
,mrs4 ,emma ,d4,e4,n4 ,southworth1      
,author of ,india1 ,lady of the ,isle1  
etc41 etc4 ,philadelphia4 ,peterson and 
,brothers4 #abmo4 pp4 #bib4 #a4be4      
,adela1 the ,octoroon4 ,by ,h4 ,l4      
,hosmer4 ,columbus4 ,follett1 ,foster1  
,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #djj4 #a4jj4  ,the      
,caxtons3 ,a ,family ,picture4 ,by ,sir 
,edward ,bulwer ,lytton1 ,hart4 ,library
 ,edition4 ,in ,two ,volumes4           
,philadelphia4 ,lippincott  ,co4 #afmo4 
pp4 #cih1 #chg4 #b4jj4  ,julian ,home3  
,a ,tale of ,college ,life4 ,by         

,frederic ,w4 ,farrar1 ,m4,a41 ,fellow  
of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge1       
,author of ,eric2 or1 ,little by        
,little4 ,philadelphia4 ,lippincott     
,co4 #afmo4 pp4 #dbj4 #a4jj4  ,bible    
,history3 ,a ,text-,book for            
,seminaries1 ,schools1 and ,families4   
,by ,sarah ,e4 ,hanna1 7formerly ,miss  
,foster17 ,principal of the ,female     
,seminary1 ,washington1 ,pa4 ,new ,york4
 ,barnes  ,burr4 #abmo4 pp4 #bij4 #gf   
cts4  ,elements of ,mechanics3 ,for the 
,use of ,colleges1 ,academies1 and ,high
 ,schools4 ,by ,william ,g4 ,peck1 ,m4  
,a11 ,professor of ,mathematics1        
,columbia ,college4 ,new ,york4 ,barnes 
,burr4 #abmo4 pp4 #cch4 #a4ej4  ,the    
,human ,voice3 its ,right ,management in
 ,speaking1 ,reading1 and ,debating1    
including the ,principles of ,true      
,eloquence2 together with the ,functions
 of the ,vocal ,organs1--the ,motion of 
the ,letters of the ,alphabet1--the     
,cultivation of the ,ear1--the          
,disorders of the ,vocal and            

,articulating ,organs1--,origin and     
,construction of the ,english           
,language4--,proper ,methods of         
,delivery1--,remedial ,effects of       
,reading and ,speaking1 etc4 ,by the    
,rev4 ,w4 ,w4 ,cazalet1 ,a4 ,m41        
,cantab4 ,new ,york4 ,fowler  ,wells4   
#afmo4 paper1 pp4 #df4 #aj cts4         
,american ,normal ,schools3 their       
,theory1 their ,workings1 and their     
,results1 as embodied in the            
,proceedings of the ,first ,annual      
,convention of the ,american ,normal    
,school ,association1 held at ,trenton1 
,new ,jersey1 ,august #aith and #bjth1  
#ahei4 ,new ,york4 ,barnes  ,burr4 #hvo4
 pp4 #aac4 #a4be4  ,history of the      
,early ,church1 from the ,first         
,preaching of the ,gospel1 to the       
,council of ,nicea4 ,for the ,use of    
,young ,persons4 ,by the ,author of ,amy
 ,herbert4 ,new ,york4 ,appleton  ,co4  
#afmo4 pp4 x41 #chc4 #fj cts4  ,our     
,bible ,chronology1 ,historic and       
,prophetic1 ,critically ,examined and   

,demonstrated1 and ,harmonized with the 
,chronology of ,profane ,writers3       
,embracing an ,examination and          
,refutation of the ,theories of ,modern 
,egyptologists4 ,accompanied with       
,extensive ,chronological and           
,genealogical ,tables1 from the         
,earliest ,records to the ,present      
,time2 a ,map of the ,ancients2 a ,chart
 of the ,course of ,empires2 and        
,various ,pictorial ,illustrations4 ,on 
a ,plan entirely ,new4 ,designed for the
 ,use of ,universities1 ,colleges1      
,academies1 ,bible ,classes1 ,sabbath   
,schools1 ,families1 etc4 ,by the ,rev4 
,r4,c4 ,shimeall1 a ,member of the      
,presbytery of ,new ,york2 ,author of an
 ,illuminated ,scripture ,chart2 ,dr4   
,watts's ,scripture ,history1 ,enlarged2
 a ,treatise on ,prayer2 etc4 ,new      
,york4 ,barnes  ,burr4 #dto4 pp4 #bcd4  
#b4jj4  ,the ,national ,fifth ,reader3  
,containing a ,treatise on ,elocution2  
,exercises in ,reading and ,declamation2
 with ,biographical ,sketches and       

,copious ,notes4 ,adapted to the ,use of
 ,students in ,english and ,american    
,literature4 ,by ,richard ,g4 ,parker1  
,a4,m41 and ,j4 ,madison ,watson4 ,new  
,york4 ,barnes  ,burr4 #abmo4 pp4 #fjj4 
#a4jj4  ,popular ,music of the ,olden   
,time3 ,a ,collection of ,ancient       
,songs1 ,ballads1 and ,dance ,tunes1    
,illustrative of the ,national ,music of
 ,england4 ,with ,short ,introductions  
to the ,different ,reigns1 and ,notices 
of the ,airs from ,writers of the       
,sixteenth and ,seventeenth ,centuries4 
,also a ,short ,account of the          
,minstrels4 ,by ,w4 ,chappell1 ,f4,s4,a4
 ,the whole of the ,airs harmonized by  
,g4,a4 ,macfarren4 ,in ,two ,volumes4   
,london3 ,cramer1 ,beale1  ,chappell4   
,new ,york4 ,webb  ,allen4 #hvo4 pp4    
xx41 #hbb4 7,paged as one vol47 #ae4ge4 
,the ,material ,condition of the ,people
 of ,massachusetts4 ,by ,rev4 ,theodore 
,parker4 ,reprinted from the ,christian 
,examiner4 ,boston4 ,published by the   
,fraternity4 #afmo4 paper1 pp4 #eb4 #ae 

cts4  ,die ,teutschen und die           
,amerikaner4 ,von ,k4 ,heinzen4 ,boston4
 ,selbstverlag des ,verfassers4 #afmo4  
paper1 pp4 #fi4 #be cts4  ,letters from 
,switzerland4 ,by ,samuel ,irenaeus     
,prime1 ,author of ,travels in ,europe  
and the ,east1 etc41 etc4 ,new ,york4   
,sheldon  ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #bfd4 #a4jj4  
,disquisitions and ,notes on the        
,gospels4 ,matthew4 ,by ,john ,h4       
,morison4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1  ,co4
 #abmo4 pp4 #ehh4 #a4be4  ,chamber's    
,encyclopaedia3 ,a ,dictionary of       
,universal ,knowledge for the ,people4  
,part ,,xii4 ,new ,york4 ,appleton  ,co4
 #hvo4 paper1 pp4 #fd4 #ae cts4  ,the   
,monikins4 ,by ,j4 ,fenimore ,cooper4   
,illustrated from ,drawings by ,f4,o4,c4
 ,darley4 ,new ,york4 ,townsend  ,co4   
#abmo4 pp4 #ded4 #a4ej4  ,life ,before  
,him4 ,a ,novel of ,american ,life4 ,new
 ,york4 ,townsend  ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #dja4
 #a4jj4  ,against ,wind and ,tide4 ,by  
,holme ,lee1 ,author of ,kathie ,brande1
 ,sylvan ,holt's ,daughter1 etc4 ,new   

,york4 ,townsend  ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #ddj4 
#a4jj4  ,mrs4 ,ellis's ,housekeeping    
,made ,easy4 ,a ,complete ,instructor in
 all ,branches of ,cookery and ,domestic
 ,economy4 ,edited by ,mrs4 ,mowatt4    
,new ,york4 ,townsend  ,co4 #abmo4      
paper1 pp4 #abj4 #be cts4  ,life's      
,evening2 or1 ,thoughts for the ,aged4  
,by the ,author of ,life's ,morning1    
etc1 ,boston4 ,tilton  ,co4 #afmo4 pp4  
#bfe4 #a4jj4  ,wooing and ,warring in   
the ,wilderness4 ,by ,charles ,d4 ,kirk4
 ,new ,york4 ,derby  ,jackson4 #ahmo4   
pp4 #bhh4 #a4jj4  ,the ,history of      
,herodotus4 ,a ,new ,english ,version1  
edited with ,copious ,notes and         
,appendices1 illustrating the ,history  
and ,geography of ,herodotus1 from the  
most ,recent ,sources of ,information2  
and embodying the ,chief ,results1      
,historical and ,ethnographical1 which  
have been obtained in the ,progress of  
,cuneiform and ,hieroglyphical          
,discovery4 ,by ,george ,rawlinson1     
,m4,a41 late ,fellow and ,tutor of      

,exeter ,college1 ,oxford4 ,assisted by 
,col4 ,sir ,henry ,rawlinson1 ,k4,c4,b41
 and ,sir ,j4,g4 ,wilkinson1 ,f4,r4,s4  
,in ,four ,volumes4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,with  
,maps and ,illustrations4 ,new ,york4   
,appleton  ,co4 #hvo4 pp4 viii41 #dfc4  
#b4ej4  ,cathara ,clyde3 ,a ,novel4 ,by 
,inconnu4 ,new ,york4 ,scribner4 #afmo4 
,,pp4 #cgg4 #a4jj4  ,napoleon ,,iii4 in 
,italy1 and other ,poems4 ,by ,elizabeth
 ,barrett ,browning4 ,new ,york4        
,francis  ,co4 #afmo4 pp4 #gb4 #ej cts4 
,say and ,seal4 ,by the ,author of      
,wide1 ,wide ,world1 and the ,author of 
,dollars and ,cents4 ,in ,two ,volumes4 
,philadelphia4 ,lippincott  ,co4 #afmo1 
pp4 #eac1 #ejj4 #b4jj4  ,walter         
,ashwood4 ,a ,love ,story4 ,by ,paul    
,siogvolk1 ,author of ,schediasms4 ,new 
,york4 ,rudd  ,carleton4 #afmo4 pp4     
#bif4 #a4jj4  ,elementary ,anatomy and  
,physiology1 for ,colleges1 ,academies1 
and other ,schools4 ,by ,edward         
,hitchcock1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d41 of        
,amherst ,college1 and ,edward          

,hitchcock1 ,jr41 ,m4,d41 ,teacher in   
,williston ,seminary4 ,new ,york4       
,ivison1 ,phinney1  ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 vi41
 #ddb4 #a4jj4  ,fragments from the      
,study of a ,pastor4 ,by ,rev4 ,george  
,w4 ,nichols1 ,a4,m4 ,new ,york4 ,h4,b4 
,price4 #afmo4 pp4 #beb4 #ge cts4  ,my  
,novel2 or1 ,varieties in ,english      
,life4 ,by ,pisistratus ,caxton4 ,by    
,sir ,edward ,bulwer ,lytton1 ,bart4    
,library ,edition4 ,in ,four ,volumes4  
,philadelphia4 ,lippincott  ,co4 #afmo4 
pp4 #dad1 #djh1 #dia1 #dhb4 #d4jj4      
,cousin ,maude and ,rosamond4 ,by ,mrs4 
,mary ,j4 ,holmes1 ,author of ,lena     
,rivers1 ,meadow ,brook1 etc4 ,new      
,york4 ,saxton1 ,barker1  ,co4 #abmo4   
pp4 #cgd4 #a4be4  ,the ,caxtons3 ,a     
,family ,picture4 ,by ,sir ,edward      
,bulwer ,lytton1 ,bart4 ,library        
,edition4 ,new ,york4 ,harper           
,brothers4 #abmo4 pp4 #eje4 #a4jj4      
,stories of ,rainbow and ,lucky4 ,by    
,jacob ,abbott4 ,the ,three ,pines4 ,new
 ,york4 ,harper  ,brothers4 #afmo4 pp4  

#aij4 #ej cts4  ,stories of ,inventors  
and ,discoverers in ,science and the    
,useful ,arts4 ,a ,book for ,old and    
,young4 ,by ,john ,timbs1 ,f4,s4,a4     
,with ,illustrations4 ,new ,york4       
,harper  ,brothers4 #abmo4 pp4 #dgc4    
#a4be4