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by Harriet Beecher Stowe
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Title: Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands V2
Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe
Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6931]
[This file was first posted on February 12, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SUNNY MEMORIES OF FOREIGN LANDS V2 ***
Skip Doughty, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed
SUNNY MEMORIES OF FOREIGN LANDS.
BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE,
Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Etc.
..... "When thou haply seest
Some rare note-worthy object in thy travels,
Make me partake of thy happiness."
SHAKESPEARE
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
LETTER XIX.
Breakfast.--Macaulay.--Hallam.--Milman.--Sir R. Inglis.--
Lunch at Surrey Parsonage.--Dinner at Sir E. Buxton's.
LETTER XX.
Dinner at Lord Shaftesbury's.
LETTER XXI.
Stoke Newington.--Exeter Hall.--Antislavery Meeting.
LETTER XXII.
Windsor.--The Picture Gallery.--Eton.--The Poet Gray.
LETTER XXIII. Rev. Mr. Gurney.--Richmond, the Artist.--Kossuth.--
Pembroke Lodge.--Dinner at Lord John Russell's.--Lambeth Palace.
LETTER XXIV.
Playford Hall.--Clarkson.
LETTER XXV.
Joseph Sturge.--The "Times" upon Dressmaking.--Duke of Argyle.--
Sir David Brewster.--Lord Mahon.--Mr. Gladstone.
LETTER XXVI.
London Milliners.--Lord Shaftesbury.
LETTER XXVII. Archbishop of Canterbury's Sermon to the Ragged
Scholars.--Mr. Cobden.--Miss Greenfield's Concert.--Rev. S. R. Ward.
--Lady Byron.--Mrs. Jameson.--George Thompson.--Ellen Crafts.
LETTER XXVIII.
Model Lodging Houses.--Lodging House Act.--Washing Houses.
LETTER XXIX. Benevolent Movements.--The Poor Laws.--The Insane.--
Factory Operatives.--Schools, &c.
LETTER XXX. Presentation at Surrey Chapel.--House of Parliament.--
Miss Greenfield's Second Concert.--Sir John Malcolm.--The Charity
Children.--Mrs. Gaskell.--Thackeray.
JOURNAL.
London to Paris.--Church Music.--The Shops.--The Louvre.--Music at
the Tuileries.--A Salon.--Versailles.--M. Belloc.
LETTER XXXI.
The Louvre.--The Venus de Milon.
JOURNAL.
M. Belloc's Studio.--M. Charpentier.--Salon Musicale.--Peter
Parley.--Jardin Mabille.--Remains of Nineveh.--The Emperor.--
Versailles.--Sartory.--Père la Chaise.--Adolphe Monod.--Paris to
Lyons.--Diligence to Geneva.--Mont Blanc.--Lake Leman.
LETTER XXXII.
Route to Chamouni.--Glaciers.
LETTER XXXIII.
Chamouni.--Rousse, the Mule.--The Ascent.
JOURNAL.
The Alps.
LETTER XXXIV.
The Ice Fields.
JOURNAL.
Chamouni to Martigny.--Humors of the Mules.
LETTER XXXV.
Alpine Flowers.--Pass of the Tête Noir.
JOURNAL.
The Same.
LETTER XXXVI.
Ascent to St. Bernard.--The Dogs.
LETTER XXXVII.
Castle Chillon.--Bonnevard.--Mont Blanc from Geneva.--Luther and
Calvin.--Madame De Wette.--M. Fazy.
JOURNAL.
A Serenade.--Lausanne.--Freyburg.--Berne.--The Staubbach.--
Grindelwald.
LETTER XXXVIII.
Wengern Alps.--Flowers.--Glaciers.--The Eiger.
JOURNAL.
Glaciers.--Interlachen.--Sunrise in the Mountains.--Monument to the
Swiss Guards of Louis XVI.--Basle.--Strasbourg.
LETTER XXXIX.
Strasbourg.
LETTER XL.
The Rhine.--Heidelberg.
JOURNAL.
To Frankfort.
LETTER XLI.
Frankfort.--Lessing's "Trial of Huss."
JOURNAL.
To Cologne.--The Cathedral.
LETTER XXII.
Cologne.--Church of St. Ursula.--Relics.--Dusseldorf.
JOURNAL.
To Leipsic.--M. Tauchnitz.--Dresden.--The Gallery.--Berlin.
LETTER XLIII.
The Dresden Gallery.--Schoeffer.
LETTER XLIV.
Berlin.--The Palace.--The Museum.
LETTER XLV.
Wittenberg.--Luther's House.--Melanchthon's House.
LETTER XLVI.
Erfurt.--The Cathedral.--Luther's Cell.--The Wartburg.
JOURNAL.
The Smoker discomfited.--Antwerp.--The Cathedral Chimes.--To Paris.
LETTER XLVII.
Antwerp.--Rubens.
LETTER XLVIII.
Paris.--School of Design.--Egyptian and Assyrian Remains.--Mrs. S. C.
Hall.--The Pantheon.--The Madeleine.--Notre Dame.--Béranger.--French
Character.--Observance of Sunday.
JOURNAL.
Seasickness on the Channel.
LETTER XLIX.
York.--Castle Howard.--Leeds.--Fountains Abbey.--Liverpool.--Irish
Deputation.--Departure.
LETTER XIX.
May 19.
Dear E.:--
This letter I consecrate to you, because I know that the persons and
things to be introduced into it will most particularly be appreciated
by you.
In your evening reading circles, Macaulay, Sidney Smith, and Milman
have long been such familiar names that you will be glad to go with me
over all the scenes of my morning breakfast at Sir Charles Trevelyan's
yesterday. Lady Trevelyan, I believe I have said before, is the sister
of Macaulay, and a daughter of Zachary Macaulay--that undaunted
laborer for the slave, whose place in the hearts of all English
Christians is little below saintship.
We were set down at Welbourne Terrace, somewhere, I believe, about
eleven o'clock, and found quite a number already in the drawing room.
I had met Macaulay before, but as you have not, you will of course ask
a lady's first question, "How does he look?"
Well, my dear, so far as relates to the mere outward husk of the soul,
our engravers and daguerreotypists have done their work as well as
they usually do. The engraving that you get in the best editions of
his works may be considered, I suppose, a fair representation of how
he looks, when he sits to have his picture taken, which is generally
very different from the way any body looks at any other time. People
seem to forget, in taking likenesses, that the features of the face
are nothing but an alphabet, and that a dry, dead map of a person's
face gives no more idea how one looks than the simple presentation of
an alphabet shows what there is in a poem.
Macaulay's whole physique gives you the impression of great strength
and stamina of constitution. He has the kind of frame which we usually
imagine as peculiarly English; short, stout, and firmly knit. There is
something hearty in all his demonstrations. He speaks in that full,
round, rolling voice, deep from the chest, which we also conceive of
as being more common in England than America. As to his conversation,
it is just like his writing; that is to say, it shows very strongly
the same qualities of mind.
I was informed that he is famous for a most uncommon memory; one of
those men to whom it seems impossible to forget any thing once read;
and he has read all sorts of things that can be thought of, in all
languages. A gentleman told me that he could repeat all the old
Newgate literature, hanging ballads, last speeches, and dying
confessions; while his knowledge of Milton is so accurate, that, if
his poems were blotted out of existence, they might be restored simply
from his memory. This same accurate knowledge extends to the Latin and
Greek classics, and to much of the literature of modern Europe. Had
nature been required to make a man to order, for a perfect historian,
nothing better could have been put together, especially since there is
enough of the poetic fire included in the composition, to fuse all
these multiplied materials together, and color the historical
crystallization with them.
Macaulay is about fifty. He has never married; yet there are
unmistakable evidences in the breathings and aspects of the family
circle by whom he was surrounded, that the social part is not wanting
in his conformation. Some very charming young lady relatives seemed to
think quite as much of their gifted uncle as you might have done had
he been yours.
Macaulay is celebrated as a conversationalist; and, like Coleridge,
Carlyle, and almost every one who enjoys this reputation, he has
sometimes been accused of not allowing people their fair share in
conversation. This might prove an objection, possibly, to those who
wish to talk; but as I greatly prefer to hear, it would prove none to
me. I must say, however, that on this occasion the matter was quite
equitably managed. There were, I should think, some twenty or thirty
at the breakfast table, and the conversation formed itself into little
eddies of two or three around the table, now and then welling out into
a great bay of general discourse. I was seated between Macaulay and
Milman, and must confess I was a little embarrassed at times, because
I wanted to hear what they were both saying at the same time. However,
by the use of the faculty by which you play a piano with both hands, I
got on very comfortably.
Milman's appearance is quite striking; tall, stooping, with a keen
black eye and perfectly white hair--a singular and poetic contrast. He
began upon architecture and Westminster Abbey--a subject to which I am
always awake. I told him I had not yet seen Westminster; for I was now
busy in seeing life and the present, and by and by I meant to go there
and see death and the past.
Milman was for many years dean of Westminster, and kindly offered me
his services, to indoctrinate me into its antiquities.
Macaulay made some suggestive remarks on cathedrals generally. I said
that I thought it singular that we so seldom knew who were the
architects that designed these great buildings; that they appeared to
me the most sublime efforts of human genius.
He said that all the cathedrals of Europe were undoubtedly the result
of one or two minds; that they rose into existence very nearly
contemporaneously, and were built by travelling companies of masons,
under the direction of some systematic organization. Perhaps you knew
all this before, but I did not; and so it struck me as a glorious
idea. And if it is not the true account of the origin of cathedrals,
it certainly ought to be; and, as our old grandmother used to say,
"I'm going to believe it."
Looking around the table, and seeing how every body seemed to be
enjoying themselves, I said to Macaulay, that these breakfast parties
were a novelty to me; that we never had them in America, but that I
thought them the most delightful form of social life.
He seized upon the idea, as he often does, and turned it playfully
inside out, and shook it on all sides, just as one might play with the
lustres of a chandelier--to see them glitter. He expatiated on the
merits of breakfast parties as compared with all other parties. He
said dinner parties are mere formalities. You invite a man to dinner
because you _must_ invite him; because you are acquainted with
his grandfather, or it is proper you should; but you invite a man to
breakfast because you want to see _him_. You may be sure, if you
are invited to breakfast, there is something agreeable about you. This
idea struck me as very sensible; and we all, generally having the fact
before our eyes that _we_ were invited to breakfast, approved the
sentiment.
"Yes," said Macaulay, "depend upon it; if a man is a bore he never
gets an invitation to breakfast."
"Rather hard on the poor bores," said a lady.
"Particularly," said Macaulay, laughing, "as bores are usually the
most irreproachable of human beings. Did you ever hear a bore
complained of when they did not say that he was the best fellow in the
world? For my part, if I wanted to get a guardian for a family of
defenceless orphans, I should inquire for the greatest bore in the
vicinity. I should know that he would be a man of unblemished honor
and integrity."
The conversation now went on to Milton and Shakspeare. Macaulay made
one remark that gentlemen are always making, and that is, that there
is very little characteristic difference between Shakspeare's women.
Well, there is no hope for that matter; so long as men are not women
they will think so. In general they lump together Miranda, Juliet,
Desdemona, and Viola,
"As matter too soft a lasting mark to bear,
And best distinguished as black, brown, or fair."
It took Mrs. Jameson to set this matter forth in her Characteristics
of Women; a book for which Shakspeare, if he could get up, ought to
make her his best bow, especially as there are fine things ascribed to
him there, which, I dare say, he never thought of, careless fellow
that he was! But, I take it, every true painter, poet, and artist is
in some sense so far a prophet that his utterances convey more to
other minds than he himself knows; so that, doubtless, should all the
old masters rise from the dead, they might be edified by what
posterity has found in their works.
Some how or other, we found ourselves next talking about Sidney Smith;
and it was very pleasant to me, recalling the evenings when your
father has read and we have laughed over him, to hear him spoken of as
a living existence, by one who had known him. Still, I have always had
a quarrel with Sidney, for the wicked use to which he put his wit, in
abusing good old Dr. Carey, and the missionaries in India; nay, in
some places he even stooped to be spiteful and vulgar. I could not
help, therefore, saying, when Macaulay observed that he had the most
agreeable wit of any literary man of his acquaintance, "Well, it was
very agreeable, but it could not have been very agreeable to the
people who came under the edge of it," and instanced his treatment of
Dr. Carey. Some others who were present seemed to feel warmly on this
subject, too, and Macaulay said,--
"Ah, well, Sidney repented of that, afterwards." He seemed to cling to
his memory, and to turn from every fault to his joviality, as a thing
he could not enough delight to remember.
Truly, wit, like charity, covers a multitude of sins. A man who has
the faculty of raising a laugh in this sad, earnest world is
remembered with indulgence and complacency, always.
There were several other persons of note present at this breakfast,
whose conversation I had not an opportunity of hearing, as they sat at
a distance from me. There was Lord Glenelg, brother of Sir Robert
Grant, governor of Bombay, whose beautiful hymns have rendered him
familiar in America. The favorite one, commencing "When gathering
clouds around I view," was from his pen. Lord Glenelg, formerly Sir
Charles Grant, himself has been the author of several pieces of
poetry, which were in their time quite popular.
The historian Hallam was also present, whose Constitutional History,
you will remember, gave rise to one of Macaulay's finest reviews; a
quiet, retiring man, with a benignant, somewhat sad, expression of
countenance. The loss of an only son has cast a shadow over his life.
It was on this son that Tennyson wrote his "_In Memoriam_."
Sir Robert H. Inglis was also present, and Mr. S. held considerable
conversation with him. Knowing that he was both high tory and high
church, it was an agreeable surprise to find him particularly gentle
and bland in manners, earnest and devout in religious sentiment. I
have heard him spoken of, even among dissenters, as a devout and
earnest man. Another proof this of what mistakes we fall into when we
judge the characters of persons at a distance, from what we suppose
likely to be the effect of their sentiments. We often find the
professed aristocrat gentle and condescending, and the professed
supporter of forms spiritual.
I think it very likely there may have been other celebrities present,
whom I did not know. I am always finding out, a day or two after, that
I have been with somebody very remarkable, and did not know it at the
time.
After breakfast we found, on consulting our list, that we were to
lunch at Surrey parsonage.
Of all the cities I was ever in, London is the most absolutely
unmanageable, it takes so long to get any where; wherever you want to
go it seems to take you about two hours to get there. From the West
End down into the city is a distance that seems all but interminable.
London is now more than ten miles long. And yet this monster city is
stretching in all directions yearly, and where will be the end of it
nobody knows. Southey says, "I began to study the map of London,
though dismayed at its prodigious extent. The river is no assistance
to a stranger in finding his way; there is no street along its banks,
and no eminence from whence you can look around and take your
bearings."
You may take these reflections as passing through my mind while we
were driving through street after street, and going round corner after
corner, towards the parsonage.
Surrey Chapel and parsonage were the church and residence of the
celebrated Kowland Hill. At present the incumbent is the Rev. Mr.
Sherman, well known to many of our American clergy by the kind
hospitalities and attentions with which he has enriched their stay in
London. The church maintains a medium rank between Congregationalism
and Episcopacy, retaining part of the ritual, but being independent in
its government. The kindness of Mr. Sherman had assembled here a very
agreeable company, among whom were Farquhar Tupper, the artist
Cruikshank, from whom I received a call the other morning, and Mr.
Pilatte, M. P. Cruikshank is an old man with gray hair and eyebrows,
strongly marked features, and keen eyes. He talked to me something
about the promotion of temperance by a series of literary sketches
illustrated by his pencil.
I sat by a lady who was well acquainted with Kingsley, the author of
Alton Locke, Hypatia, and other works, with whom I had some
conversation with regard to the influence of his writings.
She said that he had been instrumental in rescuing from infidelity
many young men whose minds had become unsettled; that he was a devoted
and laborious clergyman, exerting himself, without any cessation, for
the good of his parish.
After the company were gone I tried to get some rest, as my labors
were not yet over, we being engaged to dine at Sir Edward Buxton's.
This was our most dissipated day in London. We never tried the
experiment again of going to three parties in one day.
By the time I got to my third appointment I was entirely exhausted. I
met here some, however, whom I was exceedingly interested to see;
among them Samuel Gurney, brother of Elizabeth Fry, with his wife and
family. Lady Edward Buxton is one of his daughters. All had that air
of benevolent friendliness which is characteristic of the sect.
Dr. Lushington, the companion and venerable associate of Wilberforce
and Clarkson, was also present. He was a member of Parliament with
Wilberforce forty or fifty years ago. He is now a judge of the
admiralty court, that is to say, of the law relating to marine
affairs. This is a branch of law which the nature of our government in
America makes it impossible for us to have. He is exceedingly
brilliant and animated in conversation.
Dr. Cunningham, the author of World without Souls, was present. There
was there also a master of Harrow School.
He told me an anecdote, which pleased me for several reasons; that
once, when the queen visited the school, she put to him the inquiry,
"whether the educational system of England did not give a
disproportionate attention to the study of the ancient classics." His
reply was, "that her majesty could best satisfy her mind on that point
by observing what men the public schools of England had hitherto
produced;" certainly a very adroit reply, yet one which would be
equally good against the suggestion of any improvement whatever. We
might as well say, see what men we have been able to raise in America
without any classical education at all; witness Benjamin Franklin,
George Washington, and Roger Sherman.
It is a curious fact that Christian nations, with one general consent,
in the early education of youth neglect the volume which they consider
inspired, and bring the mind, at the most susceptible period, under
the dominion of the literature and mythology of the heathen world; and
that, too, when the sacred history and poetry are confessedly superior
in literary quality. Grave doctors of divinity expend their forces in
commenting on and teaching things which would be utterly scouted, were
an author to publish them in English as original compositions. A
Christian community has its young men educated in Ovid and Anacreon,
but is shocked when one of them comes out in English with Don Juan;
yet, probably, the latter poem is purer than either.
The English literature and poetry of the time of Pope and Dryden
betray a state of association so completely heathenized, that an old
Greek or Roman raised from the dead could scarce learn from them that
any change had taken place in the religion of the world; and even
Milton often pains one by introducing second-hand pagan mythology into
the very shadow of the eternal throne. In some parts of the Paradise
Lost, the evident imitations of Homer are to me the poorest and most
painful passages.
The adoration of the ancient classics has lain like a dead weight on
all modern art and literature; because men, instead of using them
simply for excitement and inspiration, have congealed them into fixed,
imperative rules. As the classics have been used, I think, wonderful
as have been the minds educated under them, there would have been more
variety and originality without them.
With which long sermon on a short text, I will conclude my letter.
LETTER XX.
Thursday, May 12. My dear I.:--
Yesterday, what with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I was, as the
fashionable saying is, "fairly knocked up." This expression, which I
find obtains universally here, corresponds to what we mean by being
"used up." They talk of Americanisms, and I have a little innocent
speculation now and then concerning Anglicisms. I certainly find
several here for which I can perceive no more precedent in the well of
"English undefiled," than for some of ours; for instance, this being
"knocked up," which is variously inflected, as, for example, in the
form of a participial adjective, as a "knocking up" affair; in the
form of a noun, as when they say "such a person has got quite a
knocking up," and so on.
The fact is, if we had ever had any experience in London life we
should not have made three engagements in one day. To my simple eye it
is quite amusing to see how they manage the social machine here.
People are under such a pressure of engagements, that they go about
with their lists in their pockets. If A wants to invite B to dinner,
out come their respective lists. A says he has only Tuesday and
Thursday open for this week. B looks down his list, and says that the
days are all closed. A looks along, and says that he has no day open
till next Wednesday week. B, however, is going to leave town Tuesday;
so that settles the matter as to dining; so they turn back again, and
try the breakfasting; for though you cannot dine in but one place a
day, yet, by means of the breakfast and the lunch, you can make three
social visits if you are strong enough.
Then there are evening parties, which begin at ten o'clock. The first
card of the kind that was sent me, which was worded, "At home at ten
o'clock," I, in my simplicity, took to be ten in the morning.
But here are people staying out night after night till two o'clock,
sitting up all night in Parliament, and seeming to thrive upon it.
There certainly is great apology for this in London, if it is always
as dark, drizzling, and smoky in the daytime as it has been since I
have been here. If I were one of the London people I would live by
gaslight as they do, for the streets and houses are altogether
pleasanter by gaslight than by daylight. But to ape these customs
under our clear, American skies, so contrary to our whole social
system, is simply ridiculous.
This morning I was exceedingly tired, and had a perfect longing to get
but of London into some green fields--to get somewhere where there was
nobody. So kind Mrs. B. had the carriage, and off we drove together.
By and by we found ourselves out in the country, and then I wanted to
get out and walk.
After a while a lady came along, riding a little donkey. These donkeys
have amused me so much since I have been here! At several places on
the outskirts of the city they have them standing, all girt up with
saddles covered with white cloth, for ladies to ride on. One gets out
of London by means of an omnibus to one of these places, and then, for
a few pence, can have a ride upon one of them into the country. Mrs.
B. walked by the side of the lady, and said to her something which I
did not hear, and she immediately alighted and asked me with great
kindness if I wanted to try the saddle; so I got upon the little
beast, which was about as large as a good-sized calf, and rode a few
paces to try him. It is a slow, but not unpleasant gait, and if the
creature were not so insignificantly small, as to make you feel much
as if you were riding upon a cat, it would be quite a pleasant affair.
After dismounting I crept through a hole in a hedge, and looked for
some flowers; and, in short, made the most that I could of my
interview with nature, till it came time to go home to dinner, for our
dinner hour at Mr. B.'s is between one and two; quite like home. In
the evening we were to dine at Lord Shaftesbury's.
After napping all the afternoon we went to Grosvenor Square. There was
only a small, select party, of about sixteen. Among the guests were
Dr. McAll, Hebrew professor in King's College, Lord Wriothesley
Russell, brother of Lord John, and one of the private chaplains of the
queen, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. McAll is a millenarian.
He sat next to C. at table, and they had some conversation on that
subject. He said those ideas had made a good deal of progress in the
English mind.
While I was walking down to dinner with Lord Shaftesbury, he pointed
out to me in the hall the portrait of his distinguished ancestor,
Antony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, whose name he bears. This
ancestor, notwithstanding his sceptical philosophy, did some good
things, as he was the author of the habeas corpus act.
After dinner we went back to the drawing rooms again; and while tea
and coffee were being served, names were constantly being announced,
till the rooms were quite full.
Among the earliest who arrived was Mr.----, a mulatto gentleman,
formerly British consul at Liberia. I found him a man of considerable
cultivation and intelligence, evincing much good sense in his
observations.
I overheard some one saying in the crowd, "Shaftesbury has been about
the chimney sweepers again in Parliament." I said to Lord Shaftesbury,
"I thought that matter of the chimney sweepers had been attended to
long ago, and laws made about it."
"So we have made laws," said he, "but people won't keep them unless we
follow them up."
He has a very prompt, cheerful way of speaking, and throws himself
into every thing he talks about with great interest and zeal. He
introduced me to one gentleman, I forget his name now, as the patron
of the shoeblacks. On my inquiring what that meant, he said that he
had started the idea of providing employment for poor street boys, by
furnishing them with brushes and blacking, and forming them into
regular companies of shoeblacks. Each boy has his' particular stand,
where he blacks the shoes of every passer by who chooses to take the
trouble of putting up his foot and paying his twopence. Lord
Shaftesbury also presented me to a lady who had been a very successful
teacher in the ragged schools; also to a gentleman who, he said, had
been very active in the London city missions. Some very ingenious work
done in the ragged schools was set on the table for the company to
examine, and excited much interest.
I talked a little while with Lord Wriothesley Russell. From him we
derived the idea that the queen was particularly careful in the
training and religious instruction of her children. He said that she
claimed that the young prince should be left entirely to his parents,
in regard to his religious instruction, till he was seven years of
age; but that, on examining him at that time, they were equally
surprised and delighted with his knowledge of the Scriptures. I must
remark here, that such an example as the queen sets in the education
of her children makes itself felt through all the families of the
kingdom. Domesticity is now the fashion in high life. I have had
occasion to see, in many instances, how carefully ladies of rank
instruct their children. This argues more favorably for the
continuance of English institutions than any thing I have seen. If the
next generation of those who are born to rank and power are educated,
in the words of Fenelon, to consider these things "as a ministry,"
which they hold for the benefit of the poor, the problem of life in
England will become easier of solution. Such are Lord Shaftesbury's
views, and as he throws them out with unceasing fervor in his
conversation and conduct, they cannot but powerfully affect not only
his own circle, but all circles through the kingdom. Lady Shaftesbury
is a beautiful and interesting woman, and warmly enters into the
benevolent plans of her husband. A gentleman and lady with whom I
travelled said that Lord and Lady Shaftesbury had visited in person
the most forlorn and wretched parts of London, that they might get, by
their own eyesight, a more correct gauge of the misery to be relieved.
I did not see Lord Shaftesbury's children; but, from the crayon
likenesses which hung upon the walls, they must be a family of
uncommon beauty.
I talked a little while with the Bishop of Tuam. I was the more
interested to do so because he was from that part of Ireland which
Sibyl Jones has spoken of as being in so particularly miserable a
condition. I said, "How are you doing now, in that part of the
country? There has been a great deal of misery there, I hear." He said
"There has been, but we have just turned the corner, and now I hope we
shall see better days. The condition of the people has been improved
by emigration and other causes, till the evils have been brought
within reach, and we feel that there is hope of effecting a permanent
improvement."
While I was sitting talking, Lord Shaltesbury brought a gentleman and
lady, whom he introduced as Lord Chief Justice Campbell and Lady
Strathheden. Lord Campbell is a man of most dignified and imposing
personal presence; tall, with a large frame, a fine, high forehead,
and strongly marked features. Naturally enough, I did not suppose them
to be husband and wife, and when I discovered that they were so,
expressed a good deal of surprise at their difference of titles; to
which she replied, that she did not wonder we Americans were sometimes
puzzled among the number of titles. She seemed quite interested to
inquire into our manner of living and customs, and how they struck me
as compared with theirs. The letter of Mrs. Tyler was much talked of,
and some asked me if I supposed Mrs. Tyler really wrote it, expressing
a little civil surprise at the style. I told them that I had heard it
said that it must have been written by some of the gentlemen in the
family, because it was generally understood that Mrs. Tyler was a very
ladylike person. Some said, "It does us no harm to be reminded of our
deficiencies; we need all the responsibility that can be put upon us."
Others said, "It is certain we have many defects;" but Lord John
Campbell said, "There is this difference between our evils and those
of slavery: ours exist contrary to law; those are upheld by law."
I did not get any opportunity of conversing with the Archbishop of
Canterbury, though this is the second time I have been in company with
him. He is a most prepossessing man in his appearance--simple,
courteous, mild, and affable. He was formerly Bishop of Chester, and
is now Primate of all England.
It is some indication of the tendency of things in a country to notice
what kind of men are patronized and promoted to the high places of the
church. Sumner is a man refined, gentle, affable, scholarly,
thoroughly evangelical in sentiment; to render him into American
phraseology, he is in doctrine what we should call a moderate New
School man. He has been a most industrious writer; one of his
principal works is his Commentary on the New Testament, in several
volumes; a work most admirably adapted for popular use, combining
practical devotion with critical accuracy to an uncommon degree. He
has also published a work on the Evidences of Christianity, in which
he sets forth some evidences of the genuineness of the gospel
narrative, which could only have been conceived by a mind of peculiar
delicacy, and which are quite interesting and original. He has also
written a work on Biblical Geology, which is highly spoken of by Sir
Charles Lyell and others. If I may believe accounts that I hear, this
mild and moderate man has shown a most admirable firmness and facility
in guiding the ship of the establishment in some critical and perilous
places of late years. I should add that he is warmly interested in all
the efforts now making for the good of the poor.
Among other persons of distinction, this evening, I noticed Lord and
Lady Palmerston.
A lady asked me this evening what I thought of the beauty of the
ladies of the English aristocracy: she was a Scotch lady, by the by;
so the question was a fair one. I replied, that certainly report had
not exaggerated their charms. Then came a home question--how the
ladies of England compared with the ladies of America. "Now for it,
patriotism," said I to myself; and, invoking to my aid certain fair
saints of my own country, whose faces I distinctly remembered, I
assured her that I had never seen more beautiful women than I had in
America. Grieved was I to be obliged to add, "But your ladies keep
their beauty much later and longer." This fact stares one in the face
in every company; one meets ladies past fifty, glowing, radiant, and
blooming, with a freshness of complexion and fulness of outline
refreshing to contemplate. What can be the reason? Tell us, Muses and
Graces, what can it be? Is it the conservative power of sea fogs and
coal smoke--the same cause that keeps the turf green, and makes the
holly and ivy flourish? How comes it that our married ladies dwindle,
fade, and grow thin--that their noses incline to sharpness, and their
elbows to angularity, just at the time of life when their island
sisters round out into a comfortable and becoming amplitude and
fulness? If it is the fog and the sea coal, why, then, I am afraid we
never shall come up with them. But perhaps there may be other causes
why a country which starts some of the most beautiful girls in the
world produces so few beautiful women. Have not our close-heated stove
rooms something to do with it? Have not the immense amount of hot
biscuits, hot corn cakes, and other compounds got up with the acrid
poison of saleratus, something to do with it? Above all, has not our
climate, with its alternate extremes of heat and cold, a tendency to
induce habits Of in-door indolence? Climate, certainly, has a great
deal to do with it; ours is evidently more trying and more exhausting;
and because it is so, we should not pile upon its back errors of dress
and diet which are avoided by our neighbors. They keep their beauty,
because they keep their health. It has been as remarkable as any thing
to me, since I have been here, that I do not constantly, as at home,
hear one and another spoken of as in miserable health, as very
delicate, &c. Health seems to be the rule, and not the exception. For
my part, I must say, the most favorable omen that I know of for female
beauty in America is, the multiplication of water cure establishments,
where our ladies, if they get nothing else, do gain some ideas as to
the necessity of fresh air, regular exercise, simple diet, and the
laws of hygiene in general.
There is one thing more which goes a long way towards the continued
health of these English ladies, and therefore towards their beauty;
and that is, the quietude and perpetuity of their domestic
institutions. They do not, like us, fade their cheeks lying awake
nights ruminating the awful question who shall do the washing next
week, or who shall take the chambermaid's place, who is going to be
married, or that of the cook, who has signified her intention of
parting with the mistress. Their hospitality is never embarrassed by
the consideration that their whole kitchen cabinet may desert at the
moment that their guests arrive. They are not obliged to choose
between washing their own dishes, or having their cut glass, silver,
and china left to the mercy of a foreigner, who has never done any
thing but field work. And last, not least, they are not possessed with
that ambition to do the impossible in all branches, which, I believe,
is the death of a third of the women in America. What is there ever
read of in books, or described in foreign travel, as attained by
people in possession of every means and appliance, which our women
will not undertake, single-handed, in spite of every providential
indication to the contrary? Who is not cognizant of dinner parties
invited, in which the lady of the house has figured successively as
confectioner, cook, dining-room girl, and, lastly, rushed up stairs to
bathe her glowing cheeks, smooth her hair, draw on satin dress and kid
gloves, and appear in the drawing room as if nothing were the matter?
Certainly the undaunted bravery of our American females can never
enough be admired. Other women can play gracefully the head of the
establishment; but who, like them, could be head, hand, and foot, all
at once?
As I have spoken of stoves, I will here remark that I have not yet
seen one in England; neither, so far as I can remember, have I seen a
house warmed by a furnace. Bright coal fires, in grates of polished
steel, are as yet the lares and penates of old England. If I am
inclined to mourn over any defection in my own country, it is the
closing up of the cheerful open fire, with its bright lights and
dancing shadows, and the planting on our domestic hearth of that
sullen, stifling gnome, the air-tight. I agree with Hawthorne in
thinking the movement fatal to patriotism; for who would fight for an
airtight!
I have run on a good way beyond our evening company; so good by for
the present.
LETTER XXI
May 13. Dear father:--
To-day we are to go out to visit your Quaker friend, Mr. Alexander, at
Stoke Newington, where you passed so many pleasant hours during your
sojourn in England. At half past nine we went into the Congregational
Union, which is now in session. I had a seat upon the platform, where
I could command a view of the house. It was a most interesting
assemblage to me, recalling forcibly our New England associations, and
impressing more than ever on my mind how much of one blood the two
countries are. These earnest, thoughtful, intelligent-looking men
seemed to transport me back to my own country. They received us with
most gratifying cordiality and kindness. Most naturally
Congregationalism in England must turn with deep interest and sympathy
to Congregationalism in America. In several very cordial addresses
they testified their pleasure at seeing us among them, speaking most
affectionately of you and your labors, and your former visit to
England. The wives and daughters of many of them present expressed in
their countenances the deepest and most affectionate feeling. It is
cheering to feel that an ocean does not divide our hearts, and that
the Christians of America and England are one.
In the afternoon we drove out to Mr. Alexander's. His place is called
Paradise, and very justly, being one more of those home Edens in which
England abounds, where, without ostentation or display, every
appliance of rational enjoyment surrounds one.
We were ushered into a cheerful room, opening by one glass door upon a
brilliant conservatory of flowers, and by another upon a neatly-kept
garden. The air was fresh and sweet with the perfume of blossoming
trees, and every thing seemed doubly refreshing from the contrast with
the din and smoke of London. Our chamber looked out upon a beautiful
park, shaded with fine old trees. While contemplating the white
draperies of our windows, and the snowy robings of the bed, we could
not but call to mind the fact, of which we were before aware, that not
an article was the result of the unpaid oil of the slave; neither did
this restriction, voluntarily assumed, fetter at all the bountifulness
of the table, where free-grown sugar, coffee, rice, and spices seemed
to derive a double value to our friends from this consideration.
Some of the Quakers carry the principle so far as to refuse money in a
business transaction which they have reason to believe has been gained
by the unpaid toil of the slave. A Friend in Edinburgh told me of a
brother of his in the city of Carlisle, who kept a celebrated biscuit
bakery, who received an order from New Orleans for a thousand dollars
worth of biscuit. Before closing the bargain he took the buyer into
his counting room, and told him that he had conscientious objections
about receiving money from slaveholders, and that in case he were one
he should prefer not to trade with him. Fortunately, in this case,
consistency and interest were both on one side.
Things like these cannot but excite reflection in one's mind, and the
query must arise, if all who really believe slavery to be a wrong
should pursue this course, what would be the result? There are great
practical difficulties in the way of such a course, particularly in
America, where the subject has received comparatively little
attention. Yet since I have been in England, I am informed by the
Friends here, that there has been for many years an association of
Friends in Philadelphia, who have sent their agents through the entire
Southern States, entering by them into communication with quite a
considerable number scattered through the states, who, either from
poverty or principle, raise their cotton by free labor; that they have
established a depot in Philadelphia, and also a manufactory, where the
cotton thus received is made into various household articles; and
thus, by dint of some care and self-sacrifice, many of them are
enabled to abstain entirely from any participation with the results of
this crime.
As soon as I heard this fact, it flashed upon my mind immediately,
that the beautiful cotton lands of Texas are as yet unoccupied to a
great extent; that no law compels cotton to be raised there by slave
labor, and that it is beginning to be raised there to some extent by
the labor of free German emigrants. [Footnote: One small town in Texas
made eight hundred bales last year by free labor.] Will not something
eventually grow out of this? I trust so. Even the smallest chink of
light is welcome in a prison, if it speak of a possible door which
courage and zeal may open. I cannot as yet admit the justness of the
general proposition, that it is an actual sin to eat, drink, or wear
any thing which has been the result of slave labor, because it seems
to me to be based upon a principle altogether too wide in extent. To
be consistent in it, we must extend it to the results of all labor
which is not conducted on just and equitable principles; and in order
to do this consistently we must needs, as St. Paul says, go out of the
world. But if two systems, one founded on wrong and robbery, and the
other on right and justice, are competing with each other, should we
not patronize the right?
I am the more inclined to think that some course of this kind is
indicated to the Christian world, from the reproaches and taunts which
proslavery papers are casting upon us, for patronizing their cotton.
At all events, the Quakers escape the awkwardness of this dilemma.
In the evening quite a large circle of friends came to meet us. We
were particularly interested in the conversation of Mr. and Mrs.
Wesby, missionaries from Antigua. Antigua is the only one of the
islands in which emancipation was immediate, without any previous
apprenticeship system; and it is the one in which the results of
emancipation have been altogether the most happy. They gave us a very
interesting account of their schools, and showed us some beautiful
specimens of plain needlework, which had been wrought by young girls
in them. They confirmed all the accounts which I have heard from other
sources of the peaceableness, docility, and good character of the
negroes; of their kindly disposition and willingness to receive
instruction.
After tea Mr. S. and I walked out a little while, first to a large
cemetery, where repose the ashes of Dr. Watts. This burying ground
occupies the site of the dwelling and grounds formerly covered by the
residence of Sir T. Abney, with whom Dr. Watts spent many of the last
years of his life. It has always seemed to me that Dr. Watts's rank as
a poet has never been properly appreciated. If ever there was a poet
born, he was that man; he attained without study a smoothness of
versification, which, with Pope, was the result of the intensest
analysis and most artistic care. Nor do the most majestic and
resounding lines of Dryden equal some of his in majesty of volume. The
most harmonious lines of Dryden, that I know of, are these:--
"When Jubal struck the chorded shell,
His listening brethren stood around,
And wondering, on their faces fell,
To worship that celestial sound.
Less than a God they thought there could not dwell
Within the hollow of that shell,
That spoke so sweetly and so well."
The first four lines of this always seem to me magnificently
harmonious. But almost any verse at random in Dr. Watts's paraphrase
of the one hundred and forty-eighth Psalm exceeds them, both in melody
and majesty. For instance, take these lines:--
"Wide as his vast dominion lies,
Let the Creator's name be known;
Loud as his thunder shout his praise,
And sound it lofty as his throne.
Speak of the wonders of that love
Which Gabriel plays on every chord:
From all below and all above,
Loud hallelujahs to the Lord."
Simply as a specimen of harmonious versification, I would place this
paraphrase by Dr. Watts above every thing in the English language, not
even excepting Pope's Messiah. But in hymns, where the ideas are
supplied by his own soul, we have examples in which fire, fervor,
imagery, roll from the soul of the poet in a stream of versification,
evidently spontaneous. Such are all those hymns in which he describes
the glories of the heavenly state, and the advent of the great events
foretold in prophecy; for instance, this verse from the opening of one
of his judgment hymns:--
"Lo, I behold the scattered shades;
The dawn of heaven appears;
The sweet immortal morning sheds
Its blushes round the spheres."
Dr. Johnson, in his Lives of the Poets, turns him off with small
praise, it is true, saying that his devotional poetry is like that of
others, unsatisfactory; graciously adding that it is sufficient for
him to have done better than others what no one has done well; and,
lastly, that he is one of those poets with whom youth and ignorance
may safely be pleased. But if Dr. Johnson thought Irene was poetry, it
is not singular that he should think the lyrics of Watts were not.
Stoke Newington is also celebrated as the residence of De foe. We
passed by, in our walk, the ancient mansion in which he lived. New
River, which passes through the grounds of our host, is an artificial
stream, which is said to have been first suggested by his endlessly
fertile and industrious mind, as productive in practical projects as
in books.
It always seemed to me that there are three writers which every one
who wants to know how to use the English language effectively should
study; and these are Shakspeare, Bunyan, and Defoe. One great secret
of their hold on the popular mind is their being so radically and
thoroughly English. They have the solid grain of the English oak, not
veneered by learning and the classics; not inlaid with arabesques from
other nations, but developing wholly out of the English nationality.
I have heard that Goethe said the reason for the great enthusiasm with
which his countrymen regarded him was, that he _did know how to
write German,_ and so also these men knew how to write English. I
think Defoe the most suggestive writer to an artist of fiction that
the English language affords. That power by which he wrought fiction
to produce the impression of reality, so that his Plague in London was
quoted by medical men as an authentic narrative, and his Life of a
Cavalier recommended by Lord Chatham as an historical authority, is
certainly worth an analysis. With him, undoubtedly, it was an
instinct.
One anecdote, related to us this evening by our friends, brought to
mind with new power the annoyances to which the Quakers have been
subjected in England, under the old system of church rates. It being
contrary to the conscientious principles of the Quakers to pay these
church rates voluntarily, they allowed the officers of the law to
enter their houses and take whatever article he pleased in
satisfaction of the claim. On one occasion, for the satisfaction of a
claim of a few pounds, they seized and sold a most rare and costly
mantel clock, which had a particular value as a choice specimen of
mechanical skill, and which was worth four or five times the sum owed.
A friend afterwards repurchased and presented it to the owner.
We were rejoiced to hear that these church rates are now virtually
abolished. The liberal policy pursued in England for the last
twenty-five years is doing more to make the church of England, and the
government generally, respectable and respected than the most
extortionate exactions of violence.
We parted from our kind friends in the morning; came back and I sat a
while to Mr. Burnard, the sculptor, who entertained me with various
anecdotes. He had taken the bust of the Prince of Wales; and I
gathered from his statements that young princes have very much the
same feelings and desires that other little boys have, and that he has
a very judicious mother.
In the afternoon, Mr. S., Mrs. B., and I had a pleasant drive in Hyde
Park, as I used to read of heroines of romance doing in the old
novels. It is delightful to get into this fairyland of parks, so green
and beautiful, which embellish the West End.
In the evening we had an engagement at two places--at a Highland
School dinner, and at Mr. Charles Dickens's. I felt myself too much
exhausted for both, and so it was concluded that I should go to
neither, but try a little quiet drive into the country, and an early
retirement, as the most prudent termination of the week. While Mr. S.
prepared to go to the meeting of the Highland School Society, Mr. and
Mrs. B. took me a little drive into the country. After a while they
alighted before a new Gothic Congregational college, in St. John's
Wood. I found that there had been a kind of tea-drinking there by the
Congregational ministers and their families, to celebrate the opening
of the college.
On returning, we called for Mr. S., at the dinner, and went for a few
moments into the gallery, the entertainment being now nearly over.
Here we heard some Scottish songs, very charmingly sung; and, what
amused me very much, a few Highland musicians, dressed in full
costume, occasionally marched through the hall, playing on their
bagpipes, as was customary in old Scottish entertainments. The
historian Sir Archibald Alison, sheriff of Lanarkshire, sat at the
head of the table--a tall, fine-looking man, of very commanding
presence.
About nine o'clock we retired.
May 15. Heard Mr. Binney preach this morning. He is one of the
strongest men among the Congregationalists, and a very popular
speaker. He is a tall, large man, with a finely-built head, high
forehead, piercing, dark eye, and a good deal of force and
determination in all his movements. His sermon was the first that I
had heard in England which seemed to recognize the existence of any
possible sceptical or rationalizing element in the minds of his
hearers. It was in this respect more like the preaching that I had
been in the habit of hearing at home. Instead of a calm statement of
certain admitted religious facts, or exhortations founded upon them,
his discourse seemed to be reasoning with individual cases, and
answering various forms of objections, such as might arise in
different minds. This mode of preaching, I think, cannot exist unless
a minister cultivates an individual knowledge of his people.
Mr. Binney's work, entitled How to make the best of both Worlds, I
have heard spoken of as having had the largest sale of any religious
writing of the present day.
May 16. This evening is the great antislavery meeting at Exeter Hall.
Lord Shaftesbury in the chair. Exeter Hall stands before the public as
the representation of the strong democratic, religious element of
England. In Exeter Hall are all the philanthropies, foreign and
domestic; and a crowded meeting there gives one perhaps a better idea
of the force of English democracy--of that kind of material which goes
to make up the mass of the nation--than any thing else.
When Macaulay expressed some sentiments which gave offence to this
portion of the community, he made a defence in which he alluded
sarcastically to the bray of Exeter Hall.
The expression seems to have been remembered, for I have often heard
it quoted; though I believe they have forgiven him for it, and
concluded to accept it as a joke.
The hall this night was densely crowded, and, as I felt very unwell, I
did not go in till after the services had commenced--a thing which I
greatly regretted afterwards, as by this means I lost a most able
speech by Lord Shaftesbury.
The Duchess of Sutherland entered soon after the commencement of the
exercises, and was most enthusiastically cheered. When we came in, a
seat had been reserved for us by her grace in the side gallery, and
the cheering was repeated. I thought I had heard something of the sort
in Scotland, but there was a vehemence about this that made me
tremble. There is always something awful to my mind about a dense
crowd in a state of high excitement, let the nature of that excitement
be what it will.
I do not believe that there is in all America more vehemence of
democracy, more volcanic force of power, than comes out in one of
these great gatherings in our old fatherland. I saw plainly enough
where Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hill came from; and it seems to
me there is enough of this element of indignation at wrong, and
resistance to tyranny, to found half a dozen more republics as strong
as we are.
A little incident that occurred gave me an idea of what such a crowd
might become in a confused state of excitement. A woman fainted in a
distant part of the house, and a policeman attempted to force a way
through the densely-packed crowd. The services were interrupted for a
few moments, and there were hoarse surgings and swellings of the
mighty mass, who were so closely packed that they moved together like
waves. Some began to rise in their seats, and some cried "Order!
order!" And one could easily see, that were a sudden panic or
overwhelming excitement to break up the order of the meeting, what a
terrible scene might ensue.
"What is it?" said I to a friend who sat next to me.
"A pickpocket, perhaps," said she. "I am afraid we are going to have a
row. They are going to give you one of our genuine Exeter Hall
_'brays.'_"
I felt a good deal fluttered; but the Duchess of Sutherland, who knew
the British lion better than I did, seemed so perfectly collected that
I became reassured.
The character of the speeches at this meeting, with the exception of
Lord Shaftesbury's, was more denunciatory, and had more to pain the
national feelings of an American, than any I had ever attended. It was
the real old Saxon battle axe of Brother John, swung without fear or
favor. Such things do not hurt me individually, because I have such a
radical faith in my country, such a genuine belief that she will at
last right herself from every wrong, that I feel she can afford to
have these things said.
Mr. S. spoke on this point, that the cotton trade of Great Britain is
the principal support to slavery, and read extracts from Charleston
papers in which they boldly declare that they do not care for any
amount of moral indignation wasted upon them by nations who, after
all, must and will buy the cotton which they raise.
The meeting was a very long one, and I was much fatigued when we
returned.
To-morrow we are to make a little run out to Windsor.
LETTER XXII.
May 18.
Dear M.:--
I can compare the embarrassment of our London life, with its
multiplied solicitations and infinite stimulants to curiosity and
desire, only to that annual perplexity which used to beset us in our
childhood on thanksgiving day. Having been kept all the year within
the limits which prudence assigns to well-regulated children, came at
last the governor's proclamation, and a general saturnalia of dainties
for the little ones. For one day the gates of license were thrown
open, and we, plumped down into the midst of pie and pudding exceeding
all conception but that of a Yankee housekeeper, were left to struggle
our way out as best we might.
So here, beside all the living world of London, its scope and range of
persons and circles of thought, come its architecture, its arts, its
localities, historic, poetic, all that expresses its past, its
present, and its future. Every day and every hour brings its'
conflicting allurements, of persons to be seen, places to be visited,
things to be done, beyond all computation. Like Miss Edgeworth's
philosophic little Frank, we are obliged to make out our list of what
man _must_ want, and of what he _may_ want; and in our list
of the former we set down, in large and decisive characters, one quiet
day for the exploration and enjoyment of Windsor.
We were solicited, indeed, to go in another direction; a party was
formed to go down the Thames with the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert,
secretary at war, and visit an emigrant ship just starting for
Australia. I should say here, that since Mrs. Chisholm's labors have
awakened the attention of the English public to the wants and
condition of emigrants, the benevolent people of England take great
interest in the departing of emigrant ships. A society has been formed
called the Family Colonization Loan Society, and a fund raised by
which money can be loaned to those desiring to emigrate. This society
makes it an object to cultivate acquaintance and intimacy among those
about going out by uniting them into groups, and, as far as possible,
placing orphan children and single females under the protection of
families. Any one, by subscribing six guineas towards the loan, can
secure one passage. Each individual becomes responsible for refunding
his own fare, and, furthermore, to pay a certain assessment in case
any individual of the group fails to make up the passage money. The
sailing of emigrant ships, therefore, has become a scene of great
interest. Those departing do not leave their native shore without
substantial proofs of the interest and care of the land they are
leaving.
In the party who were going down to-day were Mr. and Mrs. Binney, Mr.
Sherman, and a number of distinguished names; among whom I recollect
to have heard the names of Lady Hatherton, and Lady Byron, widow of
the poet. This would have been an exceedingly interesting scene to us,
but being already worn with company and excitement, we preferred a
quiet day at Windsor.
For if we took Warwick as the representative feudal estate, we took
Windsor as the representative palace, that which imbodies the English
idea of royalty. Apart from this, Windsor has been immortalized by the
Merry Wives; it has still standing in its park the Herne oak, where
the mischievous fairies played their pranks upon old Falstaff.
And the castle still has about it the charm of the poet's
invocation:--
"Search Windsor Castle, elves, within, without,
Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room,
That it may stand till the perpetual doom
In state as wholesome as in state 'tis fit,
Worthy the owner, and the owner it.
The several chairs of order, look you, scour
With juice of balm and every precious flower,
Each fair instalment, coat, and several crest,
With loyal blazon evermore be blest.
And nightly, meadow fairies, look you, sing
Like to the garter's compass, in a ring.
The expressure that it bears, green let it be,
More fertile, fresh, than all the field to see,
And Honi soit qui mal y pense, write
In emerald tufts, flowers, purple, blue, and white,
Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,
Fairies use flowers for their charactery."
As if for the loyal purpose of recommending old Windsor, the English
skies had cleared up into brightness. About nine o'clock we found
ourselves in the cars, riding through a perpetual garden of blooming
trees and blossoming hedges; birds in a perfect fury of delight. Our
spirits were all elated. Good, honest, cackling Mrs. Quickly herself
was not more disposed to make the best of every thing and every body
than were we. Mr. S., in particular, was so joyous that I was afraid
he would break out into song, after the fashion of Sir Hugh Evans,--
"Melodious birds sung madrigals:
Whenas I sat in Babylon," &c.
By the by, the fishing ground of Izaak Walton is one of the localities
connected with Windsor.
The ride was done all too soon. One should not whirl through such a
choice bit of England in the cars; one should rather wish to amble
over the way after a sleepy, contemplative old horse, as we used to
make rural excursions in New England ere yet railroads were. However,
all that's bright must fade, and this among the rest.
About eleven o'clock we found ourselves going up the old stone steps
to the castle. It was the last day of a fair which had been holden in
this part of the country, and crowds of the common people were
flocking to the castle, men, women, and children pattering up the
stairs before and after us.
We went first through the state apartments. The principal thing that
interested me was the ball room, which was a perfect gallery of
Vandyke's paintings. Here was certainly an opportunity to know what
Vandyke is. I should call him a true court painter--a master of
splendid conventionalities, whose portraits of kings are the most
powerful arguments for the divine right I know of. Nevertheless,
beyond conventionality and outward magnificence, his ideas have no
range. He suggests nothing to the moral and ideal part of us. Here
again was the picture of King Charles on horseback, which had
interested me at Warwick. It had, however, a peculiar and romantic
charm from its position at the end of that long, dim corridor,
vis-a-vis with the masque of Cromwell, which did not accompany it
here, where it was but one among a set of pictures.
There was another, presenting the front side and three quarters face
of the same sovereign, painted by Vandyke for Benini to make a bust
from. There were no less than five portraits of his wife, Henrietta
Maria, in different dresses and attitudes, and two pictures of their
children. No sovereign is so profusely and perseveringly represented.
The queen's audience chamber is hung with tapestry representing scenes
from the book of Esther. This tapestry made a very great impression
upon me. A knowledge of the difficulties to be overcome in the
material part of painting is undoubtedly an unsuspected element of
much of the pleasure we derive from it; and for this reason, probably,
this tapestry appeared to us better than paintings executed with equal
spirit in oils. We admired it exceedingly, entirely careless what
critics might think of us if they knew it.
Another room was hung with Gobelin tapestry representing the whole of
the tragedy of Medea. First you have Jason cutting down the golden
fleece, while the dragon lies slain, and Medea is looking on in
admiration. In another he pledges his love to Medea. In a third, the
men sprung from the dragon's teeth are seen contending with each
other. In another the unfaithful lover espouses Creusa. In the next
Creusa is seen burning in the poisoned shirt, given her by Medea. In
another Medea is seen in a car drawn by dragons, bearing her two
children by Jason, whom she has stabbed in revenge for his desertion.
Nothing can exceed the ghastly reality of death, as shown in the
stiffened limbs and sharpened features of those dead children. The
whole drawing and grouping is exceedingly spirited and lifelike, and
has great power of impression.
I was charmed also by nine landscapes of Zuccarelli, which adorn the
state drawing room. Zuccarelli was a follower of Claude, and these
pictures far exceed in effect any of Claude's I have yet seen. The
charm of them does not lie merely in the atmospheric tints and
effects, as those of Cuyp, but in the rich and fanciful combination of
objects. In this respect they perform in painting what the first part
of the Castle of Indolence, or Tennyson's Lotus Eaters, do in poetry--
evoke a fairyland. There was something peculiar about their charm for
me.
Who can decide how much in a picture belongs to the idiosyncrasies and
associations of the person who looks upon it. Artists undoubtedly
powerful and fine may have nothing in them which touches the nervous
sympathies and tastes of some persons: who, therefore, shall establish
any authoritative canon of taste? who shall say that Claude is finer
than Zuccarelli, or Zuccarelli than Claude? A man might as well say
that the woman who enchants him is the only true Venus for the world.
Then, again, how much in painting or in poetry depends upon the frame
of mind in which we see or hear! Whoever looks on these pictures, or
reads the Lotus Eaters or Castle of Indolence, at a time when soul and
body are weary, and longing for retirement and rest, will receive an
impression from them such as could never be made on the strong nerves
of our more healthful and hilarious seasons.
Certainly no emotions so rigidly reject critical restraints, and
disdain to be bound by rule, as those excited by the fine arts. A man
unimpressible and incapable of moods and tenses, is for that reason an
incompetent critic; and the sensitive, excitable man, how can he know
that he does not impose his peculiar mood as a general rule?
From the state rooms we were taken to the top of the Hound Tower,
where we gained a magnificent view of the Park of Windsor, with its
regal avenue, miles in length, of ancient oaks; its sweeps of
greensward; clumps of trees; its old Herne oak, of classic memory; in
short, all that constitutes the idea of a perfect English landscape.
The English tree is shorter and stouter than ours; its foliage dense
and deep, lying with a full, rounding outline against the sky. Every
thing here conveys the idea of concentrated vitality, but without that
rank luxuriance seen in our American growth. Having unfortunately
exhausted the English language on the subject of grass, I will not
repeat any ecstasies upon that topic.
After descending from the tower we filed off to the proper quarter, to
show our orders for the private rooms. The state apartments, which we
had been looking at, are open at all times, but the private apartments
can only be seen in the queen's absence, and by a special permission,
which had been procured for us on this occasion by the kindness of the
Duchess of Sutherland.
One of the first objects that attracted my attention when entering the
vestibule was a baby's wicker wagon, standing in one corner; it was
much such a carriage as all mothers are familiar with; such as figures
largely in the history of almost every family. It had neat curtains
and cushions of green merino, and was not royal, only maternal. I
mused over the little thing with a good deal of interest. It is to my
mind one of the providential signs of our times, that, at this stormy
and most critical period of the world's history, the sovereignty of
the most powerful nation on earth is represented by a woman and a
mother. How many humanizing, gentle, and pacific influences constantly
emanate from this centre!
One of the most interesting apartments was a long corridor, hung with
paintings and garnished along the sides with objects of art and _virtu_.
Here C. and I renewed a dispute which had for some time been pending,
in respect to Canaletto's paintings. This Canaletto was a Venetian
painter, who was born about 1697, and died in London in 1768, and was
greatly in vogue with the upper circles in those days. He delighted in
architectural paintings, which he represents with the accuracy of a
daguerreotype, and a management of perspective, chiaro oscuro, and all
the other mysteries of art, such as make his paintings amount to about
the same as the reality.
Well, here, in this corridor, we had him in full force. Here was
Venice served up to order--its streets, palaces, churches, bridges,
canals, and gondolas made as real to our eye as if we were looking at
them out of a window. I admired them very warmly, but I could not go
into the raptures that C. did, who kept calling me from every thing
else that I wanted to see to come and look at this Canaletto. "Well, I
see it," said I; "it is good--it is perfect--it cannot be bettered;
but what then? There is the same difference between these and a
landscape of Zuccarelli as there is between a neatly-arranged
statistical treatise and a poem. The latter suggests a thousand
images, the former gives you only information."
We were quite interested in a series of paintings which represented
the various events of the present queen's history. There was the
coronation in Westminster Abbey--that national romance which, for once
in our prosaic world, nearly turned the heads of all the sensible
people on earth. Think of vesting the sovereignty of so much of the
world in a fair young girl of seventeen! The picture is a very pretty
one, and is taken at the very moment she is kneeling at the feet of
the Archbishop of Canterbury to receive her crown. She is represented
as a fair-haired, interesting girl, the simplicity of her air
contrasting strangely with the pomp and gorgeous display around. The
painter has done justice to a train of charming young ladies who
surround her; among the faces I recognized the blue eyes and noble
forehead of the Duchess of Sutherland.
Then followed, in due order, the baptism of children, the reception of
poor old Louis Philippe in his exile, and various other matters of the
sort which go to make up royal pictures.
In the family breakfast room we saw some fine Gobelin tapestry,
representing the classical story of Meleager. In one of the rooms, on
a pedestal, stood a gigantic china vase, a present from the Emperor of
Russia, and in the state rooms before we had seen a large malachite
vase from the same donor. The toning of this room, with regard to
color, was like that of the room I described in Stafford House--the
carpet of green ground, with the same little leaf upon it, the walls,
chairs, and sofas covered with green damask. Around the walls of the
room, in some places, were arranged cases of books about three feet
high. I liked this arrangement particularly, because it gives you the
companionship of books in an apartment without occupying that space of
the wall which is advantageous for pictures. Moreover, books placed
high against the walls of a room give a gloomy appearance to the
apartment.
The whole air of these rooms was very charming, suggestive of refined
taste and domestic habits. The idea of home, which pervades every
thing in England, from the cottage to the palace, was as much
suggested here as in any apartments I have seen. The walls of the
different rooms were decorated with portraits of the members of the
royal family, and those of other European princes.
After this we went through the kitchen department--saw the silver and
gold plate of the table; among the latter were some designs which I
thought particularly graceful. To conclude all, we went through the
stables. The man who showed them told us that several of the queen's
favorite horses were taken to Osborne; but there were many beautiful
creatures left, which I regarded with great complacency. The stables
and stalls were perfectly clean, and neatly kept; and one, in short,
derives from the whole view of the economics of Windsor that
satisfaction which results from seeing a thing thoroughly done in the
best conceivable manner.
The management of the estate of Windsor is, I am told, a model for all
landholders in the kingdom. A society has been formed there, within a
few years, under the patronage of the queen, Prince Albert, and the
Duchess of Kent, in which the clergy and gentry of the principal
parishes in this vicinity are interested, for improving the condition
of the laboring classes in this region. The queen and Prince Albert
have taken much interest in the planning and arranging of model houses
for the laboring people, which combine cheapness, neatness,
ventilation, and all the facilities for the formation of good personal
habits. There is a school kept on the estate at Windsor, in which the
queen takes a very practical interest, regulating the books and
studies, and paying frequent visits to it during the time of her
sojourn here. The young girls are instructed in fine needlework; but
the queen discourages embroidery and ornamental work, meaning to make
practical, efficient wives for laboring men. These particulars, with
regard to this school, were related to me by a lady living in the
vicinity of Windsor.
We went into St. George's Chapel, and there we were all exceedingly
interested and enchained in view of the marble monument to the
Princess Charlotte. It consists of two groups, and is designed to
express, in one view, both the celestial and the terrestrial aspect of
death--the visible and the invisible part of dying. For the visible
part, you have the body of the princess in all the desolation and
abandonment of death. The attitude of the figure is as if she had
thrown herself over in a convulsion, and died. The body is lying
listless, simply covered with a sheet, through every fold of which you
can see the utter relaxation of that moment when vitality departs, but
the limbs have not yet stiffened. Her hand and a part of the arm are
hanging down, exposed to view beneath the sheet.
Four figures, with bowed heads, covered with drapery, are represented
as sitting around in mute despair. The idea meant to be conveyed by
the whole group is that of utter desolation and abandonment. All is
over; there is not even heart enough left in the mourners to
straighten the corpse for the burial. The mute marble says, as plainly
as marble can speak, "Let all go; 'tis no matter now; there is no more
use in living--nothing to be done, nothing to be hoped!"
Above this group rises the form of the princess, springing buoyant and
elastic, on angel wings, a smile of triumph and aspiration lighting up
her countenance. Her drapery floats behind her as she rises. Two
angels, one carrying her infant child and the other with clasped hands
of exultant joy, are rising with her, in serene and solemn triumph.
Now, I simply put it to you, or to any one who can judge of poetry, if
this is not a poetical conception. I ask any one who has a heart, if
there is not pathos in it. Is there not a high poetic merit in the
mere conception of these two scenes, thus presented? And had we seen
it rudely chipped and chiselled out by some artist of the middle ages,
whose hand had not yet been practised to do justice to his
conceptions, should we not have said this sculptor had a glorious
thought within him? But the chiselling of this piece is not unworthy
the conception. Nothing can be more exquisite than the turn of the
head, neck, and shoulders; nothing more finely wrought than the
triumphant smile of the angel princess; nothing could be more artistic
than the representation of death in all its hopelessness, in the lower
figure. The poor, dead hand, that shows itself beneath the sheet, has
an unutterable pathos and beauty in it. As to the working of the
drapery,--an inferior consideration, of course,--I see no reason why
it should not compare advantageously with any in the British Museum.
Well, you will ask, why are you going on in this argumentative style?
Who doubts you? Let me tell you, then, a little fragment of my
experience. We saw this group of statuary the last thing before
dinner, after a most fatiguing forenoon of sightseeing, when we were
both tired and hungry,--a most unpropitious time, certainly,--and yet
it enchanted our whole company; what is more, it made us all cry--a
fact of which I am not ashamed, yet. But, only the next day, when I
was expressing my admiration to an artist, who is one of the
authorities, and knows all that is proper to be admired, I was met
with,--
"O, you have seen that, have you? Shocking thing! Miserable
taste--miserable!"
"Dear me," said I, with apprehension, "what is the matter with it?"
"0," said he, "melodramatic, melodramatic--terribly so!"
I was so appalled by this word, of whose meaning I had not a very
clear idea, that I dropped the defence at once, and determined to
reconsider my tears. To have been actually made to cry by a thing that
was melodramatic, was a distressing consideration. Seriously, however,
on reconsidering the objection, I see no sense in it. A thing may be
melodramatic, or any other _atic_ that a man pleases; so that it
be strongly suggestive, poetic, pathetic, it has a right to its own
peculiar place in the world of art. If artists had had their way in
the creation of this world, there would have been only two or three
kinds of things in it; the first three or four things that God created
would have been enacted into fixed rules for making all the rest.
But they let the works of nature alone, because they know there is no
hope for them, and content themselves with enacting rules in
literature and art, which make all the perfection and grace of the
past so many impassable barriers to progress in future. Because the
ancients kept to unity of idea in their groups, and attained to most
beautiful results by doing so, shall no modern make an antithesis in
marble? And why has not a man a right to dramatize in marble as well
as on canvas, if he can produce a powerful and effective result by so
doing? And even if by being melodramatic, as the terrible word is, he
can shadow forth a grand and comforting religious idea--if he can
unveil to those who have seen only the desolation of death, its glory,
and its triumph--who shall say that he may not do so because he
violates the lines of some old Greek artist? Where would Shakspeare's
dramas have been, had he studied the old dramatic unities?
So, you see, like an obstinate republican, as I am, I defend my right
to have my own opinion about this monument, albeit the guide book,
with its usual diplomatic caution, says, "It is in very questionable
taste."
We went for our dinner to the White Hart, the very inn which
Shakspeare celebrates in his Merry Wives, and had a most overflowing,
merry time of it. The fact is, we had not seen each other for so long
that to be in each other's company for a whole day was quite a
stimulant.
After dinner we had a beautiful drive, passing the colleges at Eton,
and seeing the boys out playing cricket; had an excellent opportunity
to think how true Gray's poem on the Prospect of Eton is to boy-nature
then, now, and forever. We were bent upon looking up the church which
gave rise to his Elegy in a Country Churchyard, intending, when we got
there, to have a little scene over it; Mr. S., in all the conscious
importance of having been there before, assuring us that he knew
exactly where it was. So, after some difficulty with our coachman, and
being stopped at one church which would not answer our purpose in any
respect, we were at last set down by one which looked authentic;
embowered in mossy elms, with a most ancient and goblin yew tree, an
ivy-mantled tower, all perfect as could be.
There had been a sprinkle of rain,--an ornament which few English days
want,--and the westering beams of the sun twinkled through innumerable
drops. In fact, it was a pretty place; and I felt such "dispositions
to melancholies," as Sir Hugh Evans would have it, that I half
resented Mr. S.'s suggestion that the cars were waiting. However, as
he was engaged to speak at a peace meeting in London, it was agreed he
should leave us there to stroll, while he took the cars. So away he
went; and we, leaning on the old fence, repeated the Elegy, which
certainly applies here as beautifully as language could apply.
What a calm, shady, poetical nature is expressed in these lines! Gray
seems to have been sent into the world for nothing but to be a poem,
like some of those fabulous, shadowy beings which haunted the cool
grottoes on Grecian mountains; creatures that seem to have no
practical vitality--to be only a kind of voice, an echo, heard for a
little, and then lost in silence. He seemed to be in himself a kind of
elegy.
From thence we strolled along, enjoying the beautiful rural scenery.
Having had a kind invitation to visit Labouchère Park that day, which
we were obliged to decline for want of time, we were pleased to
discover that we had two more hours, in which we could easily
accomplish a stroll there. By a most singular infelicity, our party
became separated; and, misunderstanding each other, we remained
waiting for W. till it was too late for us to go, while he, on the
other hand, supposing us to have walked before him, was redoubling his
speed all the while, hoping to overtake us. In consequence of this, he
accomplished the walk to Labouchère Park, and we waited in the dismal
depot till it was too late to wait any longer, and finally went into
London without him.
After all, imagine our chagrin on being informed that we had not been
to the genuine churchyard. The gentleman who wept over the scenes of
his early days on the wrong doorstep was not more grievously
disappointed. However, he and we could both console ourselves with the
reflection that the emotion was admirable, and wanted only the right
place to make it the most appropriate in the world. The genuine
country churchyard, however, was that at Stoke Pogis, which we should
have seen had not the fates forbidden our going to Labouchère Park.
LETTER XXIII.
DEAR SISTER:--
The evening after our return from Windsor was spent with our kind
friends, Mr. and Mrs. Gurney. Mr. Gurney is rector of Mary-le-Bone
parish, one of the largest districts in London; and he is, I have been
told, one of the court chaplains; a man of the most cultivated and
agreeable manners, earnestly and devoutly engaged in the business of
his calling. As one of the working men of the church establishment, I
felt a strong interest in his views and opinions, and he seemed to
take no less interest in mine, as coming from a country where there is
and can be no church establishment. He asked many questions about
America; the general style of our preaching; the character of our
theology; our modes of religious action; our revivals of religion; our
theories of sudden and instantaneous conversion, as distinguished from
the gradual conversion of education; our temperance societies, and the
stand taken by our clergy in behalf of temperance.
He wished to know how the English style of preaching appeared to me in
comparison with that of America. I told him one principal difference
that struck me was, that the English preaching did not recognize the
existence of any element of inquiry or doubt in the popular mind; that
it treated certain truths as axioms, which only needed to be stated to
be believed; whereas in American sermons there is always more or less
time employed in explaining, proving, and answering objections to, the
truths enforced. I quoted Baptist Noel's sermon in illustration of
what I meant.
I asked him to what extent the element of scepticism, with regard to
religious truth, had pervaded the mind of England? adding that I had
inferred its existence there from such novels as those of Kingsley. He
thought that there was much of this element, particularly in the
working classes; that they were coming to regard the clergy with
suspicion, and to be less under their influence than in former times;
and said it was a matter of much solicitude to know how to reach them.
I told him that I had heard an American clergyman, who had travelled
in England, say, that dissenters were treated much as free negroes
were in America, and added that my experience must have been very
exceptional, or the remark much overstated, as I had met dissenting
clergymen in all circles of society. He admitted that there might be a
good deal of bigotry in this respect, but added that the infrequency
of association was more the result of those circumstances which would
naturally draw the two parties to themselves, than to superciliousness
on the side of the establishment, adding that where a court and
aristocracy were in the established church, there would necessarily be
a pressure of fashion in its favor, which might at times bring
uncomfortable results.
The children were sitting by studying their evening lessons, and I
begged Mrs. Gurney to allow me to look over their geographies and
atlases; and on her inquiring why, I told her that well-informed
people in England sometimes made such unaccountable mistakes about the
geography of our country as were quite surprising to me, and that I
did not understand how it was that our children should know so much
more about England than they about us. I found the children, however,
in possession of a very excellent and authentic map of our country. I
must say also that the most highly educated people I have met in
England have never betrayed any want of information on this subject.
The next morning we had at breakfast two clergymen, members of the
established church. They appeared to be most excellent, devout,
practical men, anxious to do good, and thoughtfully seeking for
suggestions from any quarter which might assist them in their labors.
They renewed many of the inquiries which Mr. Gurney had made the
evening before.
After breakfast I went with Mr. Gurney and Mr. S. to Richmond's studio
to sit for a likeness, which is to be presented to Mr. S. by several
friends. Richmond's name is one which in this London sphere has only
to be announced to explain itself; not to know him argues yourself
unknown. He is one of the most successful artists in a certain line of
portrait painting that the present day affords. He devotes himself
principally to crayon and water-color sketches. His crayon heads are
generally the size of life; his water-colors of a small size. He often
takes full-lengths in this way, which render not merely the features,
but the figure, air, manner, and what is characteristic about the
dress. These latter sketches are finished up very highly, with the
minuteness of a miniature. His forte consists in seizing and fixing
those fleeting traits of countenance, air, and movement, which go so
far towards making up our idea of a person's appearance. Many of the
engravings of distinguished persons, with which we are familiar, have
come from his designs, such as Wilberforce, Sir Powell Buxton,
Elizabeth Fry, and others. I found his studio quite a gallery of
notabilities, almost all the _distingués_ of the day having sat
to him; so I certainly had the satisfaction of feeling myself in good
company. Mr. Richmond looks quite youthful, (but I never can judge of
any one's age here,) is most agreeable in conversation, full of
anecdote in regard to all the moving life of London. I presume his
power of entertaining conversation is one secret of his successful
likenesses. Some portrait painters keep calling on you for expression
all the while, and say nothing in the world to awaken it.
From Richmond's, Mr. S., C., and I drove out to call upon Kossuth. We
found him in an obscure lodging on the outskirts of London. I would
that some of the editors in America, who have thrown out insinuations
about his living in luxury, could have seen the utter bareness and
plainness of the reception room, which had nothing in it beyond the
simplest necessaries. Here dwells the man whose greatest fault is an
undying love of his country. We all know that if Kossuth would have
taken wealth and a secure retreat, with a life of ease for himself,
America would gladly have laid all these at his feet. But because he
could not acquiesce in the unmerited dishonor of his country, he lives
a life of obscurity, poverty, and labor. All this was written in his
pale, worn face, and sad, thoughtful blue eye. But to me the unselfish
patriot is more venerable for his poverty and his misfortunes.
Have we, among the thousands who speak loud of patriotism in America,
many men, who, were she enfeebled, despised, and trampled, would
forego self, and suffer as long, as patiently for her? It is even
easier to die for a good cause, in some hour of high enthusiasm, when
all that is noblest in us can be roused to one great venture, than to
live for it amid wearing years of discouragement and hope delayed.
There are those even here in England who delight to get up slanders
against Kossuth, and not long ago some most unfounded charges were
thrown out against him in some public prints. By way of counterpoise
an enthusiastic public meeting was held, in which he was presented
with a splendid set of Shakspeare.
He entered into conversation with us with cheerfulness, speaking
English well, though with the idioms of foreign languages. He seemed
quite amused at the sensation which had been excited by Mr. S.'s
cotton speech in Exeter Hall. C. asked him if he had still hopes for
his cause. He answered, "I hope still, because I work still; my hope
is in God and in man."
I inquired for Madame Kossuth, and he answered, "I have not yet seen
her to-day," adding, "she has her family affairs, you know, madam; we
are poor exiles here;" and, fearing to cause embarrassment, I did not
press an interview.
When we parted he took my hand kindly, and said, "God bless you, my
child."
I would not lose my faith in such men for any thing the world could
give me. There are some people who involve in themselves so many of
the elements which go to make up our confidence in human nature
generally, that to lose confidence in them seems to undermine our
faith in human virtue. As Shakspeare says, their defection would be
like "another fall of man."
We went back to Mr. Gurney's to lunch, and then, as the afternoon was
fine, Mr. and Mrs. Gurney drove with us in their carriage to Pembroke
Lodge, the country seat of Lord John Russell. It was an uncommonly
beautiful afternoon, and the view from Richmond Hill was as perfect a
specimen of an English landscape, seen under the most benignant
auspices, as we could hope to enjoy. Orchards, gardens, villas,
charming meadows enamelled with flowers, the silver windings of the
Thames, the luxuriant outlines of the foliage, varied here and there
by the graceful perpendicular of the poplars, all formed one of the
richest of landscapes. The brow of the hill is beautifully laid out
with tufts of trees, winding paths, diversified here and there with
arbors and rustic seats.
Richmond Park is adorned with clumps of ancient trees, among which
troops of deer were strolling. Pembroke Lodge is a plain,
unostentatious building, rising in the midst of charming grounds. We
were received in the drawing room by the young ladies, and were sorry
to learn that Lady Russell was so unwell as to be unable to give us
her company at dinner. Two charming little boys came in, and a few
moments after, their father, Lord John. I had been much pleased with
finding on the centre table a beautiful edition of that revered friend
of my childhood, Dr. Watts's Divine Songs, finely illustrated. I
remarked to Lord John that it was the face of an old friend. He said
it was presented to his little boys by their godfather, Sir George
Grey; and when, taking one of the little boys on his knee, he asked
him if he could repeat me one of his hymns, the whole thing seemed so
New England-like that I began to feel myself quite at home. I hope I
shall some day see in America an edition of Dr. Watts, in which the
illustrations do as much justice to the author's sentiments as in
this, for in all our modern religious works for children there is
nothing that excels these divine songs.
There were only a few guests; among them Sir George Grey and lady; he
is nephew to Earl Grey, of reform memory, and she is the eldest
daughter of the pious and learned Bishop Ryder, of Lichfield. Sir
George is a man of great piety and worth, a liberal, and much
interested in all benevolent movements. There was also the Earl of
Albemarle, who is a colonel in the army, and has served many years
under Wellington, a particularly cheerful, entertaining, conversable
man, full of anecdote. He told several very characteristic and comical
stories about the Duke of Wellington.
At dinner, among other things, the conversation turned upon hunting.
It always seemed to me a curious thing, that in the height of English
civilization this vestige of the savage state should still remain. I
told Lord Albemarle that I thought the idea of a whole concourse of
strong men turning out to hunt a poor fox or hare, creatures so feeble
and insignificant, and who can do nothing to defend themselves, was
hardly consistent with manliness; that if they had some of our
American buffaloes, or a Bengal tiger, the affair would be something
more dignified and generous. Thereupon they only laughed, and told
stories about fox hunters. It seems that killing a fox, except in the
way of hunting, is deemed among hunters an unpardonable offence, and a
man who has the misfortune to do it would be almost as unwilling to
let it be known as if he had killed a man.
They also told about deer stalking in the highlands, in which exercise
I inferred Lord John had been a proficient. The conversation reminded
me of the hunting stories I had heard in the log cabins in Indiana,
and I amused myself with thinking how some of the narrators would
appear among my high-bred friends. There is such a quaint vivacity and
droll-cry about that half-savage western life, as always gives it a
charm in my recollection. I thought of the jolly old hunter who always
concluded the operations of the day by discharging his rifle at his
candle after he had snugly ensconced himself in bed; and of the
celebrated scene in which Henry Clay won an old hunter's vote in an
election, by his aptness in turning into a political simile some
points in the management of a rifle.
Now there is, to my mind, something infinitely more sublime about
hunting in real earnest amid the solemn shadows of our interminable
forests, than in making believe hunt in parks.
It is undoubtedly the fact, that these out-of-door sports of England
have a great deal to do with the firm health which men here enjoy.
Speaking of this subject, I could not help expressing my surprise to
Lord John at the apparently perfect health enjoyed by members of
Parliament, notwithstanding their protracted night labors. He thinks
that the session of Parliament this year will extend nearly to August.
Speaking of breakfasts, he said they often had delightful breakfasts
about three o'clock in the day; this is a total reverse of all our
ideas in regard to time.
After dinner Lord and Lady Ribblesdale came in, connections of Lord
John by a former marriage. I sat by Lord John on the sofa, and
listened with great interest to a conversation between him and Lady
Grey, on the working of the educational system in England; a subject
which has particularly engaged the attention of the English government
since the reign of the present queen. I found a difficulty in
understanding many of the terms they used, though I learned much that
interested me.
After a while I went to Lady Russell's apartment, and had an hour of
very pleasant conversation with her. It greatly enlarges our
confidence in human nature to find such identity of feeling and
opinion among the really good of different countries, and of all
different circles in those countries. I have never been more impressed
with this idea than during my sojourn here in England. Different as
the institutions of England and America are, they do not prevent the
formation of a very general basis of agreement in so far as radical
ideas of practical morality and religion are concerned; and I am
increasingly certain that there is a foundation for a lasting unity
between the two countries which shall increase constantly, as the
increasing facilities of communication lessen the distance between us.
Lady Russell inquired with a good deal of interest after Prescott, our
historian, and expressed the pleasure which she and Lord John had
derived from his writings.
We left early, after a most agreeable evening. The next day at eleven
o'clock we went to an engagement at Lambeth Palace, where we had been
invited by a kind note from its venerable master, the Archbishop of
Canterbury. Lambeth is a stately pile of quaint, antique buildings,
rising most magnificently on the banks of the Thames. It is surrounded
by beautiful grounds, laid out with choice gardening. Through an
ancient hall, lighted by stained-glass windows, we were ushered into
the drawing room, where the guests were assembling. There was quite a
number of people there, among others the lady and eldest son of the
Bishop of London, the Earl and Countess Waldegrave, and the family
friends of the archbishop.
The good archbishop was kind and benign, as usual, and gave me his arm
while we explored the curiosities of the palace. Now, my dear, if you
will please to recollect that the guide book says, "this palace
contains all the gradations of architecture from early English to late
perpendicular," you will certainly not expect me to describe it in one
letter. It has been the residence of the archbishops of Canterbury
from time immemorial, both in the days before the reformation and
since.
The chapel was built between the years 1200 and 1300, and there used
to be painted windows in it, as Archbishop Laud says, which contained
the whole history of the world, from the creation to the day of
judgment. Unfortunately these comprehensive windows were destroyed in
the civil wars.
The part called the Lollards' Tower is celebrated as having been the
reputed prison of the Lollards. These Lollards, perhaps you will
remember, were the followers of John Wickliffe, called Lollards as
Christ was called a "Nazarene," simply because the word was a term of
reproach. Wickliffe himself was summoned here to Lambeth to give an
account of his teachings, and in 1382, William Courtnay, Archbishop of
Canterbury, called a council, which condemned his doctrines. The
tradition is, that at various times these Lollards were imprisoned
here.
In order to get to the tower we had to go through a great many
apartments, passages, and corridors, and terminate all by climbing a
winding staircase, steeper and narrower than was at all desirable for
any but wicked heretics, who ought to be made as uncomfortable as
possible. However, by reasonable perseverance, the archbishop, the
bishop's lady, and all the noble company present found themselves
safely at the top. Our host remarked, I think, that it was the second
time he had ever been there.
The room is thirteen feet by twelve, and about eight feet high,
wainscotted with oak, which is scrawled over with names and
inscriptions. There are eight large iron rings in the wall, to which
the prisoners were chained; for aught we know, Wickliffe himself may
have been one. As our kind host moved about among us with his placid
face, we could not but think that times had altered since the days
when archbishops used to imprison heretics, and preside over grim,
inquisitorial tribunals. We all agreed, however, that, considering the
very beautiful prospect this tower commands up and down the Thames,
the poor Lollards in some respects might have been worse lodged.
We passed through the guard room, library, and along a corridor where
hung a row of pictures of all the archbishops from the very earliest
times; and then the archbishop took me into his study, which is a most
charming room, containing his own private library: after that we all
sat down to lunch in a large dining hall. I was seated between the
archbishop and a venerable admiral in the navy. Among other things,
the latter asked me if there were not many railroad and steamboat
accidents in America. O my countrymen, what trouble do you make us in
foreign lands by your terrible carelessness! I was obliged, in candor,
to say that I thought there was a shocking number of accidents of that
sort, and suggested the best excuse I could think of--our youth and
inexperience; but I certainly thought my venerable friend had touched
a very indefensible point.
Among other topics discussed in the drawing room, I heard some more
_on dits_ respecting spiritual rappings. Every body seems to be
wondering what they are, and what they are going to amount to.
We took leave of our kind host and his family, gratefully impressed
with the simplicity and sincere cordiality of our reception. There are
many different names for goodness in this world; but, after all, true
brotherly kindness and charity is much the same thing, whether it show
itself by a Quaker's fireside or in an archbishop's palace.
Leaving the archbishop's I went to Richmond's again, where I was most
agreeably entertained for an hour or two. We have an engagement for
Playford Hall to-morrow, and we breakfast with Joseph Sturge: it being
now the time of the yearly meeting of the Friends, he and his family
are in town.
LETTER XXIV.
MY DEAR S.:--
The next morning C. and I took the cars to go into the country, to
Playford Hall. "And what's Playford Hall?" you say. "And why did you
go to see it?" As to what it is, here is a reasonably good picture
before you. As to why, it was for many years the residence of Thomas
Clarkson, and is now the residence of his venerable widow and her
family.
Playford Hall is considered, I think, the oldest of the fortified
houses in England, and is, I am told, the only one that has water in
the moat. The water which is seen girdling the wall, in the picture,
is the moat: it surrounds the place entirely, leaving no access except
across the bridge, which is here represented.
After crossing this bridge, you come into a green court yard filled
with choice plants and flowering shrubs, and carpeted with that thick,
soft, velvet-like grass which is to be found nowhere else in so
perfect a state as in England.
The water is fed by a perpetual spring, whose current is so sluggish
as scarcely to be perceptible, but which yet has the vitality of a
running stream.
It has a dark and glassy stillness of surface, only broken by the
forms of the water plants, whose leaves float thickly over it.
The walls of the moat are green with ancient moss, and from the
crevices springs an abundant flowering vine, whose delicate leaves and
bright yellow flowers in some places entirely mantle the stones with
their graceful drapery.
[Illustration: _of Playford Hall._]
The picture I have given you represents only one side of the moat. The
other side is grown up with dark and thick shrubbery and ancient
trees, rising and embowering the entire place, adding to the retired
and singular effect of the whole. The place is a specimen of a sort of
thing which does not exist in America. It is one of those significant
landmarks which unite the present with the past, for which we must
return to the country of our origin.
Playford Hall is peculiarly English, and Thomas Clarkson, for whose
sake I visited it, was as peculiarly an Englishman--a specimen of the
very best kind of English mind and character, as this is of
characteristic English architecture.
We Anglo-Saxons have won a hard name in the world. There are
undoubtedly bad things which are true about us.
Taking our developments as a race, both in England and America, we may
be justly called the Romans of the nineteenth century. We have been
the race which has conquered, subdued, and broken in pieces other
weaker races, with little regard either to justice or mercy. With
regard to benefits by us imparted to conquered nations, I think a
better story, on the whole, can be made out for the Romans than for
us. Witness the treatment of the Chinese, of the tribes of India, and
of our own American Indians.
But still there is in Anglo-Saxon blood, a vigorous sense of justice,
as appears in our habeas corpus, our jury trials, and other features
of state organization; and, when this is tempered, in individuals,
with the elements of gentleness and compassion, and enforced by that
energy and indomitable perseverance which are characteristic of the
Anglo-Saxon mind, they form a style of philanthropy peculiarly
efficient. In short, the Anglo-Saxon is efficient, in whatever he sets
himself about, whether in crushing the weak or lifting them up.
Thomas Clarkson was born in a day when good, pious people imported
cargoes of slaves from Africa, as one of the regular Christianized
modes of gaining a subsistence and providing for themselves and their
households. It was a thing that every body was doing, and every body
thought they had a right to do. It was supposed that all the sugar,
molasses, and rum in the world were dependent on stealing men, women,
and children, and could be got in no other way; and as to consume
sugar, molasses, and rum, were evidently the chief ends of human
existence, it followed that men, women, and children must be stolen to
the end of time.
Some good people, when they now and then heard an appalling story of
the cruelties practised in the slave ship, declared that it was really
too bad, sympathetically remarked, "What a sorrowful world we live
in!" stirred their sugar into their tea, and went on as before,
because, what was there to do?--"Hadn't every body always done it? and
if they didn't do it, wouldn't somebody else?"
It is true that for many years individuals at different times had
remonstrated, written treatises, poems, stories, and movements had
been made by some religious bodies, particularly the Quakers, but the
opposition had amounted to nothing practically efficient.
The attention of Clarkson was first turned to the subject by having it
given out as the theme for a prize composition in his college class,
he being at that time a sprightly young man, about twenty-four years
of age. He entered into the investigation with no other purpose than
to see what he could make of it as a college theme.
He says of himself, "I had expected pleasure from the invention of
arguments, from the arrangement of them, from the putting of them
together, and from the thought, in the interim, that I was engaged in
an innocent contest for literary honor; but all my pleasures were
damped by the facts which were now continually before me."
"It was but one gloomy subject from morning till night; in the daytime
I was uneasy, in the night I had little rest; I sometimes never closed
my eyelids for grief."
It became not now so much a trial for academical reputation as to
write a work which should be useful to Africa. It is not surprising
that a work written under the force of such feelings should have
gained the prize, as it did. Clarkson was summoned from London to
Cambridge, to deliver his prize essay publicly. He says of himself, on
returning to London, "The subject of it almost wholly engrossed my
thoughts. I became at times very seriously affected while on the road.
I stopped my horse occasionally, dismounted, and walked."
"I frequently tried to persuade myself that the contents of my essay
could not be true; but the more I reflected on the authorities on
which they were founded, the more I gave them credit. Coming in sight
of Wade's Mill, in Hertfordshire, I sat down disconsolate on the turf
by the roadside, and held my horse. Here a thought came into my mind,
that if the contents of the essay were true, it was time that somebody
should see these calamities to an end."
These reflections, as it appears, were put off for a while, but
returned again.
This young and noble heart was of a kind that could not comfort itself
so easily for a brother's sorrow as many do.
He says of himself, "In the course of the autumn of the same year, I
walked frequently into the woods, that I might think of the subject in
solitude, and find relief to my mind there; but there the question
still recurred, 'Are these things true?' Still, the answer followed as
instantaneously, 'They are;' still the result accompanied it--surely
some person should interfere. I began to envy those who had seats in
Parliament, riches, and widely-extended connections, which would
enable them to take up this cause.
"Finding scarcely any one, at the time, who thought of it, I was
turned frequently to myself; but here many difficulties arose. It
struck me, among others, that a young man only twenty-four years of
age could not have that solid judgment, or that knowledge of men,
manners, and things, which were requisite to qualify him to undertake
a task of such magnitude and importance; and with whom was I to unite?
I believed, also, that it looked so much like one of the feigned
labors of Hercules, that my understanding would be suspected if I
proposed it."
He, however, resolved to do something for the cause by translating his
essay from Latin into English, enlarging and presenting it to the
public. Immediately on the publication of this essay he discovered, to
his astonishment and delight, that he was not the only one who had
been interested in this subject.
Being invited to the house of William Dillwyn, one of these friends to
the cause, he says, "How surprised was I to learn, in the course of
our conversation, of the labors of Granville Sharp, of the writings of
Ramsey, and of the controversy in which the latter was engaged! of all
which I had hitherto known nothing. How surprised was I to learn that
William Dillwyn had, two years before, associated himself with five
others for the purpose of enlightening the public mind on this great
subject!
"How astonished was I to find that a society had been formed in
America for the same object! These thoughts almost overpowered me. My
mind was overwhelmed by the thought that I had been providentially
directed to this house; the finger of Providence was beginning to be
discernible, and that the daystar of African liberty was rising."
After this he associated with many friends of the cause, and at last
it became evident that, in order to effect any thing, he must
sacrifice all other prospects in life, and devote himself exclusively
to this work.
He says, after mentioning reasons which prevented all his associates
from doing this, "I could look, therefore, to no person but myself;
and the question was, whether I was prepared to make the sacrifice. In
favor of the undertaking, I urged to myself that never was any cause,
which had been taken up by man, in any country or in any age, so great
and important; that never was there one in which so much misery was
heard to cry for redress; that never was there one in which so much
good could be done; never one in which the duty of Christian charity
could be so extensively exercised; never one more worthy of the
devotion of a whole life towards it; and that, if a man thought
properly, he ought to rejoice to have been called into existence, if
he were only permitted to become an instrument in forwarding it in any
part of its progress.
"Against these sentiments, on the other hand, I had to urge that I had
been designed for the church; that I had already advanced as far as
deacon's orders in it; that my prospects there on account of my
connections were then brilliant; that, by appearing to desert my
profession, my family would be dissatisfied, if not unhappy. These
thoughts pressed upon me, and rendered the conflict difficult.
"But the sacrifice of my prospects staggered me, I own, the most. When
the other objections which I have related occurred to me, my
enthusiasm instantly, like a flash of lightning, consumed them; but
this stuck to me, and troubled me. I had ambition. I had a thirst
after worldly interest and honors, and I could not extinguish it at
once. I was more than two hours in solitude under this painful
conflict. At length I yielded, not because I saw any reasonable
prospect of success in my new undertaking,--for all cool-headed and
cool-hearted men would have pronounced against it,--but in obedience,
I believe, to a higher Power. And I can say, that both on the moment
of this resolution and for some time afterwards, I had more sublime
and happy feelings than at any former period of my life."
In order to show how this enterprise was looked upon and talked of
very commonly by the majority of men in those times, we will extract
the following passage from Boswell's Life of Johnson, in which Bozzy
thus enters his solemn protest: "The wild and dangerous attempt, which
has for some time been persisted in, to obtain an act of our
legislature to abolish so very important and necessary a branch of
commercial interest, must have been crushed at once, had not the
insignificance of the zealots, who vainly took the lead in it, made
the vast body of planters, merchants, and others, whose immense
properties are involved in that trade, reasonably enough suppose that
there could be no danger. The encouragement which the attempt has
received excites my wonder and indignation; and though some men of
superior abilities have supported it, whether from a love of temporary
popularity when prosperous, or a love of general mischief when
desperate, my opinion is unshaken.
"To abolish a _status_ which in all ages God has sanctioned, and
man has continued, would not only be robbery to an innumerable class
of our fellow-subjects, but it would be extreme cruelty to the African
savages, a portion of whom it saves from massacre or intolerable
bondage in their own country, and introduces into a much happier state
of life; especially now, when their passage to the West Indies, and
their treatment there, is humanely regulated. To abolish this trade
would be to '--shut the gates of mercy on mankind.'"
One of the first steps of Clarkson and his associates was the
formation of a committee of twelve persons, for the collection and
dissemination of information on the subject.
The contest now began in earnest, a contest as sublime as any the
world ever saw.
The abolition controversy more fully aroused the virtue, the talent,
and the religion of the great English nation, than any other event or
crisis which ever occurred.
Wilberforce was the leader of the question in Parliament. The other
members of the antislavery committee performed those labors which were
necessary out of it.
This labor consisted principally in the collection of evidence with
regard to the traffic, and the presentation of it before the public
mind. In this labor Clarkson was particularly engaged. The subject was
hemmed in with the same difficulties that now beset the antislavery
cause in America. Those who knew most about it were precisely those
whose interest it was to prevent inquiry. An immense moneyed interest
was arrayed against investigation, and was determined to suppress the
agitation of the subject. Owing to this powerful pressure, many, who
were in possession of facts which would bear upon this subject,
refused to communicate them; and often, after a long and wearisome
journey in search of an individual who could throw light upon the
subject, Clarkson had the mortification to find his lips sealed by
interest or timidity. As usual, the cause of oppression was defended
by the most impudent lying; the slave trade was asserted to be the
latest revised edition of philanthropy. It was said that the poor
African, the slave of miserable oppression in his own country, was
wafted by it to an asylum in a Christian land; that the middle passage
was to the poor negro a perfect Elysium, infinitely happier than any
thing he had ever known in his own country. All this was said while
manacles, and handcuffs, and thumbscrews, and instruments to force
open the mouth, were a regular part of the stock for a slave ship, and
were hanging in the shop windows of Liverpool for sale.
For Clarkson's attention was first called to these things by observing
them in the shop window, and on inquiring the use of one of them, the
man informed him that many times negroes were sulky, and tried to
starve themselves to death, and this instrument was used to force open
their jaws.
Of Clarkson's labor in this investigation some idea may be gathered
from his own words, when, stating that for a season he was compelled
to retire from the cause, he thus speaks:--
"As far as I myself was concerned, all exertion was then over. The
nervous system was almost shattered to pieces. Both my memory and my
hearing failed me. Sudden dizzinesses seized my head. A confused
singing in the ear followed me wherever I went. On going to bed the
very stairs seemed to dance up and down under me, so that, misplacing
my foot, I sometimes fell. Talking, too, if it continued but half an
hour, exhausted me so that profuse perspiration followed, and the same
effect was produced even by an active exertion of the mind for the
like time.
"These disorders had been brought on by degrees, in consequence of the
severe labors necessarily attached to the promotion of the cause. For
seven years I had a correspondence to maintain with four hundred
persons, with my own hand; I had some book or other annually to write
in behalf of the cause. In this time I had travelled more than thirty-five
thousand miles in search of evidence, and a great part of these journeys
in the night. All this time my mind had been on the stretch. It had been
bent, too, to this one subject, for I had not even leisure to attend to my
own concerns. The various instances of barbarity which had come
successively to my knowledge, within this period, had vexed, harassed,
and afflicted it. The wound which these had produced was rendered still
deeper by those cruel disappointments before related, which arose from
the reiterated refusals of persons to give their testimony, after I had
travelled hundreds of miles in quest of them. But the severest stroke was
that inflicted by the persecution, begun and pursued by persons interested
in the continuance of the trade, of such witnesses as had been examined
against them, and whom, on account of their dependent situation in life,
it was most easy to oppress. As I had been the means of bringing these
forward on these occasions, they naturally came to me, when thus
persecuted, as the author of their miseries and their ruin. From their
supplications and wants it would have been ungenerous and ungrateful
to have fled. These different circumstances, by acting together, had at
length brought me into the situation just mentioned; and I was, therefore,
obliged, though very reluctantly, to be borne out of the field where I had
placed the great honor and glory of my life."
I may as well add here that a Mr. Whitbread, to whom Clarkson
mentioned this latter cause of distress, generously offered to repair
the pecuniary losses of all who had suffered in this cause. One
anecdote will be a specimen of the energy with which Clarkson pursued
evidence. It had been very strenuously asserted and maintained that
the subjects of the slave trade were only such unfortunates as had
become prisoners of war, and who, if not carried out of the country in
this manner, would be exposed to death or some more dreadful doom in
their own country. This was one of those stories which nobody
believed, and yet was particularly useful in the hands of the
opposition, because it was difficult legally to disprove it. It was
perfectly well known that in very many cases slave traders made direct
incursions into the country, kidnapped and carried off the inhabitants
of whole villages; but the question was, how to establish it. A
gentleman whom Clarkson accidentally met on one of his journeys
informed him that he had been in company, about a year before, with a
sailor, a very respectable-looking young man, who had actually been
engaged in one of these expeditions; he had spent half an hour with
him at an inn; he described his person, but knew nothing of his name
or the place of his abode; all he knew was, that he belonged to a ship
of war in ordinary, but knew nothing of the port. Clarkson determined
that this man should be produced as a witness, and knew no better way
than to go personally to all the ships in ordinary, until the
individual was found. He actually visited every seaport town, and
boarded every ship, till in the very _last_ port, and on the very
_last_ ship, which remained, the individual was found, and found
to be possessed of just the facts and information which were
necessary. By the labors of Clarkson and his contemporaries an
incredible excitement was produced throughout all England. The
pictures and models of slave ships, accounts of the cruelties
practised in the trade, were circulated with an industry which left
not a man, woman, or child in England uninstructed. In disseminating
information, and in awakening feeling and conscience, the women of
England were particularly earnest, and labored with that whole-hearted
devotion which characterizes the sex.
It seems that after the committee had published the facts, and sent
them to every town in England, Clarkson followed them up by journeying
to all the places, to see that they were read and attended to. Of the
state of feeling at this time Clarkson gives the following account:--
"And first I may observe, that there was no town through which I
passed in which there was not some one individual who had left off the
use of sugar. In the smaller towns there were from ten to fifty, by
estimation, and in the larger from two to five hundred, who made this
sacrifice to virtue. These were of all ranks and parties. Hich and
poor, churchmen and dissenters, had adopted the measure. Even grocers
had left off trading in the article in some places. In gentlemen's
families, where the master had set the example, the servants had often
voluntarily followed it; and even children, who were capable of
understanding the history of the sufferings of the Africans, excluded,
with the most virtuous resolution, the sweets, to which they had been
accustomed, from their lips. By the best computation I was able to
make, from notes taken down in my journey, no fewer than three hundred
thousand persons had abandoned the use of sugar." It was the reality,
depth, and earnestness of the public feeling, thus aroused, which
pressed with resistless force upon the government; for the government
of England yields to popular demands quite as readily as that of
America.
After years of protracted struggle, the victory was at last won. The
slave trade was finally abolished through all the British empire; and
not only so, but the English nation committed, with the whole force of
its national influence, to seek the abolition of the slave trade in
all the nations of the earth. But the wave of feeling did not rest
there; the investigations had brought before the English conscience
the horrors and abominations of slavery itself, and the agitation
never ceased till slavery was finally abolished through all the
British provinces. At this time the religious mind and conscience of
England gained, through this very struggle, a power which it never has
lost. The principle adopted by them was the same so sublimely adopted
by the church in America in reference to the foreign missionary cause:
"The field is the world." They saw and felt that, as the example and
practice of England had been powerful in giving sanction to this evil,
and particularly in introducing it into America, there was the
greatest reason why she should never intermit her efforts till the
wrong was righted throughout the earth.
Clarkson, to his last day, never ceased to be interested in the
subject, and took the warmest interest in all movements for the
abolition of slavery in America.
At the Ipswich depot we were met by a venerable lady, the daughter of
Clarkson's associate, William Dillwyn. She seemed overjoyed to meet
us, and took us at once into her carriage, and entertained us all our
way to the hall by anecdotes and incidents of Clarkson and his times.
She read me a manuscript letter from him, written at a very advanced
age, in which he speaks with the utmost ardor and enthusiasm of the
first antislavery movements of Cassius M. Clay in Kentucky. She
described him to me as a cheerful, companionable being, frank and
simple-hearted, and with a good deal of quiet humor.
It is remarkable of him that, with such intense feeling for human
suffering as he had, and worn down and exhausted as he was by the
dreadful miseries and sorrows with which he was constantly obliged to
be familiar, he never yielded to a spirit of bitterness or
denunciation.
The narrative which he gives is as calm and unimpassioned, and as free
from any trait of this kind, as the narratives of the evangelists.
Thus riding and talking, we at last arrived at the hall.
The old stone house, the moat, the draw bridge, all spoke of days of
violence long gone by, when no man was safe except within fortified
walls, and every man's house literally had to be his castle.
To me it was interesting as the dwelling of a conqueror, as one who
had not wrestled with flesh and blood merely, but with principalities
and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and who had
overcome, as his great Master did before him, by faith, and prayer,
and labor.
We were received with much cordiality by the widow of Clarkson, now in
her eighty-fourth year. She has been a woman of great energy and
vigor, and an efficient co-laborer in his plans of benevolence.
She is now quite feeble. I was placed under the care of a respectable
female servant, who forthwith installed me in a large chamber
overlooking the court yard, which had been Clarkson's own room; the
room where, for years, many of his most important labors had been
conducted, and from whence his soul had ascended to the reward of the
just.
The servant who attended me seemed to be quite a superior woman, like
many of the servants in respectable English families. She had grown up
in the family, and was identified with it; its ruling aims and
purposes had become hers. She had been the personal attendant of
Clarkson, and his nurse during his last sickness; she had evidently
understood, and been interested in his plans; and the veneration with
which she therefore spoke of him had the sanction of intelligent
appreciation.
A daughter of Clarkson, who was married to a neighboring clergyman,
with her husband, was also present on this day.
After dinner we rode out to see the old church, in whose enclosure the
remains of Clarkson repose. It was just such a still, quiet, mossy old
church as you have read of in story books, with the graveyard spread
all around it, like a thoughtful mother, who watches the resting of
her children.
The grass in the yard was long and green, and the daisy, which, in
other places, lies like a little button on the ground, here had a
richer fringe of crimson, and a stalk about six inches high. It is, I
well know, the vital influence from the slumbering dust beneath which
gives the richness to this grass and these flowers; but let not that
be a painful thought; let it rather cheer us, that beauty should
spring from ashes, and life smile brighter from the near presence of
death. The grave of Clarkson is near the church, enclosed by a
railing, and marked by a simple white marble slab; it is carefully
tended, and planted with flowers. In the church was an old book of
records, and among other curious inscriptions was one recording how a
pious committee of old Noll's army had been there, knocking off
saints' noses, and otherwise purging the church from the relics of
idolatry.
Near by the church was the parsonage, the home of my friends, a neat,
pleasant, sequestered dwelling, of about the style of a New England
country parsonage.
The effect of the whole together was inexpressibly beautiful to me.
For a wonder, it was a pleasant day, and this is a thing always to be
thankfully acknowledged in England. The calm stillness of the
afternoon, the seclusion of the whole place, the silence only broken
by the cawing of the rooks, the ancient church, the mossy graves with
their flowers and green grass, the sunshine and the tree shadows, all
seemed to mingle together in a kind of hazy dream of peacefulness and
rest. How natural it is to say of some place sheltered, simple, cool,
and retired, here one might find peace, as if peace came from without,
and not from within. In the shadiest and stillest places may be the
most turbulent hearts; and there are hearts which, through the busiest
scenes, carry with them unchanging peace. As we were walking back, we
passed many cottages of the poor.
I noticed, with particular pleasure, the invariable flower garden
attached to each. Some pansies in one of them attracted my attention
by their peculiar beauty, so very large and richly colored. On being
introduced to the owner of them, she, with cheerful alacrity, offered
me some of the finest. I do not doubt of there being suffering and
misery in the agricultural population of England, but still there are
multitudes of cottages which are really very pleasant objects, as were
all these. The cottagers had that bright, rosy look of health which we
seldom see in America, and appeared to be both polite and
self-respecting.
In the evening we had quite a gathering of friends from the
neighborhood--intelligent, sensible, earnest people, who had grown up
in the love of the antislavery cause as into religion. The subject of
conversation was, "The duty of English people to free themselves from
any participation in American slavery, by taking means to encourage
the production of free cotton in the British provinces."
It is no more impossible or improbable that something effective may be
done in this way than that the slave trade should have been abolished.
Every great movement seems an impossibility at first. There is no end
to the number of things declared and proved impossible which have been
done already, so that this may become something yet.
Mrs. Clarkson had retired from the room early; after a while she sent
for me to her sitting room. The faithful attendant of whom I spoke was
with her. She wished to show me some relics of her husband, his watch
and seals, some of his papers and manuscripts; among these was the
identical prize essay with which he began his career, and a commentary
on the Gospels, which he had written with great care, for the use of
his grandson. His seal attracted my attention--it was that kneeling
figure of the negro, with clasped hands, which was at first adopted as
the badge of the cause, when every means was being made use of to
arouse the public mind and keep the subject before the public. Mr.
Wedgwood, the celebrated porcelain manufacturer, designed a cameo,
with this representation, which was much worn as an ornament by
ladies. It was engraved on the seal of the Antislavery Society, and
was used by its members in sealing all their letters. This of
Clarkson's was handsomely engraved on a large, old-fashioned
carnelian; and surely, if we look with emotion on the sword of a
departed hero,--which, at best, we can consider only as a necessary
evil,--we may look with unmingled pleasure on this memorial of a
bloodless victory.
When I retired to my room for the night I could not but feel that the
place was hallowed: unceasing prayer had there been offered for the
enslaved and wronged race of Africa by that noble and brotherly heart.
I could not but feel that those prayers had had a wider reach than the
mere extinction of slavery in one land or country, and that their
benign influence would not cease while a slave was left upon the face
of the earth.
LETTER XXV.
DEAR C.:--
We returned to London, and found Mr. S. and Joseph Sturge waiting for
us at the depot. We dined with Mr. Sturge. It seems that Mr. S.'s
speech upon the subject of cotton has created some considerable
disturbance, different papers declaring themselves for or against it
with a good deal of vivacity.
After dinner Mr. Sturge desired me very much to go into the meeting of
the women; for it seems that, at the time of the yearly meeting among
the Friends, the men and women both have their separate meetings for
attending to business. The aspect of the meeting was very
interesting--so many placid, amiable faces, shaded by plain Quaker
bonnets; so many neat white handkerchiefs, folded across peaceful
bosoms. Either a large number of very pretty women wear the Quaker
dress, or it is quite becoming in its effect.
There are some things in the mode of speaking among the Friends,
particularly in their public meetings, which do not strike me
agreeably, and to which I think it would take me some time to become
accustomed; such as a kind of intoning somewhat similar to the manner
in which the church service is performed in cathedrals. It is a
curious fact that religious exercises, in all ages and countries, have
inclined to this form of expression. It appears in the cantilation of
the synagogue, the service of the cathedral, the prayers of the
Covenanter and the Puritan.
There were a table and writing materials in this meeting, and a circle
of from fifty to a hundred ladies. One of those upon the platform
requested me to express to them my opinion on free labor. In a few
words I told them I considered myself upon that subject more a learner
than a teacher, but that I was deeply interested in what I had learned
upon this subject since my travelling in England, and particularly
interested in the consistency and self-denial practised by their sect.
I have been quite amused with something which has happened lately. It
always has seemed to me that distinguished people here in England live
a remarkably out-door sort of life; and newspapers tell a vast deal
about people's concerns which it is not our custom to put into print
in America. Such, for instance, as where the Hon. Mr. A. is staying
now, and where he expects to go next; what her grace wore at the last
ball, and when the royal children rode out, and what they had on; and
whom Lord Such-a-one had to dinner; besides a large number of
particulars which probably never happen.
Could I have expected dear old England to make me so much one of the
family as to treat my humble fortunes in this same public manner? But
it is even so. This week the Times has informed the United Kingdom
that Mrs. Stowe is getting a new dress made!--the charming old
aristocratic Times, which every body declares is such a wicked paper,
and yet which they can no more do without than they can their
breakfast! What am I, and what is my father's house, that such
distinction should come upon me? I assure you, my dear, I feel myself
altogether too much flattered. There, side by side with speculations
on the eastern question, and conjectures with regard to the secret and
revealed will of the Emperor of Russia, news from her majesty's most
sacred retreat at Osborne, and the last debates in Parliament, comes
my brown silk dress! The Times has omitted the color; I had a great
mind to send him word about that. But you may tell the girls--for
probably the news will spread through the American papers--that it is
the brown Chinese silk which they put into my trunk, unmade, when I
was too ill to sit up and be fitted.
Mr. Times wants to know if Mrs. Stowe is aware what sort of a place
her dress is being made in, and there is a letter from a dressmaker's
apprentice stating that it is being made up piecemeal, in the most
shockingly distressed dens of London, by poor, miserable white slaves,
worse treated than the plantation slaves of America.
Now, Mrs. Stowe did not know any thing of this, but simply gave the
silk into the hands of a friend, and was in due time waited on in her
own apartment by a very respectable woman, who offered to make the
dress; and lo, this is the result! Since the publication of this
piece, I have received earnest missives, from various parts of the
country, begging me to interfere, hoping that I was not going to
patronize the white slavery of England, and that I would employ my
talents equally against oppression under every form. The person who
had been so unfortunate as to receive the weight of my public
patronage was in a very tragical state; protested her innocence of any
connection with dens, of any overworking of hands, &c., with as much
fervor as if I had been appointed on a committee of parliamentary
inquiry. Let my case be a warning to all philanthropists who may
happen to want clothes while they are in London. Some of my
correspondents seemed to think that I ought to publish a manifesto for
the benefit of distressed Great Britain, stating how I came to do it,
and all the circumstances, since they are quite sure I must have meant
well, and containing gentle cautions as to the disposal of my future
patronage in the dressmaking line.
Could these people only know in what sacred simplicity I had been
living in the State of Maine, where the only dressmaker of our circle
was an intelligent, refined, well-educated woman, who was considered
as the equal of us all, and whose spring and fall ministrations to our
wardrobe were regarded a double pleasure,--a friendly visit as well as
a domestic assistance,--I say, could they know all this, they would
see how guiltless I was in the matter. I verily never thought but that
the nice, pleasant person, who came to measure me for my silk, was
going to take it home and make it herself; it never occurred to me
that she was the head of an establishment.
And now, what am I to do? The Times seems to think that, in order to
be consistent, I ought to take up the conflict immediately; but, for
my part, I think otherwise. What an unreasonable creature! Does he
suppose me so lost to all due sense of humility as to take out of his
hands a cause which he is pleading so well? If the plantation slaves
had such a good friend as the Times, and if every over-worked female
cotton picker could write as clever letters as this dressmaker's
apprentice, and get them published in as influential papers, and
excite as general a sensation by them as this seems to have done, I
think I should feel that there was no need of my interfering in a work
so much better done. Unfortunately, our female cotton pickers do not
know how to read and write, and it is against the law to teach them;
and this instance shows that the law is a sagacious one, since,
doubtless, if they could read and write, most embarrassing
communications might be made.
Nothing shows more plainly, to my mind, than this letter, the
difference between the working class of England and the slave. The
free workman or workwoman of England or America, however poor, is
self-respecting; is, to some extent, clever and intelligent; is
determined to resist wrong, and, as this incident shows, has abundant
means for doing so.
When we shall see the columns of the Charleston Courier adorned with
communications from cotton pickers and slave seamstresses, we shall
then think the comparison a fair one. In fact, apart from the
whimsicality of the affair, and the little annoyance which one feels
at notoriety to which one is not accustomed, I consider the incident
as in some aspects a gratifying one, as showing how awake and active
are the sympathies of the British public with that much-oppressed
class of needlewomen.
Horace Greeley would be delighted could his labors in this line excite
a similar commotion in New York.
We dined to-day at the Duke of Argyle's. At dinner there were the
members of the family, the Duchess of Sutherland, Lord Carlisle, Lord
and Lady Blantyre, &c. The conversation flowed along in a very
agreeable channel. I told them the more I contemplated life in Great
Britain, the more I was struck with the contrast between the
comparative smallness of the territory and the vast power, physical,
moral, and intellectual, which it exerted in the world.
The Duchess of Sutherland added, that it was beautiful to observe how
gradually the idea of freedom had developed itself in the history of
the English nation, growing clearer and more distinct in every
successive century.
I might have added that the history of our own American republic is
but a continuation of the history of this development. The resistance
to the stamp act was of the same kind as the resistance to the ship
money; and in our revolutionary war there were as eloquent defences of
our principles and course heard in the British Parliament as echoed in
Faneuil Hall.
I conversed some with Lady Caroline Campbell, the duke's sister, with
regard to Scottish preaching and theology. She is a member of the Free
church, and attends, in London, Dr. Cumming's congregation. I derived
the impression from her remarks, that the style of preaching in
Scotland is more discriminating and doctrinal than in England. One who
studies the pictures given in Scott's novels must often have been
struck with the apparent similarity in the theologic training and
tastes of the laboring classes in New England and Scotland. The
hard-featured man, whom he describes in Rob Roy as following the
preacher so earnestly, keeping count of the doctrinal points on his
successive fingers, is one which can still be seen in the retired,
rural districts of New England; and I believe that this severe
intellectual discipline of the pulpit has been one of the greatest
means in forming that strong, self-sustaining character peculiar to
both countries.
The Duke of Argyle said that Chevalier Bunsen had been speaking to him
in relation to a college for colored people at Antigua, and inquired
my views respecting the emigration of colored people from America to
the West India islands. I told him my impression was, that Canada
would be a much better place to develop the energies of the race.
First, on account of its cold and bracing climate; second, because,
having never been a slave state, the white population there are more
thrifty and industrious, and of course the influence of such a
community was better adapted to form thrift arid industry in the
negro.
In the evening, some of the ladies alluded to the dressmaker's letter
in the Times. I inquired if there was nothing done for them as a class
in London, and some of them said,--
"O, Lord Shaftesbury can tell you all about it; he is president of the
society for their protection."
So I said to Lord Shaftesbury, playfully, "I thought, my lord, you had
reformed every thing here in London."
"Ah, indeed," he replied, "but this was not in one of my houses. I
preside over the West End."
He talked on the subject for some time with considerable energy; said
it was one of the most difficult he had ever attempted to regulate,
and promised to send me a few documents, which would show the measures
he had pursued. He said, however, that there was progress making; and
spoke of one establishment in particular, which had recently been
erected in London, and was admirably arranged with regard to
ventilation, being conducted in the most perfect manner.
Quite a number of distinguished persons were present this evening;
among others, Sir David Brewster, famed in the scientific world. He is
a fine-looking old gentleman, with silver-white hair, who seemed to be
on terms of great familiarity with the duke. He bears the character of
a decidedly religious man, and is an elder in the Free church.
Lord Mahon, the celebrated historian, was there, with his lady. He is
a young-looking man, of agreeable manners, and fluent in conversation.
This I gather from Mr. S., with whom he conversed very freely on our
historians, Prescott, Bancroft, and especially Dr. Sparks, his sharp
controversy with whom he seems to bear with great equanimity.
Lady Mahon is a handsome, interesting woman, with very pleasing
manners.
Mr. Gladstone was there also, one of the ablest and best men in the
kingdom. It is a commentary on his character that, although one of the
highest of the High church, we have never heard him spoken of, even
among dissenters, otherwise than as an excellent and highly
conscientious man. For a gentleman who has attained to such celebrity,
both in theology and politics, he looks remarkably young. He is tall,
with dark hair and eyes, a thoughtful, serious cast of countenance,
and is easy and agreeable in conversation.
On the whole, this was a very delightful evening.
LETTER XXVI.
DEAR C.:--
I will add to this a little sketch, derived from the documents sent me
by Lord Shaftesbury, of the movements in behalf of the milliners and
dressmakers in London for seven years past.
About thirteen years ago, in the year 1841, Lord Shaftesbury obtained
a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the employment of children
and young persons in various trades and manufactures. This commission,
among other things, was directed toward the millinery and dressmaking
trade. These commissioners elicited the following facts: that there
were fifteen hundred employers in this trade in London, and fifteen
thousand young people employed, besides a great number of journeywomen
who took the work home to their own houses. They discovered, also,
that during the London season, which occupied about four months of the
year, the regular hours of work were fifteen, but in many
establishments they were entirely unlimited,--the young women never
getting more than six hours for sleep, and often only two or three;
that frequently they worked all night and part of Sunday. They
discovered, also, that the rooms in which they worked and slept were
overcrowded, and deficient in ventilation; and that, in consequence of
all these causes, blindness, consumption, and multitudes of other
diseases carried thousands of them yearly to the grave.
These facts being made public to the English nation, a society was
formed in London in 1843, called the Association for The Aid of
Milliners and Dressmakers. The president of this society is the Earl
of Shaftesbury; the vice presidents are twenty gentlemen of the most
influential position. Besides this there is a committee of ladies, and
a committee of gentlemen. At the head of the committee of ladies
stands the name of the Duchess of Sutherland, with seventeen others,
among whom we notice the Countess of Shaftesbury, Countess of
Ellesmere, Lady Robert Grosvenor, and others of the upper London
sphere. The subscription list of donations to the society is headed by
the queen and royal family.
The features of the plan which the society undertook to carry out were
briefly these:--
First, they opened a registration office, where all young persons
desiring employment in the dressmaking trade might enroll their names
free of expense, and thus come in a manner under the care of the
association. From the young people thus enrolled, they engaged to
supply to the principals of dressmaking establishments extra
assistants in periods of uncommon pressure, so that they should not be
under the necessity of overtaxing their workwomen. This assistance is
extended only to those houses which will observe the moderate hours
recommended by the association.
In the second place, an arrangement is made by which the young persons
thus registered are entitled to the best of medical advice at any
time, for the sum of five shillings per year. Three physicians and two
consulting surgeons are connected with the association.
In the third place, models of simple and cheap modes of ventilation
are kept at all times at the office of the society, and all the
influence of the association is used to induce employers to place them
in the work and sleeping rooms.
Fourth, a kind of savings bank has been instituted, in which the
workwomen are encouraged to deposit small earnings on good interest.
This is the plan of the society, and as to its results I have at hand
the report for 1851, from which you can gather some particulars of its
practical workings. They say, "Eight years have elapsed since this
association was established, during which a most gratifying change has
been wrought in respect to the mode of conducting the dressmaking and
millinery business.
"Without overstepping the strict limits of truth, it may be affirmed
that the larger part of the good thus achieved is attributable to the
influence and unceasing efforts of this society. The general result,
so far as the metropolis is concerned, may be thus stated: First, the
hours of work, speaking generally, now rarely exceed twelve, whereas
formerly sixteen, seventeen, and even eighteen hours were not unusual.
"Second, the young persons are rarely kept up all night, which was
formerly not an unusual occurrence.
"Third, labor on the Lord's day, it is confidently believed, has been
entirely abrogated.
"Under the old system the health and constitution of many of the young
people were irretrievably destroyed. At present permanent loss of
health is rarely entailed, and even when sickness does from any cause
arise, skilful and prompt advice and medicine are provided at a
moderate charge by the association.
"In addition to these and similar ameliorations, other and more
important changes have been effected. Among the heads of
establishments, as the committee are happy to know and most willing to
record, more elevated views of the duties and responsibilities,
inseparable from employers, have secured to the association the
zealous cooperation of numerous and influential principals, without
whose aid the efforts of the last few years would have been often
impeded, or even in many instances defeated. Nor have the young
persons engaged in the dressmaking and millinery business remained
uninfluenced amidst the general improvement. Finding that a strenuous
effort was in progress to promote their physical and moral welfare,
and that increased industry on their part would be rewarded by
diminished hours of work, the assistants have become more attentive,
the workrooms are better managed, and both parties, relieved from a
system which was oppressive to all and really beneficial to none, have
recognized the fundamental truth, that in no industrial pursuit is
there any real incompatibility between the interests, rightfully
interpreted, of the employer and the employed. Although not generally
known, evils scarcely less serious than those formerly prevalent in
the metropolis were not uncommon in the manufacturing towns and
fashionable watering-places. It is obviously impracticable to
ascertain to what extent the efforts of the association have been
attended with success in the provinces; but a rule has been
established that in no instance shall the cooperation of the office,
in providing assistants, be extended to any establishment in which the
hours of work are known to exceed those laid down by the association.
On these conditions the principals of many country establishments have
for several years been supplied; latterly, indeed, owing to the great
efficiency of the manager, Miss Newton, and to the general
satisfaction thus created, these applications have so much increased
as to constitute a principal part of the business of the office; and
with the increase the influence of the association has been
proportionally extended."
This, as you perceive, was the report for 1851. Lord Shaftesbury has
kindly handed me the first proof of the report for 1853, from which I
will send you a few extracts.
After the publication of the letter from the ladies of England to the
ladies of America, much was said in the Times and other newspapers
with regard to the condition of the dressmakers. These things are what
are alluded to in the commencement of the report. They say,--
"In presenting their annual report, the committees would in the first
place refer to the public notice that has lately been directed to the
mode in which the dressmaking and millinery business is conducted:
this they feel to be due both to the association and to those
employers who have cooperated in the good work of improvement. It has
been stated in former reports, that since the first establishment of
this society, in the year 1843, and essentially through its influence,
great ameliorations have been secured; that the inordinate hours of
work formerly prevalent had, speaking generally, been greatly reduced;
that Sunday labor had been abolished; that the young people were
rarely kept up all night; and that, as a consequence of these
improvements, there had been a marked decrease of serious sickness.
"At the present moment, in consequence of the statements that have
appeared in the public journals, and in order to guard against
misconceptions, the committees are anxious to announce that they
perceive no reason for withdrawing any of their preceding statements--
the latest, equally with former investigations, indicating the great
improvement effected in recent years. The manager at the office has
been instructed to make express inquiries of the young dressmakers
themselves; and the result distinctly proves that, on the whole, there
has been a marked diminution in the hours of work.
"The report of Mr. Trouncer, the medical officer who has attended the
larger number of the young persons for whom advice has been provided
by the association, is equally satisfactory. This gentleman, after
alluding to the great evils in regard to health inflicted in former
years, remarks that these have, through the instrumentality of the
association, been greatly ameliorated; that as regards consumption,--
although the nature of the employment itself, however modified by
kindness, has a tendency to develop the disease where the
predisposition exists,--he is happy to state that the average number
of cases, even in the incipient stage, has not been so great as might,
from the circumstances, have been anticipated; that during the last
two years, out of about two hundred and fifty cases of sickness, no
death has occurred; and that but in a few instances only has it been
necessary to advise a total cessation of business. Mr. Trouncer adds
--and this is a statement which the committees have much pleasure in
announcing--that, in the majority of the West End houses, the
principals have, in cases of sickness, acted the part of parents,
evincing, in some instances, even more care than the young persons
themselves.
"In addition to these satisfactory and reliable statements, it is a
matter of simple justice to state that many houses of business have
cooperated with the association in reducing the hours of work, in
improving the workrooms and sleeping apartments, and generally in
promoting the comfort of those in their employ. Some employers have
also very creditably, and at considerable expense, exerted themselves
to secure a good system of ventilation--a subject to which the
committees attach great importance, both as regards the health and
comfort of those employed.
"It is not, by these statements, intended to be said that all
requiring amendment has been corrected. In their last report the
committees remarked that some few houses of business systematically
persisted in exacting excessive labor from their assistants; and they
regret to state that this observation is still applicable. The
important subject of ventilation is still much neglected, and there is
reason to apprehend that the sleeping apartments are often much
overcrowded. Another and a more prevailing evil relates to the time
allowed for meals: this is often altogether insufficient, and strongly
contrasted with the custom in other industrial pursuits, in which one
hour for dinner, and half an hour for breakfast or tea, as the case
may be, is the usual allowance. In an occupation so sedentary as
dressmaking, and especially in the case of young females, hurried
meals are most injurious, and are a frequent cause of deranged health.
It is also the painful duty of the committees to state that in some
establishments, according to the medical report, the principals, in
cases of sickness, will neither allow the young people an opportunity
of calling on the medical officer for his advice, nor permit that
gentleman to visit them at the place of business. The evils resulting
from this absence of all proper feeling are so obvious that it is
hoped this public rebuke will in future obviate the necessity of
recurring to so painful a topic."
The committee after this proceed to publish the following declaration,
signed by fifty-three of the West End dressmakers:--
"'We, the undersigned principals of millinery and dress-making
establishments at the West End of London, having observed in the
newspapers statements of excessive labor in our business, feel called
upon, in self-defence, to make the following public statement,
especially as we have reason to believe that some of the assertions
contained in the letters published in the newspapers are not wholly
groundless:--
"'1. During the greater portion of the year we do not require the
young people in our establishments to work more than twelve hours,
inclusive of one hour and a half for meals: from March to July we
require them to work thirteen hours and a half, allowing during that
time one hour's rest for dinner, and half an hour's rest for tea.
"'2. It has been our object to provide suitable sleeping
accommodations, and to avoid overcrowding.
"'3. In no case do we require work on Sundays, or all night.
"'4. The food we supply is of the best quality, and unlimited in
quantity.'"
Five of these dressmakers, whose names are designated by stars, signed
with the understanding that on rare occasions the hours might possibly
be exceeded.
The remarks which the committee make, considering that it has upon its
list the most influential and distinguished ladies of the London
world, are, I think, worth attention, as showing the strong moral
influence which must thus be brought to bear, both on the trade and on
fashionable society, by this association. They first remark, with
regard to those employers who signed with the reservation alluded to,
that they have every reason to believe that the feeling which prompted
this qualification is to be respected, as it originated in a
determination not to undertake more than they honestly intended to
perform.
They say of the document, on the whole, that, though not realizing all
the views of the association, it must be regarded as creditable to
those who have signed it, since it indicates the most important
advance yet made towards the improvement of the dressmaking and
millinery business. The committees then go on to express a most
decided opinion, first, that the hours of work in the dressmaking
trade ought not to exceed ten per diem; second, that during the
fashionable season ladies should employ sufficient time for the
execution of their orders.
The influence of this association, as will be seen, has extended all
over England. In Manchester a paper, signed by three thousand ladies,
was presented to the principals of the establishments, desiring them
to adopt the rules of the London association.
I mentioned, in a former letter, that the lady mayoress of London, and
the ladies of the city, held a meeting on the subject only a short
time since, with a view of carrying the same improvement through all
the establishments of that part of London. The lady mayoress and five
others of this meeting consented to add their names to the committee,
so that it now represents the whole of London. The Bishop of London
and several of the clergy extend their patronage to the association.
LETTER XXVII.
DEAR S.:--
The next day we went to hear a sermon in behalf of the ragged schools,
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The children who attended the ragged
schools of that particular district were seated in the gallery, each
side of the organ. As this was the Sunday appropriated to the
exercise, all three of the creeds were read--the Apostles',
Athanasian, and Nicene; all which the little things repeated after the
archbishop, with great decorum, and probably with the same amount of
understanding that we, when children, had of the Assembly's Catechism.
The venerable archbishop was ushered into the pulpit by beadles, with
gold lace cocked hats, striking the ground majestically with their
long staves of office. His sermon, however, was as simple, clear, and
beautiful an exposition of the duty of practical Christianity towards
the outcast and erring as I ever heard. He said that, should we find a
young child wandering away from its home and friends, we should
instinctively feel it our duty to restore the little wanderer; and
such, he said, is the duty we owe to all these young outcasts, who had
strayed from the home of their heavenly Father.
After the sermon they took up a collection; and when we went into the
vestry to speak to the archbishop, we saw him surrounded by the church
wardens, counting over the money.
I noticed in the back part of the church a number of children in
tattered garments, with rather a forlorn and wild appearance, and was
told that these were those who had just been introduced into the
school, and had not been there long enough to come under its modifying
influences. We were told that they were always thus torn and forlorn
in their appearance at first, but that they gradually took pains to
make themselves respectable. The archbishop said, pleasantly, "When
they return to their right mind they appear _clothed_, also, and
sitting at the feet of Jesus."
The archbishop sent me afterwards a beautiful edition of his sermons
on Christian charity, embracing a series of discourses on various
topics of practical benevolence, relating to the elevation and
christianization of the masses. They are written with the same purity
of style, and show the same devout and benevolent spirit with his
other writings.
My thoughts were much saddened to-day by the news, which I received
this week, of the death of Mary Edmonson. It is not for her that I
could weep; for she died as calmly and serenely as she lived,
resigning her soul into the hands of her Savior. What I do weep for
is, that under the flag of my country--and that country a Christian
one--such a life as Mary's could have been lived, and so little said
or done about it.
In the afternoon I went to the deanery of St. Paul's--a retired
building in a deep court opposite the cathedral. After a brief
conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Milman, we went to the cathedral. I had
never seen it before, and was much impressed with the majesty and
grace of the interior. Nevertheless, the Italian style of
architecture, with all its elegance, fails to affect me equally with
the Gothic. The very rudeness of the latter, a something inchoate and
unfinished, is significant of matter struggling with religious ideas
too vast to be fully expressed. Even as in the ancient Scriptures
there are ideas which seem to overtask the powers of human language. I
sat down with Mrs. M. in one of the little compartments, or
_stalls,_ as they are called, into which the galleries are
divided, and which are richly carved in black oak. The whole service
was chanted by a choir expressly trained for the purpose. Some of the
performers are boys of about thirteen years, and of beautiful
countenances. There is a peculiar manner of reading the service
practised in the cathedrals, which is called "intoning." It is a
plaintive, rhythmical chant, with as strong an unction of the nasal as
ever prevailed in a Quaker or Methodist meeting. I cannot exactly
understand why Episcopacy threw out the slur of "nasal twang" as one
of the peculiarities of the conventicle, when it is in full force in
the most approved seats of church orthodoxy. I listened to all in as
uncritical and sympathetic a spirit as possible, giving myself up to
be lifted by the music as high as it could waft me. To one thus
listening, it is impossible to criticize with severity; for, unless
positively offensive, any music becomes beautiful by the power of
sympathy and association. After service we listened to a short sermon
from the Rev. Mr. Villiers, fervent, affectionate, and evangelical in
spirit, and much in the general style of sermonizing which I have
already described.
Monday morning, May 23. We went to breakfast at Mr. Cobden's. Mr. C.
is a man of slender frame, rather under than over the middle size,
with great ease of manner, and flexibility of movement, and the most
frank, fascinating smile. His appearance is a sufficient account of
his popularity, for he seems to be one of those men who carry about
them an atmosphere of vivacity and social exhilaration. We had a very
pleasant and social time, discussing and comparing things in England
and America. Mr. Cobden assured us that he had had curious calls from
Americans, sometimes. Once an editor of a small village paper called,
who had been making a tour through the rural districts of England. He
said that he had asked some mowers how they were prospering. They
answered, "We ain't prosperin'; we're hayin'." Said Cobden,
"I told the man, 'Now don't you go home and publish that in your
paper;' but he did, nevertheless, and sent me over the paper with the
story in it." I might have comforted him with many a similar anecdote
of Americans, as for example, the man who was dead set against a
tariff, "'cause he knew if they once got it, they'd run the old thing
right through his farm;" or those immortal Pennsylvania Dutchmen, who,
to this day, it is said, give in all their votes under the solemn
conviction that they are upholding General Jackson's administration.
The conversation turned on the question of the cultivation of cotton
by free labor. The importance of this great measure was fully
appreciated by Mr. Cobden, as it must be by all. The difficulties to
be overcome in establishing the movement were no less clearly seen,
and ably pointed out. On the whole, the comparison of views was not
only interesting in a high degree, but to us, at least, eminently
profitable. We ventured to augur favorably to the cause from the
indications of that interview.
From this breakfast we returned to dine at Surrey parsonage; and,
after dinner, attended Miss Greenfield's concert at Stafford House.
Mr. S. could not attend on account of so soon leaving town.
The concert room was the brilliant and picturesque hall I have before
described to you. It looked more picture-like and dreamy than ever.
The piano was on the flat stairway just below the broad central
landing. It was a grand piano, standing end outward, and perfectly
_banked up_ among hothouse flowers, so that only its gilded top
was visible. Sir George Smart presided. The choicest of the
_élite_ were there. Ladies in demi-toilet and bonneted. Miss
Greenfield stood among the singers on the staircase, and excited a
sympathetic murmur among the audience. She is not handsome, but looked
very well. She has a pleasing dark face, wore a black velvet headdress
and white carnelian earrings, a black mohr antique silk, made high in
the neck, with white lace falling sleeves and white gloves. A certain
gentleness of manner and self-possession, the result of the universal
kindness shown her, sat well upon her. Chevalier Bunsen, the Prussian
ambassador, sat by me. He looked at her with much interest. "Are the
race often as good looking?" he said. I said, "She is not handsome,
compared with many, though I confess she looks uncommonly well
to-day."
Among the company present I noticed the beautiful Marchioness of
Stafford. I have spoken of her once before; but it is difficult to
describe her, there is something so perfectly simple, yet elegant, in
her appearance; but it has cut itself like a cameo in my memory--a
figure under the middle size, perfectly moulded, dressed simply in
black, a beautiful head, hair _à la Madonna_, ornamented by a
band of gold coins on black velvet: a band of the same kind encircling
her throat is the only relief to the severe simplicity of her dress.
The singing was beautiful. Six of the most cultivated glee singers of
London sang, among other things, "Spring's delights are now
returning," and "Where the bee sucks there lurk I." The duchess said,"
These glees are peculiarly English." It was indeed delightful to hear
Shakspeare's aerial words made vocal within the walls of this fairy
palace. The duchess has a strong nationality; and nationality, always
interesting, never appears in so captivating a form as when it
expresses itself through a beautiful and cultivated woman. One likes
to see a person identifying one's self with a country, and she
embraces England, with its history, its strength, its splendor, its
moral power, with an evident pride and affection which I love to see.
Miss Greenfield's turn for singing now came, and there was profound
attention. Her voice, with its keen, searching fire, its penetrating
vibrant quality, its _"timbre"_ as the French have it, cut its
way like a Damascus blade to the heart. It was the more touching from
occasional rusticities and artistic defects, which showed that she had
received no culture from art.
She sang the ballad, "Old folks at home," giving one verse in the
soprano, and another in the tenor voice.
As she stood partially concealed by the piano Chevalier Bunsen thought
that the tenor part was performed by one of the gentlemen. He was
perfectly astonished when he discovered that it was by her. This was
rapturously encored. Between the parts Sir George took her to the
piano, and tried her voice by skips, striking notes here and there at
random, without connection, from D in alt to A first space in bass
clef: she followed with unerring precision, striking the sound nearly
at the same instant his finger touched the key. This brought out a
burst of applause.
After the concert we walked through the rooms. The effect of the
groups of people sauntering through the hall or looking down from the
galleries was picture-like. Two of the duke's Highland pipers, in full
costume, playing their bagpipes, now made their appearance, and began
to promenade the halls, playing. Their dress reminds me, in its
effect, of that of our American Indians, and their playing is wild and
barbaric. It had a striking effect among these wide halls and
corridors. There is nothing poetic connected with the history and
position of the family of which the fair owner of the halls does not
feel the power, and which she cannot use with artistic skill in
heightening the enchantments of an entertainment.
Rev. S. R. Ward attracted attention in the company, as a full-blooded
African--tall enough for a palm tree. I observed him in conversation
with lords, dukes, and ambassadors, sustaining himself modestly, but
with self-possession. All who converse with him are satisfied that
there is no native difference between the African and other men.
The duchess took me to look at a model of Dunrobin--their castle on
the Sutherland estate. It is in the old French chateau style in
general architecture, something like the print of Glamis. It is
curious that the French architecture has obtained in Scotland. Her
grace kindly invited me to visit Dunrobin on my return to Scotland in
the autumn, taking it after Inverary. This will be delightful. That
Scottish coast I love almost like my own country.
Lord Shaftesbury was there. He came and spoke to us after the concert.
Speaking of Miss Greenfield, he said, "I consider the use of these
halls for the encouragement of an outcast race, a _consecration_.
This is the true use of wealth and splendor when it is employed to
raise up and encourage the despised and forgotten."
In the evening, though very weary, C. persuaded me to accept an
invitation to hear the Creation, at Exeter Hall, performed by the
London Sacred Harmonic Society. They had kindly reserved a gallery for
us, and when we went in Mr. Surman, the founder and for twenty years
conductor of the society, presented me with a beautifully bound copy
of the Creation.
Having never heard it before, I could not compare the performance with
others. I heard it as I should hear a poem read, simply thinking of
the author's ideas, and not of the style of reading. Haydn I was
thinking of,--the bright, brilliant, cheerful Haydn,--who, when
complained of for making church music into dancing tunes, replied,
"When I think of God my soul is always so full of joy that I want to
dance!" This Creation is a descriptive poem--the garden parts unite
Thomson and Milton's style--the whole effect pastoral, yet brilliant.
I was never more animated. I had had a new experience; it is worth
while to know nothing to have such a fresh sensation.
The next day, Tuesday, May 24, we went to lunch with Miss R., at
Oxford Terrace. Among a number of distinguished guests was Lady Byron,
with whom I had a few moments of deeply interesting conversation. No
engravings that ever have been circulated of her in America do any
justice to her appearance. She is of a slight figure, formed with
exceeding delicacy, and her whole form, face, dress, and air unite to
make an impression of a character singularly dignified, gentle, pure,
and yet strong. No words addressed to me in any conversation hitherto
have made their way to my inner soul with such force as a few remarks
dropped by her on the present religious aspect of England--remarks of
such a quality as one seldom hears.
Lady Byron's whole course, I have learned, has been one made venerable
by consistent, active benevolence. I was happy to find in her the
patroness of our American outcasts, William and Ellen Crafts. She had
received them into the schools of her daughter, Lady Lovelace, at
Occum, and now spoke in the highest terms of their character and
proficiency in study. The story of their misfortunes, united with
their reputation for worth, had produced such an impression on the
simple country people, that they always respectfully touch their hats
when meeting them. Ellen, she says, has become mother of a most
beautiful child, and their friends are now making an effort to put
them into some little business by which they may obtain a support.
I could not but observe with regret the evident fragility of Lady
Byron's health; yet why should I regret it? Why wish to detain here
those whose home is evidently from hence, and who will only then fully
live when the shadow we call life is passed away?
Here, also, I was personally introduced to a lady with whom I had
passed many a dreamy hour of spiritual communion--Mrs. Jameson, whose
works on arts and artists were for years almost my only food for a
certain class of longings.
Mrs. Jameson is the most charming of critics, with the gift, often too
little prized, of discovering and pointing out beauties rather than
defects; beauties which we may often have passed unnoticed, but which,
when so pointed out, never again conceal themselves. This shows itself
particularly in her Characteristics of Shakspeare's Women, a critique
which only a true woman could have written.
She seemed rather surprised to find me inquiring about art and
artists. I asked her where one might go to study that subject most
profitably, and her answer was, in Munich.
By her side was Mrs. Chisholm, the author of those benevolent
movements for the emigrants, which I have mentioned to you. She is a
stout, practical looking woman, who impresses you with the idea of
perfect health, exuberant life, and an iron constitution. Her face
expresses decision, energy, and good sense. She is a woman of few
words, every moment of whose time seems precious.
One of her remarks struck me, from the quaint force with which it was
uttered. "I found," said she, "if we want any thing done, we must go
to work and _do_; it is of no use to talk, none whatever." It is
the secret of her life's success. Mrs. Chisholm first began by
_doing_ on a small scale what she wanted done, and people seeing
the result fell in with and helped her, but to have convinced them of
the feasibility of her plans by _talking_, without this practical
demonstration, would have been impossible.
At this _réunion_, also, was Mr. George Thompson, whom I had
never seen before, and many of the warmest friends of the slave.
During this visit I was taken ill, and obliged to return to Mr.
Gurney's, where I was indisposed during the remainder of the day, and
late in the evening drove home to Surrey parsonage.
The next evening, Wednesday, May 29, we attended an antislavery
_soirée_, at Willis's rooms, formerly known as Almack's; so at
least I was told. A number of large rooms were thrown open,
brilliantly lighted and adorned, and filled with throngs of people. In
the course of the evening we went upon the platform in the large hall,
where an address was presented by S. Bowley, Esq., of Gloucester. It
was one of the most beautiful, sensible, judicious, and Christian
addresses that could have been made, and I listened to it with
unmingled pleasure. In reply, Mr. S. took occasion still further to
explain his views with respect to the free-grown cotton movement in
England, and its bearings on the future progress of the cause of
freedom. [Footnote: We are happy to say that a large body of religious
persons in Great Britain have become favorable to these views. A
vigorous society has been established, combining India reform and free
cotton with the antislavery cause. The Earl of Albemarle made, while
we were in London, a vigorous India reform speech in the House of
Lords, and Messrs. Bright and Cobden are fully in for the same object
in the Commons. There is much hope in the movement.]
After the addresses we dispersed to different rooms, where refreshment
tables were bountifully laid out and adorned. By my side, at one end
of them, was a young female of pleasing exterior, with fine eyes,
delicate person, neatly dressed in white. She was introduced to me as
Ellen Crafts--a name memorable in Boston annals. Her husband, a
pleasant, intelligent young man, with handsome manners, was there
also. Had it not been for my introduction I could never have fancied
Ellen to have been any other than some English girl with rather a
paler cheek than common. She has very sweet manners, and uses
uncommonly correct and beautiful language. Let it not be supposed
that, with such witnesses as these among them, our English brethren
have derived their first practical knowledge of slavery from Uncle
Tom's Cabin. The mere knowledge that two such persons as William and
Ellen Crafts have been rated as merchantable commodities, in any
country but ours would be a sufficient comment on the system.
We retired early after a very agreeable evening.
LETTER XXVIII.
May 28.
MY DEAR COUSIN:--
This morning Lord Shaftesbury came according to appointment, to take
me to see the Model Lodging Houses. He remarked that it would be
impossible to give me the full effect of seeing them, unless I could
first visit the dens of filth, disease, and degradation, in which the
poor of London formerly were lodged. With a good deal of satisfaction
he told me that the American minister, Mr. Ingersoll, previous to
leaving London, had requested the police to take him over the dirtiest
and most unwholesome parts of it, that he might see the lowest as well
as the highest sphere of London life. After this, however, the
policeman took him through the baths, wash houses, and model lodging
houses, which we were going to visit, and he expressed himself both
surprised and delighted with the improvement that had been made.
[Illustration: _of the facade of "The Model Lodging House."_]
We first visited the lodging house for single men in Charles Street,
Drury Lane. This was one of the first experiments made in this line,
and to effect the thing in the most economical manner possible, three
old houses were bought and thrown into one, and fitted up for the
purpose. On the ground floor we saw the superintendent's apartment,
and a large, long sitting room, furnished with benches and clean,
scoured tables, where the inmates were, some of them, reading books or
papers: the day being wet, perhaps, kept them from their work. In the
kitchen were ample cooking accommodations, and each inmate, as I
understand, cooks for himself. Lord Shaftesbury said, that--something
like a common table had been tried, but that it was found altogether
easier or more satisfactory for each one to suit himself. On this
floor, also, was a bathing room, and a well-selected library of useful
reading books, history, travels, &c. On the next floor were the
dormitories--a great hall divided by board partitions into little
sleeping cells about eight feet square, each containing a neat bed,
chair, and stand. The partition does not extend quite up to the wall,
and by this means while each inmate enjoys the privacy of a small
room, he has all the comfort of breathing the air of the whole hall.
A working man returning from his daily toil to this place, can first
enjoy the comfort of a bath; then, going into the kitchen, make his
cup of tea or coffee, and sitting down at one of the clean, scoured
tables in the sitting room, sip his tea, and look over a book. Or a
friendly company may prepare their supper and sit down to tea
together. Lord Shaftesbury said that the effect produced on the men by
such an arrangement was wonderful. They became decent, decorous, and
self-respecting. They passed rules of order for their community. They
subscribed for their library from their own earnings, and the books
are mostly of their own selection. "It is remarkable," said his
lordship, "that of their own accord they decided to reject every
profane, indecent, or immoral work. It showed," he said, "how strong
are the influences of the surroundings in reforming or ruining the
character." It should be remarked that all these advantages are
enjoyed for the same price charged by the most crowded and filthy of
lodging houses, namely, fourpence per night, or two shillings per
week. The building will accommodate eighty-two. The operation supports
itself handsomely.
I should remark, by the by, that in order to test more fully the
practicability of the thing, this was accomplished in one of the worst
neighborhoods in London.
From these we proceeded to view a more perfect specimen of the same
sort in the Model Lodging House of George Street, Bloomsbury Square, a
house which was built _de novo_, for the purpose of perfectly
illustrating the principle. This house accommodates one hundred and
four working men, and combines every thing essential or valuable in
such an establishment--complete ventilation and drainage; the use of a
distinct living room; a kitchen and a wash house, a bath, and an ample
supply of water, and all the conveniences which, while promoting the
physical comfort of the inmates, tend to increase their self-respect,
and elevate them in the scale of moral and intellectual beings. The
arrangement of the principal apartments are such as to insure economy
as well as domestic comfort, the kitchen and wash house being
furnished with every requisite convenience, including a bath supplied
with hot and cold water; also a separate and well-ventilated safe for
the food of each inmate. Under the care of the superintendent is a
small, but well-selected library.
The common room, thirty-three feet long, twenty-three feet wide, and
ten feet nine inches high, is paved with white tiles, laid on brick
arches, and on each side are two rows of tables with seats; at the
fireplace is a constant supply of hot water, and above it are the
rules of the establishment. The staircase, which occupies the centre
of the building, is of stone. The dormitories, eight in number, ten
feet high, are subdivided with movable wood partitions six feet nine
inches high; each compartment, enclosed by its own door, is fitted up
with a bed, chair, and clothes box. A shaft is carried up at the end
of every room, the ventilation through it being assisted by the
introduction of gas, which lights the apartment. A similar shaft is
carried up the staircase, supplying fresh air to the dormitories, with
a provision for warming it, if necessary. The washing closets on each
floor are fitted up with slate, having japanned iron basins, and water
laid on.
During the fearful ravages of the cholera in this immediate
neighborhood, not one case occurred in this house among its one
hundred and four inmates.
From this place we proceeded to one, if any thing, more interesting to
me. This was upon the same principle appropriated to the lodgment of
single women. When one considers the defenceless condition of single
women, who labor for their own subsistence in a large city, how easily
they are imposed upon and oppressed, and how quickly a constitution
may be destroyed for want of pure air, fresh water, and other common
necessaries of life, one fully appreciates the worth of a large and
beautiful building, which provides for this oppressed, fragile class.
The Thanksgiving Model Buildings at Port Pool Lane, Gray's Inn, are so
called because they were built with a thank-offering collected in the
various religious societies of London, as an appropriate expression of
their gratitude to God for the removal of the cholera. This block of
buildings has in it accommodations for twenty families, and one
hundred and twenty-eight single women; together with a public wash
house, and a large cellar, in which are stored away the goods of those
women who live by the huckster's trade.
The hundred and twenty-eight single women, of whom the majority are
supposed to be poor needlewomen, occupy sixty-four rooms in a building
of four stories, divided by a central staircase; a corridor on either
side forms a lobby to eight rooms, each twelve feet six inches long,
by nine feet six inches wide, sufficiently large for two persons. They
are fitted up with two bedsteads, a table, chairs, and a washing
stand. The charge is one shilling per week for each person, or two
shillings per room.
Lord Shaftesbury took me into one of the rooms, where was an aged
female partially bedridden, who maintained herself by sewing, The room
was the picture of neatness and comfort; a good supply of hot and cold
water was furnished in it. Her work was spread out by her upon the
bed, together with her Bible and hymn book; she looked cheerful and
comfortable. She seemed pleased to see Lord Shaftesbury, whom she had
evidently seen many times before, as his is a familiar countenance in
all these places. She expressed the most fervent thankfulness for the
quiet, order, and comfort of her pleasant lodgings, comparing them
very feelingly with what used to be her condition before any such
place had been provided.
[Illustration: _of a four story rectangular brick/masonry structure._]
From this place we drove to the Streatham Street Lodging House for
families, of which the following is an outside view. This building is,
in the first place, fire proof; in the second, the separation in the
parts belonging to different families is rendered complete and perfect
by the use of hollow brick for the partitions, which entirely
prevents, as I am told, the transmission of sound.
The accompanying print shows the plan of one tenement.
[Illustration: _of an apartment's plan (no scale)_:
..::::........................::::.........................::::..
Open gallery, five feet wide
:::XX:::::::-------:::::XX: :XX::::::::-------::::::::XX::::
:: +--+ +-------+:::::: entry :: ::
:: | | | |+--+:: :: ::
:: +--+ | H ||I |:: :: ::
:: F +-------++--+:: :: ::
:: :: :: :: ::
:: :: :: ::
XX:+ :: :: ::
: | L* :: E :: D C ::
XX:+:::::XX :: ::
:: :: :: ::
:: G :: :: ::
:: :: :: :: ::
XX: :XX: :XX: :XX ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: XX:::::::::::::::::::::::XX::::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: A :: B ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: :: ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: :: ::
:::XX::::::::::----------::::::::::XX:::::::----------::::::XX::::
A Living room
B Bed room ASCII Key:
C Bed room
D Lobby :: Wall
E Scullery ::XX:: Wall intersection
F Water closet ::--:: Window
G Bed closet ::..:: Balcony
H Sink +----+ Fixture edge
I Meat safe
L Dust flue (*_not identified on original plan--location estimated
from author's description_)]
[Illustration: _of the multi-story brick/masonry structure with covered
galleries._]
By means of the sleeping closet adjoining the living room, each
dwelling affords three good sleeping apartments. The meat safe
preserves provisions. The dust flue is so arranged that all the
sweepings of the house, and all the refuse of the cookery, have only
to be thrown down to disappear forever; while the sink is supplied to
an unlimited extent with hot and cold water. These galleries, into
which every tenement opens, run round the inside of the hollow court
which the building encloses, and afford an admirable play-place for
the little children, out of the dangers and temptations of the street,
and in view of their respective mothers. The foregoing print,
representing the inner half of the quadrangle, shows the arrangement
of the galleries.
"Now," said Lord Shaftesbury, as he was showing me through these
tenements, which were models of neatness and good keeping, "you must
bear in mind that these are tenanted by the very people who once were
living in the dirtiest and filthiest lodging houses; people whom the
world said, it did no good to try to help; that they liked to be dirty
better than clean, and would be dirty under any circumstances."
He added the following anecdote to show the effect of poor lodgings in
degrading the character. A fine young man, of some considerable taste
and talent, obtained his living by designing patterns for wall paper.
A long and expensive illness so reduced his circumstances, that he was
obliged to remove to one of these low, filthy lodging houses already
alluded to. From that time he became an altered man; his wife said
that he lost all energy, all taste in designing, love of reading, and
fondness for his family; began to frequent drinking shops, and was
visibly on the road to ruin. Hearing of these lodging houses, he
succeeded in renting a tenement in one of them, for the same sum which
he had paid for the miserable dwelling. Under the influence of a neat,
airy, pleasant, domestic home, the man's better nature again awoke,
his health improved, he ceased to crave ardent spirits, and his former
ingenuity in his profession returned.
"Now, this shows," said Lord Shaftesbury, "that hundreds may have been
ruined simply by living in miserable dwellings." I looked into this
young man's tenement; it was not only neat, but ornamented with a
great variety of engravings tastefully disposed upon the wall. On my
expressing my pleasure in this circumstance, he added, "It is one of
the pleasantest features of the case, to notice how soon they began to
ornament their little dwellings; some have cages with singing birds,
and some pots of flowering plants; some, pictures and engravings."
"And are these buildings successful in a pecuniary point of view?" I
said. "Do they pay their own way?"
"Yes," he replied, "they do. I consider that these buildings, if they
have done nothing more, have established two points: first, that the
poor do not prefer dirt and disorder, where it is possible for them to
secure neatness and order; and second, that buildings with every
proper accommodation can be afforded at a price which will support an
establishment."
Said I, "Are people imitating these lodging houses very rapidly?"
"To a great extent they are," he replied, "but not so much as I
desire. Buildings on these principles have been erected in the
principal towns of England and Scotland. The state of the miserable
dwellings, courts, alleys, &c., is the consequence of the neglect of
former days, when speculators and builders were allowed to do as they
liked, and run up hovels, where the working man, whose house must be
regulated, not by his choice, but by his work, was compelled then, as
he is now, to live, however narrow, unhealthy, or repulsive the place
might be. This was called 'the liberty of the subject.'" It has been
one of Lord Shaftesbury's most arduous parliamentary labors to bring
the lodging houses under governmental regulation. He told me that he
introduced a bill to this effect in the House of Commons, while a
member, as Lord Ashley, and that just as it had passed through the
House of Commons, he entered the House of Lords, as Lord Shaftesbury,
and so had the satisfaction of carrying the bill to its completion in
that house, where it passed in the year 1851. The provisions of this
bill require every keeper of a lodging house to register his name at
the Metropolitan Police Office, under a penalty of a fine of five
pounds for every lodger received before this is done. After having
given notice to the police, they are not allowed to receive lodgers
until the officers have inspected the house, to see whether it accords
with the required conditions. These conditions are, that the walls and
ceilings be whitewashed; that the floors, stairs, beds, and bed
clothes are clean; that there be some mode of ventilating every room;
that each house be provided with every accommodation for promoting
decency and neatness; that the drains and cesspools are perfect; the
yards properly paved, so as to run dry; and that each house has a
supply of water, with conveniences for cooking and washing; and
finally, that no person with an infectious disease is inhabiting the
house. It is enacted, moreover, that only so many shall be placed in a
room as shall be permitted by the commissioners of the police; and it
is made an indispensable condition to the fitness of a house, that the
proprietor should hang up in every room a card, properly signed by the
police inspector, stating the precise number who are allowed to be
lodged there. The law also strictly forbids persons of different sexes
occupying the same room, except in case of married people with
children under ten years of age: more than one married couple may not
inhabit the same apartment, without the provision of a screen to
secure privacy. It is also forbidden to use the kitchens, sculleries,
or cellars for sleeping rooms, unless specially permitted by the
police. The keeper of the house is required thoroughly to whitewash
the walls and ceilings twice a year, and to cleanse the drains and
cesspools whenever required by the police. In case of sickness, notice
must be immediately given to the police, and such measures pursued,
for preventing infection, as may be deemed judicious by the inspector.
The commissioner of police reports to the secretary of state
systematically as to the results of this system.
After looking at these things, we proceeded to view one of the model
washing houses, which had been erected for the convenience of poor
women. We entered a large hall, which was divided by low wood
partitions into small apartments, in each of which a woman was
washing. The whole process of washing clothes in two or three waters,
and boiling them, can be effected without moving from the spot, or
changing the tub. Each successive water is let out at the bottom,
while fresh is let on from the top. When the clothes are ready to be
boiled, a wooden cover is placed over them, and a stream of scalding
steam is directed into the tub, by turning a stop cock; this boils the
water in a few moments, effectually cleansing the clothes; they are
then whirled in a hollow cylinder till nearly dry, after which they
are drawn through two rollers covered with flannel, which presses
every remaining particle of water out of them. The clothes are then
hung upon frames, which shut into large closets, and are dried by
steam in a very short space of time.
Lord Shaftesbury, pointing out the partitions, said, "This is an
arrangement of delicacy to save their feelings: their clothes are
sometimes so old and shabby they do not want to show them, poor
things." I thought this feature worthy of special notice.
In addition to all these improvements for the laboring classes, very
large bathing establishments have been set up expressly for the use of
the working classes. To show the popularity and effectiveness of this
movement, five hundred and fifty thousand baths were given in three
houses during the year 1850. These bathing establishments for the
working classes are rapidly increasing in every part of the kingdom.
When we returned to our carriage after this survey, I remarked to Lord
Shaftesbury that the combined influence of these causes must have
wrought a considerable change in the city. He answered, with energy,
"You can have no idea. Whole streets and districts have been
revolutionized by it. The people who were formerly savage and
ferocious, because they supposed themselves despised and abandoned,
are now perfectly quiet and docile. I can assure you that Lady
Shaftesbury has walked alone, with no attendant but a little child,
through streets in London where, years ago, a well-dressed man could
not have passed safely without an escort of the police."
I said to him that I saw nothing now, with all the improvements they
were making throughout the kingdom, to prevent their working classes
from becoming quite as prosperous as ours, except the want of a
temperance reformation.
He assented with earnestness. He believed, he said, that the amount
spent in liquors of various kinds, which do no good, but much injury,
was enough to furnish every laborer's dwelling, not only with
comforts, but with elegances. "But then," he said, "one thing is to be
considered: a reform of the dwellings will do a great deal towards
promoting a temperance reformation. A man who lives in a close,
unwholesome dwelling, deprived of the natural stimulus of fresh air
and pure water, comes into a morbid and unhealthy state; he craves
stimulants to support the sinking of his vital powers, caused by these
unhealthy influences." There is certainly a great deal of truth in
this; and I think that, in America, we should add to the force of our
Maine law by adopting some of the restrictions of the Lodging House
act.
I have addressed this letter to you, my dear cousin, on account of the
deep interest you have taken in the condition of the poor and
perishing in the city of New York. While making these examinations,
these questions occurred to my mind: Could our rich Christian men
employ their capital in a more evangelical manner, or more adorn the
city of New York, than by raiding a large and beautiful lodging house,
which should give the means of health, comfort, and vigor to thousands
of poor needlewomen? The same query may be repeated concerning all the
other lodging houses I have mentioned. Furthermore, should not a
movement for the registration and inspection of common lodging houses
keep pace with efforts to suppress the sale of spirits? The poison of
these dismal haunts creates a craving for stimulants, which constantly
tends to break over and evade law.
LETTER XXIX.
DEAR FATHER:--
I wish in this letter to give you a brief view of the movements in
this country for the religious instruction and general education of
the masses. If we compare the tone of feeling now prevalent with that
existing but a few years back, we notice a striking change. No longer
ago than in the time of Lady Huntington we find a lady of quality
ingenuously confessing that her chief source of scepticism in regard
to Christianity was, that it actually seemed to imply that the
educated, the refined, the noble, must needs be saved by the same
Savior and the same gospel with the ignorant and debased working
classes. Traces of a similar style of feeling are discernible in the
letters of the polished correspondents of Hannah More. Robert Walpole
gayly intimates himself somewhat shocked at the idea that the nobility
and the vulgar should be equally subject to the restraints of the
Sabbath and the law of God--equally exposed to the sanctions of
endless retribution. And Young makes his high-born dame inquire,
"Shall pleasures of a short duration chain
A _lady's_ soul in everlasting pain?"
In broad contrast to this, all the modern popular movements in England
are based upon the recognition of the equal value of every human soul.
The Times, the most aristocratic paper in England, publishes letters
from needlewomen and dressmakers' apprentices, and reads grave
lectures to duchesses and countesses on their duties to their poor
sisters. One may fancy what a stir this would have made in the courtly
circles of the reign of George II. Fashionable literature now arrays
itself on the side of the working classes. The current of novel
writing is reversed. Instead of milliners and chambermaids being
bewitched with the adventures of countesses and dukes, we now have
fine lords and ladies hanging enchanted over the history of John the
Carrier, with his little Dot, dropping sympathetic tears into little
Charlie's wash tub, and pursuing the fortunes of a dressmaker's
apprentice, in company with poor Smike, and honest John Brodie and his
little Yorkshire wife. Punch laughs at every body but the work people;
and if, occasionally, he laughs at them, it is rather in a kindly way
than with any air of contempt. Then, Prince Albert visits model
lodging houses, and commands all the ingenuity of the kingdom to
expend itself in completing the ideal of a workman's cottage for the
great World's Fair. Lords deliver lydeum lectures; ladies patronize
ragged schools; committees of duchesses meliorate the condition of
needlewomen. In short, the great ship of the world has tacked, and
stands on another course.
The beginning of this great humanitarian movement in England was
undoubtedly the struggle of Clarkson, Wilberforce, and their
associates, for the overthrow of the slave trade. In that struggle the
religious democratic element was brought to bear for years upon the
mind of Parliament. The negro, most degraded of men, was taken up, and
for years made to agitate British society on the simple ground that he
had a human soul.
Of course the religious obligations of society to _every_ human
soul were involved in the discussion. It educated Parliament, it
educated the community. Parliament became accustomed to hearing the
simple principles of the gospel asserted in its halls as of binding
force. The community were trained in habits of efficient benevolent
action, which they have never lost. The use of tracts, of committees,
of female cooperation, of voluntary association, and all the
appliances of organized reform were discovered and successfully
developed. The triumphant victory then achieved, moreover, became the
pledge of future conquests in every department of reform. Concerning
the movements for the elevation of the masses, Lord Shaftesbury has
kindly furnished me with a few brief memoranda, set down as nearly as
possible in chronological order.
In the first place, there has been reform of the poor laws. So corrupt
had this system become, that a distinct caste had well nigh sprung
into permanent existence, families having been known to subsist in
idleness for five generations solely by means of skilful appropriation
of public and private charities.
The law giving to paupers the preference in all cases where any public
work was to be done, operated badly. Good workmen might starve for
want of work: by declaring themselves paupers they obtained
employment. Thus, virtually, a bounty was offered to pauperism. His
lordship remarks,--
"There have been sad defects, no doubt, and some harshness, under the
new system; but the general result has been excellent; and, in many
instances, the system has been reduced to practice in a truly
patriarchal spirit. The great difficulty and the great failure are
found in the right and safe occupation of children who are trained in
these workhouses, of which so much has been said."
In the second place, the treatment of the insane has received a
thorough investigation. This began, in 1828, by a committee of
inquiry, moved for by Mr. Gordon.
An almost incredible amount of suffering and horrible barbarity was
thus brought to light. For the most part it appeared that the
treatment of the insane had been conducted on the old, absurd idea
which cuts them off from humanity, and reduces them below the level of
the brutes. The regimen in private madhouses was such that Lord
Shaftesbury remarked of them, in a speech on the subject, "I have said
before, and now say again, that should it please God to visit me with
such an affliction, I would greatly prefer the treatment of paupers,
in an establishment like that of the Surrey Asylum, to the treatment
of the rich in almost any one of these receptacles."
Instances are recorded of individuals who were exhumed from cells
where they had existed without clothing or cleansing, as was
ascertained, _for years after they had entirely recovered the
exercise of sound reason_. Lord Shaftesbury procured the passage of
bills securing the thorough supervision of these institutions by
competent visiting committees, and the seasonable dismissal of all who
were pronounced cured; and the adoption for the pauper insane of a
judicious course of remedial treatment.
The third step was the passage of the ten hour factory bill. This took
nearly eighteen years of labor and unceasing activity in Parliament
and in the provinces. Its operation affects full half a million of
actual workers, and, if the families be included, nearly two millions
of persons, young and old. Two thirds as many as the southern slaves.
It is needless to enlarge on the horrible disclosures in reference to
the factory operatives, made during this investigation. England never
shuddered with a deeper thrill at the unveiling of American slavery
than did all America at this unveiling of the white-labor slavery of
England. In reading the speeches of Lord Shaftesbury, one sees, that,
in presenting this subject, he had to encounter the same opposition
and obloquy which now beset those in America who seek the abolition of
slavery.
In the beginning of one of his speeches, his lordship says, "Nearly
eleven years have now elapsed since I first made the proposition to
the house which I shall renew this night. Never, at any time, have I
felt greater apprehension, or even anxiety. Not through any fear of
personal defeat; for disappointment is 'the badge of our tribe;' but
because I know well the hostility that I have aroused, and the certain
issues of indiscretion on my part affecting the welfare of those who
have so long confided their hopes and interests to my charge." One may
justly wonder on what conceivable grounds any could possibly oppose
the advocate of a measure like this. He was opposed on the same ground
that Clarkson was resisted in seeking the abolition of the slave
trade. As Boswell said that "to abolish the slave trade would be to
shut the gates of mercy on mankind," so the advocates of eighteen
hours labor in factories said that the ten hour system would diminish
produce, lower wages, and bring starvation on the workmen. His
lordship was denounced as an incendiary, a meddling fanatic,
interfering with the rights of masters, and desiring to exalt his own
order by destroying the prosperity of the manufacturers.
In the conclusion of one of his speeches he says, "Sir, it may not be
given me to pass over this Jordan; other and better men have preceded
me, and I entered into their labors; other and better men will follow
me, and enter into mine; but this consolation I shall ever continue to
enjoy--that, amidst much injustice and somewhat of calumny, we have at
last 'lighted such a candle in England as, by God's blessing, shall
never be put out.'"
The next effort was to regulate the labor of children in the calico
and print works. The great unhealthiness of the work, and the tender
age of the children employed,--some even as young as four years--were
fully disclosed. An extract from his lordship's remarks on this
subject will show that human nature takes the same course in all
countries: "Sir, in the various discussions on these kindred subjects,
there has been a perpetual endeavor to drive us from the point under
debate, and taunt us with a narrow and one-sided humanity. I was told
there were far greater evils than those I had assailed--that I had
left untouched much worse things. It was in vain to reply that no one
could grapple with the whole at once; my opponents on the ten hour
bill sent me to the collieries; when I invaded the collieries I was
referred to the print works; from the print works I know not to what I
shall be sent; for what can be worse? Sir, it has been said to me,
more than once, 'Where will you stop?' I reply, Nowhere, so long as
any portion of this mighty evil remains to be removed. I confess that
my desire and ambition are to bring all the laboring children of this
empire within the reach and opportunities of education, within the
sphere of useful and happy citizens. I am ready, so far as my services
are of any value, to devote what little I have of energy, and all the
remainder of my life, to the accomplishment of this end. The labor
would be great, and the anxieties very heavy; but I fear neither one
nor the other. I fear nothing but defeat."
From the allusion, above, to the colliery effort, it would seem that
the act for removing women and children from the coalpits preceded the
reform of the printworks. Concerning the result of these various
enterprises, he says, "The present state of things may be told in few
words. Full fifty thousand children under thirteen years of age attend
school every day. None are worked more than seven, generally only six,
hours in the day. Those above thirteen and under eighteen, and all
women, are limited to ten hours and a half, exclusive of the time for
meals. The work begins at six in the morning and ends at six in the
evening. Saturday's labor ends at four o'clock, and there is no work
on Sunday. The printworks are brought under regulation, and the women
and children removed from the coalpits." His lordship adds, "The
report of inspectors which I send you will give you a faint picture of
the physical, social, and moral good that has resulted. I may safely
say of these measures, that God has blessed them far beyond my
expectation, and almost equal to my heart's desire."
The next great benevolent movement is the ragged school system. From a
miserable hole in Field Lane, they have grown up to a hundred and
sixteen in number. Of these Lord Shaftesbury says, "They have
produced--I speak seriously--some of the most beautiful fruits that
ever grew upon the tree of life. I believe that from the teachers and
from the children, though many are now gone to their rest, might have
been, and might still be, selected some of the most pure, simple,
affectionate specimens of Christianity the world ever saw." Growing
out of the ragged school is an institution of most interesting
character, called "a place for repentance." It had its origin in the
efforts of a young man, a Mr. Nash, to reform two of his pupils. They
said they wished to be honest, but had nothing to eat, and _must_
steal to live. Though poor himself, he invited them to his humble
abode, and shared with them his living. Other pupils, hearing of this,
desired to join with them, and become honest too. Soon he had six.
Now, the _honest_ scholars in the ragged school, seeing what was
going on, of their own accord began to share their bread with this
little band, and to contribute their pennies. Gradually the number
increased. Benevolent individuals noticed it, and supplies flowed in,
until at last it has grown to be an establishment in which several
hundreds are seeking reformation. To prevent imposition, a rigid
probation is prescribed. Fourteen days the applicant feeds on bread
and water, in solitary confinement, with the door unfastened, so that
he can depart at any moment. If he goes through with that ordeal it is
thought he really wants to be honest, and he is admitted a member.
After sufficient time spent in the institution to form correct habits,
assistance is given him to emigrate to some of the colonies, to
commence life, as it were, anew. Lord Shaftesbury has taken a deep
interest in this establishment; and among other affecting letters
received from its colonists in Australia, is one to him, commencing,
"Kind Lord Ashley," in which the boy says, "I wish your lordship would
send out more boys, and use your influence to convert all the prisons
into ragged schools. As soon as I get a farm I shall call it after
your name."
A little anecdote related by Mr. Nash shows the grateful feelings of
the inmates of this institution. A number of them were very desirous
to have a print of Lord Shaftesbury, to hang up in their sitting room.
Mr. Nash told them he knew of no way in which they could earn the
money, except by giving up something from their daily allowance of
food. This they cheerfully agreed to do. A benevolent gentleman
offered to purchase the picture and present it to them; but they
unanimously declined. They wanted it to be their own, they said, and
they could not feel that it was so unless they did something for it
themselves.
Connected with the ragged school, also, is a movement for establishing
what are called ragged churches--a system of simple, gratuitous
religious instruction, which goes out to seek those who feel too poor
and degraded to be willing to enter the churches.
Another of the great movements in England is the institution of the
Laborer's Friend Society, under the patronage of the most
distinguished personages. Its principal object has been the promotion
of allotments of land in the country, to be cultivated by the
peasantry after their day's labor, thus adding to their day's wages
the produce of their fields and gardens. It has been instrumental,
first and last, of establishing nearly four hundred thousand of these
allotments. It publishes, also, a monthly paper, called the Laborer's
Friend, in which all subjects relative to the elevation of the working
classes receive a full discussion.
In consequence of all these movements, the dwellings of the laboring
classes throughout Great Britain are receiving much attention; so
that, if matters progress for a few years as they have done, the
cottages of the working people will be excelled by none in the world.
Another great movement is the repeal of the corn laws, the benefit of
which is too obvious to need comment.
What has been doing for milliners and dressmakers, for the reform
lodging houses, and for the supply of baths and wash houses, I have
shown at length in former letters. I will add that the city of London
has the services of one hundred and twenty city missionaries.
There is a great multiplication of churches, and of clergymen to labor
in the more populous districts. The Pastoral Aid Society and the
Scripture Reading Society are both extensive and fruitful laborers for
the service of the mass of the people.
There has also been a public health act, by which towns and villages
are to be drained and supplied with water. This has gone into
operation in about one hundred and sixty populous places with the most
beneficial results.
In fine, Lord Shaftesbury says, "The best proof that the people are
cared for, and that they know it, appeared in the year 1848. All
Europe was convulsed. Kings were falling like rotten pears. We were as
quiet and happy in England as the President of the United States in
his drawing room."
It is true, that all these efforts united could not radically relieve
the distress of the working classes, were it not for the outlet
furnished by emigration. But Australia has opened as M new world of
hope upon England. And confirmatory of all other movements for the
good of the working classes, come the benevolent efforts of Mrs.
Chisholm and the colonizing society formed under her auspices.
I will say, finally, that the aspect of the religious mind of England,
as I have been called to meet it, is very encouraging in this respect;
that it is humble, active, and practical. With all that has been done,
they do not count themselves to have attained, or to be already
perfect; and they evidently think and speak more of the work that yet
remains to be done than of victories already achieved. Could you, my
dear father, have been with me through the different religious circles
it has been my privilege to enter, from the humble cotter's fireside
to the palace of the highest and noblest, your heart would share with
mine a sincere joy in the thought that the Lord "has much people" in
England. Called by different names, Churchman, Puseyite, Dissenter,
Presbyterian, Independent, Quaker, differing widely, sincerely,
earnestly, I have still found among them all evidence of that true
piety which consists in a humble and childlike spirit of obedience to
God, and a sincere desire to do good to man. It is comforting and
encouraging to know, that while there are many sects and opinions,
there is, after all, but one Christianity. I sometimes think that it
has been my peculiar lot to see the exhibition of more piety and
loveliness of spirit in the differing sects and ranks in England than
they can see in each other. And it lays in my mind a deep foundation
of hope for that noble country. My belief is, that a regenerating
process is going on in England; a gradual advance in religion, of
which contending parties themselves are not aware. Under various forms
all are energizing together, I trust, under the guidance of a superior
spirit, who is gently moderating acerbities, removing prejudices,
inclining to conciliation and harmony, and preparing England to
develop, from many outward forms, the one, pure, beautiful, invisible
church of Christ.
LETTER XXX.
LONDON, June 3.
MY DEAR HUSBAND:--
According to request I will endeavor to keep you informed of all our
goings on after you left, up to the time of our departure for Paris.
We have borne in mind your advice to hasten away to the continent. C.
wrote, a day or two since, to Mrs. C. at Paris, to secure very private
lodgings, and by no means let any one know that we were coming. She
has replied, urging us to come to her house, and promising entire
seclusion and rest. So, since you departed, we have been passing with
a kind of comprehensive skip and jump over remaining engagements. And
first, the evening after you left, came off the presentation of the
inkstand by the ladies of Surrey Chapel.
Our kind Mr. Sherman showed great taste as well as energy in the
arrangements. The lecture room of the chapel was prettily adorned with
flowers. Lord Shaftesbury was in the chair, and the Duchess of Argyle
and the Marquis of Stafford were there. Miss Greenfield sang some
songs, and there were speeches in which each speaker said all the
obliging things he could think of to the rest. Rev. Mr. Binney
complimented the nobility, and Lord Shaftesbury complimented the
people, and all were but too kind in what they said to me--in fact,
there was general good humor in the whole scene.
The inkstand is a beautiful specimen of silverwork. It is eighteen
inches long, with a group of silver figures on it, representing
Religion with the Bible in her hand, giving liberty to the slave. The
slave is a masterly piece of work. He stands with his hands clasped,
looking up to heaven, while a white man is knocking the shackles from
his feet. But the prettiest part of the scene was the presentation of
a _gold pen_, by a band of beautiful children, one of whom made a
very pretty speech. I called the little things to come and stand
around me, and talked with them a few minutes, and this was all the
speaking that fell to my share. Now this, really, was too kind of
these ladies, and of our brotherly friend Mr. S., and I was quite
touched with it; especially as I have been able myself to do so very
little, socially, for any body's pleasure. Mr. Sherman still has
continued to be as thoughtful and careful as a brother could be; and
his daughter, Mrs. B., I fear, has robbed her own family to give us
the additional pleasure of her society. We rode out with her one day
into the country, and saw her home and little family. Saturday morning
we breakfasted at Stafford House, I wish you could have been there.
All was as cool, and quiet, and still there, as in some retreat deep
in the country. We went first into the duchess's boudoir,--you
remember,--where is that beautiful crayon sketch of Lady Constance.
The duchess was dressed in pale blue. We talked with her some time,
before any one came in, about Miss Greenfield. I showed her a simple
note to her grace in which Miss G. tried to express her gratitude, and
which she had sent to me to _correct_ for her. The duchess said,
"0, give it me! it is a great deal better as it is. I like it just as
she wrote it."
People always like simplicity and truth better than finish. After
entering the breakfast room the Duke and Duchess of Argyle, and Lord
Carlisle appeared, and soon after Lord Shaftesbury. We breakfasted in
that beautiful green room which has the two statues, the Eve of
Thorwaldsen and the Venus of Canova. The view of the gardens and trees
from the window gave one a sense of seclusion and security, and made
me forget that we were in great, crowded London. A pleasant talk we
had. Among other things they proposed various inquiries respecting
affairs in America, particularly as to the difference between
Presbyterians and Congregationalists, the influence of the Assembly's
Catechism, and the peculiarities of the other religious denominations.
The Duke of Argyle, who is a Presbyterian, seemed to feel an interest
in those points. He said it indicated great power in the Assembly's
Catechism that it could hold such ascendency in such a free country.
In the course of the conversation it was asked if there was really
danger that the antislavery spirit of England would excite ill feeling
between the two countries.
I said, were it possible that America were always to tolerate and
defend slavery, this might be. But this would be self-destruction. It
cannot, must not, will not be. We shall struggle, and shall overcome;
and when the victory has been gained we shall love England all the
more for her noble stand in the conflict. As I said this I happened to
turn to the duchess, and her beautiful face was lighted with such a
strong, inspired, noble expression, as set its seal at once in my
heart.
Lord Carlisle is going to Constantinople to-morrow, or next day, to be
gone perhaps a year. The eastern question is much talked of now, and
the chances of war between Russia and Turkey.
Lord Shaftesbury is now all-engaged upon the _fête_ of the seven
thousand charity children, which is to come off at St. Paul's next
Thursday.
The Duchesses of Sutherland and Argyle were to have attended, but the
queen has just come to town, and the first drawing room will be held
on Thursday, so that they will be unable. His lordship had previously
invited me, and this morning renewed the invitation. Our time to leave
London is fixed for Friday; but, as I am told, there is no sight more
peculiar and beautiful than this _fête_, and I think I can manage
both to go there and be forward with my preparations.
In the afternoon of this day I went with Lord Shaftesbury over the
model lodging houses, which I have described very particularly in a
letter to Mr. C. L. B.
On Thursday, at five P. M., we drove to Stafford House, to go with her
grace to the House of Parliament. What a magnificent building! I say
so, in contempt of all criticism. I hear that all sorts of things are
said against it. For my part, I consider that no place is so utterly
hopeless as that of a modern architect intrusted with a great public
building. It is not his fault that he is modern, but his misfortune.
Things which in old buildings are sanctioned by time he may not
attempt; and if he strikes out _new_ things, that is still worse.
He is fair game for every body's criticism. He builds too high for
one, too low for another; is too ornate for this, too plain for that;
he sacrifices utility to aesthetics, or aesthetics to utility, and
somebody is displeased either way. The duchess has been a sympathizing
friend of the architect through this arduous ordeal. She took pleasure
and pride in his work, and showed it to me as something in which she
felt an almost personal interest.
For my part, I freely confess that, viewed as a national monument, it
seems to me a grand one. What a splendid historic corridor is old
Westminster Hall, with its ancient oaken roof! I seemed to see all
that brilliant scene when Burke spoke there amid the nobility, wealth,
and fashion of all England, in the Warren Hastings trial. That speech
always makes me shudder. I think there never was any thing more
powerful than its conclusion. Then the corridor that is to be lined
with statues of the great men of England will be a noble affair. The
statue of Hampden is grand. Will they leave out Cromwell? There is
less need of a monument to him, it is true, than to most of them. We
went into the House of Lords. The Earl of Carlisle made a speech on
the Cuban question, in the course of which he alluded very gracefully
to a petition from certain ladies that England should enforce the
treaties for the prevention of the slave trade there; and spoke very
feelingly on the reasons why woman should manifest a particular
interest for the oppressed. The Duke of Argyle and the Bishop of
Oxford came over to the place where we were sitting. Her grace
intimated to the bishop a desire to hear from him on the question, and
in the course of a few moments after returning to his place, he arose
and spoke. He has a fine voice, and speaks very elegantly.
At last I saw Lord Aberdeen. He looks like some of our Presbyterian
elders; a plain, grave old man, with a bald head, and dressed in
black; by the by, I believe I have heard that he is an elder in the
National kirk; I am told he is a very good man. You don't know how
strangely and dreamily this House of Lords, as _seen_ to-day,
mixed itself up with my historic recollections of by-gone days. It had
a very sheltered, comfortable parlor-like air. The lords in their
cushioned seats seemed like men that had met, in a social way, to talk
over public affairs; it was not at all that roomy, vast, declamatory
national hall I had imagined.
Then we went into the House of Commons. There is a kind of latticed
gallery to which ladies are admitted--a charming little oriental
rookery. There we found the Duchess of Argyle and others. Lord
Carlisle afterwards joined us, and we went all over the house,
examining the frescoes, looking into closets, tea rooms, libraries,
smoking rooms, committee rooms, and all, till I was thoroughly
initiated. The terrace that skirts the Thames is magnificent. I
inquired if any but members might enjoy it. No; it was only for
statesmen; our short promenade there was, therefore, an act of grace.
On the whole, when this Parliament House shall have gathered the dust
of two hundred years,--when Victoria's reign is among the
myths,--future generations will then venerate this building as one of
the rare creations of old masters, and declare that no modern
structure can ever equal it.
The next day, at three o'clock, I went to Miss Greenfield's first
public morning concert, a bill of which I send you. She comes out
under the patronage of all the great names, you observe. Lady
Hatherton was there, and the Duchess of Sutherland, with all her
daughters.
Miss Greenfield did very well, and was heard with indulgence, though
surrounded by artists who had enjoyed what she had not--a life's
training. I could not but think what a loss to art is the enslaving of
a race which might produce so much musical talent. Had she had culture
equal to her voice and ear, _no_ singer of any country could have
surpassed her. There could even be associations of poetry thrown
around the dusky hue of her brow were it associated with the triumphs
of art.
After concert, the Duchess of S. invited Lady H. and myself to
Stafford House. We took tea in the green library. Lady C. Campbell
was there, and her Grace of Argyle. After tea I saw the Duchess of S.
a little while alone in her boudoir, and took my leave then and there
of one as good and true-hearted as beautiful and noble.
The next day I lunched with Mrs. Malcolm, daughter-in-law of your
favorite traveller, Sir John Malcolm, of Persian memory. You should
have been there. The house is a cabinet of Persian curiosities. There
was the original of the picture of the King of Persia in Ker Porter's
Travels. It was given to Sir John by the monarch himself. There were
also two daggers which the king presented with his own hand. I think
Sir John must somehow have mesmerized him. Then Captain M. showed me
sketches of his father's country house in the Himalaya Mountains:
think of that! The Alps are commonplace; but a country seat in the
Himalaya Mountains is something worth speaking of. There were two
bricks from Babylon, and other curiosities innumerable.
Mrs. M. went with me to call on Lady Carlisle. She spoke much of the
beauty and worth of her character, and said that though educated in
the gayest circles of court, she had always preserved the same
unworldly purity. Mrs. M. has visited Dunrobin and seen the Sutherland
estates, and spoke much of the Duke's character as a landlord, and his
efforts for the improvement of his tenantry.
Lady Carlisle was very affectionate, and invited me to visit Castle
Howard on my return to England.
Thursday I went with Lord Shaftesbury to see the charity children.
What a sight! The whole central part of the cathedral was converted
into an amphitheatre, and the children with white caps, white
handkerchiefs, and white aprons, looked like a wide flower bed. The
rustling, when they all rose up to prayer, was like the rise of a
flock of doves, and when they chanted the church service, it was the
warble of a thousand little brooks. As Spenser says,--
"The angelical, soft, trembling voices made
Unto the instruments respondence meet."
During the course of the services, when any little one was overcome
with sleep or fatigue, he was carefully handed down, and conveyed in a
man's arms to a refreshment room.
There was a sermon by the Bishop of Chester, very evangelical and
practical. On the whole, a more peculiar or more lovely scene I never
saw. The elegant arches of St. Paul's could have no more beautiful
adornment than those immortal flowers.
After service we lunched with a large party, with Mrs. Milman, at the
deanery near by. Mrs. Jameson was there, and Mrs. Gaskell, authoress
of Mary Barton and Ruth. She has a very lovely, gentle face, and looks
capable of all the pathos that her writings show. I promised her a
visit when I go to Manchester. Thackeray was there with his fine
figure, and frank, cheerful bearing. He spoke in a noble and brotherly
way of America, and seemed to have highly enjoyed his visit in our
country.
After this we made a farewell call at the lord mayor's. We found the
lady mayoress returned from the queen's drawing room. From her
accounts I should judge the ceremonial rather fatiguing. Mrs. M. asked
me yesterday if I had any curiosity to see one. I confessed I had not.
Merely to see public people in public places, in the way of parade and
ceremony, was never interesting to me. I have seen very little of
ceremony or show in England. Well, now, I have brought you down to
this time. I have omitted, however, that I went with Lady Hatherton to
call on Mr. and Mrs. Dickens, and was sorry to find him too unwell to
be able to see us. Mrs. Dickens, who was busy in attending him, also
excused herself, and we saw his sister.
To-morrow we go--go to quiet, to obscurity, to peace; to Paris--to
Switzerland: there we shall find the loneliest glen, and, as the Bible
says, "fall on sleep." For our adventures on the way, meanwhile, I
refer you to C.'s journal.
JOURNAL
LONDON TO PARIS
June 4, 1853. Bade adieu with regret to dear Surrey parsonage, and
drove to the great south-western station house.
"Paris?" said an official at our cab door. "Paris, by Folkestone and
Boulogne," was our answer. And in a few moments, without any
inconvenience, we were off. Reached Folkestone at nine, and enjoyed a
smooth passage across the dreaded channel. The steward's bowls were
paraded in vain. At Boulogne came the long-feared and abhorred ordeal
of passports and police. It was nothing. We slipped through quite
easily. A narrow ladder, the quay, gens-d'armes, a hall, a crowd,
three whiskers, a glance at the passport, the unbuckling of a bundle,
_voila tout_. The moment we issued forth, however, upon the quay
again, there was a discharge of forty voices shouting in French. For a
moment, completely stunned, I forgot where we were, which way going,
and what we wanted. Up jumped a lively little _gamin_.
"_Monsieur veut aller à Pan's, n'est ce pas?_" "Going to Paris,
are you not, sir?"
"_Oui._"
"Is monsieur's baggage registered?"
"Yes."
"Does monsieur's wish to go to the station house?"
"Can one find any thing there to eat?"
"Yes, just as at a hotel."
We yielded at discretion, and _garçon_ took possession of us.
"English?" said _garçon_, as we enjoyed the pleasant walk on the
sunny quay.
"No. American," we replied.
"Ah!" (his face brightening up, and speaking confidentially,) "you
have a republic there."
We gave the lad a franc, dined, and were off for Paris. The ride was
delightful. Cars seating eight; clean, soft-cushioned, _nice_.
The face of the country, though not striking, was pleasing. There were
many poplars, with their silvery shafts, and a mingling of trees of
various kinds. The foliage has an airy grace--a certain
_spirituelle_ expression--as if the trees knew they were growing
in _la belle France_, and must be refined. Then the air is so
different from the fog and smoke of London. There is more oxygen in
the atmosphere. A pall is lifted. We are led out into sunshine. Fields
are red with a scarlet white-edged poppy, or blue with a flower like
larkspur. Wheat fields half covered with this unthrifty beauty! But
alas! the elasticity is in Nature's works only. The works of man
breathe over us a dismal, sepulchral, stand-still feeling. The
villages have the nightmare, and men wear wooden shoes. The day's
ride, however, was memorable with novelty; and when we saw Mont
Martre, and its moth-like windmills, telling us we were coming to
Paris, it was almost with regret at the swiftness of the hours. We
left the cars, and flowed with the tide into the Salle d'Attente, to
wait till the baggage was sorted. Then came the famous ceremony of
unlocking. The officer took my carpet bag first, and poked his hand
down deep in one end.
"What is this?"
"That is my collar box."
"_Ah, ça_" And he put it back hastily, and felt of my travelling
gown. "What is this?"
"Only a wrapping gown."
"_Ah, ça_" After fumbling a little more, he took sister H.'s bag,
gave a dive here, a poke there, and a kind of promiscuous rake with
his five fingers, and turned to the trunk. There he seemed somewhat
dubious. Eying the fine silk and lace dresses,--first one, then the
other,--"Ah, ah!" said he, and snuffed a little. Then he peeped under
this corner, and cocked his eye under that corner; then, all at once,
plunged his arm down at one end of the trunk, and brought up a little
square box. "What's that?" said he. He unrolled and was about to open
it, when suddenly he seemed to be seized with an emotion of
confidence. "_Non, non_" said he, frankly, and rolled it up,
shoved it back, stuffed the things down, smoothed all over, signed my
ticket, and passed on. We locked up, gave the baggage to porters, and
called a fiacre. As we left the station two ladies met us.
"Is there any one here expecting to see Mrs. C.?" said one of them.
"Yes, madam," said I; "_we_ do."
"God bless you," said she, fervently, and seized me by the hand. It
was Mrs. C. and her sister. I gave He into their possession.
Our troubles were over. We were at home. We rode through streets whose
names were familiar, crossed the Carrousel, passed the Seine, and
stopped before an ancient mansion in the Hue de Verneuil, belonging to
M. le Marquis de Brige. This Faubourg St. Germain is the part of Paris
where the ancient nobility lived, and the houses exhibit marks of
former splendor. The marquis is one of those chivalrous legitimists
who uphold the claims of Henri VI. He lives in the country, and rents
this hotel. Mrs. C. occupies the suite of rooms on the lower floor. We
entered by a ponderous old gateway, opened by the _concierge_,
passed through a large paved quadrangle, traversed a short hall, and
found ourselves in a large, cheerful parlor, looking out into a small
flower garden. There was no carpet, but what is called here a parquet
floor, or mosaic of oak blocks, waxed and highly polished. The sofas
and chairs were covered with a light chintz, and the whole air of the
apartment shady and cool as a grotto. A jardinière filled with flowers
stood in the centre of the room, and around it a group of living
flowers--mother, sisters, and daughters--scarcely less beautiful. In
five minutes we were at home. French life is different from any other.
Elsewhere you do as the world pleases; here you do as you please
yourself. My spirits always rise when I get among the French.
Sabbath, June 5. Headache all the forenoon. In the afternoon we walked
to the Madeleine, and heard a sermon on charity; listened to the
chanting, and gazed at the fantastic ceremonial of the altar. I had
anticipated so much from Henry's description of the organs, that I was
disappointed. The music was fine; but our ideal had outstripped the
real. The strangest part of the performance was the censer swinging at
the altar. It was done in certain parts of the chant, with rhythmic
sweep, and glitter, and vapor wreath, that produced a striking effect.
There was an immense audience--quiet, orderly, and to all appearance
devout. This was the first Romish service I ever attended. It ought to
be impressive here, if any where. Yet I cannot say I was moved by it
Rome-ward. Indeed, I felt a kind of Puritan tremor of conscience at
witnessing such a theatrical pageant on the Sabbath. We soon saw,
however, as we walked home, across the gardens of the Tuileries, that
there is no Sabbath in Paris, according to our ideas of the day.
Monday, June 6. This day was consecrated to knick-knacks. Accompanied
by Mrs. C., whom years of residence have converted into a perfect
_Parisienne_, we visited shop after shop, and store after store.
The politeness of the shopkeepers is inexhaustible. I felt quite
ashamed to spend a half hour looking at every thing, and then depart
without buying; but the civil Frenchman bowed, and smiled, and thanked
us for coming.
In the evening, we rode to L'Arc de Triomphe d'Etoile, an immense pile
of massive masonry, from the top of which we enjoyed a brilliant
panorama. Paris was beneath us, from the Louvre to the Bois de
Boulogne, with its gardens, and moving myriads; its sports, and games,
and light-hearted mirth--a vast Vanity Fair, blazing in the sunlight.
A deep and strangely-blended impression of sadness and gayety sunk
into our hearts as we gazed. All is vivacity, gracefulness, and
sparkle, to the eye; but ah, what fires are smouldering below! Are not
all these vines rooted in the lava and ashes of the volcano side?
Tuesday, June 7. _A la Louvre_! But first the ladies must "shop"
a little. I sit by the counter and watch the pretty Parisian
_shopocracy_. A lady presides at the desk. Trim little grisettes
serve the customers so deftly, that we wonder why awkward men should
ever attempt to do such things. Nay, they are so civil, so evidently
disinterested and solicitous for your welfare, that to buy is the most
natural thing imaginable.
But to the Louvre! Provided with catalogues, I abandoned the ladies,
and strolled along to take a kind of cream-skimming look at the whole.
I was highly elated with one thing. There were three Madonnas with
dark hair and eyes: one by Murillo, another by Carracci, and another
by Guido. It showed that painters were not so utterly hopeless as a
class, and given over by common sense to blindness of mind, as I had
supposed.
H. begins to recant her heresy in regard to Rubens. Here we find his
largest pieces. Here we find the real originals of several real
originals we saw in English galleries. It seems as though only upon a
picture as large as the side of a parlor could his exuberant genius
find scope fully to lay itself out.
When I met II. at last--after finishing the survey--her cheek was
flushed, and her eye seemed to swim. "Well, H.," said I, "have you
drank deep enough this time?"
"Yes," said she, "I have been _satisfied_, for the first time."
Wednesday, June 8. A day on foot in Paris. Surrendered H. to the care
of our fair hostess. Attempted to hire a boat, at one of the great
bathing establishments, for a pull on the Seine. Why not on the Seine,
as well as on the Thames? But the old Triton demurred. The tide
_marched_ too strong--"_Il marche trop fort._" Onward, then,
along the quays; visiting the curious old book stalls, picture stands,
and flower markets. Lean over the parapet, and gaze upon this modern
Euphrates, rushing between solid walls of masonry through the heart of
another Babylon. The river is the only thing not old. These waters are
as turbid, tumultuous, unbridled, as when forests covered all these
banks--fit symbol of peoples and nations in their mad career,
generation after generation. Institutions, like hewn granite, may wall
them in, and vast arches span their flow, and hierarchies domineer
over the tide; but the scorning waters burst into life unchangeable,
and sweep impetuous through the heart of Vanity Fair, and dash out
again into the future, the same grand, ungovernable Euphrates stream.
I do not wonder Egypt adored her Nile, and Rome her Tiber. Surely, the
life artery of Paris is this Seine beneath my feet! And there is no
scene like this, as I gaze upward and downward, comprehending, in a
glance, the immense panorama of art and architecture--life, motion,
enterprise, pleasure, pomp, and power. Beautiful Paris! What city in
the world can compare with thee?
And is it not chiefly because, either by accident or by instinctive
good taste, her treasures of beauty and art are so disposed along the
Seine as to be visible at a glance to the best effect? As the instinct
of the true Parisienne teaches her the mystery of setting off the
graces of her person by the fascinations of dress, so the instinct of
the nation to set off the city by the fascinations of architecture and
embellishment. Hence a chief superiority of Paris to London. The Seine
is straight, and its banks are laid out in broad terraces on either
side, called _quais,_ lined with her stateliest palaces and
gardens. The Thames forms an elbow, and is enveloped in dense smoke
and fog. London lowers; the Seine sparkles; London shuts down upon the
Thames, and there is no point of view for the whole river panorama.
Paris rises amphitheatrically, on either side the Seine, and the eye
from the Pont d'Austerlitz seems to fly through the immense reach like
an arrow, casting its shadow on every thing of beauty or grandeur
Paris possesses.
Rapidly now I sped onward, paying brief visits to the Palais de
Justice, the Hotel de Ville, and spending a cool half hour in Notre
Dame. I love to sit in these majestic fanes, abstracting them from the
superstition which does but desecrate them, and gaze upward to their
lofty, vaulted arches, to drink in the impression of architectual
sublimity, which I can neither analyze nor express. Cathedrals do not
seem to me to have been built. They seem, rather, stupendous growths
of nature, like crystals, or cliffs of basalt. There is little
ornament here. That roof looks plain and bare; yet I feel that the air
is dense with sublimity. Onward I sped, crossing a bridge by the Hotel
Dieu, and, leaving the river, plunged into narrow streets. Explored a
quadrangular market; surveyed the old church of St Geneviève, and the
new--now the Pantheon; went onward to the Jardin des Plantes, and
explored its tropical bowers. Many things remind me to-day of New
Orleans, and its levee, its Mississippi, its cathedral, and the
luxuriant vegetation of the gulf. In fact, I seem to be walking in my
sleep in a kind of glorified New Orleans, all the while. Yet I return
to the gardens of the Tuileries and the Place Vendome, and in the
shadow of Napoleon's Column the illusion vanishes. Hundreds of battles
look down upon me from their blazonry.
In the evening I rested from the day's fatigue by an hour in the
garden of the Palais Royal. I sat by one of the little tables, and
called for an ice. There were hundreds of ladies and gentlemen eating
ices, drinking wine, reading the papers, smoking, chatting; scores of
pretty children were frolicking and enjoying the balmy evening. Here
six or eight midgets were jumping the rope, while papa and mamma swung
it for them. Pretty little things, with their flushed cheeks and
sparkling eyes, how they did seem to enjoy themselves! What parent was
ever far from home that did not espy in every group of children his
own little ones--his Mary or his Nelly, his Henry or Charlie? So it
was with me. There was a ring of twenty or thirty singing and dancing,
with a smaller ring in the centre, while old folks and boys stood
outside. But I heard not a single oath, nor saw a rough or rude
action, during the whole time I was there. The boys standing by looked
on quietly, like young gentlemen. The best finale of such a toilsome
day of sightseeing was a warm bath in the Rue du Bac, for the trifling
sum of fifteen sous. The cheapness and convenience of bathing here is
a great recommendation of Paris life. They will bring you a hot bath
at your house for twenty-five cents, and that without bustle or
disorder. And nothing so effectually as an evening bath, as my
experience testifies, cures fatigue and propitiates to dreamless
slumber.
Thursday, June 9. At the Louvre. Studied three statues half an hour
each--the Venus Victrix, Polyhymnia, and Gladiateur Combattant. The
first is mutilated; but if _disarmed_ she conquers all hearts,
what would she achieve in full panoply? As to the Gladiator, I noted
as follows on my catalogue: A pugilist; antique, brown with age;
attitude, leaning forward; left hand raised on guard, right hand
thrown out back, ready to strike a side blow; right leg bent; straight
line from the head to the toe of left foot; muscles and veins most
vividly revealed in intense development; a wonderful _petrifaction,_ as
if he had been smitten to stone at the instant of striking.
Here are antique mosaics, in which colored stones seem liquefied,
realizing the most beautiful effects of painting--quadrigae, warriors,
arms, armor, vases, streams, all lifelike. Ascending to the hall of
French paintings I spent an hour in studying one picture--La Méduse,
by Géricault. It is a shipwrecked crew upon a raft in mid ocean. I
gazed until all surrounding objects disappeared, and I was alone upon
the wide Atlantic. Those transparent emerald waves are no fiction;
they leap madly, hungering for their prey. That distended sail is
filled with the lurid air. That dead man's foot hangs off in the
seething brine a stark reality. What a fixed gaze of despair in that
father's stony eye! What a group of deathly living ones around that
frail mast, while one with intense eagerness flutters a signal to some
far-descried bark! Coleridge's Ancient Mariner has no colors more
fearfully faithful to his theme. Heaven pities them not. Ocean is all
in uproar against them. And there is no voice that can summon the
distant, flying sail! So France appeared to that prophet painter's
eye, in the subsiding tempests of the revolution. So men's hearts
failed them for fear, and the dead lay stark and stiff among the
living, amid the sea and the waves roaring; and so mute signals of
distress were hung out in the lurid sky to nations afar.
For my part, I remain a heretic. Give to these French pictures the
mellowing effects of age, impregnating not merely the picture, but the
eye that gazes on it, with its subtle quality; let them be gazed at
through the haze of two hundred years, and they will--or I cannot see
why they will not--rival the productions of any past age. I do not
believe that a more powerful piece ever was painted than yon raft by
Gericault, nor any more beautiful than several in the Luxembourg; the
"Décadence de Rome," for example, exhibiting the revels of the Romans
during the decline of the empire. Let this Décadence unroll before the
eyes of men the _cause_, that wreck by Géricault symbolize the
_effect_, in the great career of nations, and the two are
sublimely matched.
After visiting the Luxembourg, I resorted to the gardens of the
Tuileries. The thermometer was at about eighty degrees in the shade.
From the number of people assembled one would have thought, if it had
been in the United States, that some great mass convention was coming
off. Under the impenetrable screen of the trees, in the dark, cool,
refreshing shade, are thousands of chairs, for which one pays two
cents apiece. Whole families come, locking up their door, bringing the
baby, work, dinner, or lunch, take a certain number of chairs, and
spend the day. As far as eye can reach you see a multitude seated, as
if in church, with other multitudes moving to and fro, while boys and
girls without number are frolicking, racing, playing ball, driving
hoop, &c., but contriving to do it without making a hideous racket.
How French children are taught to play and enjoy themselves without
disturbing every body else, is a mystery. "_C'est gentil_" seems
to be a talismanic spell; and "_Ce n'est pas gentil ça_" is
sufficient to check every rising irregularity. O that some
_savant_ would write a book and tell us how it is done! I gazed
for half an hour on the spectacle. A more charming sight my eyes never
beheld. There were grayheaded old men, and women, and invalids; and
there were beautiful demoiselles working worsted, embroidery, sewing;
men reading papers; and, in fact, people doing every thing they would
do in their own parlors. And all were graceful, kind, and obliging;
not a word nor an act of impoliteness or indecency. No wonder the
French adore Paris, thought I; in no other city in the world is a
scene like this possible! No wonder that their hearts die within them
at thoughts of exile in the fens of Cayenne!
But under all this there lie, as under the cultivated crust of this
fair world, deep abysses of soul, where volcanic masses of molten lava
surge and shake the tremulous earth. In the gay and bustling
Boulevards, a friend, an old resident of Paris, poised out to me, as
we rode, the bullet marks that scarred the houses--significant tokens
of what seems, but is not, forgotten.
At sunset a military band of about seventy performers began playing in
front of the Tuileries. They formed an immense circle, the leader in
the centre. He played the octave flute, which also served as a baton
for marking time. The music was characterized by delicacy, precision,
suppression, and subjugation of rebellious material.
I imagined a congress of horns, clarinets, trumpets, &c., conversing
in low tones on some important theme; nay, rather a conspiracy of
instruments, mourning between whiles their subjugation, and ever and
anon breaking out in a fierce _émeute_, then repressed, hushed,
dying away; as if they had heard of Baron Munchausen's frozen horn,
and had conceived the idea of yielding their harmonies without touch
of human lips, yet were sighing and sobbing at their impotence.
Perhaps I detected the pulses of a nation's palpitating heart,
throbbing for liberty, but trodden down, and sobbing in despair.
In the evening Mrs. C. had her _salon_, a fashion of receiving
one's friends on a particular night, that one wishes could be
transplanted to American soil.
No invitations are given. It is simply understood that on such an
evening, the season through, a lady _receives_ her friends. All
come that please, without ceremony. A little table is set out with tea
and a plate of cake. Behind it presides some fairy Emma or Elizabeth,
dispensing tea and talk, bonbons and bon-mots, with equal grace. The
guests enter, chat, walk about, spend as much time, or as little, as
they choose, and retire. They come when they please, and go when they
please, and there is no notice taken of entree or exit, no time wasted
in formal greetings and leave takings.
Up to this hour we had conversed little in French. One is naturally
diffident at first; for if one musters courage to commence a
conversation with propriety, the problem is how to escape a Scylla in
the second and a Charybdis in the third sentence. Said one of our fair
entertainers, "When I first began I would think of some sentence till
I could say it without stopping, and courageously deliver myself to
some guest or acquaintance." But it was like pulling the string of a
shower bath. Delighted at my correct sentence, and supposing me _au
fait_, they poured upon me such a deluge of French that I held my
breath in dismay. Considering, however, that nothing is to be gained
by half-way measures, I resolved upon a desperate game. Launching in,
I talked away right and left, up hill and down,--jumping over genders,
cases, nouns, and adjectives, floundering through swamps and morasses,
in a perfect steeple chase of words. Thanks to the proverbial
politeness of my friends, I came off covered with glory; the more
mistakes I made the more complacent they grew.
Nothing can surpass the ease, facility, and genial freedom of these
_soirées_. Conceive of our excellent professor of Arabic and
Sanscrit, Count M. fairly cornered by three wicked fairies, and
laughing at their stories and swift witticisms till the tears roll
down his cheeks. Behold yonder tall and scarred veteran, an old
soldier of Napoleon, capitulating now before the witchery of genius
and wit. Here the noble Russian exile forgets his sorrows in those
smiles that, unlike the aurora, warm while they dazzle. And our
celebrated composer is discomposed easily by alert and nimble-footed
mischief. And our professor of Greek and Hebrew roots is rooted to the
ground with astonishment at finding himself put through all the moods
and tenses of fun in a twinkling. Ah, culpable sirens, if the pangs ye
have inflicted were reckoned up unto you,--the heart aches and side
aches,--how could ye repose o' nights?
Saturday, June 11. Versailles! When I have written that one word I
have said all. I ought to stop. Description is out of the question.
Describe nine miles of painting! Describe visions of splendor and
gorgeousness that cannot be examined in months! Suffice it to say that
we walked from hall to hall until there was no more soul left within
us. Then, late in the afternoon we drove away, about three miles, to
the villa of M. Belloc, _directeur de l'Ecole Imperials de
Dessein_. Madame Belloc has produced, assisted by her friend,
Mademoiselle Montgolfier, the best French translation of Uncle Tom's
Cabin. At this little family party we enjoyed ourselves exceedingly,
in the heart of genuine domestic life. Two beautiful married daughters
were there, with their husbands, and the household seemed complete.
Madame B. speaks English well; and thus, with our limited French, we
got on delightfully together. I soon discovered that I had been
sinning against all law in admiring any thing at Versailles. They were
all bad paintings. There might be one or two good paintings at the
Luxembourg, and one or two good modern paintings at the Louvre--the
Méduse, by Géricault, for example: (How I rejoiced that I had admired
it!) But all the rest of the modern paintings M. Belloc declared, with
an inimitable shrug, are poor paintings. There is nothing safely
admirable, I find, but the old masters. All those battles of all
famous French generals, from Charles Hartel to Napoleon, and the
battles in Algiers, by Horace Yernet, are wholly to be snuffed at. In
painting, as in theology, age is the criterion of merit. Yet Vernet's
paintings, though decried by M. le Directeur, I admired, and told him
so. Said I, in French as lawless as the sentiment, "Monsieur, I do not
know the rules of painting, nor whether the picture is according to
them or not; I only know that I like it."
But who shall describe the social charms of our dinner? All wedged
together, as we were, in the snuggest little pigeon hole of a dining
room, pretty little chattering children and all, whom papa held upon
his knee and fed with bonbons, all the while impressing upon them the
absolute necessity of their leaving the table! There the salad was
mixed by acclamation, each member of the party adding a word of
advice, and each, gayly laughing at the advice of the other. There a
gay, red lobster was pulled in pieces among us, with infinite gout;
and Madame Belloc pathetically expressed her fears that we did not
like French cooking. She might have saved herself the trouble; for we
take to it as naturally as ducks take to the water. And then, when we
returned to the parlor, we resolved ourselves into a committee of the
whole on coffee, which was concocted in a trim little hydrostatic
engine of latest modern invention, before the faces of all. And so we
right merrily spent the evening. H. discussed poetry and art with our
kind hosts to her heart's content, and at a late hour we drove to the
railroad, and returned to Paris.
LETTER XXXI.
MY DEAR L.:--
At last I have come into dreamland; into the lotus-eater's paradise;
into the land where it is always afternoon. I am released from care; I
am unknown, unknowing; I live in a house whose arrangements seem to me
strange, old, and dreamy. In the heart of a great city I am as still
as if in a convent; in the burning heats of summer our rooms are
shadowy and cool as a cave. My time is all my own. I may at will lie
on a sofa, and dreamily watch the play of the leaves and flowers, in
the little garden into which my room opens; or I may go into the
parlor adjoining, whence I hear the quick voices of my beautiful and
vivacious young friends. You ought to see these girls. Emma might look
like a Madonna, were it not for her wicked wit; and as to Anna and
Lizzie, as they glance by me, now and then, I seem to think them a
kind of sprite, or elf, made to inhabit shady old houses, just as
twinkling harebells grow in old castles; and then the gracious mamma,
who speaks French, or English, like a stream of silver--is she not,
after all, the fairest of any of them? And there is Caroline, piquant,
racy, full of conversation--sharp as a quartz crystal: how I like to
hear her talk! These people know Paris, as we say in America, "like a
book." They have studied it aesthetically, historically, socially.
They have studied French people and French literature,--and studied it
with enthusiasm, as people ever should, who would truly understand.
They are all kindness to me. Whenever I wish to see any thing, I have
only to speak; or to know, I have only to ask. At breakfast every
morning we compare notes, and make up our list of wants. My first, of
course, was the Louvre. It is close by us. Think of it. To one who has
starved all a life, in vain imaginings of what art might be, to know
that you are within a stone's throw of a museum full of its miracles,
Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian, Roman sculptors and modern painting, all
there!
I scarcely consider myself to have seen any thing of art in England.
The calls of the living world were so various and _exigeant_, I
had so little leisure for reflection, that, although I saw many
paintings, I could not study them; and many times I saw them in a
state of the nervous system too jaded and depressed to receive the
full force of the impression. A day or two before I left, I visited
the National Gallery, and made a rapid survey of its contents. There
were two of Turner's masterpieces there, which he presented on the
significant condition that they should hang side by side with their
two finest Claudes. I thought them all four fine pictures, but I liked
the Turners best. Yet I did not think any of them fine enough to form
an absolute limit to human improvement. But, till I had been in Paris
a day or two, perfectly secluded, at full liberty to think and rest, I
did not feel that my time for examining art had really come.
It was, then, with a thrill almost of awe that I approached the
Louvre. Here, perhaps, said I to myself, I shall answer, fully, the
question that has long wrought within my soul, What is art? and what
can it do? Here, perhaps, these yearnings for the ideal will meet
their satisfaction. The ascent to the picture gallery tends to produce
a flutter of excitement and expectation. Magnificent staircases, dim
perspectives of frescoes and carvings, the glorious hall of Apollo,
rooms with mosaic pavements, antique vases, countless spoils of art,
dazzle the eye of the neophyte, and prepare the mind for some grand
enchantment. Then opens on one the grand hall of paintings arranged by
schools, the works of each artist by themselves, a wilderness of
gorgeous growths.
I first walked through the whole, offering my mind up aimlessly to see
if there were any picture there great and glorious enough to seize and
control my whole being, and answer, at once, the cravings of the
poetic and artistic element. For any such I looked in vain. I saw a
thousand beauties, as also a thousand enormities, but nothing of that
overwhelming, subduing nature which I had conceived. Most of the men
there had painted with dry eyes and cool hearts, thinking only of the
mixing of their colors and the jugglery of their art, thinking little
of heroism, faith, love, or immortality. Yet when I had resigned this
longing; when I was sure I should not meet there what I sought, then I
began to enjoy very heartily what there was.
In the first place, I now saw Claudes worthy of the reputation he
bore. Three or four of these were studied with great delight; the
delight one feels, who, conscientiously bound to be delighted,
suddenly comes into a situation to be so. I saw, now, those
atmospheric traits, those reproductions of the mysteries of air, and
of light, which are called so wonderful, and for which all admire
Claude, but for which so few admire Him who made Claude, and who every
day creates around us, in the commonest scenes, effects far more
beautiful. How much, even now, my admiration of Claude was genuine, I
cannot say. How can we ever be sure on this point, when we admire what
has prestige and sanction, not to admire which is an argument against
ourselves? Certainly, however, I did feel great delight in some of
these works.
One of my favorites was Rembrandt. I always did admire the gorgeous
and solemn mysteries of his coloring. Rembrandt is like Hawthorne. He
chooses simple and everyday objects, and so arranges light and shadow
as to give them a sombre richness and a mysterious gloom. The House of
Seven Gables is a succession of Rembrandt pictures, done in words
instead of oils. Now, this pleases us, because our life really is a
haunted one; the simplest thing in it is a mystery, the invisible
world always lies round us like a shadow, and therefore this dreamy
golden gleam of Rembrandt meets somewhat in our inner consciousness to
which it corresponds. There were no pictures in the gallery which I
looked upon so long, and to which I returned so often and with such
growing pleasure, as these. I found in them, if not a commanding, a
drawing influence, a full satisfaction for one part of my nature.
There were Raphaels there, which still disappointed me, because from
Raphael I asked and expected more. I wished to feel his hand on my
soul with a stronger grasp; these were too passionless in their
serenity, and almost effeminate in their tenderness.
But Rubens, the great, joyous, full-souled, all-powerful
Rubens!--there he was, full as ever of triumphant, abounding life;
disgusting and pleasing; making me laugh and making me angry; defying
me to dislike him; dragging me at his chariot wheels; in despite of my
protests forcing me to confess that there was no other but he.
This Medici gallery is a succession of gorgeous allegoric paintings,
done at the instance of Mary of Medici, to celebrate the praise and
glory of that family. I was predetermined not to like them for two
reasons: first, that I dislike allegorical subjects; and second, that
I hate and despise that Medici family and all that belongs to them. So
no sympathy with the subjects blinded my eyes, and drew me gradually
from all else in the hall to contemplate these. It was simply the love
of power and of fertility that held me astonished, which seemed to
express with nonchalant ease what other painters attain by laborious
efforts. It occurred to me that other painters are famous for single
heads, or figures, and that were the striking heads and figures with
which these pictures abound to be parcelled out singly, any one of
them would make a man's reputation. Any animal of Rubens, alone, would
make a man's fortune in that department. His fruits and flowers are
unrivalled for richness and abundance; his old men's Leads are
wonderful; and when he chooses, which he does not often, he can even
create a pretty woman. Generally speaking his women are his worst
productions. It would seem that he had revolted with such fury from
the meagre, pale, cadaverous outlines of womankind painted by his
predecessors, the Van Eyks, whose women resembled potato sprouts grown
in a cellar, that he altogether overdid the matter in the opposite
direction. His exuberant soul abhors leanness as Nature abhors a
vacuum; and hence all his women seem bursting their bodices with
fulness, like overgrown carnations breaking out of their green
calyxes. He gives you Venuses with arms fit to wield the hammer of
Vulcan; vigorous Graces whose dominion would be alarming were they
indisposed to clemency. His weakness, in fact, his besetting sin, is
too truly described by Moses:--
"But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked;
Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick,
Thou art covered with fatness."
Scornfully he is determined upon it; he will none of your scruples;
his women shall be fat as he pleases, and you shall like him
nevertheless.
In this Medici gallery the fault appears less prominent than
elsewhere. Many of the faces are portraits, and there are specimens
among them of female beauty, so delicate as to demonstrate that it was
not from any want of ability to represent the softer graces that he so
often becomes hard and coarse. My friend, M. Belloc, made the remark
that the genius of Rubens was somewhat restrained in these pictures,
and chastened by the rigid rules of the French school, and hence in
them he is more generally pleasing.
I should compare Rubens to Shakspeare, for the wonderful variety and
vital force of his artistic power. I know no other mind he so nearly
resembles. Like Shakspeare, he forces you to accept and to forgive a
thousand excesses, and uses his own faults as musicians use discords,
only to enhance the perfection of harmony. There certainly is some use
even in defects. A faultless style sends you to sleep. Defects rouse
and excite the sensibility to seek and appreciate excellences. Some of
Shakspeare's finest passages explode all grammar and rhetoric like
skyrockets--the thought blows the language to shivers.
As to Murillo, there are two splendid specimens of his style here, as
exquisite as any I have seen; but I do not find reason to alter the
judgment I made from my first survey.
Here is his celebrated picture of the Assumption of the Virgin, which
we have seen circulated in print shops in America, but which appears
of a widely different character in the painting. The Virgin is rising
in a flood of amber light, surrounded by clouds and indistinct angel
figures. She is looking upward with clasped hands, as in an ecstasy:
the crescent moon is beneath her feet. The whole tone of the picture--
the clouds, the drapery, her flowing hair--are pervaded with this
amber tint, sublimated and spiritual. Do I, then, like it? No. Does it
affect me? Not at all. Why so? Because this is a subject requiring
earnestness; yet, after all, there is no earnestness of religious
feeling expressed. It is a _surface_ picture, exquisitely
painted--the feeling goes no deeper than the canvas. But how do I know
Murillo has no earnestness in the religious idea of this piece? How do
I know, when reading Pope's Messiah, that _he_ was not in
earnest--that he was only most exquisitely reproducing what others had
thought? Does he not assume, in the most graceful way, the language of
inspiration and holy rapture? But, through it all, we feel the
satisfied smirk of the artist, and the fine, sharp touch of his
diamond file. What is done from a genuine, strong, inward emotion,
whether in writing or painting, always mesmerizes the paper, or the
canvas, and gives it a power which every body must feel, though few
know why. The reason why the Bible has been omnipotent, in all ages,
has been because there were the emotions of GOD in it; and of
paintings nothing is more remarkable than that some preserve in them
such a degree of genuine vital force that one can never look on them
with indifference; while others, in which every condition of art seems
to be met, inspire no strong emotion.
Yet this picture is immensely popular. Hundreds stand enchanted before
it, and declare it imbodies their highest ideal of art and religion;
and I suppose it does. But so it always is. The man who has exquisite
gifts of expression passes for more, popularly, than the man with
great and grand ideas who utters but imperfectly. There are some
pictures here by Correggio--a sleeping Venus and Cupid--a marriage of
the infant Jesus and St. Catharine. This Correggio is the poet of
physical beauty. Light and shadow are his god. What he lives for is,
to catch and reproduce fitting phases of these. The moral is nothing
to him, and, in his own world, he does what he seeks. He is a great
popular favorite, since few look for more in a picture than exquisite
beauty understood between us that his sphere is to be earth, and not
heaven; were he to attempt, profanely, to represent heavenly things, I
must rebel. I should as soon want Tom Moore to write me a prayer book.
A large saloon is devoted to the masters of the French school. The
works of no living artists are admitted. There are some large
paintings by David. He is my utter aversion. I see in him nothing but
the driest imitation of the classics. It would be too much praise to
call it reproduction. David had neither heart nor soul. How could he
be and artist?--he who coolly took his portfolio to the guillotine to
take lessons on the dying agonies of its victims--how could he ever
paint any thing to touch the heart?
In general, all French artists appear to me to have been very much
injured by a wrong use of classic antiquity. Nothing could be more
glorious and beautiful than the Grecian development; nothing more
unlike it that the stale, wearisome, repetitious imitations of it in
modern times. The Greek productions themselves have a living power to
this day; but all imitations of them are cold and tiresome. These old
Greeks made such beautiful things, because they did _not_
imitate. That mysterious vitality which still imbues their remains,
and which seems to enchant even the fragments of their marbles, is the
mesmeric vitality of fresh, original conception. Art, built upon this,
is just like what the shadow of a beautiful woman is to the woman. One
gets tired in these galleries of the classic band, and the classic
headdress, and the classic attitude, and the endless repetition of the
classic urn, and vase, and lamp, as if nothing else were ever to be
made in the world except these things.
Again: in regard to this whole French gallery, there is much of a
certain quality which I find it very difficult to describe in any one
word--a dramatic smartness, a searching for striking and peculiar
effects, which render the pictures very likely to please on first
sight, and to weary on longer acquaintance. It seems to me to be the
work of a race whose senses and perceptions of the outward have been
cultivated more than the deep inward emotions. Few of the pictures
seem to have been the result of strong and profound feeling, of habits
of earnest and concentrated thought. There is an abundance of
beautiful little phases of sentiment, pointedly expressed; there is a
great deal of what one should call the picturesque of the
_morale;_ but few of its foundation ideas. I must except from
these remarks the very strong and earnest painting of the Méduse, by
Géricault, which C. has described. That seems to me to be the work of
a man who had not seen human life and suffering merely on the outside,
but had felt, in the very depths of his soul, the surging and
earthquake of those mysteries of passion and suffering which underlie
our whole existence in this world. To me it was a picture too mighty
and too painful--whose power I confessed, but which I did not like to
contemplate.
On the whole, French painting is to me an exponent of the great
difficulty and danger of French life; that passion for the outward and
visible, which all their education, all the arrangements of their
social life, every thing in their art and literature, tends
continually to cultivate and increase. Hence they have become the
leaders of the world in what I should call the minor artistics--all
those little particulars which render life beautiful. Hence there are
more pretty pictures, and popular lithographs, from France than from
any other country in the world; but it produces very little of the
deepest and highest style of art.
In this connection I may as well give you my Luxembourg experience, as
it illustrates the same idea. I like Paul de la Roche, on the whole,
although I think he has something of the fault of which I speak. He
has very great dramatic power; but it is more of the kind shown by
Walter Scott than of the kind shown by Shakspeare. He can reproduce
historical characters with great vividness and effect, and with enough
knowledge of humanity to make the verisimilitude admirably strong; but
as to the deep knowledge with which Shakspeare searches the radical
elements of the human soul, he has it not. His Death of Queen
Elizabeth is a strong Walter Scott picture; so are his Execution of
Strafford, and his Charles I., which I saw in England.
As to Horace Vernet, I do not think he is like either Scott or
Shakspeare. In him this French capability for rendering the outward is
wrought to the highest point; and it is outwardness as pure from any
touch of inspiration or sentiment as I ever remember to have seen. He
is graphic to the utmost extreme. His horses and his men stand from
the canvas to the astonishment of all beholders. All is vivacity,
bustle, dazzle, and show. I think him as perfect, of his kind, as
possible; though it is a _kind_ of art with which I do not
sympathize.
The picture of the Décadence de Rome indicates to my mind a painter
who has studied and understood the classical forms; vitalizing them,
by the reproductive force of his own mind, so as to give them the
living power of new creations. In this picture is a most grand and
melancholy moral lesson. The classical forms are evidently not
introduced because they are classic, but in subservience to the
expression of the moral. In the orgies of the sensualists here
represented he gives all the grace and beauty of sensuality without
its sensualizing effect. Nothing could be more exquisite than the
introduction of the busts of the departed heroes of the old republic,
looking down from their pedestals on the scene of debauchery below. It
is a noble picture, which I wish was hung up in the Capitol of our
nation to teach our haughty people that as pride, and fulness of
bread, and laxness of principle brought down the old republics, so
also ours may fall. Although the outward in this painting, and the
classical, is wrought to as fine a point as in any French picture, it
is so subordinate to the severity of the thought, that while it
pleases it does not distract.
But to return to the Louvre. The halls devoted to paintings, of which
I have spoken, give you very little idea of the treasures of the
institution. Gallery after gallery is filled with Greek, Roman,
Assyrian, and Egyptian sculptures, coins, vases, and antique remains
of every description. There is, also, an apartment in which I took a
deep interest, containing the original sketches of ancient masters.
Here one may see the pen and ink drawings of Claude, divided into
squares to prepare them for the copyist. One compares here with
interest the manners of the different artists in jotting down their
ideas as they rose; some by chalk, some by crayon, some by pencil,
some by water colors, and some by a heterogeneous mixture of all.
Mozart's scrap bag of musical jottings could not have been more
amusing.
On the whole, cravings of mere ideality have come nearer to meeting
satisfaction by some of these old mutilated remains of Greek sculpture
than any thing which I have met yet. In the paintings, even of the
most celebrated masters, there are often things which are excessively
annoying to me. I scarcely remember a master in whose works I have not
found a hand, or foot, or face, or feature so distorted, or coloring
at times so unnatural, or something so out of place and proportion in
the picture as very seriously to mar the pleasure that I derived from
it. In this statuary less is attempted, and all is more harmonious,
and one's ideas of proportion are never violated.
My favorite among all these remains is a mutilated statue which they
call the Venus de Milon. This is a statue which is so called from
having been dug up some years ago, piecemeal, in the Island of Milos.
There was quite a struggle for her between a French naval officer, the
English, and the Turks. The French officer carried her off like
another Helen, and she was given to Paris, old Louis Philippe being
bridegroom by proxy. _Savans_ refer the statue to the time of
Phidias; and as this is a pleasant idea to me, I go a little further,
and ascribe her to Phidias himself.
The statue is much mutilated, both arms being gone, and part of the
foot. But there is a majesty and grace in the head and face, a union
of loveliness with intellectual and moral strength, beyond any thing
which I have ever seen. To me she might represent Milton's glorious
picture of unfallen, perfect womanhood, in his Eve:--
"Yet when I approach
Her loveliness, so absolute she seems,
And in herself complete, so well to know
Her own, that what she wills to do or say
Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best.
All higher knowledge in her presence falls
Degraded; wisdom, in discourse with her,
Loses discountenanced, and like folly shows.
Authority and reason on her wait,
As one intended first, not after made
Occasionally; and to consummate all,
Greatness of mind, and nobleness, their seat
Build in her, loveliest, and create an awe
About her, like a guard angelic placed."
Compared with this matchless Venus, that of Medici seems as inane and
trifling as mere physical beauty always must by the side of beauty
baptized, and made sacramental, as the symbol of that which alone is
truly fair.
With regard to the arrangements of the Louvre, they seem to me to be
admirable. No nation has so perfectly the qualifications to care for,
keep, and to show to best advantage a gallery of art as the French.
During the heat of the outburst that expelled Louis Philippe from the
throne, the Louvre was in some danger of destruction. Destructiveness
is a native element of human nature, however repressed by society; and
hence every great revolutionary movement always brings to the surface
some who are for indiscriminate demolition. Moreover there is a strong
tendency in the popular mind, where art and beauty have for many years
been monopolized as the prerogative of a haughty aristocracy, to
identify art and beauty with oppression; this showed itself in England
and Scotland in the general storm which wrecked the priceless beauty
of the ecclesiastical buildings. It was displaying itself in the same
manner in Germany during the time of the reformation, and had not
Luther been gifted with a nature as strongly aesthetic as progressive,
would have wrought equal ruin there. So in the first burst of popular
enthusiasm that expelled the monarchy, the cry was raised by some
among the people, "We shall never get rid of kings till we pull down
the palaces;" just the echo of the old cry in Scotland, "Pull down the
nests, and the rooks will fly away." The populace rushed in to the
splendid halls and saloons of the Louvre, and a general encampment was
made among the pictures. In this crisis a republican artist named
Jeanron saved the Louvre; saved the people the regret that must have
come over them had they perpetrated barbarisms, and Liberty the shame
of having such outrages wrought in her name. Appointed by the
provisional government to the oversight of the Louvre, and well known
among the people as a republican, he boldly came to the rescue. "Am I
not one of you?" he said. "Am I not one of the people? These splendid
works of art, are they not ours? Are they not the pride and glory of
our country? Shall we destroy our most glorious possession in the
first hour of its passing into our hands?"
Moved by his eloquence the people decamped from the building, and left
it in his hands. Empowered to make all such arrangements for its
renovation and embellishment as his artistic taste should desire, he
conducted important repairs in the building, rearranged the halls, had
the pictures carefully examined, cleaned when necessary, and
distributed in schools with scientific accuracy. He had an apartment
prepared where are displayed those first sketches by distinguished
masters, which form one of the most instructive departments of the
Louvre to a student of art. The government seconded all his measures
by liberal supplies of money; and the Louvre is placed in its present
perfect condition by the thoughtful and cherishing hand of the
republic.
These facts have been communicated to me from a perfectly reliable
source. As an American, and a republican, I cannot but take pleasure
in them. I mention them because it is often supposed, from the
destructive effects which attend the first advent of democratic
principles where they have to explode their way into existence through
masses of ancient rubbish, that popular liberty is unfavorable to art.
It never could be so in France, because the whole body of the people
are more thoroughly artistic in their tastes and feelings than in most
countries. They are almost slaves to the outwardly beautiful, taken
captive by the eye and the ear, and only the long association of
beauty with tyranny, with suffering, want, and degradation to
themselves, could ever have inspired any of them with even a momentary
bitterness against it.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Monday, June 13. Went this morning with H. and Mrs. C. to the studio
of M. Belloc. Found a general assembly of heads, arms, legs, and every
species of nude and other humanity pertaining to a studio; also an
agreeable jumble of old pictures and new, picture frames, canvas,
brushes, boxes, unfinished sketches, easels, palettes, a sofa, some
cushions, a chair or two, bottles, papers, a stove rusty and fireless,
and all things most charmingly innocent of any profane "clarin' up
times" whatsoever.
The first question which M. Belloc proposed, with a genuine French
air, was the question of "_pose_" or position. It was concluded
that as other pictures had taken H. looking at the spectator, this
should take her looking away. M. Belloc remarked, that M. Charpentier
said H. appeared always with the air of an observer--was always
looking around on every thing. Hence M. Belloc would take her "_en
observatrice, mais pas en curieuse_"--with the air of observation,
but not of curiosity.
At it he went. I stood behind and enjoyed. Rapid creative sketching in
chalk and charcoal. Then a chaos of colors and clouds, put on now with
brushes, now with fingers. "God began with chaos," said he, quoting
Prudhon. "We cannot expect to do better than God."
With intensest enjoyment I watched the chaotic clouds forming on the
canvas round a certain nucleus, gradually resolving themselves into
shape, and lightening up with tints and touches, until a head seemed
slowly emerging from amidst the shadows.
Meanwhile, an animated conversation was proceeding. M. Belloc, in his
rich, glorious French, rolling out like music from an organ, discussed
the problems of his art; while we ever and anon excited him by our
speculations, our theories, our heresies. H. talked in English, and
Mrs. C. translated, and I put in a French phrase sidewise every now
and then.
By and by, M. Charpentier came in, who is more voluble, more _ore
rotundo, grandiose_, than M. Belloc. He began panegyrizing Uncle
Tom; and this led to a discussion of the ground of its unprecedented
success. In his thirty-five years' experience as a bookseller, he had
known nothing like it. It surpassed all modern writers. At first he
would not read it; his taste was for old masters of a century or two
ago. "Like M. Belloc in painting," said I. At length, he found his
friend, M. Alfred de Musée, the first intelligence of the age, reading
it.
"What, you too?" said he.
"Ah, ah!" said De Musée; "say nothing about this book! There is
nothing like it. This leaves us all behind--all, all, miles behind!"
M. Belloc said the reason was because there was in it more _genuine
faith_ than in any book. And we branched off into florid eloquence
touching paganism, Christianity, and art.
"Christianity," M. Belloc said, "has ennobled man, but not made him
happier. The Christian is not so happy as the old Greek. The old Greek
mythology is full of images of joy, of lightness, and vivacity; nymphs
and fauns, dryads and hamadryads, and all sportive creations. The arts
that grow up out of Christianity are all tinged with sorrow."
"This is true in part," replied H., "because the more you enlarge a
person's general capacity of feeling, and his quantity of being, the
more you enlarge his capacity of suffering. A man can suffer more than
an oyster. Christianity, by enlarging the scope of man's heart, and
dignifying his nature, has deepened his sorrow."
M. Belloc referred to the paintings of Eustache le Soeur, in the
Louvre, in illustration of his idea--a series based on the experience
of St. Bruno, and representing the effects of maceration and ghostly
penance with revolting horrors.
"This," H. replied, "is not my idea of Christianity. Religion is not
asceticism, but a principle of love to God that beautifies and exalts
common life, and fills it with joy."
M. Belloc ended with a splendid panegyric upon the ancient Greeks, the
eloquence of which I will not mar by attempting to repeat.
Ever and anon H. was amused at the pathetic air, at once genuinely
French and thoroughly sincere, with which the master assured her, that
he was "_désolé_" to put her to so much trouble.
As to Christianity not making men happier, methinks M. Belloc forgets
that the old Greek tragedies are filled with despair and gloom, as
their prevailing characteristic, and that nearly all the music of the
world before Christ was in the minor scale, as since Christ it has
come to be in the major. The whole creation has, indeed, groaned and
travailed in pain together until now; but the mighty anthem has
modulated since the cross, and the requiem of Jesus has been the
world's birthsong of approaching jubilee.
Music is a far better test, moreover, on such a point, than painting,
for just where painting is weakest, namely, in the expression of the
highest moral and spiritual ideas, there music is most sublimely
strong.
Altogether this morning in the painter's studio was one of the most
agreeable we ever spent. But what shall I say then of the evening in a
_salon musicale_; with the first violoncello playing in the
world, and the Princess Czartoryski at the piano? We were invited at
eight, but it was nine before we entered our carriage. We arrived at
the hotel of Mrs. Erskine, a sister of Lord Dundalk, and found a very
select party. There were chairs and sofas enough for all without
crowding.
There was Frankomm of the Conservatoire, with his Stradivarius, an
instrument one hundred and fifty years old, which cost six thousand
dollars. There was his son, a little lad of twelve, who played almost
as well as his father. I wish F. and M. could have seen this. He was
but a year older than F., and yet played with the most astonishing
perfection. Among other things the little fellow performed a
_morceau_ of his own composition, which was full of pathos, and
gave tokens of uncommon ability. His father gave us sonatas of Mozart,
Chopin, &c., and a _polonaise_. The Princess Czartoryski
accompanied on the piano with extraordinary ability.
That was an evening to be remembered a lifetime. One heard, probably,
the best music in the world of its kind, performed under prepared
circumstances, the most perfectly adapted to give effect. There was no
whispering, no noise. All felt, and heard, and enjoyed. I conversed
with the princess and with Frankomm. The former speaks English, the
latter none. I interpreted for H., and she had quite a little
conversation with him about his son, and about music. She told him she
hoped the day was coming when art would be consecrated to express the
best and purest emotions of humanity. He had read Uncle Tom; and when
he read it he exclaimed, "This is genuine Christianity"--"_Ceci est
la vraie Christianisme!_"
The attentions shown to H. were very touching and agreeable. There is
nothing said or done that wearies or oppresses her. She is made to
feel perfectly free, at large, at ease; and the regard felt for her is
manifested in a way so delicate, so imperceptibly fine and
considerate, that she is rather strengthened by it than exhausted.
This is owing, no doubt, to the fact that we came determined to be as
private as possible, and with an explicit understanding with Mrs. C.
to that effect. Instead of trying to defeat her purpose, and force her
into publicity, the few who know of her presence seem to try to help
her carry it out, and see how much they can do for her, consistently
therewith.
Tuesday, June 14. To-day we dined at six P. M., and read till nine.
Then drove to an evening _salon_--quite an early little party at
Mrs. Putnam's. Saw there Peter Parley and La Rochejaquelin, the only
one of the old nobility that joined Louis Napoleon. Peter Parley is
consul no longer, it seems. We discussed the empire a very little. "To
be, or not to be, that is the question." Opinions are various as the
circles. Every circle draws into itself items of information, that
tend to indicate what it wishes to be about to happen. Still, Peter
Parley and I, and some other equally cautious people, think that
_this_ cannot always last. By _this_, of course, we mean
this "thing"--this empire, so called. Sooner or later it must end in
revolution; and then what? Said a gentleman the other day, "Nothing
holds him up but fear of the RED." [Footnote: That is, fear of the Red
Republicans.]
After chatting a while, Weston and I slipped out, and drove to the
Jardin Mabille, a garden in the Champs Elysées, whither thousands go
every night. We entered by an avenue of poplars and other trees and
shrubs, so illuminated by jets of gas sprinkled amongst the foliage as
to give it the effect of enchantment. It was neither moonlight nor
daylight, but a kind of spectral aurora, that made every thing seem
unearthly.
As we entered the garden, we found flower beds laid out in circles,
squares, lozenges, and every conceivable form, with diminutive jets of
gas so distributed as to imitate flowers of the softest tints, and the
most perfect shape. This, too, seemed unearthly, weird. We seemed, in
an instant, transported into some Thalaba's cave, infinitely beyond
the common sights and sounds of every-day life. In the centre of these
grounds there is a circle of pillars, on the top of each of which is a
pot of flowers, with gas jets, and between them an arch of gas jets.
This circle is very large. In the midst of it is another circle,
forming a pavilion for musicians, also brilliantly illuminated, and
containing a large cotillion band of the most finished performers.
Around this you find thousands of gentlemen and ladies strolling
singly, in pairs, or in groups. There could not be less than three
thousand persons present. While the musicians repose, they loiter,
sauntering round, or recline on seats.
But now a lively waltz strikes the ear. In an instant twenty or thirty
couples are whirling along, floating, like thistles in the wind,
around the central pavilion. Their feet scarce touch the smooth-trodden
earth. Round and round, in a vortex of life, beauty, and brilliancy they
go, a whirlwind of delight. Eyes sparkling, cheeks flushing, and gauzy
draperies floating by; while the crowds outside gather in a ring, and
watch the giddy revel. There are countless forms of symmetry and grace,
faces of wondrous beauty, both among the dancers and among the
spectators.
There, too, are feats of agility and elasticity quite aerial. One
lithe and active dancer grasped his fair partner by the waist. She was
dressed in a red dress; was small, elastic, agile, and went by like
the wind. And now and then, in the course of every few seconds, he
would give her a whirl and a lift, sending her spinning through the
air, around himself as an axis, full four feet from the ground.
Then the music ceases, the crowd dissolves, and floats and saunters
away. On every hand are games of hazard and skill, with balls, tops,
wheels, &c., where, for five cents a trial, one might seek to gain a
choice out of glittering articles exposed to view.
Then the band strike up again, and the whirling dance renews its
vortex; and so it goes on, from hour to hour, till two or three in the
morning. Not that _we_ staid till then; we saw all we wanted to
see, and left by eleven. But it is a scene perfectly unearthly, or
rather perfectly Parisian, and just as earthly as possible; yet a
scene where earthliness is worked up into a style of sublimation the
most exquisite conceivable.
Entrance to this paradise can be had for, gentlemen, a dollar; ladies,
_free_. This tells the whole story. Nevertheless, do not infer
that there are not any respectable ladies there. It is a place so
remarkable, that very few strangers stay long in Paris without taking
a look at it. And though young ladies residing in Paris never go, and
matrons very seldom, yet occasionally it is the case that some ladies
of respectability look in. The best dancers, those who exhibit such
surprising feats of skill and agility, are _professional_--paid
by the establishment.
Nevertheless, aside from the impropriety inherent in the very nature
of waltzing, there was not a word, look, or gesture of immorality or
impropriety. The dresses were all decent; and if there was vice, it
was vice masked under the guise of polite propriety.
How different, I could not but reflect, is all this from the gin
palaces of London! There, there is indeed a dazzling splendor of gas
light. But there is nothing artistic, nothing refined, nothing
appealing to the imagination. There are only hogsheads, and barrels,
and the appliances for serving out strong drink. And there, for one
sole end, the swallowing of fiery stimulant, come the nightly
thousands--from the gay and well dressed, to the haggard and tattered,
in the last stage of debasement. The end is the same--by how different
paths! Here, they dance along the path to ruin, with flowers and
music; there, they cast themselves bodily, as it were, into the lake
of fire.
Wednesday, June 15. Went in the forenoon to M. Belloc's studio, and
read while H. was sitting.
Then we drove to Madame Roger's, who is one of the leaders of Paris
taste and legislation in dress, and who is said to have refused to
work for a duchess who neglected to return her husband's bow. I sat in
the outer courts while some mysterious affairs were being transacted
in the inner rooms of state.
Then we drove to the Louvre, and visited the remains from Nineveh.
They are fewer in number than those in the British Museum, which I
have not yet seen. But the pair of human-headed, winged bulls are said
to be equal in size to any.
I was very much impressed, not only by the solemn grandeur of the
thought that thirty centuries were looking down upon me out of those
stony eyes, but by what I have never seen noticed, the magnificent
phrenological development of the heads. The brow is absolutely
prodigious--broad, high, projecting, massive. It is the brow of a
divinity indeed, or of a cherub, which I am persuaded is the true
designation of these creatures. They are to me but the earliest known
attempts to preserve the cherubim that formed the fiery portals of the
Eden temple until quenched in the Purges of the deluge.
Out of those eyes of serene, benign, profound reflection, therefore,
not thirty, but sixty centuries look down upon me. I seem to be
standing at those mysterious Eden gates, where Adam and Eve first
guided the worship of a world, amid the sad, yet sublime symbols of a
previous existence in heavenly realms.
After leaving the Louvre H. and I took a _calèche_, or open
two-seat carriage, and drove from thence to the Madeleine, and thence
the whole length of the Boulevards, circling round, crossing the Pont
d'Austerlitz, and coming back by the Avenue de l'Observatoire and the
Luxembourg.
Then we saw theatres, the Port St. Denis, Port St. Martin, the site of
the Bastille, and the most gay, beautiful, and bustling boulevards of
the metropolis.
As we were proceeding along the Boulevard des Italiens, I saw the
street beginning to line with people, the cabs and carriages drawing
to either side and stopping; police officers commanding, directing,
people running, pushing, looking this way and that. "_Qu' y
a-t-il?_" said I, standing up by the driver--"What's the matter?"
"The emperor is coming," said he.
"Well," said I, "draw to one side, and turn a little, so that we can
see."
He did so, and H. and I both stood up, looking round. We saw several
outriders in livery, on the full trot, followed by several carriages.
They came very fast, the outriders calling to the people to get out of
the way. In the first carriage sat the emperor and the empress--he,
cold, stiff, stately, and homely; she, pale, beautiful, and sad. They
rode not two rods from us. There was not a hat taken off, not a single
shout, not a "_Vive l'Empereur_? Without a single token of
greeting or applause, he rode through the ever-forming, ever-dissolving
avenue of people--the abhorred, the tolerated tyrant." Why do they not
cry out?" I said to the coachman, "Why do they not cry, '_Vive
l'Empereur_'?" A most expressive shrug was the answer, and "I do
not know. I suppose, because they do not choose."
Thursday, June 16. Immediately after breakfast we were to visit
Chateau de Corbeville. The carriage came, and H., Mrs. C., and W.
entered. I mounted the box with the "_cocker_," as usual. To be
shut up in a box, and peep out at the window while driving through
such scenes, is horrible. By the way, our party would have been
larger, but for the arrest of Monsieur F., an intimate friend of the
family, which took place at five o'clock in the morning.
He was here yesterday in fine spirits, and he and his wife were to
have joined our party. His arrest is on some political suspicion, and
as the result cannot be foreseen, it casts a shadow over the spirits
of our household.
We drove along through the bright, fresh morning--I enjoying the
panorama of Paris exceedingly--to the Western Railway Station, where
we took tickets for Versailles.
We feel as much at home now, in these continental railroad stations,
as in our own--nay, more so. Every thing is so regulated here, there
is almost no possibility of going wrong, and there is always somebody
at hand whose business it is to be very polite, and tell you just what
to do.
A very pleasant half hour's ride brought us to Versailles. There we
took a barouche for the day, and started for the chateau. In about an
hour and a half, through very pleasant scenery, we came to the spot,
where we were met by Madame V. and her daughter, and, alighting,
walked to the chateau through a long avenue, dark with overarching
trees. We were to have a second breakfast at about one o'clock in the
day; so we strolled out to a seat on the terrace, commanding a fine
and very extensive prospect.
Madame V. is the wife of an eminent lawyer, who held the office of
intendant of the civil list of Louis Philippe, and has had the
settlement of that gentleman's pecuniary affairs since his death. At
the time of the _coup d'état_, being then a representative, he
was imprisoned, and his wife showed considerable intrepidity in
visiting him, walking on foot through the prison yard, amongst the
soldiers sitting drunk on the cannon. At present Monsieur V. is
engaged in his profession in Paris.
Madame V. is a pleasant-looking French woman, of highly-cultivated
mind and agreeable manners; accomplished in music and in painting. Her
daughter, about fifteen, plays well, and is a good specimen of a
well-educated French demoiselle, not yet out. They are simply ciphers,
except as developed in connection with and behind shelter of their
mother. She performed some beautiful things beautifully, and then her
mother played a duet with her. We took a walk through the groves, and
sat on the bank, on the brow of a commanding eminence.
A wide landscape was before us, characterized by every beauty of
foliage conceivable, but by none more admirable, to my eye, than the
poplars, which sustain the same relation to French scenery that
spruces do to that of Maine. Reclining there, we could almost see,
besides the ancient territory of the Duke d'Orsay, the celebrated
valley of Chartreuse, where was the famous Abbey of Port Royal, a
valley filled with historic associations. If it had not been for a
hill which stood in the way, we should have seen it. At our leisure we
discussed painting. Before us, a perfect landscape; around us, a deep
solitude and stillness, broken by the sighing of ancient aristocratic
shades, and the songs of birds; within us, emotions of lassitude and
dreamy delight.
We had found a spot where existence was a blessing; a spot where to
exist was enough; where the "to be" was, for a moment, disjoined from
the inexorable "to do," or "to suffer." How agreeable to converse with
cultivated and refined artistic minds! How delightful to find people
to whom the beautiful has been a study, and art a world in which they
could live, move, and have their being! And yet it was impossible to
prevent a shade of deep sadness from resting on all things--a tinge of
melancholy. Why?--why this veil of dim and indefinable anguish at
sight of whatever is most fair, at hearing whatever is most lovely? Is
it the exiled spirit, yearning for its own? Is it the captive, to whom
the ray of heaven's own glory comes through the crevice of his dungeon
walls? But this is a digression. Returning, we examined the mansion, a
fine specimen of the old French chateau; square-built, with high
Norman roof, and a round, conical-topped tower at each corner. In
front was a garden, curiously laid out in beds, and knots of flowers,
with a fountain in the centre. This garden was enclosed on all sides
by beech trees, clipped into lofty walls of green. The chateau had
once been fortified, but now the remains of the fortifications are
made into terraces, planted with roses and honeysuckles. Here we
heard, for the first time in our lives, the nightingale's song; a
gurgling warble, with an occasional crescendo, _à la_ Jenny Lind.
At five we dined; took carriage at seven, cars at nine, and arrived in
Paris at ten.
Friday, June 17. At twelve o'clock I started for Versailles to visit
the camp at Sartory, where I understood the emperor was to review the
troops.
At Versailles I mounted the top of an omnibus with two Parisian
gentlemen. As I opened my umbrella one of them complimented me on
having it. I replied that it was quite a necessary of life. He
answered, and we were soon quite chatty. I inquired about the camp at
Sartory, and whether the emperor was to be there. He said he had heard
so.
He then asked me if we had not a camp near London, showing that he
took me for an Englishman. I replied that there was a camp there,
though I had not seen it, and that I was an American. In reply he
congratulated me that the Americans were far ahead of the English.
I complimented him then in turn on Versailles and its galleries, and
told him there was not a nation on earth that had such monuments of
its own history and greatness. They were highly elated at this, and we
rode along in the best possible humor together. Nothing will make a
Frenchman thoroughly your friend sooner than heartily to praise his
country. It is for this I love them.
Arrived at Sartory I had a long walk to reach the camp; and instead of
inquiring, as I ought to have done, whether the review was to take
place, I took it for granted. I saw bodies of soldiers moving in
various directions, officers galloping about, and flying artillery
trundling along, and heard drums, trumpets, and bands, and thought it
was all right.
A fifteen minutes' walk brought me to the camp, where tents for some
twenty-five thousand whiten the plain far as the eye can reach. There,
too, I saw distant masses of infantry moving. I might have known by
their slouchy way that they were getting home from parade, not
preparing for it. But I thought the latter, and lying down under a
tree, waited for the review to begin.
It was almost three o'clock. I waited and waited. The soldiers did not
come. I waited, and waited, and waited. The soldiers seemed to have
_gone_ more and more. The throne where the emperor was to sit
remained unoccupied. At last it was four o'clock. Thought I, I will
just ask these redcaps here about this.
"Messieurs," said I, "will you be so good as to inform me if the
emperor is to be here to-day?"
"No," they replied, "he comes on Sunday."
"And what is to be done here, then?" I asked.
"Here," they replied, "to-day? Nothing; _c'est fini_--it is all
over. The review was at one o'clock."
There I had been walking from Versailles, and waiting for a parade
some two hours after it was all over, among crowds of people who could
have told me at once if I had not been so excessively modest as not to
ask.
About that time an American might have been seen precipitately seeking
the railroad. I had _not_ seen the elephant. It was hot, dusty,
and there was neither cab nor _calèche_ in reach.
I arrived at the railroad station just in time to see the train go out
at one end as I came in at the other. This was conducive to a frame of
mind that scarcely needs remark. Out of that depot (it was half past
four, and at six they dine in Paris) with augmented zeal and decision
I pitched into a cab.
"_A l'autre station, vite, vite!_"--To the other station, quick,
quick! He mounted the box, and commenced lashing his Rosinante, who
was a subject for crows to mourn over, (because they could hope for
nothing in trying to pick him,) and in an ambling, scrambling pace,
composed of a trot, a canter, and a kick, we made a descent like an
avalanche into the station yard. There Richard was himself again. I
assumed at once the air of a gentleman who had seen the review, and
walked about with composure and dignity. No doubt I had seen the
emperor and all the troops. I succeeded in getting home just in the
middle of dinner, and by dint of hard eating caught up at the third
course with the rest.
That I consider a very white day. Some might call it _green_, but
I mark such days with white always.
In the evening we attended the _salon_ of Lady Elgin, a friend of
our hostess. Found there the Marquis de M., whose book on the
spiritual rappings comes out next week. We conversed on the rappings
_ad nauseam_.
By the way, her ladyship rents the Hotel de la Rochefoucauld, in the
Rue de Varenne, Faubourg St. Germain.
St. Germain is full of these princely, aristocratic mansions.
Mournfully beautiful--desolately grand. Out of the stern, stony
street, we entered a wide, square court, under a massive arched
gateway, then through the Rez-de-Chaussée, or lower suite of rooms,
passed out into the rear of the house to find ourselves in the garden,
or rather a kind of park, with tall trees, flooded in moonlight,
bathed in splendors, and with their distant, leafy arches (cut with
artistic skill) reminding one of a Gothic temple. Such a magnificent
forest scene in the very heart of Paris!
Saturday, June 18. After breakfast rode out to Arc de Triomphe--de
l'Etoile, and thence round the exterior barriers and boulevards to
Père la Chaise.
At every entrance to the city past the barriers, (which are now only a
street,) there is a gate, and a building marked "Octroi," which means
customs.
No carriage can pass without being examined, though the examination is
a mere form.
Père la Chaise did not interest me much, except that from the top of
the hill I gained a good view of the city. It is filled with tombs and
monuments, and laid out in streets. The houses of the dead are smaller
than the houses of the living, but they are made like houses, with
doors, windows, and an empty place inside for an altar, crucifix,
lamps, wreaths, &c. Tombs have no charm for me. I am not at all
interested or inspired by them. They do not serve with me the purpose
intended, viz., of calling up the memory of the departed. On the
contrary, their memory is associated with their deeds, their works,
the places where they wrought, and the monuments of themselves they
have left. Here, however, in the charnel house is commemorated but the
event of their deepest shame and degradation, their total vanquishment
under the dominion of death, the triumph of corruption.
Here all that was visible of them is insulted by the last enemy, in
the deepest, most humiliating posture of contumely.
From Père la Chaise I came home to dinner at six. H., meanwhile, had
been sitting to M. Belloc.
After dinner H. and the two Misses C. rode out to the Bois de
Boulogne, the fashionable drive of Paris.
We saw all the splendid turnouts, and all the _not_ splendid. Our
horse was noted for the springhalt. It is well to have something to
attract attention about one, you know.
Sabbath, June 19. After breakfast went with Miss W. to the temple St.
Marie, to hear Adolphe Monod. Was able to understand him very well.
Gained a new idea of the capabilities of the French language as the
vehicle of religious thought and experience. I had thought that it was
a language incapable of being made to express the Hebrew mind and
feeling of Scripture. I think differently. The language of Canaan can
make its way through all languages, and in the French it has a pathos,
point, and simplicity which are wonderful. There were thoughts in the
sermon which I shall never forget. I feel myself highly rewarded for
going.
The congregation was as large as the church could possibly hold, and
composed of very interesting and intelligent-looking people. His
subject was, "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth
willingly, and without upbraiding," &c. It was most touchingly adapted
to the wants of the unhappy French, and of all poor sinners; and it
came home to me in particular, as if it had been addressed to me
singly, so that I could not help crying.
The afternoon and evening spent at home, reading. H. went in the
morning with Madame de T. to the Catholic service, at the church St.
Germaine l'Auxerrois, and her companion pointed out the different
parts of the service.
H. said she was moved with compassion towards these multitudes, who
seem so very earnest and solemn. Their prayer books contain much that
is excellent, if it was not mixed with so much that is idolatrous.
Monday, June 20. Went to have our passport _viséd_. The sky was
black, and the rain pouring in torrents. As I reached the quay the
Seine was rushing dark, and turbidly foaming. I crept into a fiacre,
and was amused, as we rattled on, to see the plight of gay and
glittering Paris. One poor organ grinder, on the Pont National, sat
with his umbrella over his head, and his body behind the parapet,
grinding away, in the howling storm. It was the best use for a hand
organ I ever saw. The gardens of the Tuileries presented a sorry
sight. The sentries slunk within their boxes. The chairs were stacked
and laid on their sides. The paths were flooded; and the classic
statues looked as though they had a dismal time of it, in the general
shower bath.
My passport went through the office of the American embassy,
prefecture of the police, and the _bureau des affaires étrangères_,
and the Swiss legation, and we were all right for the frontier.
Our fair hostesses are all Alpine mountaineers, posted up in mountain
lore. They make you look blank one moment with horror at some escape
of theirs from being dashed down a precipice; the next they run you a
rig indeed over the Righi; anon you shamble through Chamounix, and
break your neck over the Col-de-balme, and, before you are aware, are
among the lacking at Interlachen.
Wednesday, June 22. Adieu to Paris! Ho for Chalons sur Saone! After
affectionate farewells of our kind friends, by eleven o'clock we were
rushing, in the pleasantest of cars, over the smoothest of rails,
through Burgundy that was; I reading to H. out of Dumas'
_Impressions de Voyage_, going over our very route. We arrived at
Chalons at nine in the evening, and were soon established in the Hotel
du Park, in two small, brick-floored chambers, looking out upon the
steamboat landing.
Thursday, 23. Eight o'clock A. M. Since five we have had a fine bustle
on the quay below our windows. There lay three steamers, shaped, for
all the world, like our last night's rolls. One would think Ichabod
Crane might sit astride one of them and dip his feet in the water.
They ought to be swift. _L'Hirondelle_ (the Swallow) flew at
five; another at six. We leave at nine.
Eleven o'clock. Here we go, down the Saone. Cabin thirty feet by ten,
papered and varnished in invitation of maple. Ladies knitting,
netting, nodding, napping; gentlemen yawning, snoring; children
frolicking; dogs whining. Overhead a constant tramping, stamping, and
screeching of the steam valve. H. suggests an excursion forward. We
heave up from Hades, and cautiously thread the crowded _Al Sirat_
of a deck. The day is fine; the air is filled with golden beams.
More and more beautiful grows the scene as we approach the Rhone--the
river broader, hills more commanding, and architecture tinged with the
Italian. Bradshaw says it equals the Rhine.
At Lyons there was a scene of indescribable confusion. Out of the hold
a man with a rope and hook was hauling baggage up a smooth board.
Three hundred people were sorting their goods without checks. Porters
were shouldering immense loads, four or five heavy trunks at once,
corded together, and stalking off Atlantean. Hatboxes, bandboxes, and
valises burst like a meteoric shower out of a crater. "_A moi, à
moi!_" was the cry, from old men, young women, soldiers,
shopkeepers, and _prêtres_, scuffling and shoving together.
Careless at once of grammar and of grace, I pulled and shouted with
the best, till at length our plunder was caught, corded and poised on
an herculean neck. We followed in the wake, H. trembling lest the cord
should break, and we experience a pre-Alpine avalanche. At length,
however, we breathed more freely in rooms _au quatrième of Hotel de
l'Univers_.
After dinner we drove to the cathedral. It was St. John's eve. "At
twelve o'clock to-night," said H., "the spirits of all who are to die
this year will appear to any who will go alone into the dark cathedral
and summon them"! We were charmed with the interior. Twilight hid all
the dirt, cobwebs, and tawdry tinsel; softened the outlines, and gave
to the immense arches, columns, and stained windows a strange and
thrilling beauty. The distant tapers, seeming remoter than reality,
the kneeling crowds, the heavy vesper chime, all combined to realize,
H. said, her dreams of romance more perfectly than ever before. We
could not tear ourselves away. But the clash of the sexton's keys, as
he smote them together, was the signal to be gone. One after another
the tapers were extinguished. The kneeling figures rose; and shadowily
we flitted forth, as from some gorgeous cave of grammarye.
Saturday, June 25. Lyons to Genève. As this was our first experience
in the diligence line, we noticed particularly every peculiarity. A
diligence is a large, heavy, strongly-built, well-hung stage,
consisting of five distinct departments,--coupé, berline, omnibus,
banquette, and baggage top.
[Illustration: _of a diligence coach drawn by four horses._]
After setting up housekeeping in our berline, and putting all "to
rights," the whips cracked, bells jingled, and away we thundered by
the arrowy Rhone. I had had the idea that a diligence was a rickety,
slow-moulded antediluvian nondescript, toiling patiently along over
impassable roads at a snail's pace. Judge of my astonishment at
finding it a full-blooded, vigorous monster, of unscrupulous railway
momentum and imperturbable equipoise of mind.
Down the macadamized slopes we thundered at a prodigious pace; up the
hills we trotted with six horses, three abreast; madly through the
little towns we burst, like a whirlwind, crashing across the pebbled
streets, and out upon the broad, smooth road again. Before we had well
considered the fact that we were out of Lyons, we stopped to change
horses. Done in a jiffy; and whoop, crick, crack, whack, rumble, bump,
whirr, whisk, away we blazed, till, ere we knew it, another change,
and another.
"Really, H.," said I, "this is not slow. The fact is, we are going
ahead. _I_ call this travelling--never was so comfortable in my
life."
"Nor I," quoth she. "And, besides, we are unwinding the Rhone all
along."
And, sure enough, we were; ever and anon getting a glimpse of him
spread mazily all abroad in some beautiful vale, like a midguard
anaconda done in silver.
At Nantua, a sordid town, with a squalid inn, we dined, at two,
deliciously, on a red shrimp soup; no, not soup, it was a
_potage_; no, a stew; no, a creamy, unctuous mess, muss, or
whatever you please to call it. Sancho Panza never ate his olla
podrida with more relish. Success to mine host of the jolly inn of
Nantua!
Then we thunderbolted along again, shot through a grim fortress,
crossed a boundary line, and were in Switzerland. Vive Switzerland!
land of Alps, glaciers, and freemen!
As evening drew on, a wind sprang up, and a storm seemed gathering on
the Jura. The rain dashed against the panes of the berime, as we rode
past the grim-faced monarch of the "misty shroud." A cold wind went
sweeping by, and the Rhone was rushing far below, discernible only in
the distance as a rivulet of flashing foam. It was night as we drove
into Geneva, and stopped at the Messagerie. I heard with joy a voice
demanding if this were Monsieur Besshare. I replied, not without some
scruples of conscience, "_Oui, monsieur, c'est moi,_" though the
name did not sound exactly like the one to which I had been wont to
respond. In half an hour we were at home, in the mansion of Monsieur
Fazy.
Genève, Monday, June 27. The day dawned clear over this palace of
enchantment. The mountains, the lake, the entire landscape on every
side revealed itself from our lofty windows with transparent
brilliancy. This house is built on high ground, at the end of the lake
near where the Rhone flows out. It is very high in the rooms, and we
are in the fourth story, and have distant views on all four sides. The
windows are very large, and open in leaves, on hinges, like doors,
leaving the entire window clear, as a frame for the distant picture.
In the afternoon we rode out across the Rhone, where it breaks from
the lake, and round upon the ascending shore. It is seldom here that
the Alps are visible. The least mist hides them completely, so that
travellers are wont to record it in their diaries as a great event, "I
saw Mont Blanc to-day." Yesterday there was nothing but clouds and
thick gloom; but now we had not ridden far before H. sprang suddenly,
as if she had lost her senses--her cheeks flushed, and her eye
flashing. I was frightened. "There," said she, pointing out of the
side of the carriage across the lake, "there he is--there's Mont
Blanc." "Pooh," said I, "no such thing." And some trees for a moment
intervened, and shut out the view. Presently the trees opened, and H.
cried, "There, that _white_; don't you see?--there--there!"
pointing with great energy, as if she were getting ready to fly. I
looked and saw, sure enough, behind the dark mass of the Mole, (a huge
blue-black mountain in the foreground,) the granite ranges rising
gradually and grim as we rode; but, further still, behind those gray
and ghastly barriers, all bathed and blazing in the sun's fresh
splendors, undimmed by a cloud, unveiled even by a filmy fleece of
vapor, and oh, so white--so intensely, blindingly white! against the
dark-blue sky, the needles, the spires, the solemn pyramid, the
transfiguration cone of Mont Blanc. Higher, and still higher, those
apocalyptic splendors seemed lifting their spectral, spiritual forms,
seeming to rise as we rose, seeming to start like giants hidden from
behind the black brow of intervening ranges, opening wider the
amphitheatre of glory, until, as we reached the highest point in our
road, the whole unearthly vision stood revealed in sublime
perspective. The language of the Revelation came rushing through my
soul. This is, as it were, a door opened in heaven. Here are some of
those everlasting mountain ranges, whose light is not of the sun, nor
of the moon, but of the Lord God and of the Lamb. Here is, as it were,
a great white throne, on which One might sit before whose face heaven
and earth might flee; and here a sea of glass mingled with fire. Nay,
rather, here are some faint shadows, some dim and veiled resemblances,
which bring our earth-imprisoned spirits to conceive remotely what the
disencumbered eye of the ecstatic apostle gazed upon.
With solemn thankfulness we gazed--thankfulness to God for having
withdrawn his veil of clouds from this threshold of the heavenly
vestibule, and brought us across the Atlantic to behold. And as our
eyes, blinded by the dazzling vision,--which we might reside here
years without beholding in such perfection,--filled with tears, we
were forced to turn them away and hide them, or fasten them upon the
dark range of Jura on the other side of us, until they were able to
gaze again. Thus we rode onward, obtaining new points of view, new
effects, and deeper emotions; nor can time efface the impressions we
received in the depths of our souls.
A lady, at whose door we alighted for a moment to obtain a particular
point of view, told us that at sunset the mountain assumed a peculiar
transparency, with most mysterious hues of blue and purple; so that
she had seen irreligious natures, frivolous and light, when suddenly
called out to look, stand petrified, or rather exalted above
themselves, and irresistibly turning their faces, their thoughts,
their breathings of adoration up to God.
I do not wonder that the eternal home of the glorified should be
symbolized by a Mount Zion. I do not wonder that the Psalmist should
say, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the _hills,_ from whence
cometh my help!" For surely earth cannot present, nor unassisted fancy
conceive, an object more profoundly significant of divine majesty than
these mountains in their linen vesture of everlasting snow.
Tuesday, June 28. The morning dawned clear, warm, and cloudless. A
soft haze rested on the distant landscape, without, however, in the
least dimming its beauty.
At about eleven we set off with two horses in an open carriage, by the
left shore, to visit St. Cergue, and ascend the Jura. All our way was
gradually ascending, and before us, or rather across the lake on one
side, stood the glorious New Jerusalem scene. We were highly favored.
Every moment diminished the intervening mountains, and lifted the
gorgeous pageant higher into the azure.
Every step, every turn, presented it in some new point of view, and
extended the range of observation. New Alps were continually rising,
and diamond-pointed peaks glancing up behind sombre granite bulwarks.
At noon _cocher_ stopped at a village to refresh his horses. We
proceeded to a cool terrace filled with trees, and lulled by the
splash of a fountain, from whence the mountain was in full view. Here
we investigated the mysteries of a certain basket which our provident
hostess had brought with her.
After due refreshment and repose we continued our route, ascending the
Jura, towards the Dôle, which is the highest mountain of that range. A
macadamized road coiled up the mountain side, affording us at every
turning a new and more splendid view of the other shore of the lake.
At length we reached St. Cergue, and leaving the carriage, H. and I,
guided by a peasant girl, went through the woods to the highest point,
where were the ruins of the ancient chateau. Far be it from me to
describe what we saw. I feel that I have already been too
presumptuous. We sat down, and each made a hasty sketch of Mont Blanc.
We took tea at the hotel, which reminded us, by the neatness of its
scoured chambers with their white bedspreads, of the apartments of
some out-of-the-way New England farm house.
The people of the neighborhood having discovered who H. was, were very
kind, and full of delight at seeing her. It was Scotland over again.
We have had to be unflinching to prevent her being overwhelmed, both
in Paris and Geneva, by the same demonstrations of regard. To this we
were driven, as a matter of life and death. It was touching to listen
to the talk of these secluded mountaineers. The good hostess, even the
servant maids, hung about H., expressing such tender interest for the
slave. All had read Uncle Tom. And it had apparently been an era in
their life's monotony, for they said, "O, madam, do write another!
Remember, our winter nights here are _very_ long!"
The proprietor of the inn (not the landlord) was a gentleman of
education and polished demeanor. _He had lost an Eva_, he said.
And he spoke with deep emotion. He thanked H. for what she had
written, and at parting said, "Have courage; the sacred cause of
Liberty will yet prevail through the world."
Ah, they breathe a pure air, these generous Swiss, among these
mountain tops! May their simple words be a prophecy divine.
At about six we returned, and as we slowly wound down the mountain
side we had a full view of all the phenomena of color attending the
sun's departure. The mountain,--the city rather,--for so high had it
risen, that I could imagine a New Jerusalem of pearly white, with Mont
Blanc for the central citadel, or temple,--the city was all a-glow.
The air behind, the sky, became of a delicate apple green; the snow,
before so incandescent in whiteness, assumed a rosy tint. We paused--
we sat in silence to witness these miraculous transformations.
"Charley," said H., "sing that hymn of yours, the New Jerusalem." And
in the hush of the mountain solitudes we sang together,--
"We are on our journey home,
Where Christ our Lord is gone;
We will meet around his throne,
When he makes his people one
In the New Jerusalem.
We can see that distant home,
Though clouds rise oft between;
Faith views the radiant dome,
And a lustre flashes keen
From the New Jerusalem.
O, glory shining far
From the never-setting sun!
O, trembling morning star!
Our journey's almost done
To the New Jerusalem.
Our hearts are breaking now
Those mansions fair to see:
O Lord, thy heavens bow,
And raise us up with thee
To the New Jerusalem."
The echoes of our voices died along the mountain sides, as slowly we
wended our downward way. The rosy flush began to fade. A rich creamy
or orange hue seemed to imbue the scene, and finally, as the shadows
from the Jura crept higher, and covered it with a pall, it assumed a
startling, deathlike pallor of chalky white. Mont Blanc was dead. Mont
Blanc was walking as a ghost upon the granite ranges. But as darkness
came on, and as the sky over the Jura, where the sun had set, obtained
a deep, rosy tinge, Mont Blanc revived a little, and a flush of
delicate, transparent pink tinged his cone, and Mont Blanc was asleep.
Good night to Mont Blanc.
Wednesday morning, June 29. The day is intensely hot; the weather is
exceedingly fair, but Mont Blanc is not visible. Not a vestige--not a
trace. All vanished. It does not seem possible. There do not seem to
exist the conditions for such celestial pageant to have stood there.
What! there--where my eyes now look steadily and piercingly into the
blue, into the seemingly fathomless azure--there, will they tell me, I
saw that enraptured vision, as it were, the city descending from God
out of heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband? Incredible! It must
be a dream, a vision of the night.
Evening. After the heat of the day our whole household, old and young,
set forth for a boating excursion on the lake. Dividing our party in
two boats, we pulled about a mile up the left shore. Lake Leman was
before us in all its loveliness; and we were dipping our oar where
Byron had floated past scenes which scarce need to become classic to
possess a superior charm. The sun was just gone behind the Jura,
leaving a glorious sky. Mont Blanc stood afar behind a hazy veil, like
a spirit half revealed. We saw it pass before our eyes as we moved.
"It stood still, but we could not discern the form thereof." As we
glided on past boats uncounted, winged or many-footed, motionless or
still, we softly sung,--
"Think of me oft at twilight hour,
And I will think of thee;
Remembering how we felt its power
When thou wast still with me.
Dear is that hour, for day then sleeps
Upon the gray cloud's breast;
And not a voice or sound e'er keeps
His wearied eyes from rest."
The surface of the lake was unruffled. The air was still. An
occasional burst from the band in the garden of Rousseau came softened
in the distance. Enveloped in her thick shawl H. reclined in the
stern, and gave herself to the influences of the hour.
Darkness came down upon the deep. And in the gloom we turned our prows
towards the many-twinkling quays, far in the distance. We bent to the
oar in emulous contest, and our barks foamed and hissed through the
water. In a few moments we were passing through the noisy crowd on the
quay towards our quiet home.
LETTER XXXII.
DEAR CHILDREN:--
I promised to write from Chamouni, so to commence at the commencement.
Fancy me, on a broiling day in July, panting with the heat, gazing
from my window in Geneva upon Lake Leman, which reflects the sun like
a burning glass, and thinking whether in America, or any where else,
it was ever so hot before. This was quite a new view of the subject to
me, who had been warned in Paris only of the necessity of blanket
shawls, and had come to Switzerland with my head full of glaciers, and
my trunk full of furs.
While arranging my travelling preparations, Madame F. enters.
"Have you considered how cold it is up there?" she inquires.
"I am glad if it is cold any where," said I.
"Ah, you will find it dreadful; you will need to be thoroughly
guarded."
I suggested tippets, flannels, and furs, of which I already possessed
a moderate supply. But no; these were altogether insufficient. It was
necessary that I should buy two immense fur coats; one for C., and one
for myself.
I assure you that such preparations, made with the thermometer between
eighty and ninety, impress one with a kind of awe. "What regions must
they be," thought I to myself, "thus sealed up in eternal snows, while
the country at their feet lies scorching in the very fire!" A shadow
of incredulity mingled itself with my reflections. On the whole, I
bought but _one_ fur coat.
At this moment C. came up to tell me that W., S., and G. had all come
back from Italy, so that our party was once more together.
It was on the 5th of July that S. and I took our seats in the _coupé_
of the diligence. Now, this _coupé_ is low and narrow enough, so that
our condition reminded me slightly of the luckless fowls which I have
sometimes seen riding to the Cincinnati market in _coupés_ of about
equal convenience. Nevertheless, it might be considered a peaceable
and satisfactory style of accommodation in an ordinary country. But to
ride among the wonders of the Alps in such a vehicle is something like
contemplating infinity through the nose of a bottle. It was really very
tantalizing and provoking to me till C. was so obliging as to resign his
seat on top in my favor, and descend into _Sheol_, as he said. Then I
began to live; for I could see to the summit of the immense walls of rock
under which we were passing. By and by we were reminded, by the
examination of our passports, that we had entered Sardinia; and the
officers, being duly satisfied that we were not going to Chamouni to
levy an army among the glaciers, or raise a sedition among the
avalanches, let us pass free. The discretion and wisdom of this
passport system can never be sufficiently admired. It must be entirely
owing to this, that the Alps do not break out on Europe generally, and
tear it in pieces.
But the mountains--how shall I give you the least idea of them? Old,
sombre, haggard genii, half veiled in clouds, belted with pines, worn
and furrowed with storms and avalanches, but not as yet crowned with
snow. For many miles after leaving Geneva, the Mole is the principal
object; its blue-black outline veering and shifting, taking on a
thousand strange varieties of form as you approach it, others again as
you recede.
It is a cloudy day; and heavy volumes of vapor are wreathing and
unwreathing themselves around the gaunt forms of the everlasting
rocks, like human reasonings, desires, and hopes around the ghastly
realities of life and death; graceful, undulating, and sometimes
gleaming out in silver or rosy wreaths. Still, they are nothing but
mist; the dread realities are just where they were before. It is odd,
though, to look at these cloud caperings; quite as interesting, in its
way, as to read new systems of transcendental philosophy, and perhaps
quite as profitable. Yonder is a great, whiteheaded cloud, slowly
unrolling himself in the bosom of a black pine forest. Across the
other side of the road a huge granite cliff has picked up a bit of
gauzy silver, which he is winding round his scraggy neck. And now,
here comes a cascade right over our heads; a cascade, not of water,
but of cloud; for the poor little brook that makes it faints away
before it gets down to us; it falls like a shimmer of moonlight, or a
shower of powdered silver, while a tremulous rainbow appears at
uncertain intervals, like a half-seen spirit.
[Illustration: _of waterfalls._]
The cascade here, as in mountains generally, is a never-failing source
of life and variety. Water, joyous, buoyant son of Nature, is calling
to you, leaping, sparkling, mocking at you between bushes, and singing
as he goes down the dells. A thousand little pictures he makes among
the rocks as he goes; like the little sketch which I send you.
Then, the _bizarre_ outline of the rocks; well does Goethe call
them "the giant-snouted crags;" and as the diligence winds slowly on,
they seem to lean, and turn, and bend. Now they close up like a wall
in front, now open in piny and cloudy vistas: now they embrace the
torrent in their great, black arms; and now, flashing laughter and
babbling defiance through rifted rocks and uprooted pines, the torrent
shoots past them, down into some fathomless abyss. These old Alp
mothers cannot hold their offspring back from abysses any better than
poor earth mothers.
There are phases in nature which correspond to every phase of human
thought and emotion; and this stern, cloudy scenery answers to the
melancholy fatalism of Greek tragedy, or the kindred mournfulness of
the Book of Job.
These dark channelled rocks, worn, as with eternal tears,--these
traces, so evident of ancient and vast desolations,--suggest the idea
of boundless power and inexorable will, before whose course the most
vehement of human feelings are as the fine spray of the cataract.
"For, surely, the mountain, falling, cometh to nought;
The rock is remored out of his place;
The waters wear the stones;
Thou washest away the things that grow out of the earth,
And thou destroyest the hopes of man;
Thou prevailest against him, and he passeth;
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away."
The sceptical inquirer into the mysteries of eternal things might
here, if ever, feel the solemn irony of Eliphaz the Temanite:--
"Should a wise man utter vain knowledge?
Should he reason with unprofitable talk?
Or with speeches that can do no good?
Art thou the first man that ever was born?
Or wast thou made before the hills?"
There are some of my fellow-travellers, by the by, who, if they
_had_ been made before the hills, would never have been much
wiser. All through these solemn passages and gorges, they are
discussing hotels, champagne, wine, and cigars. I presume they would
do the same thing at the gates of the Celestial City, if they should
accidentally find themselves there. It is one of the dark providences
that multitudes of this calibre of mind find leisure and means to come
among these scenes, while many to whom they would be an inspiration,
in whose souls they would unseal ceaseless fountains of beauty, are
forever excluded by poverty and care.
At noon we stopped at Sallenches, famous for two things; first, as the
spot where people get dinner, and second, where they take the
_char_, a carriage used when the road is too steep for the
diligence. Here S., who had been feeling ill all the morning, became
too unwell to proceed, so that we had to lie by an hour or two, and
did not go on with the caravan. I sat down at the room window to study
and sketch a mountain that rose exactly opposite. I thought to myself,
"Now, would it be possible to give to one that had not seen it an idea
of how this looks?" Let me try if words can paint it. Right above the
fiat roof of the houses on the opposite side of the street rose this
immense mountain wall. The lower tier seemed to be a turbulent swell
of pasture land, rolling into every imaginable shape; green billows
and dells, rising higher and higher in the air as you looked upward,
dyed here and there in bright yellow streaks, by the wild crocus, and
spotted over with cattle. Dark clumps and belts of pine now and then
rise up among them; and scattered here and there in the heights, among
green hollows, were cottages, that looked about as big as hickory
nuts.
Above all this region was still another, of black pines and crags; the
pines going up, and up, and up, till they looked no larger than pin
feathers; and surmounting all, straight, castellated turrets of rock,
looking out of swathing bands of cloud. A narrow, dazzling line of
snow crowned the summit.
You see before you three distinct regions--of pasture, of pine, of
bare, eternal sterility. On inquiring the name of the mountain, I was
told that it was the "Aiguille" something, I forget what; but I
discovered that almost all the peaks in this region of the Alps are
called Aiguille, (needle,) I suppose from the straight, sharp points
that rise at their summits.
There is a bridge here in Sallenches, from which, in clear weather,
one of the best views of Mont Blanc can be obtained--so they tell us.
To-day it is as much behind the veil, and as absolutely a matter of
faith as heaven itself. Looking in that direction you could not
believe that there ever had been, or could be, a mountain there. The
concealing clouds look as gray, as cool, and as absolutely unconscious
of any world of glory behind them as our dull, cold, every-day life
does of a heaven, which is, perhaps, equally near us. As we were
passing the bridge, however, a gust of icy wind swept down the course
of the river, whose chilly breath spoke of glaciers and avalanches.
Our driver was one of those merry souls, to be found the world over,
whose hearts yearn after talk; and when I volunteered to share the
outside seat with him, that I might see better, he inquired anxiously
if "mademoiselle understood French," that he might have the pleasure
of enlightening her on the localities. Of course mademoiselle could do
no less than be exceedingly grateful, since a peasant on his own
ground is generally better informed than a philosopher from elsewhere.
Our path lay along the banks of the Arve, a raving, brawling,
turbulent stream of muddy water. A wide belt of drifted, pebbly land,
on either side of it, showed that at times the torrent had a much
wider sweep than at present.
In fact, my guide informed me that the Arve, like most other mountain
streams, had many troublesome and inconvenient personal habits, such
as rising up all of a sudden, some night, and whisking off houses,
cattle, pine trees; in short, getting up sailing parties in such a
promiscuous manner that it is neither safe nor agreeable to live in
his neighborhood. He showed me, from time to time, the traces of such
Kuhleborn pranks.
We were now descending rapidly through the valley of Chamouni, by a
winding road, the scenery becoming every moment more and more
impressive. The path was so steep and so stony that our guide was well
enough contented to have us walk. I was glad to walk on alone; for the
scenery was so wonderful that human sympathy and communion seemed to
be out of the question. The effect of such scenery to our generally
sleeping and drowsy souls, bound with the double chain of earthliness
and sin, is like the electric touch of the angel on Peter, bound and
sleeping. They make us realize that we were not only made to commune
with God, but also what a God he is with whom we may commune. We talk
of poetry, we talk of painting, we go to the ends of the earth to see
the artists and great men of this world; but what a poet, what an
artist is God! Truly said Michael Angelo, "The true painting is only a
copy of the divine perfections--a shadow of his pencil."
I was sitting on a mossy trunk of an old pine, looking up admiringly
on the wonderful heights around me--crystal peaks sparkling over dark
pine trees--shadowy, airy distances of mountain heights, rising
crystalline amid many-colored masses of cloud; while, looking out over
my head from green hollows, I saw the small cottages, so tiny, in
their airy distance, that they seemed scarcely bigger than a
squirrel's nut, which he might have dropped in his passage. A pretty
Savoyard girl, I should think about fifteen years old, came up to me.
"Madame admires the mountains," she said.
I assented.
"Yes," she added, "strangers always admire our mountains."
"And don't you admire them?" said I, looking, I suppose, rather amused
into her bright eyes.
"No," she said, laughing. "Strangers come from hundreds of miles to
see them all the time; but we peasants don't care for them, no more
than the dust of the road."
I could but half believe the bright little puss when she said so; but
there was a lumpish, soggy fellow accompanying her, whose nature
appeared to be sufficiently unleavened to make almost any thing
credible in the line of stupidity. In fact, it is one of the greatest
drawbacks to the pleasure with which one travels through this
beautiful country, to see what kind of human beings inhabit it. Here
in the Alps, heaven above and earth beneath, tree, rock, water, light
and shadow, every form, and agent, and power of nature, seem to be
exerting themselves to produce a constant and changing poem and
romance; every thing is grand, noble, free, and yet beautiful: in all
these regions there is nothing so repulsive as a human dwelling.
A little further on we stopped at a village to refresh the horses. The
_auberge_ where we stopped was built like a great barn, with an
earth floor, desolate and comfortless. The people looked poor and
ground down, as if they had not a thought above the coarsest animal
wants. The dirty children, with their hair tangled beyond all hope of
combing, had the begging whine, and the trick of raising their hands
for money, when one looked at them, which is universal in the Catholic
parts of Switzerland. Indeed, all the way from the Sardinian frontier
we had been dogged by beggars continually. Parents seemed to look upon
their children as valuable only for this purpose; the very baby in
arms is taught to make a pitiful little whine, and put out its fat
hand, if your eye rests on it. The fact is, they are poor--poor
because invention, enterprise, and intellectual vigor--all that
surrounds the New England mountain farmer with competence and
comfort--are quenched and dead, by the combined influence of a
religion and government whose interest it is to keep people stupid
that they may be manageable. Yet the Savoyards, as a race, it seems to
me, are naturally intelligent; and I cannot but hope that the liberal
course lately adopted by the Sardinian government may at last reach
them. My heart yearns over many of the bright, pretty children, whose
little hands have been up, from time to time, around our carriage. I
could not help thinking what good schools and good instruction might
do for them. It is not their fault, poor little things, that they are
educated to whine and beg, and grow up rude, uncultured, to bring
forth another set of children just like themselves; but what to do
with them is the question. One generally begins with giving money; but
a day or two of experience shows that it would be just about as
hopeful to feed the locusts of Egypt on a loaf of bread. But it is
hard to refuse children, especially to a mother who has left five or
six at home, and who fancies she sees, in some of these little eager,
childish faces, something now and then that reminds her of her own.
For my part, I got schooled so that I could stand them all, except the
little toddling three-year olds--they fairly overcame me. So I
supplied my pocket with a quantity of sugar lozenges, for the relief
of my own mind. I usually found the little fellows looked exceedingly
delighted when they discovered the nature of the coin. Children are
unsophisticated, and like sugar better than silver, any day.
In this _auberge_ was a little chamois kid, of which fact we were
duly apprised, when we got out, by a board put up, which said, "Here
one can see a live chamois." The little live representative of
chamoisdom came skipping out with the most amiable unconsciousness,
and went through his paces for our entertainment with as much
propriety as a New England child says his catechism. He hopped up on a
table after some green leaves, which were then economically used to
make him hop down again. The same illusive prospect was used to make
him jump over a stick, and perform a number of other evolutions. I
could not but admire the sweetness of temper with which he took all
this tantalizing, and the innocence with which he chewed his cabbage
leaf after he got it, not harboring a single revengeful thought at us
for the trouble we had given him. Of course the issue of the matter
was, that we all paid a few sous for the sight--not to the chamois,
which would have been the most equitable way, but to those who had
appropriated his gifts and graces to eke out their own convenience.
"Where's his mother?" said I, desiring to enlarge my sphere of natural
history as much as possible.
"_On a tué sa mere_"--"They have killed his mother," was the
reply, cool enough.
There we had the whole story. His enterprising neighbors had invaded
the domestic hearth, shot his mother, and eaten her up, made her skin
into chamois leather, and were keeping him till he got big enough for
the same disposition, using his talents meanwhile to turn a penny
upon; yet not a word of all this thought he; not a bit the less
heartily did he caper; never speculated a minute on why it was, on the
origin of evil, or any thing of the sort; or, if he did, at least
never said a word about it. I gave one good look into his soft, round,
glassy eyes, and could see nothing there but the most tranquil
contentment. He had finished his cabbage leaf, and we had finished our
call; so we will go on.
It was now drawing towards evening, and the air began to be sensibly
and piercingly cold. One effect of this mountain air on myself is, to
bring on the most acute headache that I ever recollect to have felt.
Still, the increasing glory and magnificence of the scenery overcame
bodily fatigue. Mont Blanc, and his army of white-robed brethren, rose
before us in the distance, glorious as the four and twenty elders
around the great white throne. The wonderful gradations of coloring in
this Alpine landscape are not among the least of its charms. How can I
describe it? Imagine yourself standing with me on this projecting
rock, overlooking a deep, piny gorge, through which flow the brawling
waters of the Arve. On the other side of this rise mountains whose
heaving swells of velvet green, cliffs and dark pines, are fully made
out and colored; behind this mountain, rises another, whose greens are
softened and shaded, and seem to be seen through a purplish veil;
behind that rises another, of a decided cloud-like purple; and in the
next still the purple tint changes to rosy lilac; while above all,
like another world up in the sky, mingling its tints with the passing
clouds, sometimes obscured by them, and then breaking out between
them, lie the glacier regions. These glaciers, in the setting sun,
look like rivers of light pouring down from the clouds. Such was the
scene, which I remember with perfect distinctness as enchaining my
attention on one point of the road.
We had now got up to the valley of Chamouni. I looked before me, and
saw, lying in the lap of the green valley, a gigantic pile of icy
pillars, which, seen through the trees, at first suggested the idea of
a cascade.
"What is that?" said I to the guide.
"The Glacier de Boisson."
I may as well stop here, and explain to you, once for all, what a
glacier is. You see before you, as in this case, say thirty or forty
mountain peaks, and between these peaks what seem to you frozen
rivers. The snow from time to time melting, and dripping down the
sides of the mountain, and congealing in the elevated hollows between
the peaks, forms a half-fluid mass--a river of ice--which is called a
glacier.
As it lies upon the slanting surface, and is not entirely solid
throughout, the whole mass is continually pushing, with a gradual but
imperceptible motion, down into the valleys below.
At a distance these glaciers, as I have said before, look like frozen
rivers; when one approaches nearer, or where they press downward into
the valley, like this Glacier de Boisson, they look like immense
crystals and pillars of ice piled together in every conceivable form.
The effect of this pile of ice, lying directly in the lap of green
grass and flowers, is quite singular. The village of Chamouni itself
has nothing in particular to recommend it. The buildings and every
thing about it have a rough, coarse appearance. Before we had entered
the valley this evening the sun had gone down; the sky behind the
mountains was clear, and it seemed for a few moments as if darkness
was rapidly coming on. On our right hand were black, jagged, furrowed
walls of mountain, and on our left Mont Blanc, with his fields of
glaciers and worlds of snow; they seemed to hem us in, and almost
press us down. But in a few moments commenced a scene of
transfiguration, more glorious than any thing I had witnessed yet. The
cold, white, dismal fields of ice gradually changed into hues of the
most beautiful rose color. A bank of white clouds, which rested above
the mountains, kindled and glowed, as if some spirit of light had
entered into them. You did not lose your idea of the dazzling,
spiritual whiteness of the snow, yet you seemed to see it through a
rosy veil. The sharp edges of the glaciers, and the hollows between
the peaks, reflected wavering tints of lilac and purple. The effect
was solemn and spiritual above every thing I have ever seen. These
words, which had been often in my mind through the day, and which
occurred to me more often than any others while I was travelling
through the Alps, came into my mind with a pomp and magnificence of
meaning unknown before--"For by Him were all things created in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things are by him and for
him; and he is before all things, and by him all things subsist."
In this dazzling revelation I saw not that cold, distant, unfeeling
fate, or that crushing regularity of power and wisdom, which was all
the ancient Greek or modern Deist can behold in God; but I beheld, as
it were, crowned and glorified, one who had loved with our loves, and
suffered with our sufferings. Those shining snows were as his garments
on the Mount of Transfiguration, and that serene and ineffable
atmosphere of tenderness and beauty, which seemed to change these
dreary deserts into worlds of heavenly light, was to me an image of
the light shed by his eternal love on the sins and sorrows of time,
and the dread abyss of eternity.
LETTER XXXIII.
MY DEAR:--
Well, I waked up this morning, and the first thought was, "Here I am
in the valley of Chamouni, right under the shadow of Mont Blanc, that
I have studied about in childhood and found on the atlas." I sprang
up, and ran to the window, to see if it was really there where I left
it last night. Yes, true enough, there it was! right over our heads,
as it were, blocking up our very existence; filling our minds with its
presence; that colossal pyramid of dazzling snow! Its lower parts
concealed by the roofs, only the three rounded domes of the summit cut
their forms with icy distinctness on the intense blue of the sky!
On the evening before I had taken my last look at about nine o'clock,
and had mentally resolved to go out before daybreak and repeat
Coleridge's celebrated hymn; but I advise any one who has any such
liturgic designs to execute them over night, for after a day of
climbing one acquires an aptitude for sleep that interferes with early
rising. When I left last evening its countenance was "filled with rosy
light," and they tell us, that hours before it is daylight in the
valley this mountain top breaks into brightness, like that pillar of
fire which enlightened the darkness of the Israelites.
I rejoice every hour that I am among these scenes in my familiarity
with the language of the Bible. In it alone can I find vocabulary and
images to express what this world of wonders excites. Mechanically I
repeat to myself, "The everlasting mountains were scattered; the
perpetual hills did bow; his ways are everlasting." But as straws,
chips, and seaweed play in a thousand fantastic figures on the face of
the ocean, sometimes even concealing the solemn depths beneath, so the
prose of daily existence mixes itself up with the solemn poetry of
life, here as elsewhere.
You must have a breakfast, and then you cannot rush out and up Mont
Blanc _ad libitum_; you must go up in the regular appointed way,
with mule and guides. This matter of guides is perfectly systematized
here; for, the mountains being the great overpowering fact of life, it
follows that all that enterprise and talent which in other places
develop themselves in various forms, here take the single channel of
climbing mountains. In America, if a man is a genius he strikes out a
new way of cleaning cotton; but in Chamouni, if he is a genius he
finds a new way of going up Mont Blanc.
As a sailor knows every timber, rope, and spar of his ship, and seems
to identify his existence with her, so these guides their mountains.
The mountains are their calendar, their book, their newspaper, their
cabinet, herbarium, barometer, their education, and their livelihood.
In fine, behold us about eight o'clock, C., S., W., little G., and
self, in all the bustle of fitting out in the front of our hotel. Two
guides, Balmat and Alexandre, lead two mules, long-eared, slow-footed,
considerate brutes, who have borne a thousand ladies over a thousand
pokerish places, and are ready to bear a thousand more. Equipped with
low-backed saddles, they stand, their noses down, their eyes
contemplatively closed, their whole appearance impressing one with an
air of practical talent and reliableness. Your mule is evidently safe
and stupid as any conservative of any country; you may be sure that no
erratic fires, no new influx of ideas will ever lead him to desert the
good old paths, and tumble you down precipices. The harness they wear
is so exceedingly ancient, and has such a dilapidated appearance, as
if held together only by the merest accident, that I could not but
express a little alarm on mounting.
"Those girths--won't they break?"
"O, no, no, mademoiselle!" said the guides. In fact, they seem so
delighted with their arrangements, that I swallow my doubts in
silence. A third mule being added for the joint use of the gentlemen,
and all being equipped with iron-pointed poles, off we start in high
spirits.
A glorious day; air clear as crystal, sky with as fixed a blue as if
it could not think a cloud; guides congratulate us, "_Qu'il fait
très beau!_" We pass the lanes of the village, our heads almost on
a level with the flat stone-laden roofs; our mules, with their long
rolling pace, like the waves of the sea, give to their riders a
facetious wag of the body that is quite striking. Now the village is
passed, and see, a road banded with green ribands of turf. S.'s mule
and guide pass on, and head the party. G. rides another mule. C. and
W. leap along trying their alpenstocks; stopping once in a while to
admire the glaciers, as their brilliant forms appear through the
pines.
Here a discussion commences as to where we are going. We had agreed
among ourselves that we would visit the Mer de Glâce. We fully meant
to go there, and had so told the guide on starting; but it appears he
had other views for us. There is a regular way of seeing things,
orthodox and appointed; and to get sight of any thing in the wrong way
would be as bad as to get well without a scientific physician, or any
other irregular piece of proceeding.
It appeared from the representations of the guide that to visit Mer de
Glâce before we had seen La Flégère, would no more answer than for
Jacob to marry Rachel before he had married Leah. Determined not to
yield, as we were, we somehow found ourselves vanquished by our
guide's arguments, and soberly going off his way instead of ours,
doing exactly what we had resolved not to do. However, the point being
yielded we proceeded merrily.
As we had some way, however, to trot along the valley before we came
to the ascending place, I improved the opportunity to cultivate a
little the acquaintance of my guide. He was a tall, spare man, with
black eyes, black hair, and features expressive of shrewdness, energy,
and determination. Either from paralysis, or some other cause, he was
subject to a spasmodic twitching of the features, producing very much
the effect that heat lightning does in the summer sky--it seemed to
flash over his face and be gone in a wink; at first this looked to me
very odd, but so much do our ideas depend on association, that after I
had known him for some time, I really thought that I liked him better
with, than I should without it. It seemed to give originality to the
expression of his face; he was such a good, fatherly man, and took
such excellent care of me and the mule, and showed so much
intelligence and dignity in his conversation, that I could do no less
than like him, heat lightning and all.
This valley of Chamouni, through which we are winding now, is every
where as flat as a parlor floor. These valleys in the Alps seem to
have this peculiarity--they are not hollows, bending downward in the
middle, and imperceptibly sloping upward into the mountains, but they
lie perfectly flat. The mountains rise up around them like walls
almost perpendicularly.
"_Voilà!_" says my guide, pointing to the left, to a great, bare
ravine, "down there came an avalanche, and knocked down those houses
and killed several people."
"Ah!" said I; "but don't avalanches generally come in the same places
every year?"
"Generally, they do."
"Why do people build houses in the way of them?" said I.
"Ah! this was an unusual avalanche, this one here."
"Do the avalanches ever bring rocks with them?"
"No, not often; nothing but snow."
"There!" says my guide, pointing to an object about as big as a
good-sized fly, on the side of a distant mountain, "there's the
_auberge_, on La Flégère, where we are going."
"Up there?" say I, looking up apprehensively, and querying in my mind
how my estimable friend the mule is ever to get up there with me on
his back.
"O yes," says my guide, cheerily, "and the road is up through that
ravine."
The ravine is a charming specimen of a road to be sure, but no
matter--on we go.
"There," says a guide, "those black rocks in the middle of that
glacier on Mont Blanc are the Grands Mulets, where travellers sleep
going up Mont Blanc."
We wind now among the pine tree still we come almost under the Mer de
Glâce. A most fairy-like cascade falls down from under its pillars of
ice over the dark rocks,--a cloud of feathery foam,--and then streams
into the valley below.
"_Voilà, L'Arveiron!_" says the guide.
"O, is that the Arveiron?" say I; "happy to make the acquaintance."
But now we cross the Arve into a grove of pines, and direct our way to
the ascent. We begin to thread a zigzag path on the sides of the
mountain.
As mules are most determined followers of precedent, every one keeps
his nose close by the heels of his predecessor. The delicate point,
therefore, of the whole operation is keeping the first mule straight.
The first mule in our party, who rejoiced in the name of Rousse, was
selected to head the caravan, perhaps because he had more native
originality than most mules, and was therefore better fitted to lead
than to follow. A troublesome beast was he, from a habit of abstract
meditation which was always liable to come on him in most inconvenient
localities. Every now and then, simply in accordance with his own
sovereign will and pleasure, and without consulting those behind him,
he would stop short and descend into himself in gloomy revery, not
that he seemed to have any thing in particular on his mind,--at least
nothing of the sort escaped his lips,--but the idea would seem to
strike him all of a sudden that he was an ill-used beast, and that
he'd be hanged if he went another step. Now, as his stopping stopped
all the rest, wheresoever they might happen to be, it often occurred
that we were detained in most critical localities, just on the very
verge of some tremendous precipice, or up a rocky stairway. In vain
did the foremost driver admonish him by thumping his nose with a sharp
stick, and tugging and pulling upon the bridle. Rousse was gifted with
one of those long, India rubber necks that can stretch out
indefinitely, so that the utmost pulling and jerking only took his
head along a little farther, but left his heels planted exactly here
they were before, somewhat after this fashion. His eyes, meanwhile,
devoutly closed, with an air of meekness overspreading his visage, he
might have stood as an emblem of conscientious obstinacy.
[Illustration: _of two men trying to force forward a stubborn mule with
a female rider._]
The fact is, that in ascending these mountains there is just enough
danger to make one's nerves a little unsteady; not by any means as
much as on board a rail car at home; still it comes to you in a more
demonstrable form. Here you are, for instance, on a precipice two
thousand feet deep; pine trees, which, when you passed them at the
foot you saw were a hundred feet high, have dwindled to the size of
pins. No barrier of any kind protects the dizzy edge, and your mule is
particularly conscientious to stand on the very verge, no matter how
wide the path may be. Now, under such circumstances, though your guide
assures you that an accident or a person killed is a thing unknown,
you cannot help seeing that if the saddle should turn, or the girths
break, or a bit of the crumbling edge cave away--all which things
appear quite possible--all would be over with you. Yet I suppose we
are no more really dependent upon God's providence in such
circumstances, than in many cases where we think ourselves most
secure. Still the thrill of this sensation is not without its
pleasure, especially with such an image of almighty power and glory
constantly before one's eyes as Mont Blanc. Our own littleness and
helplessness, in view of these vast objects which surround us, give a
strong and pathetic force to the words, "The eternal God is thy
refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms."
I like best these snow-pure glaciers seen through these black pines;
there is something mysterious about them when you thus catch glimpses,
and see not the earthly base on which they rest. I recollect the same
fact in seeing the Cataract of Niagara through trees, where merely the
dizzying fall of water was visible, with its foam, and spray, and
rainbows; it produced an idea of something supernatural.
I forgot to say that at the foot of the mountain a party of girls
started to ascend with us, carrying along bottles of milk and small
saucers full of mountain strawberries. About half way up the ascent we
halted by a spring of water which gushed from the side of the
mountain, and there we found the advantage of these arrangements. The
milk is very nice, almost as rich as cream. I think they told me it
was goat's milk. The strawberries are very small indeed, like our
field strawberries, but not as good. One devours them with great
relish, simply because the keen air of the mountain disposes one to
eat something, and there is nothing better to be had. They were
hearty, rosy-looking girls, cheerful and obliging, wore the flat,
Swiss hat, and carried their knitting work along with them, and knit
whenever they could.
When you asked them the price of their wares they always said, "_Au
plaisir_" i. e., whatever you please; but when we came to offer
them money, we found "_au plaisir_" meant so much at _any
rate_, and as much more as they could get.
There were some children who straggled up with the party, who offered
us flowers and crystals "_au plaisir_" to about the same intent
and purpose. This _cortége_ of people, wanting to sell you
something, accompanies you every where in the Alps. The guides
generally look upon it with complacency, and in a quiet way favor it.
I suppose that the fact was, these were neighbors and acquaintances,
and the mutual understanding was, that they should help each other.
It was about twelve o'clock, when we gained a bare board shanty as
near the top of La Flégère as it is possible to go on mules.
It is rather a discouraging reflection that one should travel three or
four hours to get to such a desolate place as these mountain tops
generally are; nothing but grass, rocks, and snow; a shanty, with a
show case full of minerals, articles of carved wood, and engravings of
the place for sale. In these show cases the Alps are brought to market
as thoroughly as human ingenuity can do the thing. The chamois figures
largely; there are pouches made of chamois skin, walking sticks and
alpenstocks tipped with chamois horn; sometimes an entire skin, horns
and all, hanging disconsolately downward. Then all manner of crystals,
such as are found in the rocks, are served up--agate pins, rings,
seals, bracelets, cups, and snuffboxes--all which are duly urged on
your attention; so, instead of falling into a rapture at the sight of
Mont Blanc, the regular routine for a Yankee is to begin a bargain for
a walking stick or a snuffbox.
There is another curious fact, and that is, that every prospect loses
by being made definite. As long as we only see a thing by glimpses,
and imagine that there is a deal more that we do not see, the mind is
kept in a constant excitement and play; but come to a point where you
can fairly and squarely take in the whole, and there your mind falls
listless. It is the greatest proof to me of the infinite nature of our
minds, that we almost instantly undervalue what we have thoroughly
attained. This sensation afflicted me, for I had been reining in my
enthusiasm for two days, as rather premature, and keeping myself in
reserve for this ultimate display. But now I stood there, no longer
seeing by glimpses, no longer catching rapturous intimations as I
turned angles of rock, or glanced through windows of pine--here it
was, all spread out before me like a map, not a cloud, not a shadow to
soften the outline--there was Mont Blanc, a great alabaster pyramid,
with a glacier running down each side of it; there was the Arve, and
there was the Arveiron, names most magical in song, but now literal
geographic realities.
But in full possession of the whole my mind gave out like a rocket
that will not go off at the critical moment. I remember, once after
finishing a very circumstantial treatise on the nature of heaven,
being oppressed with a similar sensation of satiety,--that which hath
not entered the heart of man to conceive must not be mapped out,--
hence the wisdom of the dim, indefinite imagery of the Scriptures;
they give you no hard outline, no definite limit; occasionally they
part as do the clouds around these mountains, giving you flashes and
gleams of something supernatural and splendid, but never fully
unveiling.
But La Flegerc is doubtless the best point for getting a statistically
accurate idea of how the Alps lie, of any easily accessible to ladies.
This print you may regard more as a chart than as a picture.
Our guide pointed out every feature with praiseworthy accuracy.
Midmost is Mont Blanc; on the right the Glacier de Boisson. Two or
three little black peaks' in it are the sleeping-place for travellers
ascending--the zigzag line shows their path. On the left of the
mountain lies Mer de Glâce, with the Arveiron falling from it. The
Arve crosses the valley below us; the fall is not indicated in this
view. The undulations, which, on near view, are fifty feet high, seem
mere ripples. Its purity is much soiled by the dust and debris which
are constantly blown upon it, making it look in some places more like
mud than ice. Its soiled masses contrast with the dazzling whiteness
of the upper regions, just as human virtue exposed to the wind and
dust of earth, with the spotless purity of Jesus.
[Illustration: _of a long view of mountains with glacial valley in
foreground. What follows is a rough ASCII interpretation_:
1
/\
/\ /\_/ \ 2
/\/\ __ /\/\_ /'\/\/ \__/ \ \_/\
'/\ _/ / / \ 4_ / \_3_
'' / \ | _/ __ __ 5 / \
\, / ___,,__ ____,___/ / \
_ \__--' _/ \ '--' | \____,|
\ /9/ __/ |\ | \ \\ \ |
\/ |/ | \ \ \\ \|
_ | \ | \ \_ 7 \\ \\6
\ \ 8 \__ \ \_ \\ \\
\_ \ \ \===-'--'---->
'-----\=====================\ streams
//
settlement ||
\ \_
> >
trees / /
EXPLANATION OF ILLUSTRATION.
1. Mont Blanc. 2. Deme de Goute. 3. Aiguille de Goute. 4. Grand
Plateau. 5. Les Grands Mulets. 6. Glacier de Tacconnaz. 7. Glacier de
Boisson. 8. Mer de Glâce. 9. Montauvert.]
These mulets, which at this distance appear like black points, are
needle cliffs rising in a desert of snow, thus--
[Illustration: _of narrow jagged dark rocks about 70 feet across at
the base and rising to about 80 feet from the base._]
Coming down I mentally compared Mont Blanc and Niagara, as one should
compare two grand pictures in different styles of the same master.
Both are of that class of things which mark eras in a mind's history,
and open a new door which no man can shut. Of the two, I think Niagara
is the most impressive, perhaps because those aerial elements of foam
and spray give that vague and dreamy indefiniteness of outline which
seems essential in the sublime. For this reason, while Niagara is
equally impressive in the distance, it does not lose on the nearest
approach--it is always mysterious, and, therefore, stimulating. Those
varying spray wreaths, rising like Ossian's ghosts from its abyss;
those shimmering rainbows, through whose veil you look; those dizzying
falls of water that seem like clouds poured from the hollow of God's
hand; and that mystic undertone of sound that seems to pervade the
whole being as the voice of the Almighty,--all these bewilder and
enchant the discriminative and prosaic part of us, and bring us into
that cloudy region of ecstasy where the soul comes nearest to Him whom
no eye hath seen, or can see. I have sometimes asked myself if, in the
countless ages of the future, the heirs of God shall ever be endowed
by him with a creative power, by which they shall bring into being
things like these? In this infancy of his existence, man creates
pictures, statues, cathedrals; but when he is made "ruler over many
things," will his Father intrust to him the building and adorning of
worlds? the ruling of the glorious, dazzling forces of nature?
At the foot of the mountain we found again our company of strawberry
girls, with knitting work and goat's milk, lying in wait for us. They
knew we should be thirsty and hungry, and wisely turned the
circumstance to account. Some of our party would not buy of them,
because they said they were sharpers, trying to get all they could out
of people; but if every body who tries to do this is to be called a
sharper, what is to become of respectable society, I wonder?
On the strength of this reflection, I bought some more goat's milk and
strawberries, and verily found them excellent; for, as Shakspeare
says, "How many things by season seasoned are."
We returned to our hotel, and after dining and taking a long nap, I
began to feel fresh once more, for the air here acts like an elixir,
so that one is able to do twice as much as any where else. S. was too
much overcome to go with us, but the rest of us started with our
guides once more at five o'clock. This time we were to visit the
Cascade des Pèlérins, which comes next on the orthodox list of places
to be seen.
It was a lovely afternoon; the sun had got over the Mont Blanc side of
the world, and threw the broad, cool shadow of the mountains quite
across the valley. What a curious kind of thing shadow is,--that
invisible veil, falling so evenly and so lightly over all things,
bringing with it such thoughts of calmness, of coolness, and of rest.
I wonder the old Greeks did not build temples to Shadow, and call her
the sister of Thought and Peace. The Hebrew writers speak of the
"overshadowing of the Almighty;" they call his protection "the shadow
of a great rock in a weary land." Even as the shadow of Mont Blanc
falls like a Sabbath across this valley, so falls the sense of his
presence across our weary life-road!
As we rode along under the sides of the mountain every thing seemed so
beautiful, so thoughtful, and so calm! All the goats and cows were in
motion along the mountain paths, each one tinkling his little bell and
filling the rocks with gentle melodies. You can trace the lines of
these cattle paths, running like threads all along the sides of the
mountains. We went in the same road that we had gone in the morning.
How different it seemed, in the soberness of this afternoon light,
from its aspect under the clear, crisp, sharp light of morning!
We pass again through the pine woods in the valley, and cross the
Arve; then up the mountain side to where a tiny cascade throws up its
feathery spray in a brilliant _jet d'eau_. Every body knows, even
in our sober New England, that mountain brooks are a frisky,
indiscreet set, rattling, chattering, and capering in defiance of all
law and order, tumbling over precipices, and picking themselves up at
the bottom, no whit wiser or more disposed to be tranquil than they
were at the top; in fact, seeming to grow more mad and frolicsome with
every leap. Well, that is just the way brooks do here in the Alps, and
the people, taking advantage of it, have built a little shanty, where
they show up the capers of this child of the mountain, as if he
tumbled for their special profit. Here, of course, in the shanty are
the agates, and the carved work, and so forth, and so on, and you must
buy something for a souvenir.
I sat down on the rocks to take, not a sketch,--for who can sketch a
mountain torrent?--but to note down on paper a kind of diagram, from
which afterwards I might reconstruct an image of this feathery, frisky
son of Kuhleborn.
And while I was doing this, little G. seemed to be possessed by the
spirit of the brook to caper down into the ravine, with a series of
leaps far safer for a waterfall than a boy. I was thankful when I saw
him safely at the bottom.
After sketching a little while, I rambled off to a point where I
looked over towards Mont Blanc, and got a most beautiful view of the
Glacier de Boisson. Imagine the sky flushed with a rosy light, a
background of purple mountains, with darts of sunlight streaming among
them, touching point and cliff with gold. Against this background
rises the outline of the glacier like a mountain of the clearest white
crystals, tinged with blue; and against their snowy whiteness in the
foreground tall forms of pines. I rejoiced in the picture with
exceeding joy as long as the guide would let me; but in all these
places you have to cut short your raptures at the proper season, or
else what becomes of your supper?
I went back to the cottage. A rosy-cheeked girl had held our mules,
and set a chair for us to get off, and now brings them up with "_Au
plaisir, messieurs_" to the bearers of our purse. Half a dozen
children had been waiting with the rose des Alps, which they wanted to
sell us "_au plaisir_" but which we did not buy.
These continual demands on the purse look very alarming, only the coin
you pay in is of such infinitesimal value that it takes about a pocket
full to make a cent. Such a currency is always a sign of poverty.
We had a charming ride down the mountain side, in the glow of the
twilight. We passed through a whole flock of goats which the children
were driving home. One dear little sturdy Savoyard looked so like a
certain little Charley at home that I felt quite a going forth of soul
to him. As we rode on, I thought I would willingly live and die in
such a place; but I shall see a hundred such before we leave the Alps.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Thursday, July 7. Weather still celestial, as yesterday. But lo, these
frail tabernacles betray their earthliness. H. remarked at breakfast
that all the "tired" of yesterday was piled up into to-day. And S.
actually pleaded inability, and determined to remain at the hotel.
However, the Mer de Glâce must be seen; so, at seven William, Georgy,
H., and I, set off. When about half way or more up the mountain we
crossed the track of the avalanches, a strip or trail, which looks
from beneath like a mower's swath through a field of tall grass. It is
a clean path, about fifty rods wide, without trees, with few rocks,
smooth and steep, and with a bottom of ice covered with gravel.
"Hurrah, William," said I, "let's have an avalanche!"
"Agreed," said he; "there's a big rock."
"Monsieur le Guide, Monsieur le Guide!" I shouted, "stop a moment. H.,
stop; we want you to see our avalanche."
"No," cried H., "I will not. Here you ask me to stop, right on the
edge of this precipice, to see you roll down a stone!"
So, on she ambled. Meanwhile William and I were already on foot, and
our mules were led on by the guide's daughter, a pretty little lass of
ten or twelve, who accompanied us in the capacity of mule driver.
We found several stones of inferior size, and sent them plunging down.
At last, however, we found one that weighed some two tons, which
happened to lie so that, by loosening the earth before and under it
with our alpenstocks, we were able to dislodge it. Slowly,
reluctantly, as if conscious of the awful race it was about to take,
the huge mass trembled, slid, poised, and, with a crunch and a groan,
went over. At the first plunge it acquired a heavy revolving motion,
and was soon whirling and dashing down, bounding into the air with
prodigious leaps, and cutting a white and flashing path into the icy
way. Then first I began to realize the awful height at which we stood
above the plain. Tracts, which looked as though we could almost step
across them, were reached by this terrible stone, moving with
frightful velocity; and bound after bound, plunge after plunge it
made, and we held our breath to see each tract lengthen out, as if
seconds grew into minutes, inches into rods; and still the mass moved
on, and the microscopic way lengthened out, till at last a curve hid
its further progress from our view.
What other cliffs we might have toppled over the muse refuses to tell;
for our faithful guide returned to say that it was not quite safe;
that there were always shepherds and flocks in the valley, and that
they might be injured. So we remounted, and soon overtook H. at a
fountain, sketching a pine tree of special physiognomy.
"Ah," said I, "H., how foolish you were! You don't know what a sight
you have lost."
"Yes," said she, "all C. thinks mountains are made for is to roll
stones down."
"And all H. thinks trees made for," said I, "is to have ugly pictures
made of them."
"Ay," she replied, "you wanted me to stand on the very verge of the
precipice, and see two foolish boys roll down stones, and perhaps make
an avalanche of themselves! Now, you know, C., I could not spare you;
first, because I have not learned French enough yet; and next, because
I don't know how to make change."
"Add to that," said I, "the damages to the _bergers_ and flocks."
"Yes," she added; "no doubt when we get back to the inn we shall have
a bill sent in, 'H. B. S. to A. B., Dr., to one shepherd and six
cows, --fr.'"
And so we chatted along until we reached the _auberge_, and,
after resting a few moments, descended into the frozen sea.
Here a scene opened upon us never to be forgotten. From the distant
gorge of the everlasting Alpine ranges issued forth an ocean tide, in
wild and dashing commotion, just as we have seen the waves upon the
broad Atlantic, but all motionless as chaos when smitten by the mace
of Death; and yet, not motionless! This denser medium, this motionless
mass, is never at rest. This flood moves as it seems to move; these
waves are actually uplifting out of the abyss as they seem to lift;
the only difference is in the time of motion, the rate of change.
These prodigious blocks of granite, thirty or forty feet long and
twenty feet thick, which float on this grim sea of ice, _do
float_, and are _drifting_, drifting down to the valley below,
where, in a few days, they must arrive.
We walked these valleys, ascended these hills, leaped across chasms,
threw stones down the _crevasses_, plunged our alpenstocks into
the deep baths of green water, and philosophized and poetized till we
were tired. Then we returned to the _auberge_, and rode down the
zigzag to our hotel.
LETTER XXXIV.
MY DEAR:--
The Mer de Glâce is exactly opposite to La Flégère, where we were
yesterday, and is reached by the ascent of what is called Montanvert,
or Green Mountain. The path is much worse than the other, and in some
places makes one's nerves twinge, especially that from which C.
projected his avalanche. Just think of his wanting to stop me on the
edge of a little shelf over that frightful chasm, and take away the
guide from the head of my mule to help him get up avalanches!
I warn you, if ever you visit the Alps, that a travelling companion
who has not the slightest idea what fear is will give you many a
commotion. For instance, this Mer de Glâce is traversed every where by
_crevasses_ in the ice, which go to--nobody knows where, down
into the under world--great, gaping, blue-green mouths of Hades; and
C. must needs jump across them, and climb down into them, to the
mingled delight and apprehension of the guide, who, after
conscientiously shouting out a reproof, would say to me, in a lower
tone, "Ah, he's the man to climb Mont Blanc; he would do well for
that!"
The fact is, nothing would suit our guides better, this clear, bright
weather, than to make up a party for the top of Mont Blanc. They look
longingly and lovingly up to its clear, white fields; they show us the
stages and resting-places, and seem really to think that it is a waste
of this beautiful weather not to be putting it to that most sublime
purpose.
Why, then, do not we go up? you say. As to us ladies, it is a thing
that has been done by only two women since the world stood, and those
very different in their _physique_ from any we are likely to
raise in America, unless we mend our manners very much. These two were
a peasant woman of Chamouni, called Marie de Mont Blanc, and
Mademoiselle Henriette d'Angeville, a lady whose acquaintance I made
in Geneva. Then, as to the gentlemen, it is a serious consideration,
in the first place, that the affair costs about one hundred and fifty
dollars apiece, takes two days of time, uses up a week's strength, all
to get an experience of some very disagreeable sensations, which could
not afflict a man in any other case. It is no wonder, then, that
gentlemen look up to the mountain, lay their hands on their pockets,
and say, No.
Our guide, by the way, is the son, or grandson, of the very first man
that ascended Mont Blanc, and of course feels a sort of hereditary
property and pride in it.
C. spoke about throwing our poles down the pools of water in the ice.
There is something rather curious about these pools. Our guide saw us
measuring the depth of one of them, which was full of greenish-blue
water, colored only by the refraction of the light. He took our long
alpenstock, and poising it, sent it down into the water, as a man
might throw a javelin. It disappeared, but in a few seconds leaped up
at us out of the water, as if thrown back again by an invisible hand.
A poet would say that a water spirit hurled it back; perhaps some old
under-ground gnome, just going to dinner, had his windows smashed by
it, and sent it back with a becoming spirit, as a gnome should.
It was a sultry day, and the sun was exercising his power over the
whole ice field. I sat down by a great ice block, about fifty feet
long, to interrogate it, and see what I could make of it, by a cool,
confidential proximity and examination. The ice was porous and spongy,
as I have seen it on the shores of the Connecticut, when beginning to
thaw out under the influence of a spring sun. I could see the little
drops of water percolating in a thousand tiny streams through it, and
dropping down on every side. Putting my ear to it, I could hear a fine
musical trill and trickle, and that still small click and stir, as of
melting ice, which showed that it was surely and gradually giving way,
and flowing back again.
Drop by drop the cold iceberg was changing into a stream, to flow down
the sides of the valley, no longer an image of coldness and death, but
bearing fertility and beauty on its tide. And as I looked abroad over
all the rifted field of ice, I could see that the same change was
gradually going on throughout. In every blue ravine you can hear the
clink of dropping water, and those great defiant blocks of ice, which
seem frozen with uplifted warlike hands, are all softening in that
beneficent light, and destined to pass away in that benignant change.
So let us hope that those institutions of pride and cruelty, which are
colder than the glacier, and equally vast and hopeless in their
apparent magnitude, may yet, like that, be slowly and surely passing
away. Like the silent warfare of the sun on the glacier, is that
overshadowing presence of Jesus, whose power, so still, yet so
resistless, is now being felt through all the moving earth.
Those defiant waves of death-cold ice might as well hope to conquer
the calm, silent sun, as the old, frozen institutions of human
selfishness to resist the influence which he is now breathing through
the human heart, to liberate the captive, to free the slave, and to
turn the ice of long winters into rivers of life for the new heaven
and the new earth.
All this we know is coming, but we long to see it now, and breathe
forth our desires with the Hebrew prophet, "O that thou wouldst rend
the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might
flow down at thy presence."
I had, while upon this field of ice, that strange feeling which often
comes over one, at the sight of a thing unusually beautiful and
sublime, of wanting, in some way, to appropriate and make it a part of
myself. I looked up the gorge, and saw this frozen river, lying
cradled, as it were, in the arms of needle-peaked giants of
amethystine rock, their tops laced with flying silvery clouds. The
whole air seemed to be surcharged with tints, ranging between the
palest rose and the deepest violet--tints never without blue, and
never without red, but varying in the degrees of the two. It is this
prismatic hue diffused over every object which gives one of the most
noticeable characteristics of the Alpine landscape.
This sea of ice lies on an inclined plane, and all the blocks have a
general downward curve.
I told you yesterday that the lower part of the glacier, as seen from
La Flégère, appeared covered with dirt. I saw to-day the reason for
this. Although it was a sultry day in July, yet around the glacier a
continual high wind was blowing, whirling the dust and _débris_
of the sides upon it. Some of the great masses of ice were so
completely coated with sand as to appear at a distance like granite
rocks. The effect of some of these immense brown masses was very
peculiar. They seemed like an army of giants, bending forward, driven,
as by an invisible power, down into the valley.
It reminds one of such expressions as these in Job:--
"Have the gates of death been open to thee, or hast thou seen the
doors of the shadow of death?" One should read that sublime poem in
such scenes as these. I remained on the ice as long as I could
persuade the guides and party to remain.
Then we went back to the house, where, of course, we looked at some
wood work, agates, and all the et cetera.
Then we turned our steps downward. We went along the side of the
glacier, and I desired to climb over as near as possible, in order to
see the source of the Arveiron, which is formed by the melting of this
glacier. Its cradle is a ribbed and rocky cavern of blue ice, and like
a creature born full of vigor and immortality, it begins life with an
impetuous leap. The cold arms of the glaciers cannot retain it; it
must go to the warm, flowery, velvet meadows below.
The guide was quite anxious about me; he seemed to consider a lady as
something that must necessarily break in two, or come apart, like a
German doll, if not managed with extremest care; and therefore to see
one bounding through bushes, leaping, and springing, and climbing over
rocks at such a rate, appeared to him the height of desperation.
The good, faithful soul wanted to keep me within orthodox limits, and
felt conscientiously bound to follow me wherever I went, and to offer
me his hand at every turn. I considered, on the whole, that I ought
not to blame him, since guides hold themselves responsible for life
and limb; and any accident to those under their charge is fatal to
their professional honor.
Going down, I held some conversation with him on matters and things in
general, and life in Chamouni in particular. He inquired with great
interest about America; which, throughout Europe, I find the working
classes regard as a kind of star in the west, portending something of
good to themselves. He had a son, he said, settled in America, near
St. Louis.
"And don't you want to go to America?" said I, after hearing him
praise the good land.
"Ah, no," he said, with a smile.
"Why not?" said I; "it is a much easier country to live in."
He gave a look at the circle of mountains around, and said, "I love
Chamouni." The good soul! I was much of his opinion. If I had been
born within sight of glorious Mont Blanc, with its apocalyptic clouds,
and store of visions, not all the fat pork and flat prairies of
Indiana and Ohio could tempt me. No wonder the Swiss die for their
native valleys! I would if I were they. I asked him about education.
He said his children went to a school kept by Catholic sisters, who
taught reading, writing, and Latin. The dialect of Chamouni is a
patois, composed of French and Latin. He said that provision was very
scarce in the winter. I asked how they made their living when there
were no travellers to be guided up Mont Blanc. He had a trade at which
he wrought in winter months, and his wife did tailoring.
I must not forget to say that the day before there had been some
confidential passages between us, which began by his expressing,
interrogatively, the opinion that "mademoiselle was a young lady, he
supposed." When mademoiselle had assured him, on the contrary, that
she was a venerable matron, mother of a thriving family, then followed
a little comparison of notes as to numbers. Madame he ascertained to
have six, and he had four, if my memory serves me, as it generally
does not in matters of figures. So you see it is not merely among us
New Englanders that the unsophisticated spirit of curiosity exists as
to one's neighbors. Indeed, I take it to be a wholesome development of
human nature in general. For my part, I could not think highly of any
body who could be brought long into connection with another human
being and feel no interest to inquire into his history and
surroundings.
As we stopped, going down the descent, to rest the mules, I looked up
above my head into the crags, and saw a flock of goats browsing. One
goat, in particular, I remember, had gained the top of a kind of table
rock, which stood apart from the rest, and which was carpeted with
lichens and green moss. There he stood, looking as unconscious and
contemplative as possible, the wicked fellow, with his long beard! He
knew he looked picturesque, and that is what he stood there for. But,
as they say in New England, he did it "_as nat'ral as a pictur!_"
By the by, the girls with strawberries, milk, and knitting work were
on hand on the way down, and met us just where a cool spring gushed
out at the roots of a pine tree; and of course I bought some more milk
and strawberries.
How dreadfully hot it was when we got down to the bottom! for there we
had the long, shadeless ride home, with the burning lenses of the
glaciers concentrated upon our defenceless heads. I was past admiring
any thing, and glad enough for the shelter of a roof, and a place to
lie down.
After dinner, although the Glacier de Boisson had been spoken of as
the appointed work for the afternoon, yet we discovered, as the psalm
book says, that
"The force of nature could no farther go"
[Illustration: _of an ice climbing party scaling a large serac._]
What is Glacier de Boisson, or glacier any thing else, to a person
used up entirely, with no sense or capability left for any thing but a
general aching? No; the Glacier de Boisson was given up, and I am
sorry for it now, because it is the commencement of the road up Mont
Blanc; and, though I could not go to the top thereof, I should like to
have gone as far as I could. In fact, I should have been glad to sleep
one night at the Grands Mulets: however, that was impossible.
To look at the apparently smooth surface of the mountain side, one
would never think that the ascent could be a work of such difficulty
and danger. Yet, look at the picture of crossing a _crevasse_,
and compare the size of the figures with the dimensions of the blocks
of ice. Madame d'Angeville told me that she was drawn across a
_crevasse_ like this, by ropes tied under her arms, by the
guides. The depth of some of the _crevasses_ may be conjectured
from the fact stated by Agassiz, that the thickest parts of the
glaciers are over one thousand feet in depth.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Friday, July 8.--Chamouni to Martigny, by Tête Noir. Mules _en
avant_. We set off in a _calèche_. After a two hours' ride we
came to "_those mules_." On, to the pass of Tête Noir, by paths
the most awful. As my mule trod within six inches of the verge, I
looked down into an abyss, so deep that tallest pines looked like
twigs; yet, on the opposite side of the pass, I looked up the steep
precipice to an equal height, where giant trees seemed white
fluttering fringe. A dizzy sight. We swept round an angle, entered a
dark tunnel blasted out through the solid rock, emerged, and saw
before us, on our right, the far-famed Tête Noir, a black ledge, on
whose face, so high is the opposite cliff, the sun never shines. A few
steps brought us to a hotel. William and I rolled down some
avalanches, by way of getting an appetite, while dinner was preparing.
[Illustration: _of the rearing head and neck of a bridled mule._]
After dinner we commenced descending towards Martigny,
alternately riding and walking. Here, while I was on foot, my mule
took it into his head to run away. I was never more surprised in my
life than to see that staid, solemn, meditative, melancholy beast
suddenly perk up both his long ears, thus, and hop about over the
steep paths like a goat. Not more surprised should I be to see some
venerable D. D. of Princeton leading off a dance in the Jardin
Mabille. We chased him here, and chased him there. We headed him, and
he headed us. We said, "Now I have you," and he said, "No, you don't!"
until the affair began to grow comically serious. "_Il se moque de
vous!_" said the guide. But, at that moment, I sprang and caught
him by the bridle, when, presto! down went his ears, shut went the
eyes, and over the entire gay brute spread a visible veil of
stolidity. And down he plodded, _slunging_, shambling, pivotting
round zigzag corners, as before, in a style which any one that ever
navigated such a craft down hill knows without further telling. After
that, I was sure that the old fellow kept up a "terrible thinking," in
spite of his stupid looks, and knew a vast deal more than he chose to
tell.
[Illustration: _of a mule's head lowered, with ears flattened._]
At length we opened on the Rhone valley; and at seven we reached Hotel
de la Tour, at Martigny. Here H. and S. managed to get up two flights
of stone stairs, and sank speechless and motionless upon their beds. I
must say they have exhibited spirit to-day, or, as Mr. C. used to say,
"pluck." After settling with our guides,--fine fellows, whom we hated
to lose,--I ordered supper, and sought new guides for our route to the
convent. Our only difficulty in reaching there, they say, is the
_snow_. The guides were uncertain whether mules could get through
so early in the season. Only to think! To-day, riding broilingly
through hay-fields--to-morrow, stuck in snow drifts!
LETTER XXXV.
Dear Henry:--
You cannot think how beautiful are these Alpine valleys. Our course,
all the first morning after we left Chamouni, lay beside a broad,
hearty, joyous mountain torrent, called, perhaps from the darkness of
its waters, Eau Noire. Charming meadows skirted its banks. All the way
along I could think of nothing but Bunyan's meadows beside the river
of life, "curiously adorned with lilies." _These_ were curiously
adorned, broidered, and inwrought with flowers, many and brilliant as
those in a western prairie. Were I to undertake to describe them, I
might make an inventory as long as Homer's list of the ships. There
was the Canterbury bell of our garden; the white meadow sweet; the
blue and white campanula; the tall, slender harebell, and a little,
short-tufted variety of the same, which our guide tells me is called
"Les Clochettes," or the "little bells"--fairies might ring them, I
thought. Then there are whole beds of the little blue forget-me-not,
and a white flower which much resembles it in form. I also noticed,
hanging in the clefts of the rocks around Tête Noir, the long golden
tresses of the laburnum. It has seemed to me, when I have been
travelling here, as if every flower I ever saw in a garden met me some
where in rocks or meadows.
There is a strange, unsatisfying pleasure about flowers, which, like
all earthly pleasure, is akin to pain. What can you do with them?--you
want to do something, but what? Take them all up, and carry them with
you? You cannot do that. Get down and look at them? What, keep a whole
caravan waiting for your observations! That will never do. Well, then,
pick and carry them along with you. That is what, in despair of any
better resource, I did. My good old guide was infinite in patience,
stopping at every new exclamation point of mine, plunging down rocks
into the meadow land, climbing to the points of great rocks, and
returning with his hands filled with flowers. It seemed almost
sacrilegious to tear away such fanciful creations, that looked as if
they were votive offerings on an altar, or, more likely, living
existences, whose only conscious life was a continued exhalation of
joy and praise.
These flowers seemed to me to be earth's raptures and aspirations
--her better moments--her lucid intervals. Like every thing else in
our existence, they are mysterious.
In what mood of mind were they conceived by the great Artist? Of what
feelings of his are they the expression--springing up out of the
dust, in these gigantic, waste, and desolate regions, where one would
think the sense of his almightiness might overpower the soul? Born in
the track of the glacier and the avalanche, they seem to say to us
that this Almighty Being is very pitiful, and of tender compassion;
that, in his infinite soul, there is an exquisite gentleness and love
of the beautiful, and that, if we would be blessed, his will to bless
is infinite.
The greatest men have always thought much of flowers. Luther always
kept a flower in a glass, on his writing table; and when he was waging
his great public controversy with Eckius, he kept a flower in his
hand. Lord Bacon has a beautiful passage about flowers. As to
Shakspeare, he is a perfect Alpine valley--he is full of flowers; they
spring, and blossom, and wave in every cleft of his mind. Witness the
Midsummer Night's Dream. Even Milton, cold, serene, and stately as he
is, breaks forth into exquisite gushes of tenderness and fancy when he
marshals the flowers, as in Lycidas and Comus.
But all this while the sun has been withering the flowers the guide
brought me; how they look! blue and white Canterbury bells, harebells,
clochettes, all bedraggled and wilted, like a young lady who has been
up all night at a ball.
"No, no," say I to the guide; "don't pick me any more. I don't want
them. The fact is, if they are pretty I cannot help it. I must even
take it out in looking as I go by."
One thing is evident; He who made the world is no utilitarian, no
despiser of the fine arts, and no condemner of ornament; and those
religionists, who seek to restrain every thing within the limits of
cold, bare utility, do not imitate our Father in heaven.
Cannot a bonnet cover your head, without the ribbon and the flowers,
say they? Yes; and could not a peach tree bear peaches without a
blossom? What a waste is all this colored corolla of flowers, as if
the seed could not mature without them! God could have created the
fruit in good, strong, homely bushel baskets, if he had been so
disposed.
"Turn off my eyes from beholding vanity," says a good man, when he
sees a display of graceful ornament. What, then, must he think of the
Almighty Being, all whose useful work is so overlaid with ornament?
There is not a fly's leg, nor an insect's wing, which is not polished
and decorated to an extent that we should think positive extravagance
in finishing up a child's dress. And can we suppose that this Being
can take delight in dwellings and modes of life or forms of worship
where every thing is reduced to cold, naked utility? I think not. The
instinct to adorn and beautify is from him; it likens us to him, and
if rightly understood, instead of being a siren to beguile our hearts
away, it will be the closest affiliating band.
If this power of producing the beautiful has been always so
fascinating that the human race for its sake have bowed down at the
feet even of men deficient in moral worth, if we cannot forbear loving
the painter, poet, and sculptor, how much more shall we love God, who,
with all goodness, has also all beauty!
But all this while we have been riding on till we have passed the
meadows, and the fields, and are coming into the dark and awful pass
of the Tête Noir, which C. has described to you.
One thing I noticed which he did not. When we were winding along the
narrow path, bearing no more proportion to the dizzy heights above and
below than the smallest insect creeping on the wall, I looked across
the chasm, and saw a row of shepherds' cottages perched midway on a
narrow shelf, that seemed in the distance not an inch wide. By a very
natural impulse, I exclaimed, "What does become of the little children
there? I should think they would all fall over the precipice!"
My guide looked up benevolently at me, as if he felt it his duty to
quiet my fears, and said in a soothing tone, "O, no, no, no!"
Of course, I might have known that little children have their angels
there, as well as every where else. "When they have funerals there,"
said he, "they are obliged to carry the dead along that road,"
pointing to a road that resembled a thread drawn on the rocky wall.
What a strange idea--such a life and death! It seemed to me, that I
could see a funeral train creeping along; the monks, with their black
cloaks, carrying tapers, and singing psalms; the whole procession
together not larger in proportion than a swarm of black gnats; and
yet, perhaps, hearts there wrung with an infinite sorrow. In that
black, moving point, may be a soul, whose convulsions and agonies
cannot be measured or counted by any thing human, so impossible is it
to measure souls by space.
What can they think of, these creatures, who are born in this strange
place, half way between heaven and earth, to whom the sound of
avalanches is a cradle hymn, and who can never see the sun above the
top of the cliff on either side, till he really gets into the zenith?
What they can be thinking of I cannot tell. Life, I suppose, is made
up of the same prosaic material there that it is every where. The
mother thinks how she shall make her goat's milk and black bread hold
out. The grandmother knits stockings, and runs out to see if Jaques or
Pierre have not tumbled over the precipice. Jaques and Pierre, in
return, tangle grandmother's yarn, upset mother's milk bucket, pull
the goat's beard, tear their clothes to pieces on the bushes and
rocks, and, in short, commit incredible abominations daily, just as
children do every where.
In the night how curiously this little nest of houses must look,
lighted up, winking and blinking at the solitary traveller, like some
mysterious eyes looking out of a great eternity! There they all are
fast asleep, Pierre, and Jaques, and grandmother, and the goats. In
the night they hear a tremendous noise, as if all nature was going to
pieces; they half wake, open one eye, say, "Nothing but an avalanche!"
and go to sleep again.
This road, through the pass of the Tête Noir, used to be dangerous; a
very narrow bridle-path, undefended by any screen whatever. To have
passed it in those old days would have had too much of the sublime to
be quite agreeable to me. The road, as it is, is wide enough, I should
think, for three mules to go abreast, and a tunnel has been blasted
through what seemed the most difficult and dangerous point, and a
little beyond this tunnel is the Hotel de la Couronne.
If any body wanted to stop in the wildest and lonesomest place he
could find in the Alps, so as to be saturated with a sense of
savageness and desolation, I would recommend this hotel. The chambers
are reasonably comfortable, and the beds of a good quality--a point
which S. and I tested experimentally soon after our arrival. I thought
I should like to stay there a week, to be left there alone with
Nature, and see what she would have to say to me.
But two or three hours' ride in the hot sun, on a mule's back,
indisposes one to make much of the grandest scenes, insomuch that we
were glad to go to sleep; and on awaking we were glad to get some
dinner, such as it was.
Well, after our dinner, which consisted of a dish of fried potatoes
and some fossiliferous bread, such as prevails here at the small
hotels in Switzerland, we proceeded onward. After an intolerably hot
ride for half an hour we began to ascend a mountain called the
Forclaz.
There is something magnificent about going up these mountains,
appalling as it seems to one's nerves, at particular turns and angles
of the road, where the mule stops you on the very "brink of forever,"
as one of the ladies said.
Well, at last we reached the top, and began to descend; and there, at
our feet, as if we were looking down at it out of a cloud, lay the
whole beautiful valley of the Rhone. I did not know then that this was
one of the things put down in the guide book, that we were expected to
admire, as I found afterwards it was; but nothing that I saw any where
through the Alps impressed me as this did. It seemed to me more like
the vision of "the land that is very far off" than any thing earthly.
I can see it now just as distinctly as I saw it then; one of these
flat, Swiss valleys, green as a velvet carpet, studded with buildings
and villages that looked like dots in the distance, and embraced on
all sides by these magnificent mountains, of which those nearest in
the prospect were distinctly made out, with their rocks, pine trees,
and foliage.
The next in the receding distance were fainter, and of a purplish
green; the next of a vivid purple; the next, lilac; while far in the
fading view the crystal summits and glaciers of the Oberland Alps rose
like an exhalation.
The afternoon sun was throwing its level beams in between these
many-colored ranges, and on one of them the ruins of an old Roman
tower stood picturesquely prominent. The Simplon road could be seen,
dividing the valley like an arrow.
I had gone on quite ahead of my company, and as my mule soberly paced
downward in the almost perpendicular road, I seemed to be poised so
high above the enchanting scene that I had somewhat the same sensation
as if I were flying. I don't wonder that larks seem to get into such a
rapture when they are high up in the air. What a dreamlike beauty
there is in distance, disappearing ever as we approach!
As I came down towards Martigny into the pasture land of the great
mountain, it seemed to me that the scenery might pass for that of the
Delectable Mountains--such beautiful, green, shadowy hollows, amid
great clumps of chestnut and apple trees, where people were making
their hay, which smelled so delightfully, while cozy little Swiss
cottages stood in every nook.
All were out in the fields, men, women, and children, and in one
hayfield I saw the baby's cradle--baby, of course, concealed from view
under a small avalanche of a feather bed, as the general fashion in
these parts seems to be. The women wore broad, flat hats, and all
appeared to be working rather lazily, as it was coming on evening.
This place might have done for Arcadia, or Utopia, or any other of
those places people think of when they want to get rid of what is, and
get into the region of what might be.
I was very far before my party, and now got off my mule, and sat down
on a log to wait till they came up. Then the drama enacted by C.'s
mule took place, which he has described to you. I merely saw a distant
commotion, but did not enter into the merits of the case.
As they were somewhat slow coming down, I climbed over a log into a
hayfield, and plucked a long, delicate, white-blossomed vine, with
which I garlanded the top of my flat hat.
One is often reminded of a text of Scripture in these valleys--"He
sendeth springs into the valleys, which run among the hills."
Every where are these little, lively, murmuring brooks falling down
the rocks, prattling through the hayfields, sociably gossiping with
each other as they go.
Here comes the party, and now we are going down into Martigny. How
tired we were! We had to ride quite through the town, then through a
long, long row of trees, to come to the Hotel de la Tour. How
delightful it seemed, with its stone entries and staircases, its
bedrooms as inviting as cleanliness could make them! The eating saloon
opened on to a beautiful garden filled with roses in full bloom. There
were little tables set about under the trees for people to take their
strawberries and cream, or tea, in the open air if they preferred it,
a very common and pleasant custom of continental hotels.
A trim, tidy young woman in a white cap, with a bunch of keys at her
girdle, ushered us up two flights of stone stairs, into a very clean,
nice apartment, with white muslin window curtains. Now, there is no
feature of a room that speaks to the heart like white muslin window
curtains; they always shed light on the whole scene.
After resting a while we were called down to a supper of strawberries
and cream, and nice little rolls with honey. This honey you find at
every hotel in Switzerland, as one of the inevitables of the breakfast
or tea table.
Here we were to part from our Chamouni guides, and engage new ones to
take us to St. Bernard. I had become so fond of mine that it really
went quite to my heart; we had an affecting leave-taking in the dark
stone entry, at the foot of the staircase. In the earnestness of my
emotion I gave him all the change I had in my pocket, to buy
_souvenirs_ for his little folks at home, for you know I told you
we had compared notes on sundry domestic points. I really flattered
myself that I was doing something quite liberal; but this deceitful
Swiss coin! I found, when I came to tell C. about it, that the whole
stock only amounted to about twenty cents: like a great many things in
this world, it looked more than it was. The good man, however, seemed
as grateful as if I had done something, wished all sorts of happiness
to me and my children, and so we parted. Peace go with him in his
Chamouni cottage.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Saturday, July 9. Rose in a blaze of glory. Rode five mortal hours in
a _char-à-banc_, sweltering under a burning sun. But in less than
ten minutes after we mounted the mules and struck into the gorge, the
ladies muffled themselves in thick shawls. We seemed to have passed,
almost in a moment, from the tropics into the frigid zone. A fur cloak
was suggested to me, but as it happened I was adequately calorified
without. Chancing to be the last in the file, my mule suddenly stopped
to eat.
"_Allez_, _allez_!" said I, twitching the bridle.
"I _won't_!" said he, as plainly as ears and legs could speak.
"_Allez_!" thundered I, jumping off and bestowing a kick upon his
ribs which made me suffer if it did not him.
"I _won't_!" said he, stuffily.
"Won't you?" said I, pursuing the same line of inductive argument,
with rhetorical flourishes of the bridle.
"Never!" he replied again, most mulishly.
"Then if words and kicks won't do," said I, "let us see what virtue
there is in stones;" and suiting the action to the word, I showered
him with fragments of granite, as from a catapult. At every concussion
he jumped and kicked, but kept his nose in the same relative position.
I redoubled the logical admonition; he jumped the more perceptibly;
finally, after an unusually affecting appeal from a piece of granite,
he fairly budged, and I seized the bridle to mount.
"Not at all," said he, wheeling round to his first position, like a
true proslavery demagogue.
"Ah," said I; and went over the same line of argument in a more solid
and convincing manner. At length the salutary impression seemed
permanently fastened on his mind; he fairly gave in; and I rode on in
triumph to overtake the party--having no need of a fur coat.
Horeb, Sinai, and Hor! What a wilderness! what a sudden change!
Nothing but savage, awful precipices of naked granite, snowy fields,
and verdureless wastes! In every other place in the Alps, we have
looked upon the snow in the remote distance, to be dazzled with its
sheeny effulgence--ourselves, meanwhile, in the region of verdure and
warmth. Here we march through a horrid desert--not a leaf, not a blade
of grass--over the deep drifts of snow; and we find our admiration
turns to horror. And this is the road that Hannibal trod, and
Charlemagne, and Napoleon! They were fit conquerors of Rome, who could
vanquish the sterner despotism of eternal winter.
After an hour's perilous climbing, we reached, at last, the
_hospice_, and in five minutes were sitting at the supper table,
by a good blazing fire, with a lively company, chatting with a
gentlemanly abbé, discussing figs and fun, cracking filberts and
jokes, and regaling ourselves genially. But ever and anon drawing,
with a half shiver, a little closer to the roaring fagots in the
chimney, I thought to myself, "And this is our midsummer nights'
dream"!
LETTER XXXVI.
Dear:--
During breakfast, we were discussing whether we could get through the
snow to Mont St. Bernard. Some thought we could, and some thought not.
So it goes here: we are gasping and sweltering one hour, and plunging
through snow banks the next.
After breakfast, we entered the _char-à-banc_, a crab-like,
sideway carriage, and were soon on our way. Our path was cut from the
breast of the mountain, in a stifling gorge, where walls of rock on
both sides served as double reflectors to concentrate the heat of the
sun on our hapless heads. To be sure, there was a fine foaming stream
at the bottom of the pass, and ever so much fine scenery, if we could
have seen it; but our chars opened but one way, and that against the
perpendicular rock, close enough, almost, to blister our faces; and
the sun beat in so on our backs that we were obliged to have the
curtain down. Thus we were as uncognizant of the scenery we passed
through as if we had been nailed up in a box. Nothing but the
consideration that we were travelling for pleasure could for a moment
have reconciled us to such inconveniences. As it was, I occasionally
called out to C., in the back carriage, to be sure and take good care
of the fur coat; which always brought shouts of laughter from the
whole party. The idea of a fur coat seemed so supremely ridiculous to
us, there was no making us believe we ever should or could want it.
That was the most unpleasant day's ride I had in the Alps. We stopped
to take dinner in the little wretched village of Liddes. You have no
idea what a disagreeable, unsavory concern one of these villages is.
Houses, none of which look much better than the log barns in our
Western States, set close together on either side of a street paved
with round stones; coarse, sunburnt women, with their necks enlarged
by the goitre; and dirty children, with tangled hair, and the same
disgusting disease,--these were the principal features of the scene.
This goitre prevails so extensively in this region, that you seldom
see a person with the neck in a healthy condition. The worst of the
matter is, that in many cases of children it induces idiocy. Cases of
this kind were so frequent, that, after a while, whenever I met a
child, I began to search in its face for indications of the approach
of this disease.
They are called _cretins_. In many cases the whole head appears
swelled and deformed. As usual, every one you look at puts out the
hand to beg. The tavern where we stopped to dine seemed more like a
great barn, or cavern, than any thing else. We go groping along
perfectly dark stone passages, stumbling up a stone staircase, and
gaining light only when the door of a kind of reception room opens
upon us--a long, rough-looking room, without any carpet, furnished
with a table, and some chairs, and a rude sofa. We were shown to a bed
room, carpetless, but tolerably clean, with a very high feather bed in
each corner, under a canopy of white curtains.
After dinner we went on towards St. Pierre, a miserable hamlet, where
the mules were taken out of the chars, and we prepared to mount them.
It was between three and four o'clock. Our path lay up a desolate
mountain gorge. After we had ascended some way the cold became
intense. The mountain torrent, by the side of which we went up, leaped
and tumbled under ribs of ice, and through banks of snow.
I noticed on either side of the defile that there were high posts put
up on the rocks, and a cord stretched from one to the other. The
object of these, my guide told me, was to show the path, when this
whole ravine is filled up with deep snow.
I could not help thinking how horrible it must be to go up here in the
winter.
Our path sometimes came so near to the torrent as to suggest
uncomfortable ideas.
In one place it swept round the point of a rock which projected into
the foaming flood, so that it was completely under water. I stopped a
little before I came to this, and told the guide I wanted to get down.
He was all accommodation, and lifted me from my saddle, and then stood
to see what I would do next. When I made him understand that I meant
to walk round the point, he very earnestly insisted that I should get
back to the saddle again, and was so positive that I had only to obey.
It was well I did so, for the mule went round safely enough, and could
afford to go up to his ankles in water better than I could.
As we neared the _hospice_ I began to feel the effects of the
rarefied air very sensibly. It made me dizzy and sick, bringing on a
most acute headache--a sharp, knife-like pain. S. was still more
affected.
I was glad enough when the old building came in view, though the road
lay up an ascent of snow almost perpendicular.
At the foot of this ascent we paused. Our guides, who looked a little
puzzled, held a few moments' conversation, in which the word
"_fonce_" was particularly prominent, a word which I took to be
equivalent to our English "_slump;_" and indeed the place was
suggestive of the idea. The snow had so far melted and softened under
the influence of the July sun, that something of this kind, in going
up the ascent, seemed exceedingly probable. The man stood leaning on
his alpenstock, looking at the thing to be demonstrated. There were
two paths, both equally steep and snowy. At last he gathered up the
bridle, and started up the most direct way. The mule did not like it
at all, evidently, and expressed his disgust by occasionally stopping
short and snuffing, meaning probably to intimate that he considered
the whole thing a humbug, and that in his opinion we should all slump
through together, and go to--nobody knows where. At last, when we were
almost up the ascent, he did slump, and went up to his breast in the
snow; whereat the guide pulled me out of the saddle with one hand, and
pulled him out of the hole with the other. In a minute he had me into
the saddle again, and after a few moments more we were up the ascent
and drawing near the _hospice_--a great, square, strong, stone
building, standing alone among rocks and snowbanks.
As we drove up nearer I saw the little porch in front of it crowded
with gentlemen smoking cigars, and gazing on our approach just as any
set of loafers do from the porch of a fashionable hotel. This was
quite a new idea of the matter to me. We had been flattering ourselves
on performing an incredible adventure; and lo, and behold, all the
world were there waiting for us.
[Illustration: _of a large multi-story hospice and other buildings in a
remote-looking mountain valley. A river flows in the foreground._]
We came up to the steps, and I was so crippled with fatigue and so
dizzy and sick with the thin air, that I hardly knew what I was doing.
We entered a low-browed, dark, arched, stone passage, smelling
dismally of antiquity and dogs, when a brisk voice accosted me in the
very choicest of French, and in terms of welcome as gay and courtly as
if we were entering a _salon_.
Keys clashed, and we went up stone staircases, our entertainer talking
volubly all the way. As for me, all the French I ever knew was buried
under an avalanche. C. had to make answer for me, that madame was very
unwell, which brought forth another stream of condolence as we came
into a supper room, lighted by a wood fire at one end. The long table
was stretched out, on which they were placing supper. Here I had light
enough to perceive that our entertainer was a young man of a lively,
intelligent countenance, in the Augustine monks' dress, viz., a long,
black camlet frock, with a kind of white band over it, which looks
much like a pair of suspenders worn on the outside. He spoke French
very purely, and had all that warm cordiality and graceful vivacity of
manner which seems to be peculiar to the French. He appeared to pity
us very much, and was full of offers of assistance; and when he heard
that I had a bad headache, insisted on having some tea made for me,
the only drink on the table being wine The supper consisted of
codfish, stewed apples, bread, filberts, and raisins. Immediately
after we were shown up stone staircases, and along stone passages, to
our rooms, of which the most inviting feature was two high, single
beds covered with white spreads. The windows of the rooms were so
narrow as to seem only like loopholes. There was a looking glass,
table, chair, and some glazed prints.
A good old woman came to see if we wanted any thing. I thought, as I
stretched myself in the bed, with feathers under me and feathers over
me, what a heaven of rest this place must have seemed to poor
travellers benighted and perishing in the snow. In the morning I
looked out of my loophole on the tall, grim rocks, and a small lake
frozen and covered with snow. "Is this lake always frozen?" said I to
the old serving woman who had come to bring us hot water for washing.
"Sometimes," says she, "about the latter part of August, it is
thawed."
I suppose it thaws the last of August, and freezes the first of
September.
After dressing ourselves we crept down stairs in hopes of finding the
fire which we left the night before in the sitting room. No such
thing. The sun was shining, and it was what was called a warm day,
that is to say, a day when a little thaw trickles down the south side
of snow banks; so the fire was out, and the windows up, and our gay
Augustine friend, coming in, congratulated us on our charming day.
The fireplace was piled up with wood and kindlings ready to be lighted
in the evening; but being made to understand that it was a very sultry
day, we could not, of course, suggest such an extravagance as igniting
the tempting pile--an extravagance, because every stick of wood has to
be brought on the backs of mules from the valleys below, at a very
great expense of time and money.
The same is true of provisions of all sorts, and fodder for cattle.
Well, after breakfast I went to the front porch to view the prospect.
And what did I see there? Banks of dirty, half-melted snow, bones, and
scraps of offal, patches of bare earth, for a small space, say about
fifty feet round, and then the whole region shut in by barren,
inaccessible rocks, which cut off all view in every direction.
Along by the frozen lake there is a kind of causeway path made for a
promenade, where one might walk to observe the beauties of the season,
and our cheery entertainer offered to show it to us; so we walked out
with him. Under the rocks in one place he showed us a little plat,
about as large as a closet door, which, he said, laughing, was their
garden.
I asked him if any thing ever really grew there. He shrugged his
shoulders, and said, "Sometimes."
We pursued this walk till we came to the end of the lake, and there he
showed me a stone pillar.
"There," said he, "beyond that pillar is Italy."
"Well," said I, "I believe I shall take a trip into Italy." So, as he
turned back to go to the house, W. and I continued on. We went some
way into Italy, down the ravine, and I can assure you I was not
particularly struck with the country.
I observed no indications of that superiority in the fine arts, or of
that genial climate and soil, of which I had heard so much. W. and I
agreed to give ourselves airs on this subject whenever the matter of
Italy was introduced, and to declare that we had been there, and had
seen none of the things of which people write in books.
"What a perfectly dismal, comfortless place!" said I; but climbing up
the rocks to rest me in a sunny place, I discovered that they were all
enamelled with the most brilliant flowers.
[Illustration: _of a cluster of small five-petaled flowers with blunt
tips growing very close to the ground._]
In particular I remarked beds of velvet moss, which bore a pink
blossom, in form somewhat like this. Then there was a kind of low,
starry gentian, of a bright metallic blue; I tried to paint it
afterwards, but neither ultramarine nor any color I could find would
represent its brilliancy; it was a kind of living brightness. I
examined the petals to see how this effect was produced, and it seemed
to be by a kind of prismatic arrangement of the small round particles
of which they were composed. The shape of the flower was somewhat like
this.
[Illustration: _of a cluster of small five petaled flowers with sharp
points growing on short stalks near the ground._]
I spread down my pocket handkerchief, and proceeded to see how many
varieties I could gather, and in a very small circle W. and I
collected eighteen. Could I have thought, when I looked from my window
over this bleak region, that any thing so perfectly lovely as this
little purple witch, for example, was to be found there? It was quite
a significant fact. There is no condition of life, probably, so dreary
that a lowly and patient seeker cannot find its flowers.
[Illustration: _of a clump of a small flowering plant attached to what
appears to be its rhizome._]
I began to think that I might be contented even there. But while I was
looking I was so sickened by headache, and disagreeable feelings
arising from the air, that I often had to lie down on the sunny side
of the bank. W., I found, was similarly troubled; he said he really
thought in the morning he was going to have a fever. We went back to
the house. There were services in the chapel; I could hear the organ
pealing, and the singers responding.
Seven great dogs were sunning themselves on the porch, and as I knew
it was a subject particularly interesting to you, I made minute
inquiries respecting them. Like many other things, they have been much
overstated, I think, by travellers. They are of a tawny-yellow color,
short haired, broad chested, and strong limbed. As to size, I have
seen much larger Newfoundland dogs in Boston. I made one of them open
his mouth, and can assure you it was black as night; a fact which
would seem to imply Newfoundland blood. In fact the breed originally
from Spain is supposed to be a cross between the Pyrenean and the
Newfoundland. The biggest of them was called Pluto. Here is his
likeness, which W. sketched.
[Illustration: _of a large, light-colored dog with medium-short fur at
rest and wearing a broad patterned collar._]
For my part, I was a little uneasy among them, as they went walloping
and frisking around me, flouncing and rolling over each other on the
stone floor, and making, every now and then, the most hideous noises
that it ever came into a dog's head to conceive.
As I saw them biting each other in their clumsy frolics, I began to be
afraid lest they should take it into their heads to treat me like one
of the family, and so stood ready to run.
The man who showed them wished to know if I should like to see some
puppies; to which, in the ardor of natural history, I assented: so he
opened the door of a little stone closet, and sure enough there lay
madam in state, with four little blind, snubbed-nosed pledges. As the
man picked up one of these, and held it up before me in all the
helplessness of infancy, looking for all the world like a roly-poly
pudding with a short tail to it, I could not help querying in my mind,
are you going to be a St. Bernard dog?
One of the large dogs, seeing the door open, thought now was a good
time to examine the premises, and so walked briskly into the kennel,
but was received by the amiable mother with such a sniff of the nose
as sent him howling back into the passage, apparently a much wiser and
better dog than he had been before. Their principal use is to find
paths in the deep snow when the fathers go out to look for travellers,
as they always do in stormy weather. They are not longlived; neither
man nor animal can stand the severe temperature and the thin air for a
long time. Many of the dogs die from diseases of the lungs and
rheumatism, besides those killed by accidents, such as the falling of
avalanches, &c. A little while ago so many died that they were fearful
of losing the breed altogether, and were obliged to recruit by sending
down into the valleys for some they had given away. One of the monks
told us that, when they went out after the dogs in the winter storms,
all they could see of them was their tails moving along through the
snow. The monks themselves can stand the climate but a short time, and
then they are obliged to go down and live in the valleys below, while
others take their places.
They told us that there were over a hundred people in the
_hospice_ when we were there. They were mostly poor peasants and
some beggars. One poor man came up to me, and uncovered his neck,
which was a most disgusting sight, swollen with goitre. I shut my
eyes, and turned another way, like a bad Christian, while our
Augustine friend walked up to him, spoke in a soothing tone, and
called him "my son." He seemed very loving and gentle to all the poor,
dirty people by whom we were surrounded.
I went into the chapel to look at the pictures. There was St. Bernard
standing in the midst of a desolate, snowy waste, with a little child
on one arm and a great dog beside him.
This St. Bernard, it seems, was a man of noble family, who lived nine
hundred and sixty-two years after Christ. Almost up to that time a
temple to Jupiter continued standing on this spot. It is said that the
founding of this institution finally rooted out the idolatrous
worship.
On Monday we returned to Martigny, and obtained a _voiture_ for
Villeneuve. Drove through the beautiful Rhone valley, past the
celebrated fall of the Pissevache, and about five o'clock reached the
Hotel Byron, on the shore of the lake.
LETTER XXXVII.
HOTEL BYRON.
MY DEAR:--
Here I am, sitting at my window, overlooking Lake Leman. Castle
Chillon, with its old conical towers, is silently pictured in the
still waters. It has been a day of a thousand. We took a boat, with
two oarsmen, and passed leisurely along the shores, under the cool,
drooping branches of trees, to the castle, which is scarce a stone's
throw from the hotel. We rowed along, close under the walls, to the
ancient moat and drawbridge. There I picked a bunch of blue bells,
"les clochettes," which were hanging their aerial pendants from every
crevice--some blue, some white.
[Illustration: _of blue bell flowers with sharp-bladed leaves._]
I know not why the old buildings and walls in Europe have this
vivacious habit of shooting out little flowery ejaculations and
soliloquies at every turn. One sees it along through France and
Switzerland, every where; but never, that I remember, in America.
On the side of the castle wall, in a large white heart, is painted the
inscription, _Liberté et Patrie_!
We rowed along, almost touching the castle rock, where the wall
ascends perpendicularly, and the water is said to be a thousand feet
deep. We passed the loopholes that illuminate the dungeon vaults, and
an old arch, now walled up, where prisoners, after having been
strangled, were thrown into the lake.
Last evening we walked over the castle. An interesting Swiss woman,
who has taught herself English for the benefit of her visitors, was
our _cicerone_. She seemed to have all the old Swiss vivacity of
attachment for "_liberté et patrie_."
[Illustration: _of a interior space of hewn stone with high vaulted
gothic arches._]
She took us first into the dungeon, with the seven pillars, described
by Byron. There was the pillar to which, for protecting the liberty of
Geneva, BONNEVARD was chained. There the Duke of Savoy kept him for
six years, confined by a chain four feet long. He could take only
three steps, and the stone floor is deeply worn by the prints of those
weary steps. Six years is so easily said; but to _live_ them,
alone, helpless, a man burning with all the fires of manhood, chained
to that pillar of stone, and those three unvarying steps! Two thousand
one hundred and ninety days rose and set the sun, while seedtime and
harvest, winter and summer, and the whole living world went on over
his grave. For him no sun, no moon, no star, no business, no
friendship, no plans--nothing! The great millstone of life emptily
grinding itself away!
What a power of vitality was there in Bonnevard, that he did not sink
in lethargy, and forget himself to stone! But he did not; it is said
that when the victorious Swiss army broke in to liberate him, they
cried,--
"Bonnevard, you are free!"
"_Et Genève?_"
"Geneva is free also!"
You ought to have heard the enthusiasm with which our guide told this
story!
Near by are the relics of the cell of a companion of Bonnevard, who
made an ineffectual attempt to liberate him. On the wall are still
seen sketches of saints and inscriptions by his hand. This man one day
overcame his jailer, locked him in his cell, ran into the hall above,
and threw himself from a window into the lake, struck a rock, and was
killed instantly. One of the pillars in this vault is covered with
names. I think it is Bonnevard's pillar. There are the names of Byron,
Hunt, Schiller, and many other celebrities.
After we left the dungeons we went up into the judgment hall, where
prisoners were tried, and then into the torture chamber. Here are the
pulleys by which limbs were broken; the beam, all scorched with the
irons by which feet were burned; the oven where the irons were heated;
and there was the stone where they were sometimes laid to be
strangled, after the torture. On that stone, our guide told us, two
thousand Jews, men, women, and children, had been put to death. There
was also, high up, a strong beam across, where criminals were hung;
and a door, now walled up, by which they were thrown into the lake. I
shivered. "'Twas cruel," she said; "'twas almost as cruel as your
slavery in America."
Then she took us into a tower where was the _oubliette_. Here the
unfortunate prisoner was made to kneel before an image of the Virgin,
while the treacherous floor, falling beneath him, precipitated him
into a well forty feet deep, where he was left to die of broken limbs
and starvation. Below this well was still another pit, filled with
knives, into which, when they were disposed to a merciful hastening of
the torture, they let him fall. The woman has been herself to the
bottom of the first dungeon, and found there bones of victims. The
second pit is now walled up.
"All this," she said, "was done for the glory of God in the good old
times."
The glory of God! What has not been done in that name! Yet he keeps
silence; patient he watches; the age-long fever of this world, the
delirious night, shall have a morning. Ah, there is an unsounded depth
in that word which says, "He is long-suffering." This it must be at
which angels veil their faces.
On leaving the castle we offered the woman the customary gratuity.
"No;" she would "have the pleasure of showing it to me as a friend."
And she ran into a charming little garden, full of flowers, and
brought me a bouquet of lilies and roses, which I have had in my room
all day.
To-night, after sunset, we rowed to Byron's "little isle," the only
one in the lake. O, the unutterable beauty of these mountains--great,
purple waves, as if they had been dashed up by a mighty tempest,
crested with snow-like foam! this purple sky, and crescent moon, and
the lake gleaming and shimmering, and twinkling stars, while far off
up the sides of a snow-topped mountain a light shines like a star--
some mountaineer's candle, I suppose.
In the dark stillness we rowed again over to Chillon, and paused under
its walls. The frogs were croaking in the moat, and we lay rocking on
the wave, and watching the dusky outlines of the towers and turrets.
Then the spirit of the scene seemed to wrap me round like a cloak.
Back to Geneva again. This lovely place will ever leave its image on
my heart. Mountains embrace it. Strength and beauty are its
habitation. The Salève is a peculiar looking mountain, striped with
different strata of rock, which have a singular effect in the hazy
distance; so is the Mole, with its dark marked outline, looking
blacker in clear weather, from being set against the snow mountains
beyond.
There is one peculiarity about the outline of Mont Blanc, as seen from
Geneva, which is quite striking. There is in certain positions the
profile of a gigantic head visible, lying with face upturned to the
sky. Mrs. F. was the first to point it out to me, calling it a head of
Napoleon. Like many of these fanciful profiles, I was some time in
learning to see it; and after that it became to me so plain that I
wondered I had not seen it before. I called it not Napoleon, however,
but as it gained on my imagination, lying there so motionless, cold,
and still, I thought of Prometheus on Mount Caucasus; it seemed as if,
his sorrows ended, he had sunk at last to a dreamless sleep on that
snowy summit. This sketch may, perhaps, give you some faint idea of
how such an outline might be formed in one's imagination.
[Illustration: _of Mont Blanc in the distance._]
We walked out the other evening, with M. Fazy, to a beautiful place,
where Servetus was burned. Soft, new-mown meadow grass carpets it, and
a solemn amphitheatre of mountains, glowing in the evening sky, looked
down--Mont Blanc, the blue-black Mole, the Saleve! Never was deed done
in a more august presence chamber! Ere this these two may have
conferred together of the tragedy, with far other thoughts than then.
The world is always unjust to its progressive men. If one fragment of
past absurdity cleaves to them, they celebrate the absurdity as a
personal peculiarity. Hence we hear so much of Luther's controversial
harshness, of Calvin's burning Servetus, and of the witch persecutions
of New England.
Luther was the poet of the reformation, and Calvin its philosopher.
Luther fused the mass, Calvin crystallized. He who fuses makes the
most sensation in his day; he who crystallizes has a longer and wider
power. Calvinism, in its essential features, never will cease from the
earth, because the great fundamental facts of nature are Calvinistic,
and men with strong minds and wills always discover it. The
predestination of a sovereign will is written over all things. The old
Greek tragedians read it, and expressed it. So did Mahomet, Napoleon,
Cromwell. Why? They found it so by their own experience; they tried
the forces of nature enough to find their strength. The strong swimmer
who breasts the Rhone is certain of its current. But Ranke well said,
that in those days when the whole earth was in arms against these
reformers, they had no refuge except in exalting God's sovereignty
above all other causes. To him who strives in vain with the giant
forces of evil, what calm in the thought of an overpowering will, so
that will be crowned by goodness! However grim, to the distrusting,
looks this fortress of sovereignty in times of flowery ease, yet in
times when "the waters roar and are troubled, and the mountains shake
with the swelling thereof," it has been always the refuge of God's
people. All this I say, while I fully sympathize with the causes which
incline many fine and beautiful minds against the system.
The wife of De Wette has twice called upon me--a good, plain,
motherly, pious old lady as any in Andover. She wanted me to visit her
daughter, who, being recently deprived of her only little girl, has
since been wholly lost to life. The only thing in which she expressed
any interest was Uncle Tom's Cabin, and she was earnestly desiring to
see me. So I went. I found Mrs. De Wette in a charming saloon, looking
out upon the botanic gardens. A very beautiful picture of a young lady
hung on the wall. "That _was_ my poor Clara," said Mrs. De
Wette, "but she is so altered now!"
After a while Clara came in, and I was charmed at a glance--a most
lovely creature, in deep mourning, with beautiful manners; so much
interested for the poor slaves! so full of feeling, inquiring so
anxiously what she could do for them!
"Do ministers ever hold slaves?" she said.
"0, yes; many."
"0! But how can they be Christians?"
"They reason in this way," said I; "they say, 'These people are not
fit to take care of themselves; therefore we must hold them, and
educate them, till they are fit to be free.'"
"I wish," said she, looking very pretty and fierce, "that they might
all be sold themselves, and see how they would like it."
Her husband, who speaks only French, now asked what we were talking
about, and she repeated the conversation.
"I would shoot every one of them," said he, with a significant
movement.
"Now, see," said Mrs. De Wette, "Clara would sell them, and her
husband would _shoot_ them; for my part, I would rather
_convert_ them." We all laughed at this sally.
"Ah," said Clara, "the last thing my little darling looked at was the
pictures in Uncle Tom; when she came to the death of Eva, she said,
'Now I am weary, I will go to sleep;' and so closed her eyes, and
never opened them more."
Clara said she had met the Key in Turin and Milan. The Cabin is made a
school reading book in Sardinia, for those who wish to learn English,
with explanatory notes in Italian. The feeling here on the continent
for the slave is no less earnest than in England and Scotland. I have
received most beautiful and feeling letters from many Christians of
Switzerland, which I will show you.
I am grieved to say, that there are American propagandists of slavery
here, who seem to feel it incumbent on them to recognize this hideous
excrescence as a national peculiarity, and to consider any reflection
upon it, on the part of the liberty-loving Swiss, as an insult to the
American nation. The sophisms by which slaveholding has been justified
from the Bible have left their slimy track even here. Alas! is it thus
America fulfils her high destiny? Must she send missionaries abroad to
preach despotism?
Walking the other evening with M. Fazy, who is, of course, French in
education, we talked of our English literature. He. had Hamlet in
French--just think of it. One never feels the national difference so
much as in thinking of Shakspeare in French! Madame de Stael says of
translation, that music written for one instrument cannot be played
upon another. I asked if he had read Milton.
"Yes."
"And how did you like him?"
"0," with a kind of shiver, "he is so cold!"
Now, I felt that the delicate probe of the French mind had dissected
out a shade of feeling of which I had often been conscious. There is a
coldness about all the luscious exuberance of Milton, like the wind
that blows from, the glaciers across these flowery valleys. How serene
his angels in their adamantine virtue! yet what sinning, suffering
soul could find sympathy in them? The utter want of sympathy for the
fallen angels, in the whole celestial circle, is shocking. Satan is
the only one who weeps.
"For millions of spirits for his fault amerced,
And from eternal splendors flung."
God does not care, nor his angels. Ah, quite otherwise is God revealed
in Him who wept over Jerusalem, and is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities.
I went with Mrs. Fazy the other night to call on Mrs. C.'s friend,
Pastor C. They were so affectionate, so full of beautiful kindness!
The French language sounds sweetly as a language of affection and
sympathy: with all its tart vivacity, it has a richness in the gentler
world of feeling. Then, in the evening, I was with a little circle of
friends at the house of the sister of Merle d'Aubigne, and they prayed
and sang together. It was beautiful. The hymn was one on the following
of Jesus, similar to that German one of old Godfrey Arnold, which is
your favorite. These Christians speak with deep sorrow of our slavery;
it grieves, it distresses them, for the American church has been to
them a beloved object. They have leaned towards it as a vine inclines
towards a vigorous elm. To them it looks incomprehensible that such a
thing could gain strength in a free Christian republic.
I feel really sorry that I have had to withdraw so much from proffered
kindness here, and to seem unwilling to meet feeling; but so it has
been. Yet, to me, apparently so cold, many of these kind Genevese have
shown most considerate attention. Fruit and flowers have been sent in
anonymously; and one gentleman offered to place his garden at my
disposal for walks, adding that, if I wished to be entirely private,
neither he nor his family would walk there. This, I thought, was too
much kindness.
One social custom here is new to me. The husband, by marriage, takes
the wife's name. Thus M. Fazy, our host, is known as M. Fazy Meyer--
Meyer being his wife's name--a thing which at first perplexed me. I
was often much puzzled about names, owing to this circumstance.
From the conversation I hear I should think that democracy was not
entirely absolute in Switzerland. I hear much about _patrician_
families, particularly at Berne, and these are said to be quite
exclusive; yet that the old Swiss fire still burns in Switzerland, I
see many indications.
The other day I visited Beautte's celebrated watch and jewelry store,
and saw all the process of making watches, from the time the case is
cut from a sheet of gold, on through the enamelling, engraving, and
finishing. Enamel is metallic paint, burned on in a furnace. Many
women are employed in painting the designs. The workmen looked
intelligent and thoughtful, like men who can both think and do. Some
glimpses showed their sympathy with republicanism--as one should see
fire through a closed door.
I have had full reason to observe that difference between Protestant
and Catholic cantons on which Horace Greeley commented while here.
They are as different as our slave and free states, and in the same
ways. Geneva seems like New England--the country around is well
cultivated, and speaks of thrift. But, still, I find no land, however
beautiful, that can compare with home--Andover Hill, with its arched
elms, its blue distance pointing with spires, its Merrimac crowned
with labor palaces, and, above all, an old stone house, brown and
queer, &c. Good by.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Thursday, July 14. Spent a social evening at Mrs. La V.'s, on the lake
shore. Mont Blanc invisible. We met M. Merle d'Aubigne, brother of our
hostess, and a few other friends. Returned home, and listened to a
serenade to H. from a glee club of fifty performers, of the working
men of Geneva. The songs were mostly in French, and the burden of one
of them seemed to be in words like these:--
"Travaillons, travaillez,
Pour la liberte!"
Friday, July 15. Mrs. C. and her two daughters are here from Paris.
They intend to come to Madame Fazy till we leave.
Saturday, July 16. Our whole company resorted to the lake, and spent
the forenoon on its tranquil waters. If this life seem idle, we
remember that there must be valleys between mountains; and as, in
those vales, tired mountaineers love to rest, so we, by the silver
shore of summer Leman, while away the quiet hours, in this interval,
between great mountain epochs Chamouni and Oberland.
Monday, July 18. Weather suspicious. Stowed ourselves and our baggage
into our _voiture_, and bade adieu to our friends and to Geneva.
Ah, how regretfully! From the market-place we carried away a basket of
cherries and fruit, as a consolation. Dined at Lausanne, and visited
the cathedral and picture gallery, where was an exquisite _Eva._
Slept at Meudon.
Tuesday, July 19. Rode through Payerne to Freyburg. Stopped at the
Zahringer Hof--most romantic of inns. Our gentlemanly host ushered us
forth upon a terrace overhanging the deep gorge of the Saärine,
spanned, to the right and left of us, by two immense suspension
bridges, one of which seemed to spring from the hotel itself. Ruins of
ancient walls and watch towers lined the precipice.
After dinner we visited the cathedral to hear the celebrated organ.
The organist performed a piece descriptive of a storm. We resigned
ourselves to the illusion. Low, mysterious wailings, swelling, dying
away in the distance, seeming at first exceedingly remote, drew
gradually near. Fitful sighings and sobbings rose, as of gusts of
wind; then low, smothered roarings. Anon came flashes of lightning,
rattling hail, and driving rain, succeeded by bursts of storm, and
howlings of a hurricane--fierce, furious, frightful. I felt myself
lost in a snow storm in winter, on the pass of Great St. Bernard.
One note there was of strange, terrible clangor--bleak, dark, yet of a
lurid fire--that seemed to prolong itself through all the uproar, like
a note of doom, cutting its way to the heart as the call of the last
archangel. Yes, I felt myself alone, lost in a boundless desert,
beyond the abodes of man; and this was a call of terror-stern, savage,
gloomy--the call as of fixed fate and absolute despair.
Then the storm died away, in faint and far-off murmurs; and we broke,
as it were, from the trance, to find ourselves, _not_ lost, but
here among the living. We then drove quietly to Berne.
Wednesday, July 20. Examined, not the lions, but the bears of Berne.
It is indeed a city of bears, as its name imports. There are bears on
its gates, bears on its fountains, bears in its parks and gardens,
bears every where. But, though Berne rejoices in a fountain adorned
with an image of Saturn eating children, nevertheless, the old
city--quaint, quiet, and queer--looks as if, bear-like, it had been
hybernating good-naturedly for a century, and were just about to wake
up.
Engaged a _voiture_, and drove to Thun. Dined, and drove by the
shore of the lake to Interlachen, arriving just after a brilliant
sunset.
Thursday, July 21. S. and G. remained at the Belvedere. W., II., and I
took a guide and _voiture_ for Lauterbrunn. Here we visited
Byron's apocalyptic horse-tail waterfall, the Staubbach. This
waterfall is very sublime, all except the water and the fall. Whoever
has been "under the sheet" at Niagara will not be particularly
impressed here. This picture is sufficiently accurate, with the
exception of the cottage. People here do not build cottages under
waterfalls.
[Illustration: _of the waterfall and cliff rising sharply to the left
of the roadway. A cabin appears to be located very near its base._]
Here we crossed the Wengern Alps to Grindelwald. The Jungfrau is right
over against us--her glaciers purer, tenderer, more dazzlingly
beautiful, if possible, than those of Mont Blanc. Slept at
Grindelwald.
LETTER XXXVIII.
DEAR CHILDREN:--
To-day we have been in the Wengern Alps--the scenes described in
Manfred. Imagine us mounting, about ten o'clock, from the valley of
Lauterbrunn, on horseback--our party of three--with two guides. We had
first been to see the famous Staubbach, a beautiful, though not
sublime, object. Up we began to go among those green undulations which
form the lower part of the mountain.
[Illustration: _of narrow, high alpine meadows with grazing livestock._]
It is haying time; a bright day; all is cheerful; the birds sing; men,
women, and children are busy in the field. Up we go, zigzag; it grows
steeper and steeper. Now right below me is a field, where men are
literally working almost on a perpendicular wall, cutting hay; now we
are so high that the houses in the valley look like chips. Here we
stand in a place two thousand feet above the valley. There is no
shield or screen. The horse stands on the very edge; the guide stops,
lets go his bridle, and composedly commences an oration on the scene
below. "0, for mercy's sake, why do you stop here?" I say. "Pray go
on." He looks in my face, with innocent wonder, takes the bridle on
his arm, and goes on.
Now we have come to the little village of Wengern, whence the Wengern
Alps take their name. How beautiful! how like fairyland! Up here,
midway in air, is a green nook, with undulating dells, and shadowy,
breezy nests, where are the cottages of the haymakers. The Delectable
Mountains had no scene more lovely. Each house has its roof heavily
loaded with stones. "What is that for?" I ask. "The whirlwinds," says
my guide, with a significant turn of his hands. "This is the school
house," he adds, as we pass a building larger than the rest.
Now the path turns and slopes down a steep bank, covered with
haycocks, to a little nook below, likewise covered with new hay. If my
horse is going to throw me any where, I wish it may be here: it is not
so bad a thing to roll down into that hay. But now we mount higher;
the breezy dells, enamelled with flowers and grass, become fewer; the
great black pines take their place. Right before us, in the purest
white, as a bride adorned for her husband, rises the beautiful
Jungfrau, wearing on her forehead the Silver Horn, and the Snow Horn.
The Silver Horn is a peak, dazzlingly bright, of snow; and its crest
is now seen in relief against a sky of the deepest blue. See, also,
how those dark pines of the foreground contrast with it, like the
stern, mournful realities of life seen against the dazzling hopes of
heaven.
There is something celestial in these mountains. You might think such
a vision as that to be a bright footstool of Heaven, from which the
next step would be into an unknown world. The pines here begin to show
that long white beard of moss which I admire so much in Maine. Now, we
go right up over their heads. There, the tall pines are under our
feet. A little more--and now above us rise the stern, naked rocks,
where only the chamois and the wild goat live. But still, fair as the
moon, clear as the sun, looks forth the Jungfrau.
We turn to look down. That Staubbach, which in the valley seemed to
fall from an immense precipice, higher than we could gaze, is now a
silver thread, far below our feet; and the valley of Lauterbrunn seems
as nothing. Only bleak, purplish crags, rising all around us, and
silent, silver mountains looking over them.
"That one directly before you is the Monk," says C., calling to me
from behind, and pointing to a great snow peak.
Our guide, with animation, introduced us by name to every one of these
snow-white genii--the Falhorn, the Schreckhorn, the Wetterhorn, the
great Eiger, and I cannot remember what besides. The guides seem to
consider them all as old friends.
Certainly nothing could be so singular, so peculiar as this ascension.
We have now passed the limit of all but grass and Alpine flowers,
which still, with their infinite variety, embroider the way; and now
the _auberge_ is gained. Good night, now, and farewell.
That is to say, there we stopped--on the summit, in fair view of the
Jungfrau, a wall of rock crowned with fields of eternal snow, whose
dazzling brightness almost put my eyes out. My head ached, too, with
the thin air of these mountains. I thought I should like to stay one
night just to hear avalanches fall; but I cannot breathe well here,
and there is a secret sense of horror about these sterile rocks and
eternal snows. So, after dinner, I gladly consent to go down to
Grindelwald.
Off we start--I walking--for, to tell the truth, I have no fondness
for riding down a path as steep in some places as a wall; I leave that
to C., who never fears any thing. So I walked all the way to
Grindelwald, nine miles of a very rough road. There was a lady with
her husband walking the same pass, who had come on foot the whole way
from Lauterbrunn, and did not seem in the least fatigued. My guide
exhausted all his eloquence to persuade me that it was better to ride;
at last I settled him by saying, "Why, here is a lady who has walked
the whole route." So he confined himself after that to helping me find
flowers, and carrying the handkerchief in which I stowed them. Alas!
what herbarium of hapless flowers, laid out stark, stiff, and
motionless, like beauty on its bier, and with horrible long names
written under them, can ever give an idea of the infinite variety and
beauty of the floral crown of these mountains!
The herbarium resembles the bright, living reality no more than the
_morgue_ at St. Bernard's is a specimen of mountain travellers.
Yet one thing an herbarium is good for: in looking at it you can
recall how they looked, and glowed, and waved in life, with all their
silver-crowned mountains around them.
After we arrived at Grindelwald, tired as I was, I made sketches of
nine varieties, which I intend to color as soon as we rest long
enough. So much I did for love of the dear little souls.
One noticeable feature is the predominance of _yellow_ flowers.
These, of various kinds, so abound as to make a distinct item of
coloring in a distant view. One of the most common is this--of a vivid
chrome yellow, sometimes brilliantly striped with orange.
[Illustration: _of a flowered bract._]
One thing more as to botanical names. What does possess botanists to
afflict the most fragile and delicate of earth's children with such
mountainous and unpronounceable names? Now there was a dear little
flower that I first met at St. Bernard--a little purple bell, with a
fringe; it is more particularly beautiful from its growing just on the
verge of avalanches, coming up and blossoming through the snow. I send
you one in this letter, which I dug out of a snow bank this morning.
And this fair creation--this hope upon a death bed--this image of love
unchilled and immortal--how I wanted to know it by name!
[Illustration: _of a tiny plant with a single flowering stem and two
simple circular leaves._]
Today, at the summit house of the mountain, I opened an herbarium, and
there were three inches of name as hopeless and unpronounceable as the
German of our guides, piled up on my little flower. I shut the
herbarium.
This morning we started early from Grindelwald--that is, by eight
o'clock. An unclouded, clear, breezy morning, the air full of the
sounds of cascades, and of the little bells of the herds. As we began
to wind upward into that delectable region which forms the first stage
of ascent, I said to C., "The more of beautiful scenery I see, the
more I appreciate the wonderful poetry of the Pilgrim's Progress." The
meadows by the River of Life, the Delectable Mountains, the land of
Beulah, how often have I thought of them! From this we went off upon
painting, and then upon music, the freshness of the mountain air
inspiring our way. At last, while we were riding in the very lap of a
rolling field full of grass and flowers, the sharp blue and white
crystals of the glacier rose at once before us.
"O, I want to get down," said I, "and go near them."
Down I did get, and taking what seemed to be the straightest course,
began running down the hill side towards them.
"No, no! Back, back!" shouted the guide, in unimaginable French and
German. _"Ici, ici!"_
I came back; and taking my hand, he led me along a path where
travellers generally go. I went closer, and sat down on a rock under
them, and looked up. The clear sun was shining through them; clear and
blue looked the rifts and arches, all dripping and beautiful. We went
down upon them by steps which a man had cut in the ice. There was one
rift of ice we looked into, which was about fifty feet high, going up
into a sharp arch. The inside of this arch was clear blue ice, of the
color of crystal of blue vitriol.
Here, immediately under, I took a rude sketch just to show you how a
glacier looks close at hand.
[Illustration: _of the broken and chiseled surface of a glacier._]
C. wanted, as usual, to do all sorts of improper things. He wanted to
stone down blocks of ice, and to go inside the cave, and to go down
into holes, and insisted on standing particularly long on a spot which
the guide told him was all undermined, in order that he might pelt a
cliff of ice that seemed inclined to fall, and hear it smash.
The poor guide was as distressed as a hen when her ducks take to the
water; he ran, and called, and shouted, in German, French, and
English, and it was not till C. had contrived to throw the head of the
little boy's hatchet down into a _crevasse_, that he gave up.
There were two francs to pay for this experiment; but never mind! Our
guide book says that a clergyman of Yevay, on this glacier, fell into
a _crevasse_ several hundred feet deep, and was killed; so I was
glad enough when C. came off safe.
He ought to have a bell on his neck, as the cows do here; and
_apropos_ to this, we leave the glacier, and ride up into a land
of pastures. Here we see a hundred cows grazing in the field--the
field all yellow with buttercups. They are a very small breed,
prettily formed, and each had on her neck a bell. How many notes there
are in these bells! quite a diapason--some very deep toned, and so on
up to the highest! how prettily they sound, all going together! The
bells are made of the best of metal, for the tone is of an admirable
quality.
0, do look off there, on that patch of snow under the Wetterhorn! It
is all covered with cows; they look no bigger than insects. "What
makes them go there?" said we to our guides.
"_To be cool_" was the answer.
Hark! what's that? a sudden sound like the rush of a cascade.
"Avalanche! avalanche!" exclaimed the guide. And now, pouring down the
sides of the Wetterhorn, came a milk-white cascade, looking just like
any other cascade, melting gracefully over the rocks, and spreading,
like a stream of milk, on the soiled snow below.
This is a summer avalanche--a mere _bijou_--a fancy article, got
up, or rather got down, to entertain travellers. The winter avalanches
are quite other things. Witness a little further in our track, where
our guide stops us, and points to a place where all the pines have
been broken short off by one of them. Along here some old ghostly
pines, dead ages ago, their white, ghastly skeletons bleached by a
hundred storms, stand, stretching out their long, bony arms, like
phantom giants. These skeleton pines are a striking image; I wonder I
have not seen them introduced into pictures.
There, now, a little ahead, is a small hut, which marks the summit of
the grand Scheidich. Our horses come up to it, and we dismount. Some
of the party go in to sleep--I go out to climb a neighboring peak. At
the foot of this peak lay a wreath of snow, soiled and dirty, as
half-melted snow always is; but lying amid the green grass and
luxuriant flowers, it had a strange air. It seemed a little spot of
death in the green lap of rejoicing life--like that death-spot which
often lies in the human heart--among all seeming flowers, cold and
cheerless, unwarmed by the sunbeam, and unmelted by the ray that
unfolds thousands of blooms around.
Now, I thought, I have read of Alpine flowers leaning their cheeks on
the snows. I wonder if any flowers grow near enough to that snow to
touch it. I mean to go and see. So I went; there, sure enough, my
little fringed purple bell, to which I have given the name of
"suspirium," was growing, not only close to the snow, but in it.
Thus God's grace shining steadily on the waste places of the human
heart, brings up heavenward sighings and aspirations which pierce
through the cold snows of affliction, and tell that there is yet life
beneath.
I climbed up the grassy sides of the peak, flowers to the very top.
There I sat down and looked. This is Alpine solitude. All around me
were these deep, green dells, from which comes up the tinkle of bells,
like the dropping of rain every where It seems to me the air is more
elastic and musical here than below, and gives grace to the commonest
sound. Now I look back along the way we have been travelling. I look
at the strange old cloudy mountains, the Eiger, the Wetterhorn, the
Schreckhorn. A kind of hazy ether floats around them--an indescribable
aerial halo--which no painter ever represents. Who can paint the
air--that vivid blue in which these sharp peaks cut their glittering
images? Of all peaks, the Eiger is the most impressive to me.
[Illustration: _of the sharp pointed Eiger, with mountain goats on a
pinnacle in the foreground._]
It is a gigantic ploughshare of rock, set up against the sky, its
thin, keen, purple blade edged with glittering frost; for so sharp is
its point, that only a dazzling line marks the eternal snow on its
head.
I walked out as far as I could on a narrow summit, and took a last
look. Glaciers! snows! mountains! sunny dells and flowers! all good
by. I am a pilgrim and a stranger.
Already, looking down to the shanty, I see the guide like a hen that
has lost a chicken, shaking her wings, and clucking, and making a
great ado. I could stay here all day. I would like to stay two or
three--to see how it would look at sunrise, at sunset--to lie down in
one of these sunny hollows, and look up into the sky--to shut my eyes
lazily, and open them again, and so let the whole impression _soak
in_, as Mrs. H. used to say.
But no; the sleepers have waked up, the guide has the horses ready,
and I must come down. So here I descend my hill Difficulty into the
valley of Humiliation. We stumble along, for the roads here are no
turnpikes, and we come to a place called the _Black Forest;_ not
_the_ Black Forest, but truly a black one. I always love pines,
to all generations. I welcome this solemn old brotherhood, which stand
gray-bearded, like monks, old, dark, solemn, sighing a certain
mournful sound--like a _benedicite_ through the leaves.
About noon we came to Rosenlaui. As we drew near the hotel the guide
struck off upon a path leading up the mountain, saying, by way of
explanation, _"The glacier!"_
Now, I confess that it was rather too near dinner time, and I was too
tired at once to appreciate this movement.
I regret to say, that two glaciers, however beautiful, on an empty
stomach, appear rather of doubtful utility. So I remonstrated; but
the guide, as all guides do, went dead ahead, as if I had not said a
word. C., however, rode composedly towards the hotel, saying that
dinner was a finer sight than a glacier; and I, though only of the
same mind, thought I would follow my guide, just to see.
W. went with me. After a little we had to leave our horses, and
scramble about a mile up the mountain. "C. was right, and we are
wrong," said my companion, sententiously. I was just dubious enough to
be silent. Pretty soon we came to a tremendous ravine, as if an
earthquake had rent a mountain asunder. A hundred feet down in this
black gorge, a stream was roaring in a succession of mad leaps, and a
bridge crossed it, where we stood to gaze down into its dark, awful
depths. Then on we went till we came to the glacier. What a mass of
clear, blue ice! so very blue, so clear! This awful chasm runs
directly under it, and the mountain torrent, formed by the melting of
the glacier, falls in a roaring cascade into it. You can go down into
a cavern in this rift. Above your head a roof of clear, blue ice;
below your feet this black chasm, with the white, flashing foam of the
cascade, as it leaps away into the darkness. On one side of the
glacier was a little sort of cell, or arched nook, up which an old man
had cut steps, and he helped me up into it. I stood in a little Gothic
shrine of blue, glittering ice, and looked out of an arched window at
the cascade and mountains. I thought of Coleridge's line--
"A pleasure bower with domes of ice."
[Illustration: _of a glacier's terminus, with animals and small
buildings in the foreground._]
On the whole, the glacier of Rosenlaui paid for looking--even at
dinner time--which is saying a good deal.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
FRIDAY, July 22, Grindelwald to Meyringen. On we came, to the top of
the Great Schiedich, where H. and W. botanized, while I slept. Thence
we rode down the mountain till we reached Rosenlaui, where, I am free
to say, a dinner was to me a more interesting object than a glacier.
Therefore, while H. and W. went to the latter, I turned off to the
inn, amid their cries and reproaches. I waved my cap and made a bow. A
glacier!--go five rods farther to see a glacier! Catch me in any such
folly. The fact is, Alps are good, like confections, in moderation;
but to breakfast, dine, and sup on Alps surfeits my digestion.
Here, for example, I am writing these notes in the _salle-à-manger_ of
the inn, where other voyagers are eating and drinking, and there H. is
feeding on the green moonshine of an emerald ice cave. One would
almost think her incapable of fatigue. How she skips up and down high
places and steep places, to the manifest perplexity of honest guide
Kienholz, _père_, who tries to take care of her, but does not exactly
know how. She gets on a pyramid of _débris_, which the edge of the
glacier is ploughing and grinding up, sits down, and falls--not asleep
exactly--but into a trance. W. and I are ready to go on; we shout; our
voice is lost in the roar of the torrent. We send the guide. He goes
down, and stands doubtfully. He does not know exactly what to do.
She hears him, and starts to her feet, pointing with one hand to yonder
peak, and with the other to that knifelike edge, that seems cleaving
heaven with its keen and glistening cimeter of snow, reminding one of
Isaiah's sublime imagery, "For my sword is bathed in heaven." She
points at the grizzly rocks, with their jags and spear points. Evidently
she is beside herself, and thinks she can remember the names of those
monsters, born of earthquake and storm, which cannot be named nor
known but by sight, and then are known at once, perfectly and forever.
Mountains are Nature's testimonials of anguish. They are the sharp cry
of a groaning and travailing creation. Nature's stern agony writes
itself on these furrowed brows of gloomy stone. These reft and
splintered crags stand, the dreary images of patient sorrow, existing
verdureless and stern because exist they must. In them hearts that
have ceased to rejoice, and have learned to suffer, find kindred, and
here, an earth worn with countless cycles of sorrow, utters to the
stars voices of speechless despair.
And all this time no dinner! All this time H. is at the glacier! How
do I know but she has fallen into a _crevasse_? How do I know but
that a cliff, one of those ice castles, those leaning turrets, those
frosty spearmen, have toppled over upon her? I shudder at the
reflection. I will write no more.
I had just written thus far, when in came H. and W. in high feather.
O, I had lost the greatest sight in Switzerland! There was such a
chasm, a mountain cut in twain, with a bridge, and a man to throw a
stone down; and you could hear it go _boom_, and _he held his
hat!_ "Not a doubt of that," said I. Then there was a cavern in the
ice, and the ice was so green, and the water dripped from the roof,
and a great river rushed out. Such was the substance of their united
enthusiasm.
But, alas! it was not enough to lose the best glacier in Switzerland;
I must needs lose two cascades and a chamois. Just before coming to
Meyringen, I was composedly riding down a species of stone gridiron,
set up sidewise, called a road, when the guide overtook me, and
requested me to walk, as the road was bad. Stupid fellow! he said not
a word about cascades and chamois, and so I went down like a chamois
myself, taking the road that seemed best and nearest, and reached the
inn an hour before the rest. After waiting till I became alarmed, and
was just sending back a messenger to inquire, lo, in they came, and
began to tell me of cascades and chamois.
"What cascade? What chamois? I have not seen any!" And then what a
burst! "Not seen any! What, two cascades, one glacier, and a
four-year-old chamois, lost in one day! What will become of you? Is
this the way you make the tour of Switzerland?"
Saturday, July 23. Rode in a _voiture_ from Meyringen to Brienz,
on the opposite end of the lake from Interlachen. Embarked in a
rowboat of four immense oars tied by withs. Two men and one woman
pulled three, and W. and I took turns at the fourth. The boat being
high built, flat bottomed, with awning and flagstaff, rolled and
tipped so easily that soon H., with remorseful visage, abandoned her
attempt to write, and lay down. There is a fresh and savage beauty
about this lake, which can only be realized by rowing across.
Interlachen is underrated in the guide books. It has points of
unrivalled loveliness; the ruins of the old church of Rinconberg, for
example, commanding a fine view of both lakes, of the country between,
and the Alps around, while just at your feet is a little lake in a
basin, some two hundred feet above the other lakes. Then, too, from
your window in the Belvedere, you gaze upon the purity of the
Jungfrau. The church, too, where on Sabbath we attended Episcopal
service, is embowered in foliage, and seems like some New England
village meeting house.
Monday, July 25. Adieu to Interlachen! Ho for Lucerne and the Righi!
Dined at Thun in a thunder storm. Stopped over night at Langnau, an
out-of-the-way place. H. and G. painted Alpine flowers, while I played
violin. This violin must be of spotless pedigree, even as our Genevese
friend, Monsieur--, certified when he reluctantly sold it me. None
but a genuine AMATI, a hundred years old, can possess this mysterious
quality, that can breathe almost inaudible, like a mornbeam in the
parlor, or predominate imperious and intense over orchestra and choir,
illuminating with its fire, like chain lightning, the arches of a vast
cathedral. Enchanted thing--what nameless spirit impregnates with
magnetic ether the fine fibres of thy mechanism!
Tuesday, 26. Rode from Langnan to Lucerne just in time to take the
boat for Weggis. From the door of the Hotel de la Concorde, at Weggis,
the guide _chef_ fitted us out with two _chaises à porteur_,
six _carriers_, two mules with grooms, making a party of fourteen
in all.
After ascending a while the scenery became singularly wild and
beautiful. Vast walls and cliffs of conglomerate rose above us, up
which our path wound in zigzags. Below us were pines, vales, fields,
and hills, themselves large enough for mountains. There, at our feet,
with its beautiful islands, bays, capes, and headlands, gleams the
broad lake of the four cantons, consecrated by the muse of Schiller
and the heroism of Tell. New plains are unrolling, new mountain tops
sinking below our range of vision. We plunged into a sea of mist. It
rolled and eddied, boiling beneath us. Through its mysterious pall we
saw now a skeleton pine stretch out its dark pointing hand--now a
rock, shapeless and uncouth, far below, like a behemoth petrified in
mid ocean. Then an eddy would sweep a space for the sun to pour a
flood of gold on this field far down at our feet, on that village, on
this mountain side with its rosy vapor-wreaths, upon yon distant lake,
making it a crater of blinding brightness. On we went wrapped in
mantles, mist, and mystery, trembling with chilliness and enthusiasm.
We reached the summit just as the sunset-gazing crowd were dispersing.
And this is Righi Kulm!
Wednesday, 27. At half past three in the morning we were aroused by
the Alpine horn. We sprang up, groping and dressing in the dark, and
went out in the frosty air. Ascending the ridge we looked off upon a
sleeping world. Mists lay beneath like waves, clouds, like a sea. On
one side the Oberland Alps stretched along the horizon their pale,
blue-white peaks. Other mountains, indistinct in color and outline,
chained round the whole horizon. Yes, "the sleeping rocks did dream"
all over the wide expanse, as they slumbered on their cloudy pillow,
and their dream was of the coming dawn. Twelve lakes, leaden pale or
steel blue, dreamed also under canopies of cloud, and the solid land
dreamed, and all her wilds and forests. And in the silence of the
dream already the tinge of clairvoyance lit the gray east; a dim,
diffuse aurora, while yet the long, low clouds hung lustreless above;
nor could the eye prophesy where should open the door in heaven. At
length, a flush, as of shame or joy, presaged the pathway. Tongues of
many-colored light vibrated beneath the strata of clouds, now dappled,
mottled, streaked with fire; those on either hand of a light, flaky,
salmon tint, those in the path and portal of the dawn of a gorgeous
blending and blazoning of golden glories. The mists all abroad stirred
uneasily. Tufts of feathery down came up out of the mass. Soft,
floating films lifted from the surface and streamed away dissolving.
Strange hues came out on lake and shore, far, far below. The air, the
very air became conscious of a coming change, and the pale tops of
distant Alps sparkled like diamonds. It was night in the valleys. And
we heard the cocks crowing below, and the uneasy stir of a world
preparing to awake. So Isaiah foresaw a slumbering world, while
Messiah's coming glanced upon the heights of Zion, and cried,--
"Behold, darkness shall cover the earth
And gross darkness the people;
But the Lord shall rise upon THEE,
And his glory shall be seen upon thee!"
Hushed the immense crowd of spectators waited; then he came. On the
gray edge of the horizon, under the emblazoned strata, came a sudden
coal of fire, as shot from the altar of Heaven. It dazzled, it
wavered, it consumed. Its lambent lines lengthened sidelong. At
length, not a coal, but a shield, as the shield of Jehovah, stood
above the east, and it was day. The vapor sea heaved, and broke, and
rolled up the mountain sides. The lakes flashed back the conquering
splendor. The wide panorama, asleep no more, was astir with teeming
life.
Tuesday, July 28. One of the greatest curiosities in Lucerne is the
monument to those brave Swiss guards who were slain for their unshaken
fidelity to the unhappy Louis XVI. In a sequestered spot the rocky
hill side is cut away, and in the living strata is sculptured the
colossal figure of a dying lion. A spear is broken off in his side,
but in his last struggle he still defends a shield, marked with the
_fleur de lis_ of France. Below are inscribed in red letters, as
if charactered in blood, the names of the brave officers of that
devoted band. From many a crevice in the rock drip down trickling
springs, forming a pellucid basin below, whose dark, glossy surface,
encircled with trees and shrubs, reflects the image. The design of the
monument is by Thorwaldsen, and the whole effect of it has an
inexpressible pathos.
[Illustration: _of the memorial. Above the grotto reads:_
HELVETIORUM FIDEI AC VIRTUTI
_On the monument's plinth can be read the following:_
DIE X AUGUSTI II ET III SEPTEMBRIS MDCCXCII
HAEC SUNT NOMINA EORUM OUTNE SACRA
(illegible) (illegible)
DUES XXVI DUCES
]
Rode in our private _voiture_ to Basle, and rested our weary
limbs at the Three Kings.
Friday, 29. Visited the celebrities of Basle, and took the cars for
Strasbourg, where we arrived in time to visit the minster.
Saturday, 30. Left Strasbourg by the Rhine morning boat; a long, low,
slender affair. The scenery exceedingly tame, like portions of the
Lower Mississippi. Disembarked at Manheim, and drove over to
Heidelberg, through a continual garden. French is useless here. All
our negotiations are in German, with W., S., and G. as a committee on
gutturals.
LETTER XXXIX.
STRASBOURG.
MY DEAR:--
We arrived here this evening. I left the cars with my head full of the
cathedral. The first thing I saw, on lifting my eyes, was a brown
spire. Said I,--
"C., do you think that can be the cathedral spire?"
"Yes, that must be it."
"I am afraid it is," said I, doubtfully, as I felt, within, that
dissolving of airy visions which I have generally found the first
sensation on visiting any celebrated object.
The thing looked entirely too low and too broad for what I had heard
of its marvellous grace and lightness; nay, some mischievous elf even
whispered the word "dumpy" hi my ear. But being informed, in time,
that this was the spire, I resisted the temptation, and determined to
make the best of it. I have since been comforted by reading in
Goethe's autobiography a criticism on its proportions quite similar to
my own. We climbed the spire; we gained the roof. What a magnificent
terrace! A world itself; a panoramic view sweeping the horizon. Here I
saw the names of Goethe and Herder. Here they have walked many a time,
I suppose. But the inside!--a forest-like firmament, glorious in
holiness; windows many hued as the Hebrew psalms; a gloom solemn and
pathetic as man's mysterious existence; a richness gorgeous and
manifold as his wonderful nature. In this Gothic architecture we see
earnest northern races, whose nature was a composite of influences
from pine forest, mountain, and storm, expressing, in vast proportions
and gigantic masonry, those ideas of infinite duration and existence
which Christianity opened before them. A barbaric wildness mingles
itself with fanciful, ornate abundance; it is the blossoming of
northern forests.
The ethereal eloquence of the Greeks could not express the rugged
earnestness of souls wrestling with those fearful mysteries of fate,
of suffering, of eternal existence, declared equally by nature and
revelation. This architecture is Hebraistic in spirit, not Greek; it
well accords with the deep ground-swell of Hebrew prophets.
"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed
the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou
art God.
"A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past.
"And as a watch in the night."
The objection to Gothic architecture, as compared with Greek, is, that
it is less finished and elegant. So it is. It symbolizes that state of
mind too earnest for mere polish, too deeply excited for laws of exact
proportions and architectural refinement. It is Alpine architecture--vast,
wild, and sublime in its foundations, yet bursting into flowers at every
interval.
The human soul seems to me an imprisoned essence, striving after
somewhat divine. There is a struggle in it, as of suffocated flame;
finding vent now through poetry, now in painting, now in music,
sculpture, or architecture; various are the crevices and fissures, but
the flame is one.
Moreover, as society grows from barbarism upward, it tends to
inflorescence, at certain periods, as do plants and trees; and some
races flower later than others. This architecture was the first
flowering of the Gothic race; they had no Homers; the flame found vent
not by imaged words and vitalized alphabets; they vitalized stone, and
their poets were minster builders; their epics, cathedrals.
This is why one cathedral--like Strasbourg, or Notre Dame--has a
thousand fold the power of any number of Madeleines. The Madeleine is
simply a building; these are poems.
I never look at one of them without feeling that gravitation of soul
towards its artist which poetry always excites. Often the artist is
unknown; here we know him; Erwin von Steinbach, poet, prophet, priest,
in architecture.
We visited his house--a house old and quaint, and to me _full_ of
suggestions and emotions. Ah, if there be, as the apostle vividly
suggests, houses not made with hands, strange splendors, of which
these are but shadows, that vast religious spirit may have been
finding scope for itself where all the forces of nature shall have
been made tributary to the great conceptions of the soul.
Save this cathedral, Strasbourg has nothing except peaked-roofed
houses, dotted with six or seven rows of gable windows.
LETTER XL.
HEIDELBERG.
MY DEAR:--
To-day we made our first essay on the Rhine. Switzerland is a poor
preparation for admiring any common scenery; but the Rhine from
Strasbourg to Manheim seemed only a muddy strip of water, with low
banks, poplars, and willows. If there was any thing better, we passed
it while I was asleep; for I did sleep, even on the classic Rhine.
Day before yesterday, at Basle, I went into the museum, and there saw
some original fragments of the Dance of Death, and many other pictures
by Holbein, with two miniature likenesses of Luther and his wife, by
Lucas Cranach; they are in water colors. Catharine was no beauty at
that time, if Lucas is to be trusted, and Luther looks rather savage.
But I saw a book of autographs, and several original letters of
Luther's. I saw the word "Jesus" at the top of one of them, thus, "J.
U. S." The handwriting was fair, even, and delicate. I laid my hand on
it, and thought his hand also had passed over the paper which he has
made living with his thoughts. Melanchthon, of whom a far more
delicate penmanship might have been expected, wrote a coarse, rugged
hand, quite like Dr. Bishop's. It somehow touched my heart to see this
writing of Luther's, so fair, and clean, and flowing; and to think of
his _vive_ and ever-surging spirits, his conflicts and his
victories.
We were awakened, about eight o'clock this morning, by the cathedral
bell, which is near by, and by the chanting of the service. It was a
beautiful, sunny morning, and I could hear them sing all the time I
was dressing. I think, by the style of the singing, it was Protestant
service: it brought to mind the elms of Andover--the dewy, exquisite
beauty of the Sabbath mornings there; and I felt, more than ever, why
am I seeking any thing more beautiful than home? But today the sweet
shadow of God's presence is still over me, and the sense of his love
and protection falls silently into my soul like dew.
At breakfast time Professor M. and his daughter called, as he said, to
place themselves at our disposal for the castle, or whatever we might
wish to see. I intimated that we would prefer spending the day in our
New England manner of retirement--a suggestion which he took at once.
After breakfast the servant asked us if we should like to have a room
commanding a view of the castle. "To be sure," said I. So he ushered
us into a large, elegantly-furnished apartment, looking out
immediately upon it. There it sat, upon its green throne, a regal,
beautiful, poetic thing, fair and sad.
We had singing and prayers, and a sermon from C. We did not go to the
_table d'hôte_, for we abominate its long-drawn, endless
formalities. But one part of the arrangements we enjoyed without
going: I mean the music. To me all music is sacred. Is it not so? All
real music, in its passionate earnest, its blendings, its wild,
heart-searching tones, is the language of aspiration. So it may not be
meant, yet, when we know God, so we translate it.
In the evening we took tea with Professor M., in a sociable way, much
like the _salon_ of Paris. Mrs. M. sat at a table, and poured out
tea, which a servant passed about on a waiter. Gradually quite a
circle of people dropped in--among them Professor Mittemeyer, who, I
was told, is the profoundest lawyer in Germany; also there was
Heinrich von Gagen, who was head of the convention of the empire in
1848, and prime minister. He is tall, has a strongly-marked face, very
dark hair and eyebrows. There was also a very young man, with quite
light hair, named Fisher, who, they told me, was one of the greatest
philosophers of the time; but government had taken away his license to
lecture, on account of his pantheistic principles. I understand that
this has occasioned much feeling, and that some of the professors side
with, and some against him. A lady told me that the theological
professors were against him. I wonder people do not see that this kind
of suppression of opinion is a sword with two edges, which may cut
orthodoxy equally with pantheism. "Let both grow together," says
Christ, "the wheat and the tares." In America we do this, and a
nodding crop of all sorts we have. The more the better; the earth must
exhaust herself before the end can come.
Mr. M. spoke English, as did his very pretty daughter, Ida; his wife
only French and German. Now, if you had only been there, we might have
had quite a brilliant time; but my ignorance of German kept me from
talking with any but those who could speak English. Professor
Mittemeyer summoned English enough to make a long compliment, to which
I responded as usual, by looking very foolish. There was a well
informed gentleman there, who was formerly private secretary to Prince
Albert, and who speaks English well. He has a bright, ingenious mind,
and knows every thing, and seemed particularly willing to give me the
benefit of his knowledge, for which I was suitably grateful. On the
whole, I spent a very pleasant evening, and we parted about nine
o'clock, Miss Ida promising to be our guide to the castle in the
morning.
Well, in the morning I was too unwell to leave the sofa. I knew the
old symptoms, and remained in my room, while Professor M. and
daughter, with S, W., and G, went up to the castle. I lay all day on
the sofa, until, at five o'clock at night, I felt so much better that
I thought we might take a carriage and drive up. C. accompanied me,
and _cocher_ took us by a beautiful drive along the valley
of the Neckar, over the hills back of the castle, and finally through
the old arched gateway into the grounds. I had no idea before of the
extent or the architectural beauty of the place. The terrace behind
the castle is a most lovely spot. It wanted only silence and solitude
to make it perfect; it was full of tourists, as also was each ruined
nook and arch. I sauntered about alone, for C. had a sick headache,
and was forced to sit on one of the stone benches. Heidelberg Castle
is of vast extent, and various architecture; parts of it, a guide book
says, were designed by Michael Angelo. Over one door was a Hebrew
inscription. Marshalled in niches in the wall stood statues of
electors and knights in armor--silent, lonely. The effect was quite
different from the old Gothic ruins I had seen. This spoke of courts,
of princes; and the pride and grandeur of the past, contrasted with
the silence and desertion, reminded me of the fable of the city of
enchantment, where king and court were smitten to stone as they stood.
A mournful lion's head attracted my attention, it had such a strange,
sad look; and there was a fountain broken and full of weeds.
I looked on the carvings, the statues, the broken arches, where
bluebells and wild flowers were waving, and it seemed inexpressibly
beautiful. It haunted me in my dreams, and I found myself walking up
and down that terrace, in a kind of dim, beautiful twilight, with some
friend: it was a strange dream of joy. But I felt myself very ill even
while there, and had to take my sofa again as soon as I returned.
There lying, I took my pencil, and drew just the view of the castle
which I could see from my window, as a souvenir of the happiness I had
felt at Heidelberg.
[Illustration: _of the author's window view of Heidelberg._]
Now, I know you will say with me that a day of such hazy, dreamy
enjoyment is worth a great deal. We cannot tell why it is, or what it
is, but one feels like an Æolian breathed on and touched by soft
winds.
[Illustration: _of Heidelberg castle._]
This sketch of the castle gives only about half of it. Those tiny
statues indicated in it on the points of the gables are figures in
armor of large size. The two little kiosks or summer houses that you
see, you will find, by turning back to the other picture, mark the
extremities of the terrace. There is a singular tinge of the Moorish
about this architecture which gives me great delight. That Moorish
development always seemed to me strangely exciting and beautiful.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Tuesday, August 2. We leave Heidelberg with regret. At the railway
station occurred our first loss of baggage. As W. was making change in
the baggage room, he missed the basket containing our books and
sundries. Unfortunately the particular word for _basket_ had just
then stepped out. "_Wo ist mein--pannier?_" exclaimed he, giving
them the French synonyme. They shook their heads. "_Wo ist
mein--basket?_" he cried, giving them English; they shook their
heads still harder. "_Wo ist mein-- --_" "Whew--w!" shrieked
the steam whistle; "Ding a-ling-ling!" went the bell, and, leaving his
question unfinished, W. ran for the cars.
In our car was an elderly couple, speaking French. The man was
evidently a quiet sort of fellow, who, by long Caudling, had
subdued--whole volcanos into dumbness within him. Little did he think
what eruption fate was preparing. II. sat opposite _his hat_,
which he had placed on the empty seat. There was a tower, or
something, coming; H. rose, turned round, and innocently took a seat
on his chapeau. Such a voice as came out of that meekness personified!
In the twinkling of an eye--for there is a peculiar sensation which a
person experiences in sitting upon, or rather into a hat; ages are
condensed into moments, and between the first yielding of the brittle
top and the final crush and jam, as between the top of a steeple and
the bottom, there is room for a life's reflection to flash through the
mind--in the twinkling of an eye H. agonizingly felt that she was
sitting on a hat, that the hat was being jammed, that it was getting
flat and flatter every second, that the meek man was howling in
French; and she was just thinking of her husband and children when she
started to her feet, and the nightmare was over. The meek man, having
howled out his French sentence, sat aghast, stroking his poor hat,
while his wife opposite was in convulsions, and we all agog. The
gentleman then asked H. if she proposed sitting where she was, saying,
very significantly, "If you do, I'll put my hat there;" suiting the
action to the word. We did not recover from this all the way to
Frankfort.
Arrived at Frankfort we drove to the Hotel de Russie. Then, after
visiting all the lions of the place, we rode to see Dannecker's
Ariadne. It is a beautiful female riding on a panther or a tiger. The
light is let in through a rosy curtain, and the flush as of life falls
upon the beautiful form. Two thoughts occurred to me; why, when we
gaze upon this form so perfect, so entirely revealed, does it not
excite any of those emotions, either of shame or of desire, which the
living reality would excite? And again; why does not the immediate
contact of feminine helplessness with the most awful brute ferocity
excite that horror which the sight of the same in real life must
awaken? Why, but because we behold under a spell in the transfigured
world of art where passion ceases, and bestial instincts are felt to
be bowed to the law of mind, and of ideal truth.
LETTER XLI.
DEAR:--
To-day we came to Frankfort, and this afternoon we have been driving
out to see the lions, and in the first place the house where Goethe
was born. Over the door, you remember, was the family coat of arms.
Well, while we were looking I perceived that a little bird had
accommodated the crest of the coat to be his own family residence, and
was flying in and out of a snug nest wherewith he had crowned it.
Little fanciful, feathery amateur! could nothing suit him so well as
Goethe's coat of arms? I could fancy the little thing to be the poet's
soul come back to have a kind of breezy hovering existence in this
real world of ours--to sing, and perch, and soar; for I think you told
me that his principal grace and characteristic was an exquisite
perception and expression of physical beauty. Goethe's house was a
very grand one for the times, was it not? Now a sign in the window
tells us it is used as a manufactory of porcelain.
Then we drove through the Jews' quarters. You remember how queer and
old they look; they have been much modernized since you were there.
_Cocher_ stopped before one house, and said something in German
about Rothschild, which C. said sounded like "Here Rothschild hung his
boots out." We laughed and rode on.
After this we went to the Romer, the hall that you have told me of,
where the emperors were chosen, all painted with their portraits in
compartments; and I looked out on the fountain in front, that used, on
these occasions, to flow with wine. Then I walked around to see all
the emperors, and to wish I knew more about history. Charles V. is the
only one of whom I have any distinct recollection.
Then we went to a kind of museum. _Cocher_ stopped at the door,
and we heard a general sputtering of gutturals between him, W., and
G., he telling them something about Luther. I got it into my head that
the manuscript of Luther's Bible was inside; so I rushed forward. It
was the public library. A colossal statue of Goethe, by an Italian
artist, was the first thing I saw. What a head the man had I a Jupiter
of a head. And what a presence! The statue is really majestic; but was
Goethe so much, really think you? That egotistical spirit shown in his
Diary sets me in doubt. Shakspeare was not self-conscious, and left no
trace of egotism; if he knew himself, he did not care to tell what he
knew. Yet the heads are both great and majestic heads, and would
indicate a plenary manhood.
We went into the library, disturbing a quiet, good sort of bibliopole
there, who, with some regret, put aside his book to guide us.
"Is Luther's Bible here?" W. and G. opened on him.
"No;" but he ushered us into a cabinet.
"There are Luther's _shoes!_"
"Shoes!" we all exclaimed; and there was an irreverent laugh. Yes,
there they were in a glass case,--his shoes, large as life,--shoes
without heels; great, clumping, thick, and black! What an idea!
However, there was a genuine picture by Lucas Cranach, and another of
Catharine, by Holbein, which gave more consolatory ideas of her person
than that which I saw before at Basle. There were also autographs of
Goethe and Schiller, as well as of Luther and Melanchthon.
Our little bibliopole looked mournfully at us, as if we were wasting
his time, and seemed glad when we went out. C. thought he was huffy
because we laughed at Luther's shoes; but I think he was only yearning
after his book. C. offered him a fee, but he would not take it. Going
down stairs, in the entry, I saw a picture of the infant Goethe on an
eagle. We rode, also, to see a bronze statue of him in some street or
other, and I ate an ice cream there to show my regard for him. We are
delighted on the whole with Frankfort.
Now, after all, that I should forget the crown of all our seeings,
Dannecker's Ariadne! It is in a pavilion in a gentleman's garden.
Could mere beauty and grace delight and fill the soul, one could not
ask for more than the Ariadne. The beautiful head, the throat, the
neck, the bust, the hand, the arm, the whole attitude, are exquisite.
But after all, what is it? No moral charm,--mere physical beauty, cold
as Greek mythology. I thought of his _Christ_, and did not wonder
that when he had turned his art to that divine representation, he
should refuse to sculpture from classic models. "He who has sculptured
a Christ cannot sculpture a Venus."
Our hotel here is very beautiful. I think it must have been some
palace, for it is adorned with fine statues, and walls of real marble.
The staircase is beautiful, with brass railing, and at the foot a
marble lion on each side. The walls of my bed room are lined with
green damask, bordered by gilt bands; the attendance here is
excellent. In every hotel of each large city, there is a man who
speaks English. The English language is slowly and surely creeping
through. Europe; already it rivals the universality of the French.
Two things in this city have struck me singularly, as peculiarly
German: one was a long-legged stork, which I saw standing on a chimney
top, reminding me of the oft-mentioned "dear white stork" of German
stories. Why don't storks do so in America, I wonder? Another thing
was, waking suddenly in the middle of the night, and hearing the hymn
of the watchman as he announced the hour. I think this is a beautiful
custom.
In the morning, I determined to get into the picture gallery. Now C.,
who espoused to himself an "_Amati_" at Geneva, has been, like
all young bridegrooms, very careless about every thing else but his
beloved, since he got it. Painting, sculpture, architecture, all must
yield to music. Nor can all the fascinations of Raphael or Rubens vie
in his estimation with the melodies of Mozart, or the harmonies of
Beethoven. So, yesterday, when we found the picture gallery shut, he
profanely remarked, "What a mercy!" And this morning I could enlist
none of the party but W. to go with me. We were paid for going. There
were two or three magnificent pictures of sunrise and sunset in the
Alps by modern artists. Never tell me that the _old_ masters have
exhausted the world of landscape painting, at any rate. Am I not
competent to judge because I am not an artist? What! do not all
persons feel themselves competent to pronounce on the merits of
natural landscapes, and say which of two scenes is finer? And are
painters any greater artists than God? If they say that we are not
competent to judge, because we do not understand the mixing of colors,
the mysteries of foreshortening, and all that, I would ask them if
they understand how God mixes his colors? "Canst thou understand the
balancing of the clouds? the wondrous ways of Him who is perfect in
wisdom?" If, therefore, I may dare to form a judgment of God's
originals, I also will dare to judge of man's imitations. Nobody shall
impose old, black, smoky Poussins and Salvator Rosas on me, and so
insult my eyesight and common sense as to make me confess they are
better than pictures which I can see have all the freshness and bloom
of the living reality upon them.
So, also, a most glorious picture here. The Trial of John Huss before
the Council of Constance, by Lessing--one of the few things I have
seen in painting which have had power deeply to affect me. I have it
not in my heart to criticize it as a mere piece of coloring and
finish, though in these respects I thought it had great merits. But
the picture had the power, which all high art must have, of rebuking
and silencing these minor inquiries in the solemnity of its
_morale_. I believe the highest painter often to be the subject
of a sort of inspiration, by which his works have a vitality of
suggestion, so that they sometimes bring to the beholder even more
than he himself conceived when he created them. In this picture, the
idea that most impressed me was, the representation of that more
refined and subtle torture of martyrdom which consists in the
incertitude and weakness of an individual against whom is arrayed the
whole weight of the religious community. If against the martyr only
the worldly and dissolute stood arrayed, he could bear it; but when
the church, claiming to be the visible representative of Christ, casts
him out; when multitudes of pious and holy souls, as yet unenlightened
in their piety, look on him with horror as an infidel and blasphemer,
--then comes the very wrench of the rack. As long as the body is
strong, and the mind clear, a consciousless of right may sustain even
this; but there come weakened hours, when, worn by prison and rack,
the soul asks itself, "Can it be that all the religion and
respectability of the world is wrong, and I alone right?" Such an
agony Luther expressed in that almost superhuman meditation written
the night before the Diet at Worms. Such an agony, the historian tells
us, John Huss passed through the night before his execution.
Now for the picture. The painter has arrayed, with consummate ability,
in the foreground a representation of the religious respectability of
the age: Italian cardinals, in their scarlet robes, their keen,
intellectual, thoughtful faces, shadowed by their broad hats; men whom
it were no play to meet in an argument; there are gray-headed,
venerable priests, and bishops with their seal rings of office,--all
that expressed the stateliness and grandeur of what Huss had been
educated to consider the true church. In the midst of them stands
Huss, habited in a simple dark robe; his sharpened features, and the
yellow, corpse-like pallor of his face, tell of prison and of
suffering. He is defending himself; and there is a trembling
earnestness in the manner with which his hand grasps the Bible. With a
passionate agony he seems to say, "Am I not right? does not this word
say it? and is it not the word of God?"
So have I read the moral of this noble picture, and in it I felt that
I had seen an example of that true mission of art which will manifest
itself more and more in this world as Christ's kingdom comes; art
which is not a mere juggler of colors, a gymnastic display of effects,
but a solemn, inspiring poetry, teaching us to live and die for that
which it noblest and truest. I think this picture much superior to its
companion, the Martyrdom of Huss, which I had already seen in America.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Wednesday, August 3. Frankfort to Cologne. Hurrah for the Rhine! At
eleven we left the princely palace, calling itself Hotel de Russie,
whose halls are walled with marble, and adorned with antique statues
of immense value. Lo, as we were just getting into our carriage, the
lost parcel! basket, shawl, cloak, and all! We tore along to the
station; rode pleasantly over to Mayenz; made our way on board a
steamer loaded down with passengers; established ourselves finally in
the centre of all things on five stools, and deposited our loose
change of baggage in the cabin.
The steamer was small, narrow, and poor, though swift. Thus we began
to see the Rhine under pressure of circumstances.
The French and Germans chatted merrily. The English tourists looked
conscientiously careworn. Papa with three daughters peered alternately
into the guide book, and out of the loophole in the awning, in evident
terror lest something they ought to see should slip by them. Escaping
from the jam, we made our way to the bow, carrying stools, umbrellas,
and books, and there, on the very beak of all things, we had a fine
view. Duly and dutifully we admired Bingen, Cob-lentz, Ehrenbreitstein,
Bonn, Drachenfels, and all the other celebrities, and read Childe Harold
on the Rhine. Reached Cologne at nine.
Thursday, August 4. We drove to the cathedral. I shall not
recapitulate Murray, nor give architectural details. I was satisfied
with what I saw and heard, and wished that so magnificent a
conception, so sublime a blossom of stone sculpture, might come to
ripe maturity, not as a church, indeed, but rather as a beautiful
petrifaction, a growth of prolific, exuberant nature. Why should not
the yeasty brain of man, fermenting, froth over in such crestwork of
Gothic pinnacle, spire, and column?
The only service I appreciated was the organ and chant: hidden in the
midst of forest arches of stone, pouring forth its volumes of harmony
as by unseen minstrelsy, it seemed to create an atmosphere of sound,
in which the massive columns seemed transfused,--not standing, as it
were, but floating,--not resting, as with weight of granite mountains,
but growing as by a spirit and law of development. Filled with those
vast waves and undulations, the immense edifice seemed a creature,
tremulous with a life, a soul, an instinct of its own; and out of its
deepest heart there seemed to struggle upward breathings of
unutterable emotion.
LETTER XLII.
COLOGNE, 10 o'clock, Hotel Bellevue.
DEAR:--
The great old city is before me, looming up across the Rhine, which
lies spread out like a molten looking glass, all quivering and
wavering, reflecting the thousand lights of the city. We have been on
the Rhine all day, gliding among its picture-like scenes. But, alas I
I had a headache; the boat was crowded; one and all smoked tobacco;
and in vain, under such circumstances, do we see that nature is fair.
It is not enough to open one's eyes on scenes; one must be able to be
_en rapport_ with them. Just so in the spiritual world, we
sometimes _see_ great truths,--see that God is beautiful,
glorious, and surpassingly lovely; but at other times we feel both
nature and God, and 0, how different _seeing_ and _feeling!_
To say the truth, I have been quite homesick to-day, and leaning my
head on the rails, pondered an immediate flight, a giving up of all
engagements on the continent and in England, an immediate rush
homeward. Does it not seem absurd, that, when within a few days'
journey of what has been the long-desired dream of my heart, I should
feel so--that I should actually feel that I had rather take some more
of our pleasant walks about Andover, than to see all that Europe has
to offer?
This morning we went to the Cologne Cathedral. In the exterior of both
this and Strasbourg I was disappointed; but in the interior, who could
be? There is a majesty about those up-springing arches--those columns
so light, so lofty--it makes one feel as if rising like a cloud. Then
the innumerable complications and endless perspectives, arch above
arch and arch within arch, all lighted up and colored by the painted
glass, and all this filled with the waves of the chant and the organ,
rising and falling like the noise of the sea; it was one of the few
overpowering things that do not _satisfy_, because they transport
you at once beyond the restless anxiety to be satisfied, and leave you
no time to ask the cold question, Am I pleased?
Ah, surely, I said to myself, as I walked with a kind of exultation
among those lofty arches, and saw the clouds of incense ascending, the
kneeling priests, and heard the pathetic yet grand voices of the
chant--surely, there is some part in man that calls for such a
service, for such visible images of grandeur and beauty. The wealth
spent on these churches is a sublime and beautiful protest against
materialism--against that use of money which merely brings supply to
the coarse animal wants of life, and which makes of God's house only a
bare pen, in which a man sits to be instructed in his duties.
Yet a moment after I had the other side of the question brought
forcibly to my mind. In an obscure corner was a coarse wooden shrine,
painted red, in which was a doll dressed up in spangles and tinsel, to
represent the Virgin, and hung round with little waxen effigies of
arms, hands, feet, and legs, to represent, I suppose, some favor which
had been accorded to these members of her several votaries through her
intercessions. Before this shrine several poor people were kneeling,
with clasped hands and bowed heads, praying with an earnestness which
was sorrowful to see. "They have taken away their Lord, and they know
not where they have laid him." Such is the end of this superb idolatry
in the illiterate and the poor.
Yet if we _could_, would we efface from the world such cathedrals
as Strasbourg and Cologne? I discussed the question of outward pomp
and ritual with myself while I was walking deliberately round a stone
balustrade on the roof of the church, and looking out through the
flying buttresses, upon the broad sweep of the Rhine, and the queer,
old-times houses and spires of the city. I thought of the splendors of
the Hebrew ritual and temple, instituted by God himself. I questioned
where was the text in the gospel that forbade such a ritual, provided
it were felt to be desirable; and then I thought of the ignorance and
stupid idolatry of those countries where this ritual is found in
greatest splendor, and asked whether these are the necessary
concomitants of such churches and such forms, or whether they do not
result from other causes. The Hebrew ritual, in a far more sensuous
age, had its sculptured cherubim, its pictorial and artistic wealth of
representation, its gorgeous priestly vestments, its incense, and its
chants; and they never became, so far as we know, the objects of
idolatrous veneration.
But I love to go back over and over the scenes of that cathedral; to
look up those arches that seem to me, in their buoyant lightness, to
have not been made with hands, but to have shot up like an
enchantment--to have risen like an aspiration, an impersonation of the
upward sweep of the soul, in its loftiest moods of divine communion.
There were about five minutes of feeling, worth all the discomforts of
getting here; and it is only for some such short time that we can
enjoy--then our prison door closes.
There are four painted glass windows, given by the King of Bavaria. I
have got for H. the photograph of two of them, representing the birth
and death of Christ. They are gorgeous paintings by the first masters.
The windows round the choir were painted in a style that reminded me
of our forests in autumn.
Well, after our sublimities came a farce. We went to St. Ursula's
church, to see the bones of the eleven thousand virgins, who, the
chronicle says, were slain here because they would not break their
vows of chastity. I was much amused. As we entered the church, C.
remarked impressively, "It is evident that these virgins have no
connection with cologne water!" The fact was lamentably apparent.
Doleful looking figures of virgins, painted in all the colors of the
rainbow, were looking down upon us from all quarters; and in front, in
a glass frame, was a bill of fare, in French, of the relics which
could be served up to order. C. read the list aloud, and then we
proceeded to a small side room to see the exhibition. The upper
portion of the walls was covered with small bones, strung on wires and
arranged in a kind of fanciful arabesque, much as shell boxes are
made; and the lower part was taken up with busts in silver and gold
gilding, representing still the interminable eleven thousand. A sort
of cupboard door half opened showed the shelves all full of skulls,
adorned with little satin caps, coronets, and tinsel jewelry; which
skulls, we were informed, were the original head-pieces of the same
redoubtable females.
At the other end of the room was a raised stage, where the most holy
relics of all were being displayed, under the devout eye of a priest
in a long, black robe. C. and I went upon the stage to be instructed.
S., whom the aforesaid lack of cologne water in the establishment had
rendered peculiarly unpropitious, stood at a majestic distance; but
C., assuming an air of profound faith, stood up to be initiated.
"That," says the priest, in a plaintive voice, pitched to the exact
point between lamentation and veneration, "is the ring of St. Ursula."
"Indeed," says C., "her ring!"
"Yes," says the priest, "it was found in her tomb."
"It was found in her tomb--only think!" says C., turning gravely to
me. I had to look another way, while the priest proceeded to
introduce, by name, four remarkably yellow skulls, with tastefully
trimmed red caps on, as those of St. Ursula and sundry of her most
intimate friends. S. looked gloriously indignant, and C. increasingly
solemn.
"Dere," said the priest, opening an ivory box, in which was about a
quart of _teeth_ of different sizes, "dere is de teeth of the
eleven thousand."
"Indeed," echoes C., "their teeth!"
S., at this, waxed magnificent, and, as a novel writer would say,
swept from the apartment. I turned round, shaking with laughter, while
the priest went on.
"Dere is a rib of St. ----."
"Ah, his rib; indeed!"
"And dere is de arrow as pierced the heart of St. Ursula."
"H.," says C., "here is the arrow that killed St. Ursula." (The wicked
scamp knew I was laughing!)
"Dere is the net that was on her hair."
"This is what she wore on her hair, then," says C., eyeing the rag
with severe and melancholy gravity.
"And here is some of the blood of the martyr Stephen," says the
priest, holding a glass case with some mud in it.
In the same way he showed two thorns from the crown of Christ, and a
piece of the Virgin's petticoat.
"And here is the waterpot of stone, in which our Lord made the wine at
the marriage in Cana."
"Indeed," said C., examining it with great interest; "where are the
rest of them?"
"The rest?" says the priest.
"Yes; I think there were six of them; where are they?"
The priest only went over the old story. "This came from Rome, and the
piece broken out of the side is at Rome yet."
It is to be confessed that I felt in my heart, through this disgusting
recital, some of S.'s indignation; and I could not help agreeing with
her that the odor of sanctity, as generally developed in the vicinity,
was any thing but agreeable. I did long to look that man once steadily
in the eyes, to see if he was such a fool as he pretended; but the
ridiculousness of the whole scene overcame me so that I could not look
up, and I marched out in silence. The whole church is equally full of
virgins. The altar piece is a vast picture of the slaughter, not badly
painted. Through various glass openings you perceive that the walls
are full of the bones and skulls. Did the worship of Egypt ever sink
lower in horrible and loathsome idolatry? I had heard of such things;
but it is one thing to hear of them, and another to see them by the
light of this nineteenth century, in a city whose streets look much
like the streets of any other, and where men and women appear much as
they do any where else. Here we saw, in one morning, the splendor and
the rottenness of the Romish system. From those majestic arches, that
triumphant chant, there is but a step down to the worship of dead
men's bones and all uncleanness.
We went also into the Jesuits' church. The effect, to my eye, was that
of a profusion of tawdry, dirty ornament; only the railing of the
choir, which was a splendid piece of carving, out from a single block
of Carrara marble.
The guide book prescribes, I think, no less than half a dozen churches
in Cologne as a dose for the faithful; but we were satisfied with
these three, and went back to our hotel. As a general thing I would
not recommend more than three churches on an empty stomach.
The outer wall of Cologne is a very fine specimen of fortification, (I
am quoting my guide book,) and we got a perfect view of it in crossing
the bridge of boats to return to our hotel. Why they have a bridge of
boats here I cannot say; perhaps on account of the width and swiftness
of the river.
Having heard so much of the dirt and vile smells of Cologne, I was
surprised that our drive took us through streets no way differing from
those of most other cities, and, except in the vicinity of the eleven
thousand virgins, smelling no worse. Still, there may be vile,
ill-smelling streets; but so there are in Edinburgh, London, and New
York.
From Cologne we went, at four o'clock, to Dusseldorf, a little town,
celebrated for the head quarters of the Dusseldorf school of painting.
I cannot imagine why they chose this town for a school of the fine
arts, as it is altogether an indifferent, uninteresting place. It is
about an hour's ride from Cologne. We arrived there in time to go into
the exhibition of the works of the artists, which is open all summer.
I don't know how good a specimen it is, but I thought it rather
indifferent. There were some few paintings that interested me, but
nothing equal to those. I have seen in the Dusseldorf gallery at home.
Whittridge lives there, but, unfortunately, was gone for eight days.
Our hotel was pleasant--opening on a walk shaded by double rows of
trees. We ordered a nice little tea in our room, arid waxed quite
merry over it.
This morning we started at seven, and here we are to-night in
Leipsic--as uninteresting a country as I have seen yet. Moreover, we
had passed beyond the limits of our Rhine guide book, and as yet had
no other, and so did not know any thing about the few objects of
interest which presented themselves. The railroads, of course, persist
in their invariable habit of running you up against a dead wall, so
that you see nothing where you stop.
The city of Magdeburg is the only interesting object I have seen. I
had a fair view of its cathedral, which I think, though not so
imposing, yet as picturesque and beautiful as any I remember to have
seen; and its old wall, too. We changed cars here, going through the
wall into the city, and I saw just enough to make me wish to see more;
and now to-night we are in Leipsic.
Morning. We are going out now, and I must mail this letter. To-morrow
we spend at Halle.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Friday, August 5. Dusseldorf to Leipsic, three hundred and
seventy-three miles. A very level and apparently fertile country. If
well governed it ought to increase vastly in riches.
Saturday, August 6. Called at the counting house of M. Tauchnitz, the
celebrated publisher. An hour after, accompanied by Mrs. T., he came
with two open carriages, and took us to see the city and environs. We
visited the battle ground, and saw the spot where Napoleon stood
during the engagement; a slight elevation, commanding an immense plain
in every direction, with the spires of the city rising in the
distance. After seeing various sights of interest, we returned to our
hotel, where our kind friends took their leave. In the afternoon M.
Tauchnitz sent H. a package of his entertaining English publications,
to read in the cars, also a Murray for Germany. H. and I then took the
cars for Halle, where we hoped to spend the Sabbath and meet with Dr.
Tholuck. Travellers sometimes visit Chamouni without seeing Mont
Blanc, who remains enveloped in clouds during their stay. So with us.
In an hour we were in rooms at the Kron Prince. We sent a note to the
professor; the waiter returned, saying that Dr. Tholuck was at
Kissengen. Our theological Mont Blanc was hid in mist. Blank enough
looked we!
"H., is there no other professor we want to see?"
"I believe not."
Pensively she read one of the Tauchnitz Library. Plaintively my
_Amati_ sighed condolence.
"H." said I, "perhaps we might reach Dresden to-night."
"Do you think so? Is it possible? Is there a train?"
"We can soon ascertain."
"How amazed they would look!"
We summoned the _maître d'hotel_, ordered tea, paid, packed,
raced, ran, and hurried, _presto, prestissimo,_ into a car half
choked with voyagers, changed lines at Leipsic, and shot off to
Dresden. By deep midnight we were thundering over the great stone Pont
d'Elbe, to the Hotel de Saxe, where, by one o'clock, we were lost in
dreams.
In the morning the question was, how to find our party.
"Waiter, bring me a directory."
"There is no directory, sir."
"No directory? Then how shall we contrive to find our friends?"
"Monsieur has friends residing in Dresden?"
"No, no! our party that came last night from Leipsic."
"At what hotel do they stop?"
"That is precisely what I wish to find out."
"Will monsieur allow me to give their description to the police?"
(0, ho, thought I; that is your directory, is it? Wonder if that is
the reason you have none printed.) "_Non, merci,"_ said I, and
set off on foot to visit the principal hotels. I knew they would go by
Murray or Bradshaw, and lo, sure enough they were at the Hotel
Bellevue, just sitting down to breakfast. S. started as if she had
seen a ghost.
"Why, where did you come from? What has happened? Where is H.? We
thought you were in Halle!"
Explanations followed. H. was speedily transferred to their hotel,
where they had bespoken rooms for us; and we sallied forth to the
court church to hear the music of high mass.
This music is celebrated throughout Germany. It is, therefore,
undoubtedly superior. The organ is noble, the opera company royal. But
more perfect than all combined are the echoes of the church, which
(though the guide book does not mention it) nullify every effect.
Monday, 8. Visited the walks and gardens on the banks of the Elbe. The
sky was clear, the weather glorious, and all nature full of joy. We
almost think this Elbe another Seine; these Bruhlsche gardens and
terraces, these majestic old bridges, and cleft city, another Paris!
Here, too, is that out-of-doors life, life in gardens, we admire so
much. Breakfast in the public gardens; hundreds of little groups
sipping their coffee! Dinner, tea, and supper in the gardens, with
music of birds and bands!
Visited the Picture Gallery. If one were to chance upon an altar in
this German Athens inscribed to the "unknown god," he might be tempted
to suggest that that deity's name is Decency.
The human form is indeed divine, as M. Belloc insists, and rightly,
sacredly drawn, cannot offend the purest eye. All nature is symbolic.
The universe itself is a complex symbol of spiritual ideas. So in the
structure and relation of the human body, some of the highest
spiritual ideas, the divinest mysteries of pure worship, are
designedly shadowed forth.
If, then, the painter rightly and sacredly conceives the divine
meaning, and creates upon the canvas, or in marble, forms of exalted
ideal loveliness, we cannot murmur even if, like Adam and Eve in Eden,
"they are naked, and are not ashamed."
And yet even sacred things love mystery, and holiest emotions claim
reserve. Nature herself seems to tell us that the more sacred some
works of art might be, the less they should be unveiled. There are
flowers that will wither in the sun The passion of love, when
developed according to the divine order, is, even in its physical
relations, so holy that it cannot retain its delicacy under the sultry
blaze of profane publicity.
But it is far otherwise with paintings where the _animus_ is not
sacred, nor the meaning spiritual. No excellences of coloring, no
marvels of foreshortening, no miracles of mechanism can consecrate the
salacious images of mythologic abomination.
The cheek that can forget to blush at the Venus and Cupid by Titian,
at Leda and her Swan, at Jupiter and Io, and others of equally evil
intent, ought never to pretend to blush at any thing. Such pictures
are a disgrace to the artists that painted, to the age that tolerates,
and to the gallery that contains them. They are fit for a bagnio
rather than a public exhibition.
Evening. Dresden is the home of Madame Jenny Lind Goldschmidt. H. sent
her card. This evening Mr. G. called to express regret that she was
unable to see any one, on account of her recent confinement. He kindly
offered us the use of his carriage and assistance in sightseeing. H.
discussed with him the catalogues of the gallery of paintings. As to
music, we learn, with regret, that it is out of season for concerts,
oratorios, or any thing worth hearing.
Wednesday, August 10. Dresden to Berlin. Drove to Charlottenburg, and
saw the monument of Queen Louisa.
Thursday, 11. Visited the Picture Gallery, and various stores and
shops.
Saturday, August 13. Berlin to Wittenberg, two hours' ride. Examined
the Schloss-Kirche, where Luther is buried, passing on our way through
the public square containing his monument.
At nine in the evening took cars for Erfurt. That night ride, with the
moon and one star hanging beautifully over the horizon, was pleasant.
There is a wild and thrilling excitement in thus plunging through the
mysterious night in a land utterly unknown. Reached Erfurt at two in
the morning.
Monday, August 15. Erfurt to Eisenach by eight. Drove to the Wartburg.
LETTER XLIII.
DRESDEN.
DEAR:--
I went to Dresden as an art-pilgrim, principally to see Raphael's
great picture of the Madonna di San Sisto, supposing that to be the
best specimen of his genius out of Italy. On my way I diligently
studied the guide book of that indefatigable friend of the traveller,
Mr. Murray, in which descriptions of the finest pictures are given,
with the observations of artists; so that inexperienced persons may
know exactly what to think, and where to think it. My expectations had
been so often disappointed, that my pulse was somewhat calmer.
Nevertheless, the glowing eulogiums of these celebrated artists could
not but stimulate anticipation. We made our way, therefore, first to
the _salon_ devoted to the works of Raphael and Correggio, and
soon found ourselves before the grand painting. Trembling with
eagerness, I looked up. Was that the picture? W. whispered to me, "I
think we have mistaken the painting."
"No, we have not," said I, struggling to overcome the disappointment
which I found creeping over me. The source of this disappointment was
the thin and faded appearance of the coloring, which at first
suggested to me the idea of a water-colored sketch. It had evidently
suffered barbarously in the process of cleaning, a fact of which I had
been forewarned. This circumstance has a particularly unfavorable
effect on a picture of Raphael's, because his coloring, at best, is
delicate and reserved, and, as compared with, that of Rubens,
approaches to poverty; so that he can ill afford to lose any thing in
this way.
Then as to conception and arrangement, there was much which annoyed
me. The Virgin and Child in the centre are represented as rising in
the air; on one side below them is the kneeling figure of Pope Sixtus;
and on the other, that of St. Barbara. Now this Pope Sixtus is, in my
eyes, a very homely old man, and as I think no better of homely old
men for being popes, his presence in the picture is an annoyance. St.
Barbara, on the other side, has the most beautiful head and face that
could be represented; but then she is kneeling on a cloud with such a
judicious and coquettish arrangement of her neck, shoulders, and face,
to show every fine point in them, as makes one feel that no saint
(unless with a Parisian education) could ever have dropped into such a
position in the _abandon_ of holy rapture. In short, she looks
like a theatrical actress; without any sympathy with the solemnity of
the religious conception, who is there merely because a beautiful
woman was wanted to fill up the picture.
Then that old, faded green curtain, which is painted as hanging down
on either side of the picture, is, to my eye, a nuisance. The whole
interest, therefore, of the piece concentrates in the centre figures,
the Madonna and Child, and two angel children gazing up from the foot
of the picture. These angel children were the first point on which my
mind rested, in its struggle to overcome its disappointment, and bring
itself _en rapport_ with the artist. In order fully to appreciate
their spiritual beauty, one must have seen an assortment of those
things called angels, which occur in the works of the old masters.
Generally speaking, I know of nothing more calculated to moderate any
undue eagerness to go to heaven than the common run of canvas angels.
Far the greater part are roistering, able-bodied fellows with wings,
giving indisputable signs of good living, and of a coarseness slightly
suggestive of blackguardism. Far otherwise with _these_ fair
creatures, with their rainbow-colored wings, and their serene,
upturned eyes of thought baptized with emotion. They are the first
things I have seen worthy of my ideas of Raphael.
As to the Madonna, I think that, when Wilkie says she is "nearer the
perfection of female elegance and grace than any thing in painting,"
he does not speak with discrimination. Mere physical beauty and grace
are not _the_ characteristics of the figure: many more perfect
forms can be found, both on canvas and in marble. But the merits of
the figure, to my mind, are, first, its historic accuracy in
representing the dark-eyed Jewish maiden; second, the wonderful
fulness and depth of expression thrown into the face; and third, the
mysterious resemblance and sympathy between the face of the mother and
that of the divine child. To my eye, this picture has precisely that
which Murillo's Assumption in the Louvre wants: it has an unfathomable
depth of earnestness. The Murillo is its superior in coloring and
grace of arrangement. At first sight of the Murillo every one exclaims
at once, "Plow beautiful!"--at sight of this they are silent. Many are
at first disappointed; but the picture fastens the attention, and
grows upon the thoughts; while that of Murillo is dismissed with the
words of admiration on the lips.
This picture excited my ponderings and inquiries. There was a conflict
of emotion in that mother's face, and shadowed mysteriously in the
child's, of which I queried, "Was it fear? was it sorrow? was it
adoration and faith? was it a presage of the hour when a sword should
pierce through her own soul? Yet, with this, was there not a solemn
triumph in the thought that she alone, of all women, had been called
to that baptism of anguish? And in that infant face there seemed a
foreshadowing of the spirit which said, "Now is my soul troubled; and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause
came I unto this hour."
The deep-feeling soul which conceived this picture has spread over the
whole divine group a tender and transparent shadow of sorrow. It is
this idea of sorrow in heaven--sorrow, for the lost, in the heart of
God himself--which forms the most sacred mystery of Christianity; and
into this innermost temple of sorrow had Raphael penetrated. He is a
sacred poet, and his poetry has precisely that trait which Milton
lacks--tenderness and sympathy. This picture, so unattractive to the
fancy in merely physical recommendations, has formed a deeper part of
my inner consciousness than any I have yet seen. I can recall it with
perfect distinctness, and often return to ponder it in my heart.
In this room there was also the _chef-d'luvre_ of Correggio--his
celebrated Notte, or the Nativity of Jesus; and, that you may know
what I ought to have thought, I will quote you a sentence from Wilkie.
"All the powers of art are here united to make a perfect work. Here
the simplicity of the drawing of the Virgin and Child is shown in
contrast with the foreshortening of the group of angels--the strongest
unity of effect with the most perfect system of intricacy. The
emitting the light from the body of the child, though a supernatural
illusion, is eminently successful. The matchless beauty of the Virgin
and Child, the group of angels overhead, the daybreak in the sky, and
the whole arrangement of light and shadow, give it a right to be
considered, in conception at least, the greatest of his works."
I said before that light and shadow were Correggio's gods--that the
great purpose for which he lived, moved, and had his being, was to
show up light and shadow. Now, so long as he paints only indifferent
objects,--Nymphs, and Fauns, and mythologic divinities,--I had no
objection. Light and shadow are beautiful things, capable of a
thousand blendings, softenings, and harmonizings, which one loves to
have represented: the great Artist of all loves light and shadow; why
else does he play such a magical succession of changes upon them
through all creation? But for an artist to make the most solemn
mystery of religion a mere tributary to the exhibition of a trick of
art, is a piece of profanity. What was in this man's head when he
painted this representation of the hour when his Maker was made flesh
that he might redeem a world? Nothing but _chiaro-scuro_ and
foreshortening. This overwhelming scene would give him a fine chance
to do two things: first, to represent a phosphorescent light from the
body of the child; and second, to show off some foreshortened angels.
Now, as to these angels, I have simply to remark that I should prefer
a seraph's head to his heels; and that a group of archangels, kicking
from the canvas with such alarming vigor, however much it may
illustrate foreshortening, does not illustrate either glory to God in
the highest, or peace on earth and good will to men. Therefore I have
quarrelled with Correggio, as I always expected to do if he profaned
the divine mysteries. How could any one, who had a soul to understand
that most noble creation of Raphael, turn, the next moment, to admire
this?
Here also are six others of Correggio's most celebrated paintings.
They are all mere representations of the physical, with little of the
moral. His picture of the Virgin and Child represents simply a very
graceful, beautiful woman, holding a fine little child. His peculiar
excellences in the management of his lights and shades appear in all.
In one of the halls we found a Magdalen by Battoni, which gave me more
pleasure, on first sight, than any picture in the gallery. It is a
life-sized figure of the Magdalen stretched upon the ground, reading
an open Bible. I like it, first, because the figure is every way
beautiful and well proportioned; second, on account of an elevated
simplicity hi the arrangement and general effect. The dark, rocky
background throws out distinctly the beautiful figure, raised on one
elbow, her long, golden hair floating loosely down, as she bends
forward over her book with parted lips, slightly flushed cheek, and an
air of rapt and pleased attention. Though the neck and bosom are
exposed, yet there is an angelic seriousness and gravity in the
conception of the piece which would check an earthly thought. The
woman is of that high class about whom there might seem to be a
hovering angelic presence--the perfection of beauty and symmetry,
without a tinge of sensual attraction.
All these rooms are full of artists copying different paintings,--some
upon slabs of Dresden china,--producing pictures of exquisite, finish,
and very pretty as boudoir ornaments.
After exhausting this first room, we walked through the galleries,
which I will name, to give you some idea of their extent.
Two rooms, of old German and Dutch masters, are curious,--as
exhibiting the upward struggles of art. Many of the pictures are hard
as a tavern sign, and as ill drawn; but they mark the era of dawning
effort.
Then a long corridor of Dutch paintings, in which Rubens figures
conspicuously, displaying, as usual, all manner of scarlet
abominations, mixed with most triumphant successes. He has a boar hunt
here, which is absolutely terrific. Rubens has a power peculiar to
himself of throwing into the eyes of animals the phosphorescent
magnetic gleam of life and passion. Here also was a sketch of his for
a large picture at Munich of the Last Judgment, in which the idea of
physical torture is enlarged upon with a most revolting vigor of
imagery.
Then a small room devoted to the Spanish and Italian schools,
containing pictures by Murillo and Velasquez. Then the French hall,
where were two magnificent Claudes, the finest I had yet seen. They
were covered with glass, (a bad arrangement,) which rendered one of
them almost entirely _unseeable_. I studied these long, with much
interest. The combinations were poetical, the foregrounds minutely
finished, even to the painting of flowers, and the fine invisible veil
of ether that covers the natural landscape given as I have never
before seen it. The peculiarity of these pieces is, that they are
painted in _green_--a most common arrangement in God's landscapes,
but very uncommon in those of great masters. Painters give us trees
and grounds, brown, yellow, red, chocolate, any color, in short, but
green. The reason of this is, that green is an exceedingly difficult color
to manage. I have seen, sometimes, in spring, set against a deep-blue
sky, an array of greens, from lightest yellow to deepest blue of the
pines, tipped and glittering with the afternoon's sun, yet so swathed in
some invisible, harmonizing medium, that the strong contrasts of color
jarred upon no sense. All seemed to be bound by the invisible cestus
of some celestial Venus. Yet what painter would dare attempt the same?
Herein lies the particular triumph of Claude. It is said that he took his
brush and canvas into the fields, and there studied, hour after hour, into
the mysteries of that airy medium which lies between the eye and the
landscape, as also between the foreground and the background. Hence
he, more than others, succeeds in giving the green landscape and the
blue sky the same effect that God gives them. If, then, other artists
would attain a like result, let them not copy Claude, but Claude's Master.
Would that our American artists would remember that God's pictures are
nearer than Italy. To them it might be said, (as to the Christian,) "The
word is nigh thee." When we shall see a New England artist, with his
easel, in the fields, seeking, hour after hour, to reproduce on the canvas
the magnificent glories of an elm, with its firmament of boughs and
branches,--when he has learned that there is in it what is worth a
thousand Claudes--then the morning star of art will have risen on our
hills. God send us an artist with a heart to reverence his own native
mountains and fields, and to veil his face in awe when the great
Master walks before his cottage door. When shall arise the artist
whose inspiration shall be in prayer and in communion with God?--whose
eye, unsealed to behold his beauty in the natural world, shall offer
up, on canvas, landscapes which shall be hymns and ascriptions?
By a strange perversity, people seem to think that the Author of
nature cannot or will not inspire art; but "He that formed the eye,
shall he not see? he that planted the ear, shall he not hear?" Are not
God's works the great models, and is not sympathy of spirit with the
Master necessary to the understanding of the models?
But to continue our walk. We entered another Dutch apartment,
embellished with works by Dietrich, prettily colored, and laboriously
minute; then into a corridor devoted chiefly to the works of Rembrandt
and scholars. In this also were a number of those minute culinary
paintings, in which cabbages, brass kettles, onions, potatoes, &c.,
are reproduced with praiseworthy industry. Many people are enraptured
with these; but for my part I have but a very little more pleasure in
a turnip, onion, or potato in a picture than out, and always wish that
the industry and richness of color had been bestowed upon things in
themselves beautiful. The great Master, it is true, gives these
models, but he gives them not to be looked at, but eaten. If painters
could only contrive to paint vegetables (cheaply) so that they could
be eaten, I would be willing.
Two small saloons are next devoted to the modern Dutch and German
school. In these is Denner's head of an old woman, which Cowper
celebrates in a pretty poem--a marvel of faithful reproduction. One
would think the old lady must have sat at least a year, till he had
daguerreotyped every wrinkle and twinkle. How much better all this
labor spent on the head of a good old woman than on the head of a
cabbage!
And now come a set of Italian rooms, in which we have some curious
specimens of the Romish development in religion; as, for instance, the
fathers Gregory, Augustine, and Jerome, meditating on the immaculate
conception of the Virgin. Think of a painter employing all his powers
in representing such a fog bank!
Next comes a room dedicated to the works of Titian, in which two nude
Venuses, of a very different character from the de Milon, are too
conspicuous. Titian is sensuous; a Greek, but not of the highest
class.
The next room is devoted to Paul Veronese. This Paul has quite a
character of his own--a grand old Venetian, with his head full of
stateliness, and court ceremony, and gorgeous conventionality, half
Oriental in his passion for gold, and gems, and incense. As a specimen
of the subjects in which his soul delights, take the following, which
he has wrought up into a mammoth picture: Faith, Love, and Hope,
presenting to the Virgin Mary a member of the old Venetian family of
Concina, who, after having listened to the doctrines of the
reformation, had become reconciled to the church. Here is Paul's
piety, naively displayed by giving to the Virgin all the courtly
graces of a high-born signorina. He paints, too, the Adoration of the
Magi, because it gives such a good opportunity to deal with camels,
jewels, turbans, and all the trappings of Oriental royalty. The Virgin
and Child are a small part of the affair. I like Paul because he is so
innocently unconscious of any thing _deep_ to be expressed; so
honestly intent on clothes, jewels, and colors. He is a magnificent
master of ceremonies, and ought to have been kept by some king
desirous of going down to posterity, to celebrate his royal praise and
glory.
Another room is devoted to the works of Guido. One or two of the Ecce
Homo are much admired. To me they are, as compared with my conceptions
of Jesus, more than inadequate. It seems to me that, if Jesus Christ
should come again on earth, and walk through a gallery of paintings,
and see the representations of sacred subjects, he would say again, as
he did of old in the temple, "Take these things hence!"
How could men who bowed down before art as an idol, and worshipped it
as an ultimate end, and thus sensualized it, represent these holy
mysteries, into which angels desired to look?
There are many representations of Christ here, set forth in the guide
book as full of grace and majesty, which, any soul who has ever felt
his infinite beauty would reject as a libel. And as to the Virgin
Mother, one's eye becomes wearied in following the countless catalogue
of the effeminate inane representations.
There is more pathos and beauty in those few words of the Scripture,
"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother," than in all these
galleries put together. The soul that has learned to know her from the
Bible, loving without idolizing, hoping for blest communion with her
beyond the veil, seeking to imitate only the devotion which stood by
the cross in the deepest hour of desertion, cannot be satisfied with
these insipidities.
Only once or twice have I seen any thing like an approach towards the
representations of the _scriptural_ idea. One is this painting by
Raphael. Another is by him, and is called Madonna Maison d'Alba: of
this I have seen only a copy; it might have been painted on the words,
"Now Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." The
figure is that of a young Jewess, between girl and womanhood, in whose
air and eye are expressed at once the princess of the house of David,
the poetess, and the thoughtful sequestered maiden. She is sitting on
the ground, the book of the prophets in one hand, lying listless at
her side; the other hand is placed beneath the chin of her infant son,
who looks inquiringly into her face. She does not see him--her eye has
a sorrowful, far-darting look, as if beyond this flowery childhood she
saw the dim image of a cross and a sepulchre. This was Mary, I have
often thought that, in the reaction from the idolatry of Romanism, we
Protestants were in danger of forgetting the treasures of religious
sweetness, which the Bible has given us in her brief history.
It seems to me the time demands the forming of a new school of art
based upon Protestant principles. For whatever vigor and originality
there might once be in art, based on Romanism, it has certainly been
worn threadbare by repetition.
Apropos to this. During the time I was in Paris, I formed the
acquaintance of Schoeffer, whose _Christus Consolator_ and
Remumrator and other works, have made him known in America. I went
with a lady who has for many years been an intimate friend, and whose
head has been introduced into several of his paintings. On the way she
gave me some interesting particulars of him and his family. His mother
was an artist--a woman of singularly ethereal and religious character.
There are three brothers devoted to art; of these Ary is the one best
known in America, and the most distinguished. For some time, while
they were studying, they were obliged to be separated, and the mother,
to keep up the sympathy between them, used to copy the design of the
one with whom she resided for the other two. A singular strength of
attachment unites the family.
We found Schoeffer in retired lodgings in the outskirts of Paris, and
were presented to his very pretty and agreeable English wife. In his
studio we saw a picture of his mother, a most lovely and delicate
woman, dressed in white, like one of the saints in the Revelation.
Then we saw his celebrated picture, Francisca Rimini, representing a
cloudy, dark, infernal region, in which two hapless lovers are whirled
round and round in mazes of never-ending wrath and anguish. _His_
face is hid from view; his attitude expresses the extreme of despair.
But she clinging to his bosom--what words can tell the depths of love,
of an anguish, and of endurance unconquerable, written in her pale
sweet face! The picture smote to my heart like a dagger thrust; I felt
its mournful, exquisite beauty as a libel on my Father in heaven.
No. It is _not_ God who eternally pursues undying, patient love
with storms of vindictive wrath. Alas! well said Jesus, "O righteous
Father, the world hath not known thee." The day will come when it will
appear that in earth's history the sorrowing, invincible tenderness
has been all on his part and that the strange word, _long-suffering_,
means just what it says.
Nevertheless, the power and pathos of this picture cannot be too much
praised. The coloring is beautiful, and though it pained me so much, I
felt that it was one of the most striking works of art I had seen.
Schoeffer showed us a large picture, about half finished, in which he
represents the gradual rise of the soul through the sorrows of earth
to heaven. It consisted of figures grouped together, those nearest
earth bowed down and overwhelmed with the most crushing and hopeless
sorrow; above them are those who are beginning to look upward, and the
sorrow in their faces is subsiding into anxious inquiry; still above
them are those who, having caught a gleam of the sources of
consolation, express in their faces a solemn calmness; and still
higher, rising in the air, figures with clasped hands, and absorbed,
upward gaze, to whose eye the mystery has been unveiled, the enigma
solved, and sorrow glorified. One among these, higher than the rest,
with a face of rapt adoration, seems entering the very gate of heaven.
He also showed us an unfinished picture of the Temptation of Christ.
Upon a clear aerial mountain top, Satan, a thunder-scarred, unearthly
figure, kneeling, points earnestly to the distant view of the kingdoms
of this world. There is a furtive and peculiar expression of eager
anxiety betrayed in his face, as if the bitterness of his own blasted
eternity could find a momentary consolation in this success. It is the
expression of a general, who has staked all his fortune on one die. Of
the figure of Jesus I could not judge, in its unfinished state.
Whether the artist will solve the problem of uniting energy with
sweetness, the Godhead with the manhood, remains to be seen.
The paintings of Jesus are generally unsatisfactory; but Schoefier has
approached nearer towards expressing my idea than any artist I have
yet seen.
The knowing ones are much divided about Schoeffer. Some say he is no
painter. Nothing seems to me so utterly without rule or compass as
this world of art Divided into little cliques, each with his
shibboleth, artists excommunicate each other as heartily as
theologians, and a neophyte who should attempt to make up a judgment
by their help would be obliged to shift opinions with every circle.
I therefore look with my own eyes, for if not the best that might be,
they are the best that God has given me.
Schoeffer is certainly a poet of a high order. His ideas are beautiful
and religious, and his power of expression quite equal to that of many
old masters, who had nothing very particular to express.
I should think his chief danger lay in falling into mannerism, and too
often repeating the same idea. He has a theory of coloring which is in
danger of running out into coldness and poverty of effect. His idea
seems to be, that in the representation of spiritual subjects the
artist should avoid the sensualism of color, and give only the most
chaste and severe tone. Hence he makes much use of white, pale blue,
and cloudy grays, avoiding the gorgeousness of the old masters. But it
seems probable that in the celestial regions there is more, rather
than less, of brilliant coloring than on earth. What can be more
brilliant than the rainbow, yet what more perfectly free from earthly
grossness? Nevertheless, in looking at the pictures of Schoeffer there
is such a serene and spiritual charm spread over them, that one is
little inclined to wish them other than they are. No artist that I
have ever seen, not even Raphael, has more power of glorifying the
human face by an exalted and unearthly expression. His head of Joan of
Arc, at Versailles, is a remarkable example. It is a commentary on
that scripture--"And they beheld his face, as it were the face of an
angel."
Schoeffer is fully possessed with the idea of which I have spoken, of
raising Protestant art above the wearisome imitations of Romanism. The
object is noble and important. I feel that he must succeed.
His best award is in the judgments of the unsophisticated heart. A
painter who does not burn incense to his palette and worship his
brushes, who reverences ideas above mechanism, will have all manner of
evil spoken against him by artists, but the human heart will always
accept him.
LETTER XLIV.
BERLIN, August 10.
MY DEAR:--
Here we are in Berlin--a beautiful city. These places that kings
build, have of course, more general uniformity and consistency of
style than those that grow up by chance. The prevalence of the Greek
style of architecture, the regularity and breadth of the streets, the
fine trees, especially in the Unter den Linden, on which are our
rooms, struck me more than any thing I have seen since Paris. Why
Paris charms me so much more than other cities of similar
recommendations, I cannot say, any more than a man can tell why he is
fascinated by a lady love no fairer to his reason than a thousand
others. Perhaps it is the reflected charm of the people I knew there,
that makes it seem so sunny.
This afternoon we took a guide, and went first through the royal
palace. The new chapel, which is being built by the present prince, is
circular in form, with a dome one hundred and thirty feet high. The
space between the doors is occupied by three circular recesses, with
figures of prophets and apostles in fresco. Over one door is the
Nativity,--over the other, the Resurrection,--also in fresco. On the
walls around were pictures somewhat miscellaneous, I thought; for
example, John Huss, St. Cecilia, Melanchthon, Luther, several women,
saints, apostles, and evangelists. These paintings are all by the
first German artists. The floor is a splendid mosaic, and the top of
the dome is richly adorned with frescoes.
Still, though beautiful, the chapel seemed to me deficient in unity of
effect. One admires the details too much to appreciate it as a whole.
We passed through the palace rooms. Its paintings are far inferior to
those of Windsor. The finest royal paintings have gone to adorn the
walls of the Museum. There was one magnificent Vandyke, into which he
has introduced a large dog--some relief from his eternal horses. There
was David's picture of Bonaparte crossing the Alps, of which Mrs. P.
has the engraving, and you can tell her that it is much more
impressive than the painting. Opposite to this picture hangs Blucher,
looking about as amiable as one might suppose a captain of a regiment
of mastiffs. Our guide, pointing to the portrait of Napoleon, with
evident pride, said, "Blucher brought that from Paris. He said
Napoleon had carried so many pictures from other countries to Paris,
that now he should be carried away himself."
There were portraits of Queen Louisa, very beautiful; of Queen
Victoria, a present; one of the Empress of Russia; also a statue of
the latter. The ball room contained a statue of Victory, by Ranch, a
beautiful female figure, the model of which, we were told, is his own
daughter. He had the grace to allow her some clothing, which was
fatherly, for an artist. The palace rooms were very magnificent. The
walls were covered with a damask of silk and gold, into which was
inwrought the Prussian eagle. In the crowning room was an immense
quantity of plate, in solid gold and silver. The guide seemed not a
little proud of _our_ king, princes, and palace. Men will attach
themselves to power and splendor as naturally as moss will grow on a
rock. There is, perhaps, a foundation for this in human nature--
witness the Israelites of old, who could not rest till they obtained a
king. The Guide told us there were nine hundred rooms in the palace,
but that he should only take us through the best. We were duly
sensible of the mercy.
Then we drove to Charlottenburg to see the Mausoleum. I know not when
I have been more deeply affected than there; and yet, not so much by
the sweet, lifelike statue of the queen as by that of the king, her
husband, executed by the same hand. Such an expression of long-desired
rest, after suffering and toil, is shed over the face!--so sweet, so
heavenly! There, where he has prayed year after year,--hoping,
yearning, longing,--there, at last, he rests, life's long anguish
over! My heart melted as I looked at these two, so long divided,--he
so long a mourner, she so long mourned,--now calmly resting side by
side in a sleep so tranquil.
We went through the palace. We saw the present king's writing desk and
table in his study, just as he left them. His writing establishment is
about as plain as yours. Men who really mean to do any thing do not
use fancy tools. His bed room, also, is in a style of severe
simplicity. There were several engravings fastened against the wall;
and in the anteroom a bust and medallion of the Empress Eugenie--a
thing which I should not exactly have expected in a born king's
palace; but beauty is sacred, and kings cannot call it _parvenu_.
Then we went into the queen's bed room, finished in green, and then
through the rooms of Queen Louisa. Those marks of her presence, which
you saw during the old king's lifetime, are now removed: we saw no
traces of her dresses, gloves, or books. In one room, draped in white
muslin over pink, we were informed the Empress of Russia was born.
In going out to Charlottenburg, we rode through the Thiergarten, the
Tuileries of Berlin. In one of the most quiet and sequestered spots is
the monument erected by the people of Berlin to their old king. The
pedestal is Carrara marble, sculptured with beautiful scenes called
garden pleasures--children in all manner of out-door sports, and
parents fondly looking on. It is graceful, and peculiarly appropriate
to those grounds where parents and children are constantly
congregating. The whole is surmounted by a statue of the king, in
white marble--the finest representation of him I have ever seen.
Thoughtful, yet benign, the old king seems like a good father keeping
a grave and affectionate watch over the pleasures of his children in
their garden frolics. There was something about these moss-grown
gardens that seemed so rural and pastoral, that I at once preferred
them to all I had seen in Europe. Choice flowers are planted in knots,
here and there, in sheltered nooks, as if they had grown by accident;
and an air of sweet, natural wildness is left amid the most careful
cultivation. The people seemed to be enjoying themselves less
demonstratively and with less vivacity than in France, but with a calm
inwardness. Each nation has its own way of being happy, and the style
of life in each bears a certain relation of appropriateness to
character. The trim, gay, dressy, animated air of the Tuileries suits
admirably with the mobile, sprightly vivacity of society there. Both,
in their way, are beautiful; but this seems less formal, and more
according to nature.
As we were riding home, our guide, who was a full feathered
monarchist, told us, with some satisfaction, the number of palaces in
Prussia. Suddenly, to my astonishment, "Young America" struck into the
conversation in the person of little G.
"We do things more economically in America. Our president don't have
sixty palaces; he has to be satisfied with one White House."
The guide entered into an animated defence of king and country. These
palaces--did not the king keep them for the people? did he not bear
all the expense of caring for them, that they might furnish public
pleasure grounds and exhibition rooms? Had we not seen the people
walking about in them, and enjoying themselves?
This was all true enough, and we assented. The guide continued, Did
not the king take the public money to make beautiful museums for the
people, where they could study the fine arts?--and did our government
do any such thing?
I thought of our surplus revenue, and laid my hand on my mouth. But
yet there is a progress of democratic principle indicated by this very
understanding that the king is to hold things for the benefit of the
people. Times are altered since Louis XIV. was instructed by his
tutor, as he looked out on a crowd of people, "These are all yours;"
and since he said, "_L'élot, c'est moi_"
Our guide seemed to feel bound, however, to exhaust himself in
comparison of our defects with their excellences.
"Some Prussians went over to America to live," he said, "and had to
come back again; they could not live there."
"Why not?" said I.
"O, they said there was nothing done there but working and going to
church!"
"That's a fact," said W., with considerable earnestness.
"Yes," said our guide; "they said we have but one life to live, and we
want to have some comfort in it."
It is a curious fact, that just in proportion as a country is free and
self-governed it has fewer public amusements. America and Scotland
have the fewest of any, and Italy the most. Nevertheless, I am far
from thinking that this is either necessary or desirable: the subject
of providing innocent public amusements for the masses is one that we
ought seriously to consider. In Berlin, and in all other German
cities, there are gardens and public grounds in which there are daily
concerts of a high order, and various attractions, to which people can
gain admittance for a very trifling sum. These refine the feelings,
and cultivate the taste; they would be particularly useful in America
in counteracting that tendency to a sordid materialism, which is one
of our great national dangers.
We went over the Berlin Museum. In general style Greek--but Greek
vitalized by the infusion of the German mind. In its general
arrangements one of the most gorgeous and impressive combinations of
art which I have seen. Here are the great frescoes of Kaulbach,
Cornelius, and other German artists, who have so grafted Grecian ideas
into the German stock that the growth has the foliage and coloring of
a new plant. One set of frescoes, representing the climate and scenery
of Greece, had on me a peculiar and magical effect. Alas! there never
has been the Greece that we conceive; we see it under the soft, purple
veil of distance, like an Alpine valley embraced by cloudy mountains;
but there was the same coarse dust and _débris_ of ordinary life
there as with us. The true Arcadia lies beyond the grave. The
collection of pictures is rich in historic curiosities--valuable as
marking the progress of art. One Claude Lorraine here was a matchless
specimen--a perfect victory over all the difficulties of green
landscape painting.
LETTER XLV.
WITTENBERG.
MY DEAR:--
I am here in the station house at Wittenberg. I have been seeing and
hearing to-day for you, and now sit down to put on paper the results
of my morning. "What make you from Wittenberg?" Wittenberg! name of
the dreamy past; dimly associated with Hamlet, Denmark, the moonlight
terrace, and the Baltic Sea, by one line of Shakspeare; but made more
living by those who have thought, loved, and died here; nay, by those
who cannot die, and whose life has been life to all coming ages.
How naturally, on reaching a place long heard of and pondered, do we
look round for something uncommon, quaint, and striking! Nothing of
the kind was here; only the dead flat of this most level scenery, with
its dreary prairie-like sameness. Certainly it was not this scenery
that stirred up a soul in Luther, and made him nail up his theses on
the Wittenberg church door.
"But, at any rate, let us go to Wittenberg," said I; "get a guide, a
carriage, cannot you?" as I walked to one window of the station house
and another, and looked out to see something wonderful. Nothing was in
sight, however; and after the usual sputter of gutturals which
precedes any arrangement in this country, we were mounted in a high,
awkward carriage, and rode to the town. Two ancient round tower and a
wall first met my eye; then a drawbridge, arched passage, and
portcullis. Under this passage we passed, and at our right hand was
the church, where once was laid the worn form that had stood so many
whirlwinds--where, in short, Luther was buried. But this we did not
then know; so we drove by, and went to a hotel. Talked English and got
German; talked French with no better success. At last, between W., G.,
and the dictionary, managed to make it understood that we wanted a
guide to the Luther relics. A guide was after a time forthcoming, in
the person of a little woman who spoke no English, whom, guide book in
hand, we followed.
The church is ancient, and, externally, impressive enough; inside it
is wide, cold, whitewashed, prosaic; whoever gets up feeling does it
against wind and tide, so far as appearances are concerned. We advance
to the spot in the floor where our guide raises a trap door, and shows
us underneath the plate inscribed with the name of Luther, and by it
the plate recording the resting-place of his well-beloved Philip
Melanchthon; then to the grave of the Elector of Saxony, and John the
Steadfast; on one side a full length of Luther, by Lucas Cranach; on
the other, one of Melanchthon, by the same hand. Well, we have seen;
this is all; "He is not here, he is risen." "Is this all?" "All," says
our guide, and we go out. I look curiously at the old door where
Luther nailed up his theses; but even this is not the identical door;
that was destroyed by the French. Still, under that arched doorway he
stood, hammer and nails in hand; he held up his paper, he fitted it
straight; rap, rap,--there, one nail--another--it is up, and he
stands looking at it. These very stones were over that head that are
now over mine, this very ground beneath his feet. As I turned away I
gave an earnest look at the old church. Grass is growing on its
buttresses; it has a desolate look, though strong and well kept. The
party pass on, and I make haste to overtake them.
Down we go, doing penance over the round paving stones; and our next
halt is momentary. In the market-place, before the town house, (a
huge, three-gabled building, like a beast of three horns,) stands
Luther's bronze monument; apple women and pear women, onion and beet
women, are thickly congregated around, selling as best they may. There
stands Luther, looking benignantly, holding and pointing to the open
Bible; the women, meanwhile, thinking we want fruit, hold up their
wares and talk German. But our conductress has a regular guide's trot,
inexorable as fate; so on we go.
Wittenberg is now a mean little town; all looks poor and low; yet it
seems like a place that has seen better days. Houses, now used as
paltry shops, have, some of them, carved oaken doors, with antic
freaks of architecture, which seem to signify that their former owners
were able to make a figure in the world. In fact, the houses seem a
sort of phantasmagoria of decayed gentlefolk, in the faded, tarnished,
old-fashioned finery of the past. Our guide halts her trot suddenly
before a house, which she announces as that of Louis Cranach; then on
she goes. Louis is dead, and Magdalen, his wife, also; so there is no
one there to welcome us; on we go also. Once Louis was a man of more
consequence.
Now we come to Luther's house--a part of the old convent. Wide yawns
the stone doorway of the court; a grinning masque grotesquely looks
down from its centre, and odd carvings from the sides. A colony of
swallows have established their nests among the queer old carvings and
gnome-like faces, and are twittering in and out, superintending their
domestic arrangements. We enter a court surrounded with buildings;
then ascend, through a strange doorway, a winding staircase, passing
small, lozenge-shaped window. Up these stairs _he_ oft trod, in
all the moods of that manifold and wonderful nature--gay, joyous,
jocose, fervent, defiant, imploring; and up these stairs have trod
wondering visitors, thronging from all parts of the world, to see the
man of the age. Up these stairs come Philip Melanchthon, Lucas
Cranach, and their wives, to see how fares Luther after some short
journey, or some new movement. Now, all past, all solitary; the stairs
dirty, the windows dim.
[Illustration: _of Luther's room._]
And this is Luther's room. It was a fine one in its day, that is
plain. The arched recesses of the windows; the roof, divided in
squares, and, like the walls and cornice, painted in fresco; the
windows, with their quaint, round panes,--all, though now so soiled
and dim, speak plainly of a time when life was here, and all things
wore a rich and joyous glow. In this room that great heart rejoiced in
the blessedness of domestic life, and poured forth some of those
exulting strains, glorifying the family state, which yet remain. Here
his little Magdalen, his little Jacky, and the rest made joyous
uproar.
There stands his writing table, a heavy mass of wood; clumsy as the
time and its absurdities, rougher now than ever, in its squalid old
age, and partly chipped away by relic seekers. Here he sat; here lay
his paper; over this table was bent that head whose brain power was
the earthquake of Europe. Here he wrote books which he says were
rained, hailed, and snowed from the press in every language and
tongue. Kings and emperors could not bind the influence from this
writing table; and yet here, doubtless, he wrestled, struggled,
prayed, and such tears as only he could shed fell upon it. Nothing of
all this says the table. It only stands a poor, ungainly relic of the
past; the inspiring angel is gone upward.
Catharine's nicely-carved cabinet, with its huge bunches of oaken
flowers hanging down between its glass panels, shows Luther's drinking
cup. There is also his embroidered portrait, on which, doubtless, she
expended much thought, as she evidently has much gold thread. I seem
to see her conceiving the bold design--she will work the doctor's
likeness. She asks Magdalen Cranach's opinion, and Magdalen asks
Lucas's, and there is a deal of discussion, and Lucas makes wise
suggestions. In the course of many fireside chats, the thing grows.
Philip and his Kate, dropping in, are shown it. Little Jacky and
Magdalen, looking shyly over their mother's shoulder, are wonderfully
impressed with the likeness, and think their mother a great woman.
Luther takes it in hand, and passes some jests upon it, which make
them laugh all round, and so at last it grows to be a veritable
likeness. Poor, faded, tarnished thing! it looks like a ghost now.
In one corner is a work of art by Luther--no less than a stove planned
after his own pattern. It is a high, black, iron pyramid, panelled,
each panel presenting in relief some Scripture subject. Considering
the remote times, this stove is quite an affair; the figures are, some
of them, spirited and well conceived, though now its lustre, like all
else here, is obscured by dust and dirt. Why do the Germans leave this
place so dirty? The rooms of Shakspeare are kept clean and in repair;
the Catholics enshrine in gold and silver the relics of their saints,
but this Protestant Mecca is left literally to the moles and the bats.
I slipped aside a panel in the curious old windows, and looked down
into the court surrounded by the university buildings. I fancied the
old times when students, with their scholastic caps and books, were
momently passing and repassing. I thought of the stir there was here
when the pope's bull against Luther came out, and of the pattering of
feet and commotion there were in this court, when Luther sallied out
to burn the pope's bull under the oak, just beyond the city wall near
by. The students thought it good fun; students are always progressive;
they admired the old boy for his spirit; they threw up caps and
shouted, and went out to see the ceremony with a will. Philip
Melanchthon wondered if brother Martin was not going a little too
fast, but hoped it would be overruled, and that all would be for the
best! So, coming out, I looked longingly beyond the city gate, and
wanted to go to the place of the oak tree, where the ceremony was
performed, but the party had gone on.
[Illustration: _of Melanchthon's house._]
Coming back, I made a pause opposite the house on which is seen the
inscription, "Here Melanchthon lived, labored, and died." A very good
house it was, too, in its day; in architecture it was not unlike this.
I went across the street to take a good look at it; then I came over,
and as the great arched door stood open, I took the liberty of walking
in. Like other continental houses, this had an arched passage running
through to a back court and a side door. A stone stairway led up from
this into the house, and a small square window, with little round
panes, looked through into the passage. A young child was toddling
about there, and I spoke to it; a man came out, and looked as if he
rather wondered what I might be about; so I retreated. Then I threaded
my way past queer peaked-roofed buildings to a paved court, where
stood the old church--something like that in Halle, a great Gothic
structure, with two high towers connected by a gallery. I entered.
Like the other church it has been whitewashed, and has few
architectural attractions. It is very large, with two galleries, one
over the other, and might hold, I should think, five thousand people.
Here Luther preached. These walls, now so silent, rung to the rare
melody of that voice, to which the Roman Catholic writers attributed
some unearthly enchantment, so did it sway all who listened. Here,
clustering round these pillars, standing on these flags, were myriads
of human beings; and what heart-beatings, what surgings of thought,
what tempests of feeling, what aspirations, what strivings, what
conflicts shook that multitude, and possessed them as he spoke! "I
preach," he said, "not for professor this or that, nor for the elector
or prince, but for poor Jack behind the door;" and so, striking only
on the chords common to all hearts, he bowed all, for he who can
inspire the illiterate and poor, callous with ignorance and toil, can
move also the better informed. Here, also, that voice of his, which
rose above the choir and organ, sang the alto in those chorals which
he gave to the world. Monmouth, sung in this great church by five
thousand voices, must needs have a magnificent sound.
The altar-piece is a Lord's Supper, by Louis Cranach, who appears in
the foreground as a servant. On each side are the pictures of the
Sacraments. In baptism, Melanchthon stands by a laver, holding a
dripping baby, whom he has just immersed, one of Luther's children, I
suppose, for he is standing by; a venerable personage in a long beard
holds the towel to receive the little neophyte. From all I know of
babies, I should think this form of baptism liable to inconvenient
accessories and consequences. On the other side, Luther is preaching,
and opposite, foremost of his audience are, Catharine and her little
son. Every thing shows how strictly intimate were Luther, Melanchthon,
and Cranach; good sociable times they had together. A slab elaborately
carved, in the side of the church, marks the last rest of Lucas and
Magdalen Cranach.
I passed out of the church, and walked slowly down to the hotel,
purchasing by the way, at a mean little shop, some tolerable
engravings of Luther's room, the church, &c. To show how immutable
every thing has been in Wittenberg since Luther died, let me mention
that on coming back through the market-place, we found spread out for
sale upon a cloth about a dozen pairs of shoes of the precise pattern
of those belonging to Luther, which we had seen in Frankfort--clumsy,
rude, and heelless. I have heard that Swedenborg said, that in his
visit to the invisible world, he encountered a class of spirits who
had been there fifty years, and had not yet found out that they were
dead. These Wittenbergers, I think, must be of the same conservative
turn of mind.
Failing to get a carriage to the station, we started to walk. I paused
a moment before the church, to make some little corrections and
emendations in my engravings, and thought, as I was doing so, of that
quite other scene years ago, when the body of Luther was borne through
this gate by a concourse of weeping thousands. These stones, on which
I was standing, then echoed all night to the tread of a closely-packed
multitude--a muffled sound, like the patter of rain among leaves.
There rose through the long, dark hours, alternately, the unrestrained
sobbings of the throng, and the grand choral of Luther's psalms, words
and music of his own. Never since the world began was so strange a
scene as that. I felt a kind of shadow from it, as I walked homeward
gazing on the flat, dreamy distance. A great windmill was creaking its
sombre, lazy vanes round and round,--strange, goblin things, these
windmills,--and I thought of one of Luther's sayings. "The heart of a
human creature is like the millstones: if corn be shaken thereon, it
grindeth the corn, and maketh good meal; but if no corn be there, then
it grindeth away itself." Luther tried the latter process all the
first part of his life; but he got the corn at last, and a magnificent
grist he made.
Arrived at the station, we found we must wait till half past five in
the afternoon for the train. This would have been an intolerable doom
in the disconsolate precincts of an English or American station, but
not in a German one. As usual, this had a charming garden, laid out
with exquisite taste, and all glowing and fragrant with plats of
verbena, fuschias, heliotropes, mignonette, pansies, while rows of
hothouse flowers, set under the shelter of neatly trimmed hedges, gave
brightness to the scene. Among all these pretty grounds were seats and
walks, and a gardener, with his dear pipe in his mouth, was moving
about, watering his dear flowers, thus combining the two delights of a
German, flowers and smoke. These Germans seem an odd race, a mixture
of clay and spirit--what with their beer drinking and smoking, and
their slow, stolid ways, you would think them perfectly earthly; but
an ethereal fire is all the while working in them, and bursting out in
most unexpected little jets of poetry and sentiment, like blossoms on
a cactus.
The station room was an agreeable one, painted prettily in frescoes,
with two sofas. So we arranged ourselves in a party. S. and I betook
ourselves to our embroidery, and C. read aloud to us, or tried the
Amati, and when we were tired of reading and music we strolled in the
garden, and I wrote to you.
I wonder why we Anglo-Saxons cannot imitate the liberality of the
continent in the matter of railroad stations, and give the traveller
something more agreeable than the grim, bare, forbidding places, which
now obtain in England and America. This Wittenberg is but a paltry
town; and yet how much care is spent to make the station house
comfortable and comely! I may here say that nowhere in Europe is
railway travelling so entirely convenient as in Germany, particularly
in Prussia. All is systematic and orderly; no hurrying or shoving, or
disagreeable fuss at stations. The second class cars are, in most
points, as good as the first class in England; the conductors are
dignified and gentlemanly; you roll on at a most agreeable pace from
one handsome station house to another, finding yourself disposed to be
pleased with every thing.
There is but one drawback to all this, and that is the smoking.
Mythologically represented, these Germans might be considered as a
race born of chimneys, with a necessity for smoking in their very
nature. A German walking without his pipe is only a dormant volcano;
it is in him to smoke all the while; you may be sure the crater will
begin to fume before long. Smoking is such an acknowledged attribute
of manhood, that the gentler sex seem to have given in to it as one of
the immutable things of nature; consequently all the public places
where both sexes meet are redolent of tobacco! You see a gentleman
doing the agreeable to a lady, cigar in mouth, treating her
alternately to an observation and a whiff, both of which seem to her
equally matters of course. In the cars some attempt at regulation
subsists; there are cars marked "_Nich rauchen_" into which
_we_ were always very careful to get; but even in these it is not
always possible to make a German suspend an operation which is to him
about the same as breathing.
On our way from Frankfort to Halle, in a "_nich rauchen_" car,
too, a jolly old gentleman, whose joyous and abundant German sounded
to me like the clatter of a thousand of brick, wound up a kind of
promiscuous avalanche of declamation by pulling a matchbox from his
pocket, and proceeding deliberately to light his pipe. The tobacco was
detestable. Now, if a man _must_ smoke, I think he is under moral
obligation to have decent tobacco. I began to turn ill, and C.
attacked the offender in French; not a word did he understand, and
puffed on tranquil and happy. The idea that any body did not like
smoke was probably the last that could ever be made to enter his head,
even in a language that he did understand. C. then enlisted the next
neighbor, who understood French, and got him to interpret that smoke
made the lady ill. The chimney-descended man now took his pipe out,
and gazed at it and me alternately, with an air of wondering
incredulity, and seemed trying to realize some vast conception, but
failing in the effort, put his pipe back, and smoked as before! Some
old ladies now amiably offered to change places with me, evidently
regarding me as the victim of some singular idiosyncrasy. As I
changed, a light seemed to dawn on the old chimney's mind--a
good-natured one he was; he looked hard at me, and his whiffs became
fainter till at last they ceased, and he never smoked more till I was
safe out of the cars.
LETTER XLVI.
ERFURT, Saturday Evening.
MY DEAR:--
I have just been to Luther's cell in the old Augustine Convent, and if
my pilgrimage at Wittenberg was less interesting by the dirt and
discomfort of the actual present, here were surroundings less
calculated to jar on the frame the scene should inspire. It was about
sunset,--a very golden and beautiful one, and C. and I drove through
various streets of this old town. I believe I am peculiarly alive to
architectural excitements, for these old houses, with their strange
windows, odd chimneys, and quaint carvings, delight me wonderfully.
Many of them are almost gnome-like in their uncouthness; they please
me none the less for that.
We drove first to the cathedral, which, with an old deserted church,
seemingly part of itself, forms a pile of Gothic architecture, a
wilderness of spires, minarets, arches, and what not, more picturesque
than any cathedral I have seen. It stands high on a sort of platform
overlooking a military parade ground, and reached by a long flight of
steps.
The choir is very beautiful. I cannot describe how these lofty arches,
with their stained glass windows, touch my heart. Architecture never
can, and never will, produce their like again. They give us aspiration
in its highest form and noblest symbol, and wonderful was that mind
which conceived them. This choir so darkly bright, its stalls and
seats carved in black oak, its flame-like arches, gorgeous with
evening light, were a preparation and excitement of mind. Yet it's
remarkable about these old-time cathedrals, that while their is every
grand and solemn effect of architecture, there is also always an
abundance of subordinate parts, mean, tawdry, revolting, just like the
whole system they represent. Out of this beautiful choir I wanted to
tear all the tinsel fixtures on its altar, except two very good
pictures, and leave it in it noble simplicity.
I remarked here a black oak chandelier, which the guide said was taken
from the cathedral of Cologne. It was the very perfection of Gothic
carving, and resembled frostwork in its lightness. The floor of the
cathedral was covered with effigies in stone, trod smooth by the feet
of worshippers; so we living ones are ever walking above the dead,
though we do not always, as here, see the outward sign thereof.
From the cathedral we passed out, and stopped a moment to examine the
adjoining church, now deserted, but whose three graceful spires have a
peculiar beauty. After a turn upon the platform we descended, and
drove to the Augustine Convent, now used as an orphan asylum. We
ascended through a court yard, full of little children, by some steps
into a gallery, where a woman came out with her keys. We passed first
into a great hall, the walls of which were adorned with Holbein's
Dance of Death.
From this hall we passed into Luther's room--a little cell, ten feet
square; the walls covered with inscriptions from his writings. There
we saw his inkstand, his pocket Testament, a copy of the Bible that
was presented to him, (by whom I could not understand,) splendidly
bound and illuminated. But it was the cell itself which affected me,
the windows looking out into what were the cloisters of the monastery.
Here was that struggle--that mortal agony--that giant soul convulsing
and wearing down that strong frame. These walls! to what groans, to
what prayers had they listened! Could we suppose a living human form
imperishable, capable of struggling and suffering, but not of dying,
buried beneath the whole weight of one of these gloomy cathedrals,
suffocating in mortal agony, hearing above the tramp of footsteps, the
peal of organs, the triumphant surge of chants, and vainly striving to
send up its cries under all this load,--such, it would seem, was the
suffering of this mighty soul. The whole pomp and splendor of this
gorgeous prison house was piled up on his breast, and _his_
struggles rent the prison for the world!
On a piece of parchment which is here kept framed is inscribed in
Luther's handwriting, in Latin, "Death is swallowed up in Victory!"
Nothing better could be written on the walls of this cell.
This afternoon I walked out a little to observe the German Sabbath.
Not like the buoyant, voluble, social Sunday of Paris, though still
consecrated to leisure and family enjoyment more than to religious
exercises. As I walked down the streets, the doors were standing open,
men smoking their pipes, women knitting, and children playing. One
place of resort was the graveyard of an antiquated church. A graveyard
here is quite different from the solitary, dismal place where we lay
our friends, as if to signify that all intercourse with them is at an
end. Each grave was trimmed and garlanded with flowers, fastened with
long strings of black or white ribbon. Around and among the graves
men, women, and children were walking, the men smoking and chatting,
not noisily, but in a cheerful, earnest way. It seems to me that this
way of treating the dead might lessen the sense of separation. I
believe it is generally customary to attend some religious exercise
once on Sunday, and after that the rest of the day is devoted to this
sort of enjoyment.
[Illustration: _of the Wartburg._]
The morning we started for Eisenach was foggy and rainy. This was
unfortunate, as we were changing from a dead level country to one of
extreme beauty. The Thuringian Forest, with its high, wooded points
crowned here and there with many a castle and many a ruin, loomed up
finely through the mist, and several times I exclaimed, "There is the
Wartburg," or "That must be the Wartburg," long before we were near
it. It was raining hard when we reached Eisenach station, and engaged
a carriage to take us to the Wartburg. The mist, which wreathed
thickly around, showed us only glimpses as we wound slowly up the
castle hill--enough, however, to pique the imagination, and show how
beautiful it might be in fair weather.
The grounds are finely kept: winding paths invite to many a charming
stroll. When about half way up, as the rain had partially subsided, I
left the carriage, and toiled up the laborious steep on foot, that I
might observe better. You approach the castle by a path cut through
the rock for about thirty or forty feet. At last I stood under a low
archway of solid stone masonry, about twenty feet thick. There had
evidently been three successive doors; the outer one was gone, and the
two inner were wonderfully massive, braced with iron, and having each
a smaller wicket door swung back on its hinges.
As my party were a little behind, I had time to stop and meditate. I
fancied a dark, misty night, and the tramp of a party of horsemen
coming up the rocky path to the gateway; the parley at the wicket; the
unbarred doors, creaking on their rusty hinges,--one, two, three,--are
opened; in clatters the cavalcade. In the midst of armed men with
visors down, a monk in cowl and gown, and with that firm look about
the lips which is so characteristic in Luther's portraits. But here
our party came up, and the vision was dispelled. As none of us knew a
word of German, we stood rather irresolutely looking at the buildings
which, in all shapes and varieties, surround the court. I went into
one room--it was a pantry; into another--it was a wash room; into a
third--it was a sitting room, garnished with antlers, and hung round
with hard old portraits of princes and electors, and occupied by
Germans smoking and drinking beer. One is sure that in this respect
one cannot fail of seeing the place as it was in Luther's time. If
they were Germans, of course they drank beer out of tall, narrow beer
glasses; that is as immutable a fact as the old stones of the
battlement.
"H.," said C., "did the Germans use to smoke in Luther's day?"
"No. Why?"
"0, nothing. Only, what could they do with themselves?"
"I do not know, unless they drank the more beer."
"But what could they do with their chimney-hood?"
So saying, the saucy fellow prowled about promiscuously a while,
assailing one and another in French, to about as much purpose as one
might have tried to storm the walls with discharges of thistle down;
all smoked and drank as before. But as several other visitors arrived,
and it became evident that if we did not come to see the castle, it
was not likely we came for any thing else, a man was fished up from
some depths unknown, with a promising bunch of keys. He sallied forth
to that part of the castle which is undergoing repairs.
Passing through bricks and mortar, under scaffolds, &c., we came to
the armory, full of old knights and steeds in complete armor; that is
to say, the armor was there, and, without peeping between the
crevices, one could hardly tell that their owners were not at home in
their iron houses. There sat the Elector of Saxony, in full armor, on
his horse, which was likewise cased in steel. There was the suit of
armor in which Constable Bourbon fell under the walls of Rome, and
other celebrated suits, some covered with fine engraved work, and some
gilded. A quantity of banners literally hung in tatters, dropping to
pieces with age. Here were the middle ages all standing.
Then we passed up to a grand hall, which is now being restored with
great taste after the style of that day--a long, lofty room, with an
arched roof, and a gallery on one side, and beyond, a row of
Romanesque arched windows, commanding a view of the country around.
Having finished the tour of this part, we went back, ascended an old,
rude staircase, and were ushered into Luther's Patmos, about ten or
twelve feet square. The window looked down the rocky sides into an
ocean of seething mist. I opened it, but could see nothing of all
those scenes he describes so graphically from this spot. I thought of
his playful letter on the "Diet of the Rooks," but there was not a
rook at hand to illustrate antiquity. There was his bedstead and
footstool, a mammoth vertebra, and his writing table. A sculptured
chair, the back of which is carved into a cherub's head, bending
forward and shadowing with its wings the head of the sitter, was said
to be of the time of Luther, but not _his_ chair. There were some
of his books, and a rude, iron-studded clothes press.
Thus ended for me the Lutheran pilgrimage. I had now been
perseveringly to all the shrines, and often inquired of myself whether
our conceptions are helped by such visitations. I decided the question
in the affirmative; that they are, if from the dust of the present we
can recreate the past, and bring again before us the forms as they
then lived, moved, and had their being. For me, I seem to have seen
Luther, Cranach, Melanchthon, and all the rest of them--to have talked
with them. By the by, I forgot to mention the portraits of Luther's
father and mother, which are in his cell. They show that his
_mother_ was no common woman. She puts me in mind of the mother
of Samuel J. Mills--a strong, shrewd, bright, New England character.
I must not forget to notice, too, a little glitter of effect--a
little, shadowy, fanciful phase of feeling--that came over me when in
Luther's cell at Erfurt. The time, as I told you, was golden twilight,
and little birds were twittering and chirping around the casement, and
I thought how he might have sat there, in some golden evening, sad and
dreamy, hearing the birds chirp, and wondering why he alone of all
creation should be so sad. I have not a doubt he has done that very
thing in this very spot.
JOURNAL--(CONTINUED.)
Monday, August 15. From Eisenach, where we dined cozily in the
railroad station house, we took the cars for Cassel. After we had
established ourselves comfortably in a _nich rauchen_ car, a
gentleman, followed by a friend, came to the door with a cigar in his
mouth. Seeing ladies, he inquired if he could smoke. Comprehending his
look and gesture, we said, "No." But as we spoke very gently, he
misunderstood us, and entered. Seeing by our looks that something was
amiss, he repeated the question more emphatically in German: "Can I
smoke? Yes, or no." "No," we answered in full chorus. Discomfited, he
retired with rather a flushed cheek. We saw him prospecting up and
down the train, hunting for a seat, followed by his _fidus
Achates_. Finally, a guard took him in tow, and after navigating a
while brought him to our door; but the gentleman recoiled, said
something in German, and passed on. Again they made the whole circuit
of the train, and then we saw the guard coming, with rather a fierce,
determined air, straight to our door. He opened it very decidedly, and
ordered the gentleman to enter. He entered, cigar and all. His friend
followed.
"Well," said H., in English, "I suppose he must either smoke or die."
"Ah, yes," I replied, "for the sake of saving his life we will even
let him smoke."
"Hope the tobacco is good," added H.; and we went on reading our
"Villette," which was very amusing just then. The gentleman had his
match already lighted, and was just in the act of puffing
preliminarily when H. first spoke. I thought I saw a peculiar
expression on his friend's face. He dropped a word or two in German,
as if quite incidentally, and I soon observed that the smoking made
small progress. Pie kept the cigar in his mouth, it is true, for a
while, just to show he would smoke if he chose; but his whiffs were
fewer and fainter every minute; and after reading several chapters,
happening to cast my eye that way, the cigar had disappeared. Not long
after the friend, sitting opposite me, addressed W. in _good
English_, and they were soon well agoing in a friendly discussion
of our route. The winged word had hit the mark that time.
We passed the night in an agreeable hotel, Roi de Prusse, at Cassel.
By the way, it occurred to us that this was where the Hessians came
from in the old revolutionary times.
Tuesday, August 16. A long, dull ride from Cassel to Dusseldorf.
Wednesday, August 17. Whittridge came at breakfast. The same mellow,
friendly, good-humored voice, and genial soul, I had loved years ago
in the heart of Indiana. We had a brief festival of talk about old
times, art, artists, and friends, and the tide of time rolled in and
swept us asunder. Success to his pencil in the enchanted glades of
Germany! America will yet be proud of his landscapes, as Italy of
Claude, or England of Turner.
Ho for Anvers! (Antwerp.) Through Aix-la-Chapelle, Liége, Malines,
till nine at night.
Thursday, August 18. What gnome's cave is this Antwerp, where I have
been hearing such strange harmonies in the air all night? We drive to
the cathedral, whose tower reminded Napoleon of Mechlin lace. What a
shower of sprinkling music drops comes from the sky above us! We must
go up and see about this. We spiralize through a tubular stairway to
an immense height--a tube of stone, like a Titanic organ pipe, filled
with waves of sound pouring down like a deluge. Undulations
tremendous, yet not intolerable: we soon learned their origin.
Reaching a small door, I turned aside, and came where the great bell
was hung, which twenty men were engaged in ringing. It was a
_fête_ day. I crept inside the frame, and stood actually under
the colossal mass, as it swung like a world in its spheric chime. A
new sense was developed, such as I had heard of the deaf possessing. I
seemed existing in a new medium. I _felt_ the sound in my lungs,
in my bones, on all my nerves to the minutest fibre, and yet it did
not stupefy nor stun me with a harsh clangor. It was _deep_,
DEEP. It was an abyss, gorgeously illuminated of velvet softness, in
which I floated. The sound was fluid like water about me. I closed my
eyes. Where was I? Had some prodigious monster swallowed me, and, like
another Jonah, had I "gone down beneath the bottoms of the mountains"?
I escaped from that perilous womb of sound, and ascended still higher.
There was the mystery of that nocturnal minstrelsy. Seventy-three
bells in chromatic diapason--with their tinkling, ringing, tolling,
knolling peal! Was not that a chime? a chime of chimes? And all these
goblin hammers, like hands and feet of sprites, rising and falling, by
magic, by hidden mechanism.
Of all German cactus blossoms this is the most ethereal. What head
conceived those harmonies, so ghostlike? Every ten minutes, if you lie
wakeful, they wind you up in a net of silver wirework, and swing you
in the clouds; and the next time they swing you higher, and the next
higher, and when the round hour is full the giant bell strikes at the
gate of heaven to bring you home!
But this is dreaming. Fie, fie! Let us come down to pictures, masses,
and common sense. We came down. We entered the room, and sat before
the Descent from the Cross, where the dead body of Jesus seems an
actual reality before you. The waves of the high mass came rolling in,
muffled by intervening walls, columns, corridors, in a low, mysterious
murmur. Then organ, orchestra, and choir, with rising voices urged the
mighty acclaim, till the waves seemed beating down the barriers upon
us. The combined excitement of the chimes, the painting, the music,
was too much. I seemed to breathe ether. Treading on clouds, as it
were, I entered the cathedral, and the illusion vanished.
Friday, August 19. Antwerp to Paris.
Saturday, August 20. H. and I take up our abode at the house of M.
Belloc, where we find every thing so pleasant, that we sigh to think
how soon we must leave these dear friends. The rest of our party are
at the Hotel Bedford.
LETTER XLVII.
Antwerp.
MY DEAR:--
Of all quaint places this is one of the most charming. I have been
rather troubled that antiquity has fled before me where I have gone.
It is a fatality of travelling that the sense of novelty dies away, so
that we do not realize that we are seeing any thing extraordinary. I
wanted to see something as quaint as Nuremberg in Longfellow's poem,
and have but just found it. These high-gabled old Flemish houses, nine
steps to each gable! The cathedral, too, affects me more in externals
than any yet. And the spire looks as I expected that of Strasbourg
would. As to the grammarye of bells and chimes, I deliver that over to
Charlie. But--I have seen Rubens's painting! Before I came to Europe,
Longfellow said to me, "You must go to Antwerp, to see Rubens."
"I do not think I shall like Rubens," was my reply.
"But you will, though. Yet never judge till you have been to Antwerp."
So, during our various meanders, I kept my eye with a steady resolve
on this place. I confess I went out to see the painting without much
enthusiasm. My experience with Correggio's Notte, and some of the
celebrities of Dresden, was not encouraging. I was weary, too, with
sightseeing. I expected to find an old, dim picture, half spoiled by
cleaning, which I should be required to look into shape, by an
exercise of my jaded imagination.
Alter coming down from hearing the chimes, we went into a side room,
and sat down before the painting. My first sensation was of
astonishment, blank, absolute, overwhelming. After all that I had
seen, I had no idea of a painting like this. I was lifted off my feet,
as much as by Cologne cathedral, or Niagara Falls, so that I could
neither reason nor think whether I was pleased or not. It is
difficult, even now, to analyze the sources of this wonderful power.
The excellence of this picture does not lie, like Raphael's, in a
certain ideal spirituality, by which the scene is raised above earth
to the heavenly sphere; but rather in a power, strong, human, almost
homely, by which, not an ideal, but the real scene is forced home upon
the heart.
_Christ is dead_,--dead to your eye as he was to the eye of Mary
and of John. Death absolute, hopeless, is written in the faded majesty
of that face, peaceful and weary; death in every relaxed muscle. And,
surely, in painting this form, some sentiment of reverence and
devotion softened into awestruck tenderness that hand commonly so
vigorous; for, instead of the almost coarse vitality which usually
pervades his manly figures, there is shed over this a spiritualized
refinement, not less, but more than human, as if some heavenly voice
whispered, "This is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world!"
The figures of the disciples are real and individual in expression.
The sorrow is homely, earnest, unpicturesque, and grievously heart
broken. The cheek of the kneeling Mary at his feet is wet with tears.
You cannot ask yourself whether she is beautiful or not. You only see
and sympathize with her sorrow. But the apostle John, who receives
into his arms the descending form, is the most wonderful of all.
Painters that I have seen represent him too effeminately. They forget
the ardent soul whom Jesus rebuked for wishing to bring down fire from
heaven on his enemies; they forget that it was John who was called the
son of thunder, and that his emblem in the early church was the eagle.
From the spiritualized softness of his writings we have formed another
picture, forgetting that these are the writings of an aged man, in
whom the ardor of existence has been softened by long experience of
suffering, and habits of friendship with a suffering Lord.
Rubens's conception of John is that of a vigorous and plenary manhood,
whose rush is like that of a torrent, in the very moment when his
great heart is breaking. He had loved his Master with a love like an
eternity; he had believed him; heart and soul, mind and strength--all
had he given to that kingdom which he was to set up; and he had seen
him die--die by lingering torture. And at this moment he feels it all.
There is no Christ, no kingdom--nothing! All is over. "We
_trusted_ it had been he who should have redeemed Israel." With
that miraculous, lifelike power that only Rubens has, he shows him to
us in this moment of suppressed agony; the blood choking his heart,
the veins swollen, and every muscle quivering with the grief to which
he will not give way. O, for this wonderful and deep conception, this
almost divine insight into the mysteries of that hour, one might love
Rubens. This picture cannot be engraved. No engraving is more than a
diagram, to show the places of the figures. For, besides its mesmeric
life, which no artist can reproduce, there is a balancing of colors, a
gorgeousness about it, as if he had learned coloring from the great
Master himself. Even in the overpowering human effect of this piece,
it is impossible not to perceive that every difficulty which artists
vaunt themselves on vanquishing has in this piece been conquered with
apparently instinctive ease, simply because it was habitual to do so,
and without in the least distracting the attention from the great
moral. Magical foreshortenings and wonderful effects of color appear
to be purely incidental to the expression of a great idea. I left this
painting as one should leave the work of a great religious master--
thinking more of Jesus and of John than of Rubens.
After this we went through many galleries and churches devoted to his
works; for Antwerp is Rubens's shrine. None of them impressed me, as
compared with this. One of his Madonnas, however, I must not forget to
describe, it was a conceit so just like him. Instead of the pale,
downcast, or upturned faces, which form the general types of Madonna,
he gives her to us, in one painting, as a gorgeous Oriental sultana,
leaning over a balcony, with full, dark eye and jewelled turban, and
rounded outlines, sustaining on her hand a brilliant paroquet.
Ludicrous as this conception appears in a scriptural point of view, I
liked it because there was life in it; because he had painted it from
an internal sympathy, not from a chalky, second-hand tradition.
And now, farewell to Antwerp. Art has satisfied me at last. I have
been conquered, and that is enough.
To-morrow for Paris. Adieu.
LETTER XLVIII.
PARIS, Saturday, August 20.
MY DEAR:--
I am seated in my snug little room at M. Belloc's. The weather is
overpoweringly hot, but these Parisian houses seem to have seized and
imprisoned coolness. French household ways are delightful. I like
their seclusion from the street, by these deep-paved quadrangles. I
like these cool, smooth, waxed floors so much that I one day queried
with my friends, the C.'s, whether we could not introduce them into
America. L., who is a Yankee housekeeper, answered, with spirit, "No,
indeed; not while the mistress of the house has every thing to do, as
in America; I think I see myself, in addition to all my cares, on my
knees, waxing up one of these floors."
"Ah," says Caroline, "the thing is managed better in Paris; the
_frotteur_ comes in before we are up in the morning, shod with
great brushes, and dances over the floors till they shine."
"I am sure," said I, "here is Fourrier's system in one particular. We
enjoy the floors, and the man enjoys the dancing."
Madame Belloc had fitted up my room with the most thoughtful care. A
large bouquet adorns the table; fancy writing materials are displayed;
and a waiter, with sirups and an extempore soda fount, one of Parisian
household refinements, stands just at my elbow. Above all, my walls
are hung with beautiful engravings from Claude and Zuccarelli.
This house pertains to the government, and is held by M. Belloc in
virtue of his situation as director of the Imperial School of Design,
to which institution about one half of it is devoted. A public
examination is at hand, in preparing for which M. Belloc is heart and
soul engaged. This school is a government provision for the gratuitous
instruction of the working classes in art. I went into the rooms where
the works of the scholars are arranged for the inspection of the
judges. The course of instruction is excellent--commencing with the
study of nature. Around the room various plants are growing, which
serve for models, interspersed with imitations in drawing or
modelling, by the pupils. I noticed a hollyhock and thistle, modelled
with singular accuracy. As some pupils can come only at evening, M.
Belloc has prepared a set of casts of plants, which he says are
plaster daguerreotypes. By pouring warm gelatine upon a leaf, a
delicate mould is made, from which these casts are taken. He showed me
bunches of leaves, and branches of the vine, executed by them, which
were beautiful. In like manner the pupil commences the study of the
human figure, with the skeleton, which he copies bone by bone. Gutta
percha muscles are added in succession, till finally he has the whole
form. Besides, each student has particular objects given him to study
for a certain period, after which he copies them from memory. The same
course is pursued with prints and engravings.
When an accurate knowledge of forms is gained, the pupil receives
lessons in combination. Such subjects as these are given: a vase of
flowers, a mediæval or classic vase, shields, Helmets, escutcheons,
&c., of different styles. The first prize composition was a hunting
frieze, modelled, in which were introduced fanciful combinations of
leaf and scroll work, dogs, hunters, and children. Figures of almost
every animal and plant were modelled; the drawings and modellings from
memory were wonderful, and showed, in their combination, great
richness of fancy. Scattered about the room were casts of the best
classic figures of the Louvre, placed there, as M. Belloc gracefully
remarked, not as models, but as inspirations, to cultivate the sense
of beauty.
I was shown, moreover, their books of mathematical studies, which
looked intricate and learned, but of which I appreciated only the
delicate chirography. "And where," said I, "are these young mechanics
taught to read and write?" "In the brothers' schools," he said. Paris
is divided into regular parishes, centring round different churches,
and connected with each church is a parochial school, for boys and
girls, taught by ecclesiastics and nuns.
With such thorough training of the sense of beauty, it may be easily
seen that the facility of French enthusiasm in aesthetics is not, as
often imagined, superficial pretence. The nerves of beauty are so
exquisitely tuned and strung that they must thrill at every touch.
One sees this, in French life, to the very foundation of society. A
poor family will give, cheerfully, a part of their bread money to buy
a flower. The idea of artistic symmetry pervades every thing, from the
arrangement of the simplest room to the composition of a picture. At
the chateau of Madame V. the whiteheaded butler begged madame to
apologize for the central flower basket on the table. He "had not had
time to study the composition."
The English and Americans, seeing the French so serious and intent on
matters of beauty, fancy it to be mere affectation. To be serious on a
barrel of flour, or a bushel of potatoes, we can well understand; but
to be equally earnest in the adorning of a room or the "composition"
of a bouquet seems ridiculous. But did not He who made the appetite
for food make also that for beauty? and while the former will perish
with the body, is not the latter immortal? With all New England's
earnestness and practical efficiency, there is a long withering of the
soul's more ethereal part,--a crushing out of the beautiful,--which is
horrible. Children are born there with a sense of beauty equally
delicate with any in the world, in whom it dies a lingering death of
smothered desire and pining, weary starvation. I know, because I have
felt it.--One in whom this sense has long been repressed, in coming
into Paris, feels a rustling and a waking within him, as if the soul
were trying to unfold her wings, long unused and mildewed. Instead of
scorning, then, the lighthearted, _mobile_, beauty-loving French,
would that we might exchange instructions with them--imparting our
severer discipline in religious lore, accepting their thorough methods
in art; and, teaching and taught, study together under the great
Master of all.
I went with M. Belloc into the gallery of antique sculpture. How
wonderful these old Greeks I What set them out on such a course, I
wonder--anymore, for instance, than the Sandwich Islanders? This
reminds me to tell you that in the Berlin Museum, which the King of
Prussia is now finishing in high style, I saw what is said to be the
most complete Egyptian collection in the world; a whole Egyptian
temple, word for word--pillars, paintings, and all; numberless
sarcophagi, and mummies _ad nauseam!_ They are no more fragrant
than the eleven thousand virgins, these mummies! and my stomach
revolts equally from the odor of sanctity and of science.
I saw there a mummy of a little baby; and though it was black as my
shoe, and a disgusting, dry thing, nevertheless the little head was
covered with fine, soft, auburn hair. Four thousand years ago, some
mother thought the poor little thing a beauty. Also I saw mummies of
cats, crocodiles, the ibis, and all the other religious
_bijouterie_ of Egypt, with many cases of their domestic
utensils, ornaments, &c.
The whole view impressed me with quite an idea of barbarism; much more
so than the Assyrian collection. About the winged bulls there is a
solemn and imposing grandeur; they have a mountainous and majestic
nature. These Egyptian things give one an idea of inexpressible
ungainliness. They had a clumsy, elephantine character of mind, these
Egyptians. There was not wanting grace, but they seemed to pick it up
accidentally; because among all possible forms some must be graceful.
They had a kind of grand, mammoth civilization, gloomy and goblin.
They seem to have floundered up out of Nile mud, like that old, slimy,
pre-Adamite brood, the what's-their-name--_megalosaurus,
ichthyosaurus, pterodactyle, iguanodon_, and other misshapen
abominations, with now and then wreaths of lotus and water lilies
round their tusks.
The human face, as represented in Assyrian sculptures, is a higher
type of face than even the Greek: it is noble and princely; the
Egyptian faces are broad, flat, and clumsy. If Egypt gave birth to
Greece, with her beautiful arts, then truly this immense, clumsy roc's
egg hatched a miraculous nest of loves and graces.
Among the antiques here, my two favorites are Venus de Milon, which I
have described to you, and the Diane Chasseresse: this goddess is
represented by the side of a stag; and so completely is the marble
made alive, that one seems to perceive that a tread so airy would not
bend a flower. Every side of the statue is almost equally graceful.
The small, proud head is thrown back with the freedom of a stag; there
is a gay, haughty self-reliance, an airy defiance, a rejoicing fulness
of health and immortal youth in the whole figure. You see before you
the whole Greek conception of an immortal--a creature full of
intellect, full of the sparkle and elixir of existence, in whom the
principle of life seems to be crystallized and concentrated with a
dazzling abundance; light, airy, incapable alike of love and of
sympathy; living for self, and self only. Alas for poor souls, who, in
the heavy anguish of life, had only such goddesses to go to! How far
in advance is even the idolatry of Christianity! how different the
idea of Mary from the Diana!
Yet, as I walked up and down among these remains of Greek art, I could
not but wonder at the spectacle of their civilization: no modern
development reproduces it, nor ever can or will. It is well to cherish
and make much of that ethereal past, as a specimen of one phase of
humanity, for it is past _forever_. Those isles of Greece, with
their gold and purple haze of light and shadow, their exquisite,
half-spiritual, half-bodily formation--islands where flesh and blood became
semi-spiritual, and where the sense of beauty was an existence--have
passed as a vision of glory, never to return. One scarcely realizes
how full of poetry was their mythology; all successive ages have drawn
on it for images of beauty without exhausting it; and painters and
artists, to this day, are fettered and repressed by vain efforts to
reproduce it. But as a religion for the soul and the heart, all this
is vain and void; all powerless to give repose or comfort. One who
should seek repose on the bosom of such a mythology is as one who
seeks to pillow himself on the many-tinted clouds of evening; soft and
beautiful as they are, there is nothing real to them but their
dampness and coldness.
Here M. and Madame Belloc entered, and as he wanted my opinion of the
Diane, I let her read this part of the letter to him in French. You
ought to have seen M. Belloc, with tears in his eyes, defending the
old Greeks, and expounding to me, with all manner of rainbow
illustrations, the religious meanings of Greek mythology, and the
_morale_ of Greek tragedy. Such a whole souled devotion to a
nation dead and gone could never be found but in France.
Madame Belloc was the translator of Maria Edgeworth by that lady's
desire; corresponded with her for years, and still has many of her
letters. Her translation of Uncle Tom has to me all the merit and all
the interest of an original composition. In perusing it I enjoy the
pleasure of reading the story with scarce any consciousness of its
ever having been mine. In the evening Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall called.
They are admirably matched--he artist, she author. The one writes
stories, the other illustrates them. Madame M. also called. English by
birth, she is a true _Parisienne,_ or, rather, seems to have both
minds, as she speaks both languages, perfectly. Her husband being a
learned Oriental scholar, she, like some other women enjoying similar
privileges, has picked up a deal of information, which she tosses
about in conversation, in a gay, piquant manner, much as a kitten
plays with a pin ball.
Madame remembers Mesdames Recamier and De Stael, and told me several
funny anecdotes of the former. Madame R., she said, was always
coquetting with her own funeral; conversed with different artists on
the arrangements of its details, and tempting now one, now another,
with the brilliant hope of the "composition" of the scene. Madame M.
offered me her services as _cicerone_ to Paris, and so to-day out
we went--first to the Pantheon, of which, in her gay and piquant
style, she gave me the history.
Begun first in the time of Louis XVI. as a church, in the revolution
its destination was altered, and it was to be a temple to the manes of
great men, and accordingly Rousseau, Voltaire, and many more are
buried here. Well, after the revolution, the Bourbons said it should
not be a temple for great men, it should be a church. The next popular
upset tipped it back to the great men again; and it staid under their
jurisdiction until Louis Napoleon, who is very pious, restored it to
the church. It is not possible to say how much further this very
characteristic rivalry between great men and their Creator is going to
extend. All I have to say is, that I should not think the church much
of an acquisition to either party. He that sitteth in the heavens must
laugh sometimes at what man calls worship. This Pantheon is, as one
might suppose from its history, a hybrid between a church and a
theatre, and of course good for neither--purposeless and aimless. The
Madeleine is another of these hybrid churches, begun by D'Ivry as a
church, completed as a temple to victory by Napoleon, and on second
thoughts, re-dedicated to God.
After strolling about a while, the sexton, or some official of the
church, asked us if we did not want to go down into the vaults below.
As a large party seemed to be going to do the same, I said, "0, yes,
by all means; let us see it out." Our guide, with his cocked hat and
lantern, walked ahead, apparently in a now of excellent spirits. These
caverns and tombs appeared to be his particular forte, and he
magnified his office in showing them. Down stairs we went, none of us
knowing what we wanted to see, or why. Our guide steps forth, unlocks
the gate? of Hades, and we enter a dark vault with a particularly
earthy smell. Bang! he shuts the door after him. Clash! he locks it;
now we are in for it! and elevating his lantern, he commences a
deafening proclamation of some general fact concerning the very
unsavory place in which we find ourselves. Of said proclamation I hear
only the thundering _"Voilà"_ at the commencement. Next he
proceeds to open the doors of certain stone vaulted chambers, where
the great men are buried, between whose claims and their Creator's
there seems to be such an uncertainty in France. Well, here they were,
sure enough, maintaining their claim by right of possession.
_"Voilà le tombeau de Rousseau!"_ says the guide. All walked in
piously, and stood to see a wooden tomb painted red. At one end the
tomb is made in the likeness of little doors, which stand half open,
and a hand is coming out of them holding a flambeau, by which it is
intimated, I suppose, that Rousseau in his grave is enlightening the
world. After a short proclamation here, we were shown into another
stone chamber with _"Voilà le tombeau de Voltaire!"_ This was of
wood also, very nicely speckled and painted to resemble some kind of
marble. Each corner of the tomb had a tragic mask on it, with that
captivating expression of countenance which belongs to the tragic
masks generally. There was in the room a marble statue of Voltaire,
with that wiry, sharp, keen, yet somewhat spiteful expression which
his busts commonly have.
But our guide has finished his prelection here, and is striding off in
the plenitude of his wisdom. Now we are shown a long set of stone
apartments, provided for future great men. Considering the general
scarcity of the article in most countries, these sleeping
accommodations are remarkably ample. Nobody need be discouraged in his
attempts at greatness in Paris, for fear at last there won't be room
to bury him. After this we were marched to a place where our guide
made a long speech about a stone in the floor--very instructive,
doubtless, if I had known what it was: my Parisian friend said he
spoke with such a German accent she could not understand; so we humbly
took the stone _on trust,_ though it looked to the eye of sense
quite like any other.
Then we were marched into a part of the vault celebrated for its echo.
Our guide here outdid himself; first we were commanded to form a line
_en militaire_ with our backs to the wall. Well, we did form
_en militaire._ I did it in the innocence of my heart, entirely
ignorant of what was to come next. Our guide, departing from that
heroic grandeur of manner which had hitherto distinguished him,
suddenly commenced screaming and hooting in a most unparalleled style.
The echo was enough to deafen one, to be sure, and the first blast of
it made us all jump. I could think of nothing but Apollyon amusing
himself at the expense of the poor pilgrims in the valley of the
shadow of death; for the exhibition was persisted in with a
pertinacity inscrutable to any wisdom except his own. It ended by a
brace of thumps on the wall, each of which produced a report equal to
a cannon; and with this salvo of artillery the exhibition finished.
This worthy guide is truly a sublime character. Long may he live to
show the Pantheon; and when he dies, if so disagreeable an event must
be contemplated, may he have the whole of one of these stone chambers
to himself; for nothing less could possibly contain him. He regretted
exceedingly that we could not go up into the dome; but I had had
enough of stair climbing at Strasbourg, Antwerp, and Cologne, and not
even the prospect of enjoying his instructions could tempt me.
Now this Pantheon seems to me a monument of the faults and the
weakness of this very agreeable nation. Its history shows their
enthusiasm, their hero worship, and the want of stable religious
convictions. Nowhere has there been such a want of reverence for the
Creator, unless in the American Congress. The great men of France have
always seemed to be in confusion as to whether they made God or he
made them. There is a great resemblance in some points between the
French and the ancient Athenians: there was the same excitability; the
same keen outward life; the same passion for ideas; the same spending
of life in hearing or telling some new thing; the same acuteness of
philosophical research. The old Athenians first worshipped, and then
banished their great men,--buried them and pulled them up, and did
generally a variety of things which we Anglo-Saxons should call
fantastic. There is this difference, that the Athenians had the
advantage of coming first. The French nation, born after this
development, are exposed by their very similarity of conformation, and
their consequent sympathy with the old classic style of feeling, to
become imitators. This betrays itself in their painters and sculptors,
and it is a constant impulse to a kind of idolatry, which is not in
keeping with this age, and necessarily seems absurd. When the Greeks
built altars to Force, Beauty, Victory, and other abstract ideas, they
were doing an original thing. When the French do it, they imitate the
Greeks. Apotheosis and hero worship in the old times had a freshness
to it; it was one of the picturesque effects of the dim and purple
shadows of an early dawning, when objects imperfectly seen are
magnified in their dimensions; but the apotheosis, in modern times, of
a man who has worn a dress coat, wig, and shoes is quite another
affair.
I do not mean either to say, as some do, that the French mind has very
little of the religious element. The very sweetest and softest, as
well as the most austere and rigid type of piety has been given by the
French mind; witness Fénélon and John Calvin--Fénélon standing as the
type of the mystic, and Calvin of the rationalistic style of religion.
Fénélon, with his heart so sweet, so childlike, so simple and tender,
was yet essentially French in his nature, and represented one part of
French mind; and what English devotional writer is at all like him?
John Newton had his simplicity and lovingness, but wanted that element
of gracefulness and classic sweetness which gave so high a tone to the
writings of Fénélon. As to Calvin, his crystalline clearness of mind,
his calm, cold logic, his severe vehemence are French, also. To this
day, a French system of theology is the strongest and most coercive
over the strongest of countries--Scotland and America; and yet shallow
thinkers flippantly say the French are incapable of religious ideas.
After Madame M. and I had finished the Pantheon we drove to the
Conciergerie; for I wanted to see the prison of the hapless Marie
Antoinette. That restless architectural mania, which never lets any
thing alone here, is rapidly modernizing it; the scaffoldings are up,
and workmen busy in making it as little historical as possible.
Nevertheless, the old, gloomy arched gateway, and the characteristic
peaked Norman towers, still remain; and we stopped our carriage the
other side of the Seine, to get a good look at it. We drove to the
door, and tried to go in, but were told that we could not without an
order from somebody or other. (I forget who;) so we were obliged to
content ourselves with an outside view.
So we went to take another view of Notre Dame; the very same Notre
Dame whose bells in the good old days could be rung by the waving of
Michael Scott's wand:--
"Him listed but his wand to wave
The bells should ring in Notre Dame."
I had been over it once before with Mrs. C., and sitting in a dark
corner, with my head against a cold, stone pillar, had heard vespers,
all in the most approved style of the poetic. I went back to it now to
see how it looked after the cathedrals of Germany. The churches of
France have suffered dreadfully by the whirlwind spirit of its
revolutions. At different times the painted glass of this church has
been shattered, and replaced by common, till now there is too much
light in it, though there are exquisite windows yet remaining. These
cathedrals _must_ have painted glass; it is essential; the want
of it is terrible; the dim, religious light is necessary to keep you
from seeing the dirty floors, hanging cobwebs, stacks of little, old
rush-bottomed chairs, and the prints where dirty heads and hands have
approached too near the stone pillars. As I sat hearing vespers in
Notre Dame the first time, seeing these all too plainly, may I be
forgiven, but I could not help thinking of Lucifer's soliloquy in a
cathedral in the Golden Legend:--
"What a darksome and dismal place!
I wonder that any man has the face
To call such a hole the house of the Lord
And the gate of heaven--yet such is the word.
Ceiling, and walls, and windows old,
Covered with cobwebs, blackened with mould;
Dust on the pulpit, dust on the stairs,
Dust on the benches, and stalls, and chairs."
* * * * *
However, Notre Dame is a beautiful church; but I wish it was under as
good care as Cologne Cathedral, and that instead of building
Madeleines and Pantheons, France would restore and preserve her
cathedrals--those grand memorials of the past. I consider the King of
Prussia as not only a national benefactor, but the benefactor of the
world. Cologne, when finished, will be the great epic of architecture,
and belong, like all great epics, to all mankind.
Well, Madame M. and I wandered up and down the vast aisles, she with
her lively, fanciful remarks, to which there was never wanting a vein
both of shrewdness and good sense.
When we came out of Notre Dame, she chattered about the place. "There
used to be an archbishop's palace back of the church in that garden,
but one day the people took it into their heads to pull it down. I saw
the silk-bottomed chairs floating down the Seine. They say that
somebody came and told Thiers, 'Do you know the people are rummaging
the archbishop's palace?' and he shrugged his shoulders and said, 'Let
'em work.' That's the say, you know; mind, I don't say it is true!
Well, he got enough of it at last. The fact is, that with, the French,
destructiveness is as much developed as constructiveness, and they are
as good at one as the other."
As we were passing over one of the bridges, we saw a flower market, a
gay show of flowers of all hues, and a very brisk trade going on about
them. Madame told me that there was a flower market every day in the
week, in different parts of the city. The flower trade was more than
usually animated to-day, because it is a saint's _fête,_ the
_fête_ of St. Louis, the patron of Paris.
The streets every where showed men, women, and children, carrying
their pots of blooming flowers. Every person in Paris named Louis or
Louise, after this saint, has received this day little tokens of
affection from their friends, generally bouquets or flowers. Madame
Belloc is named Louise, and her different friends and children called
and brought flowers, and a beautiful India China vase.
The life of Paris, indeed of the continent, is floral, to an extent of
which the people in the United States can form no conception. Flowers
are a part of all their lives. The churches are dressed with flowers,
and on _fête_ days are fragrant with them. A _jardinière_
forms a part of the furniture of every parlor; a _jardinière_ is
a receptacle made in various fanciful forms for holding pots of
flowers. These pots are bought at the daily flower market for a
trifle, in full bloom and high condition; they are placed in the
_jardinière,_ the spaces around them filled with sand and covered
with moss.
Again, there are little hanging baskets suspended from the ceilings,
and filled with flowers. These things give a graceful and festive air
to apartments. When the plants are out of bloom, the porter of the
house takes them, waters, prunes, and tends them, then sells them
again: meanwhile the parlor is ornamented with fresh ones. Along the
streets on saints' days are little booths, where small vases of
artificial flowers are sold to dress the altars. I stopped to look at
one of these stalls, all brilliant with cheaply-made, showy vases of
flowers, that sell for one or two sous.
We went also to the National Academy of Fine Arts, a government school
for the gratuitous instruction of artists, a Grecian building, with a
row of all the distinguished painters in front.
In the doorway, as we came in, was an antique, headless statue of
Minerva; literally it was Minerva's _gown_ standing up--a pillar
of drapery, nothing more, and drapery soiled, tattered, and battered;
but then it was an antique, and that is enough. Now, when antique
things are ugly, I do not like them any better for being antique, and
I should rather have a modern statue than Minerva's old gown. We went
through all the galleries in this school, in one of which the prize
pieces of scholars are placed. Whoever gets one of these prizes is
sent to study in Rome at the expense of the government. We passed
through the hall where the judges sit to decide upon pictures, and
through various others that I cannot remember. I was particularly
interested in the apartment devoted to the casts from the statuary in
the Louvre and in other palaces. These casts are taken with
mathematical exactness, and subjected to the inspection of a
committee, who order any that are defective to be broken. Proof casts
of all the best works, ancient and modern, are thus furnished at a
small price, and so brought within the reach of the most moderate
means.
This morning M. and Madame Belloc took me with them to call on
Béranger, the poet. He is a charming old man, very animated, with a
face full of feeling and benevolence, and with that agreeable
simplicity and vivacity of manner which is peculiarly French. It was
eleven o'clock, but he had not yet breakfasted; we entreated him to
waive ceremony, and so his maid brought in his chop and coffee, and we
all plunged into an animated conversation. Béranger went on conversing
with shrewdness mingled with childlike simplicity, a blending of the
comic, the earnest, and the complimentary. Conversation in a French
circle seems to me like the gambols of a thistle down, or the rainbow
changes in soap bubbles. One laughs with tears in one's eyes. One
moment confounded with the absolute childhood of the simplicity, in
the next one is a little afraid of the keen edge of the shrewdness.
This call gave me an insight into a French circle which both amused
and delighted me. Coming home, M. Belloc enlarged upon Beranger's
benevolence and kindness of heart. "No man," he said, "is more
universally popular with the common people. He has exerted himself
much for the families of the unfortunate deportes to Cayenne." Then he
added, laughing, "A mechanic, one of my model sitters, was dilating
upon his goodness--'What a man! what sublime virtue! how is he
beloved! Could I live to see his funeral! _Quelle spectacle! Quelle
grande emotion!'"_
At tea, Madame M. commented on the manners of a certain English lady
of our acquaintance.
"She's an actress; she's too affected!"
Madame Belloc and I defended her.
"Ah," said M. Belloc, "you cannot judge; the French are never natural
in England, nor the English in France. Frenchmen in England are stupid
and cross, trying to be dignified; and when the English come to
France, it's all guitar playing and capering, in trying to have
_esprit._"
But it is hard to give a conversation in which the salient points are
made by a rapid pantomime, which effervesces like champagne.
Madame Belloc and Madame M. agree that the old French _salon_ is
no more; that none in the present iron age can give the faintest idea
of the brilliancy of the institution in its palmiest days. The horrors
and reverses of successive revolutions, have thrown a pall over the
French heart.
I have been now, in all, about a month in this gay and flowery city,
seeing the French people, not in hotels and _cafes,_ but in the
seclusion of domestic life; received, when introduced, not with
ceremonious distance, as a stranger, but with confidence and
affection, as a friend.
Though, according to the showing of my friends, Paris is empty of many
of her most brilliant ornaments, yet I have been so fortunate as to
make the acquaintance of many noble and justly celebrated people, and
to feel as if I had gained a real insight into the French heart.
I liked the English and the Scotch as well as I could like any thing.
And now, I equally like the French. Exact opposites, you will say. For
that reason all the more charming. The goodness and beauty of the
divine mind is no less shown in the traits of different races than of
different tribes of fruits and flowers. And because things are exact
opposites, is no reason why we should not like both. The eye is not
like the hand, nor the ear like the foot; yet who condemns any of them
for the difference? So I regard nations as parts of a great common
body, and national differences as necessary to a common humanity.
I thought, when in English society, that it was as perfect and
delightful as it could be. There was worth of character, strength of
principle, true sincerity, and friendship, charmingly expressed. I
have found all these, too, among the French, and besides them,
something which charms me the more, because it is peculiar to the
French, and of a kind wholly different from any I have ever had an
experience of before. There is an iris-like variety and versatility of
nature, a quickness in catching and reflecting the various shades of
emotion or fancy, a readiness in seizing upon one's own half-expressed
thoughts, and running them out in a thousand graceful little tendrils,
which is very captivating.
I know a general prejudice has gone forth, that the French are all
mere outside, without any deep reflection or emotion. This may be true
of many. No doubt that the strength of that outward life, that
acuteness of the mere perceptive organization, and that tendency to
social exhilaration, which prevail, will incline to such a fault in
many cases. An English reserve inclines to moroseness, and Scotch
perseverance to obstinacy; so this aerial French nature may become
levity and insincerity; but then it is neither the sullen Englishman,
the dogged Scotchman, nor the shallow Frenchman that we are to take as
the national ideal. In each country we are to take the very best as
the specimen.
Now, it is true that, here in France, one can find people as
judicious, quiet, discreet, and religious, as any where in the world;
with views of life as serious, and as earnest, not living for pretence
or show, but for the most rational and religious ends. Now, when all
this goodness is silvered over, as it were, reflecting like mother-of-pearl
or opal, a thousand fanciful shades and changes, is not the result
beautiful? Some families into which I have entered, some persons with
whom I have talked, have left a most delightful impression upon my mind;
and I have talked, by means of imperfect English, French, and
interpretations, with a good many. They have made my heart bleed over
the history of this most beautiful country. It is truly mournful that a people
with so many fine impulses, so much genius, appreciation, and effective
power, should, by the influence of historical events quite beyond the
control of the masses, so often have been thrown into a false position
before the world, and been subjected to such a series of agonizing
revulsions and revolutions.
"O, the French are half tiger, half monkey!" said a cultivated
American to me the other day. Such remarks cut me to the heart, as if
they had been spoken of a brother. And when they come from the mouth
of an American, the very shade of Lafayette, it would seem, might rise
and say, "_Et tu, Brute!_"
It is true, it is a sarcasm of Voltaire's; but Voltaire, though born a
Frenchman, neither imbodied nor was capable of understanding the true
French ideal. The French _head_ he had, but not the French heart.
And from his bitter judgment we might appeal to a thousand noble
names. The generous Henri IV., the noble Sully, and Bayard the knight
_sans peur et sans reproche_, were these half tiger and half
monkey? Were John Calvin and Fénélon half tiger and half monkey?
Laplace, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, Cuvier, Des Cartes, Malebranche,
Arago--what were they? The tree of history is enriched with no nobler
and fairer boughs and blossoms than have grown from the French stock.
It seems a most mysterious providence that some nations, without being
wickeder than others, should have a more unfortunate and disastrous
history.
The woes of France have sprung from the fact that a Jezebel de Medici
succeeded in exterminating from the nation that portion of the people
corresponding to the Puritans of Scotland, England, and Germany. The
series of persecutions which culminated in the massacre of St.
Bartholomew, and ended with the dragonades under Louis XIV., drained
France of her lifeblood. Other nations have profited by the treasures
then cast out of her, and she has remained poor for want of them. Some
of the best blood in America is of the old Huguenot stock. Huguenots
carried arts and manufactures into England. An expelled French refugee
became the theological leader of Puritanism in England, Scotland, and
America; and wherever John Calvin's system of theology has gone, civil
liberty has gone with it; so that we might almost say of France, as
the apostle said of Israel, "If the fall of them be the riches of the
world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how
much more their fulness!"
When the English and Americans sneer at the instability, turbulence,
and convulsions of the French nation for the last century, let us ask
ourselves what our history would have been had the "Gunpowder Plot"
succeeded, and the whole element of the reformation been exterminated.
It is true, vitality and reactive energy might have survived such a
process; but that vitality would have shown itself just as it has in
France--in struggles and convulsions. The frequent revolutions of
France are not a thing to be sneered at; they are not evidences of
fickleness, but of constancy; they are, in fact, a prolonged struggle
for liberty, in which there occur periods of defeat, but in which,
after every interval of repose, the strife is renewed. Their great
difficulty has been, that the destruction of the reformed church in
France took out of the country entirely that element of religious
rationalism which is at once conservative and progressive.
There are three forces which operate in society: that of blind faith,
of reverent religious freedom, and of irreverent scepticism. Now,
since the human mind is so made that it must have religion, when this
middle element of reasonable religious freedom is withdrawn, society
vibrates, like a pendulum, between scepticism and superstition; the
extreme of superstition reacting to scepticism, and then the
barrenness of scepticism reacting again into superstition. When the
persecutions in France had succeeded in extinguishing this middle
element, then commenced a series of oscillations between religious
despotism and atheistic license, which have continued ever since. The
suppression of all reasonable religious inquiry, and the consequent
corruption of the church, produced the school of Voltaire and his
followers. The excesses of that school have made devout Catholics
afraid of the very beginning of religious rationalism; and these
causes act against each other to this day.
The revolution in England, under Cromwell, succeeded, because it had
an open Bible and liberty of conscience for its foundation, and united
both the elements of faith and of reason. The French revolution had,
as Lamartine says, Plutarch's Lives for its Bible, and the great
unchaining of human passion had no element of religious control. Plad
France, in the time of her revolution, had leaders like Admiral
Coligny, her revolution might have prospered as did England's under
Cromwell. But these revolutions, needlessly terrible as they have
been, still have accomplished something; without them France might
have died away into what Spain is. As it is, progress has been made,
though at a fearful sacrifice. No country has been swept cleaner of
aristocratic institutions, and the old bastiles and prisons of a past
tyranny. The aspiration for democratic freedom has been so thoroughly
sown in France, that it never will be rooted up again. How to get it,
and how to _keep_ it when it is got, they do not yet clearly see;
but they will never rest till they learn. There is a liberty of
thought and of speech in France which the tongue-tied state of the
press cannot indicate. Could France receive the Bible--could it be
put into the hands of all the common people--_that_ might help
her. And France is receiving the Bible. Spite of all efforts to the
contrary, the curiosity of the popular mind has been awakened; the
yearnings of the popular heart are turning towards it; and therein lie
my best hopes for France.
One thing more I would say. Since I have been here, I have made the
French and continental mode of keeping Sunday a matter of calm,
dispassionate inquiry and observation. I have tried to divest myself
of the prejudices--if you so please to call them--of my New England
education--to look at the matter sympathetically, in the French or
continental point of view, and see whether I have any occasion to
revise the opinions in which I had been educated. I fully appreciate
all the agreeableness, the joyousness, and vivacity of a day of
recreation and social freedom, spent in visiting picture galleries and
public grounds, in social _réunions_ and rural excursions. I am
far from judging harshly of the piety of those who have been educated
in these views and practices. But, viewing the subject merely in
relation to things of this life, I am met by one very striking fact:
there is not a single nation, possessed of a popular form of
government, which has not our Puritan theory of the Sabbath.
Protestant Switzerland, England, Scotland, and America cover the whole
ground of popular freedom; and in all these this idea of the Sabbath
prevails with a distinctness about equal to the degree of liberty. Nor
do I think this result an accidental one. If we notice that the
Lutheran branch of the reformation did not have this element, and the
Calvinistic branch, which spread over England and America, did have
it, and compare the influence of these two in sustaining popular
rights, we shall be struck with the obvious inference.
Now, there are things in our mode of keeping the Sabbath which have a
direct tendency to sustain popular government; for the very element of
a popular government must be self-control in the individual. There
must be enough intensity of individual self-control to make up for the
lack of an extraneous pressure from government. The idea of the
Sabbath, as observed by the Puritans, is the voluntary dissevering of
the thoughts and associations from the things of earth for one day in
seen, and the concentrating of the mind on purely spiritual subjects.
In all this there is a weekly recurring necessity for the greatest
self-control. No way could be devised to educate a community to be
thoughtful and reflective better than the weekly recurrence of a day
when all stimulus, both of business and diversion, shall be withdrawn,
and the mind turned in upon itself. The weekly necessity of bringing
all business to a close tends to give habits of system and exactness.
The assembling together for divine worship, and for instruction in the
duties of Christianity, is a training of the highest and noblest
energies of the soul. Even that style of abstract theologizing
prevailing in New England and Scotland, which has grown out of Sabbath
sermonizing, has been an incalculable addition to the strength and
self-controlling power of the people.
Ride through France, you see the laborer in his wooden shoes, with
scarce a thought beyond his daily toil. His Sunday is a _féte_
for dancing and recreation. Go through New England, and you will find
the laborer, as he lays his stone fence, discussing the consistency of
foreordination with free will, or perchance settling some more
practical mooted point in politics. On Sunday this laborer gets up his
wagon, and takes his wife and family to church, to hear two or three
sermons, in each of which there are more elements of mental discipline
than a French peasant gets in a whole lifetime. It is a shallow view
of theological training to ask of what practical use are its
metaphysical problems. Of what practical value to most students is
geometry? On the whole, I think it is the Puritan idea of the Sabbath,
as it prevails in New England, that is one great source of that
individual strength and self-control which have supported so far our
democratic institutions.
In regard to the present state of affairs here, it has been my lot to
converse unreservedly with some of all parties sufficiently to find
the key note of their thoughts. There are, first, the Bourbonists--mediaeval
people--believers in the divine right of kings in general, and of the
Bourbons in particular. There are many of them exceedingly interesting.
There is something rather poetic and graceful about the antique cast of
their ideas; their chivalrous loyalty to an exiled family, and their devout
belief of the Catholic religion. These, for the most part, keep out of Paris,
entirely ignore the present court, and remain in their chateaus in the
country. A gentleman of this class, with whom I talked, thought the
present emperor did very well in keeping other parties out till the time
should come to strike a blow for the true king.
Then there are the partisans and friends of the Orleans family. I
heard those who spoke, even with tears, of Louis Philippe and his
dynasty. They were patrons of letters and of arts, they say, of virtue
and of religion; and these good, faithful souls cling lovingly to
their memory.
And then there are the republicans--men of the real olden time,
capable of sacrificing every thing that heart holds dear for a
principle; such republicans as were our fathers in all, save their
religion, and because lacking that, losing the chief element of
popular control. Nevertheless, grander men have never been than some
of these modern republicans of France; Americans might learn many
lessons from them.
Besides all these there is another class, comparatively small, having
neither the prestige of fashion, rank, or wealth, but true, humble,
evangelical Christians, in whom the simplicity and spirituality of the
old Huguenot church seems revived. These men are laboring at the very
foundation of things; laboring to bring back the forgotten Bible;
beginning where Christ began, with preaching the gospel to the poor.
If any would wish to see Christianity in its loveliest form, they
would find it in some of these humble laborers. One, with whom I
conversed, devotes his time to the _chiffoniers,_ (rag pickers.)
He gave me an account of his labors, speaking with such tenderness and
compassion, that it was quite touching. "My poor people," he said,
"they are very ignorant, but they are not so very bad." And when I
asked him, "Who supports you in your labors?" he looked upward, with
one of those quick, involuntary glances by which the French express
themselves without words. There was the same earnestness in him as in
one of our city missionaries, but a touching grace peculiarly
national. It was the piety of Fénélon and St. John. And I cannot
believe that God, who loves all nations alike, and who knows how
beautifully the French mind is capable of reflecting the image of
Jesus, will not yet shine forth upon France, to give the light of the
knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ.
It was the testimony of all with whom I conversed, that the national
mind had become more and more serious for many years past. Said a
French gentleman to me one evening, "The old idea of _l'homme
d'esprit_ of Louis XIV.'s time, the man of _bon-mots_, bows,
and _salons_, is almost passed away; there is only now and then a
specimen of it left. The French are becoming more earnest and more
religious." In the Roman Catholic churches which I attended, I saw
very full audiences, and great earnestness and solemnity. I have
talked intimately, also, with Roman Catholics, in whom I felt that
religion was a real and vital thing. One of them, a most lovely lady,
presented me with the Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis, as a
ground on which we could both unite.
I have also been interested to see in these French Catholics, in its
most fervent form, the exhibition of that antislavery spirit which, in
other ages, was the boast of that church. One charming friend took me
to the church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, pointing out with great
interest the statues and pictures of saints who had been distinguished
for their antislavery efforts in France. In a note expressing her warm
interest in the cause of the African slave, she says, "It is a
tradition of our church, that of the three kings which came to worship
Jesus in Bethlehem, one was black; and if Christians would kneel
oftener before the manger of Bethlehem they would think less of
distinctions of caste and color."
Madame Belloc received, a day or two since, a letter from a lady in
the old town of Orleans, which gave name to Joan of Arc, expressing
the most earnest enthusiasm in the antislavery cause. Her prayers, she
says, will ascend night and day for those brave souls in America who
are conflicting with this mighty injustice.
A lady a few days since called on me, all whose property was lost in
the insurrection at Hayti, but who is, nevertheless, a most earnest
advocate of emancipation.
A Catholic lady, in a letter, inquired earnestly, why in my Key I had
not included the Romish clergy of the United States among the friends
of emancipation, as that, she said, had been always the boast of their
church. I am sorry to be obliged to make the reply, that in America
the Catholic clergy have never identified themselves with the
antislavery cause, but in their influence have gone with the
multitude.
I have received numerous calls from members of the Old French
Abolition Society, which existed here for many years. Among these I
met, with great interest, M. Dutrone, its president; also M. ----, who
presented me with his very able ethnological work on the distinctive
type of the negro race. One gentleman, greatly distressed in view of
the sufferings of the negro race in America, said, naively enough, to
Mrs. C., that he had heard that the negroes had great capability for
music, dancing, and the fine arts, and inquired whether something
could not be done to move sympathy in their behalf by training them to
exhibit characteristic dances and pantomimes. Mrs. C. quoted to him
the action of one of the great ecclesiastical bodies in America, in
the same breath declining to condemn slavery, but denouncing dancing
as so wholly of the world lying in wickedness as to require condign
ecclesiastical censure. The poor man was wholly lost in amazement.
In this connection, I cannot but notice, to the credit of the French
republican provisional government, how much more consistent they were
in their attachment to the principles of liberty than ever our own has
been. What do we see in our own history? Our northern free states
denouncing slavery as a crime, confessedly inconsistent with their
civil and religious principles, yet, for commercial and pecuniary
considerations, deliberately entering into a compact with slaveholders
tolerating a twenty years' perpetuation of the African slave trade,
the rendition of fugitives, the suppression of servile insurrections,
and allowing to the slaveholders a virtual property basis of
representation. It should qualify the contempt which some Americans
express of the French republic, that when the subject of the slave
colonies was brought up, and it was seen that consistency demanded
immediate emancipation, they immediately emancipated; and not only so,
but conferred at once on the slaves the elective franchise.
This point strongly illustrates the difference, in one respect,
between the French and the Anglo-Saxons. As a race the French are less
commercial, more ideal, more capable of devotion to abstract
principles, and of following them out consistently, irrespective of
expediency.
There is one thing which cannot but make one indignant here in Paris,
and which, I think, is keenly felt by some of the best among the
French; and that is, the indifference of many Americans, while here,
to their own national principles of liberty. They seem to come to
Paris merely to be hangers on and applauders in the train of that
tyrant who has overthrown the hopes of France. To all that cruelty and
injustice by which thousands of hearts are now bleeding, they appear
entirely insensible. They speak with heartless levity of the
revolutions of France, as of a pantomime got up for their diversion.
Their time and thoughts seem to be divided between defences of
American slavery and efforts to attach themselves to the skirts of
French tyranny. They are the parasites of parasites--delighted if they
can but get to an imperial ball, and beside themselves if they can
secure an introduction to the man who figured as a _roué_, in the
streets of New York. Noble-minded men of all parties here, who have
sacrificed all for principle, listen with suppressed indignation,
while young America, fresh from the theatres and gambling saloons,
declares, between the whiffs of his cigar, that the French are not
capable of free institutions, and that the government of Louis
Napoleon is the best thing France could have. Thus from the plague-
spot at her heart has America become the propagandist of despotism in
Europe. Nothing weighs so fearfully against the cause of the people of
Europe as this kind of American influence. Through almost every city
of Europe are men whose great glory it appears to be to proclaim that
they worship the beast, and wear his name in their foreheads. I have
seen sometimes, in the forests, a vigorous young sapling which had
sprung up from the roots of an old, decaying tree. So, unless the
course of things alters much in America, a purer civil liberty will
spring up from her roots in Europe, while her national tree is blasted
with despotism. It is most affecting, in moving through French
circles, to see what sadness, what anguish of heart, lies under that
surface which seems to a stranger so gay. Each revolution has cut its
way through thousands of families, ruining fortunes, severing domestic
ties, inflicting wounds that bleed, and will bleed for years. I once
alluded rather gayly to the numerous upsets of the French government,
in conversation with a lady, and she laughed at first, but in a moment
her eyes filled with tears, and she said, "Ah, you have no idea what
these things are among us." In conversation nothing was more common
than the remark, "I shall do so and so, provided things hold out; but
then there is no telling what will come next."
On the minds of some there lie deep dejection and discouragement.
Some, surrounded by their growing families, though they abhor the
tyranny of the government, acquiesce wearily, and even dread change
lest something worse should arise.
We know not in America how many atrocities and cruelties that attended
the _coup d'etat_ have been buried in the grave which intombed
the liberty of the press. I have talked with eye witnesses of those
scenes, men who have been in the prisons, and heard the work of
butchery going on in the prison yards in the night. While we have been
here, a gentleman to whom I had been introduced was arrested, taken
from bed by the police, and carried off, without knowing of what he
was accused. His friends were denied access to him, and on making
application to the authorities, the invariable reply was, "Be very
quiet about it. If you make a commotion his doom is sealed." When his
wife was begging permission for a short interview, the jailer, wearied
with her importunities, at last exclaimed unguardedly, "Madam, there
are two hundred here in the same position; what would you have me do?"
[Footnote: That man has remained in prison to this day.]
At that very time an American traveller, calling on us, expatiated at
length on the peaceful state of things in Paris--on the evident
tranquillity and satisfaction universally manifest.
JOURNAL--(Continued.)
Saturday, August 27. Left Paris with H., the rest of our party having
been detained. Reached Boulogne in safety, and in high spirits made
our way on board the steamer, deposited our traps below, came on deck,
and prepared for the ordeal. A high north-wester had been blowing all
day, and as we ran along behind the breakwater, I could see over it
the white and green waves fiendishly running, and showing their malign
eyes sparkling with hungry expectation. "Come out, come out!" they
seemed to say; "come out, you little black imp of a steamer; don't be
hiding behind there like a coward. We dare you to come out here and
give us a chance at you--we will eat you up, as so many bears would
eat a lamb."
And sure enough, the moment her bows passed beyond the pier, the sea
struck her, and tossed her like an eggshell, and the deck, from stem
to stern, was drenched in a moment, and running with floods as if she
had been under water. For a few moments H. and I both enjoyed the
motion. We stood amidships, she in her shawl, I in a great tarpauling
which I had borrowed of Jack, and every pitch sent the spray over us.
We exulted that we were not going to be sick. Suddenly, however, so
suddenly that it was quite mysterious, conscience smote me. A
profound, a deep-seated remorse developed itself just exactly in the
deepest centre of the pit of my stomach.
"H.," said I, with a decided, grave air, "I'm going to be seasick."
"So am I," said she, as if struck by the same convictions that had
been impressed on me. We turned, and made our way along the leeward
quarter, to a seat by the bulwarks. I stood holding on by the
railrope, and every now and then addressing a few incoherent and
rather guttural, not to say pectoral, remarks to the green and gloomy
sea, as I leaned over the rail. After every paroxysm of
communicativeness, (for in seasickness the organ of secretiveness
gives way,) I regained my perpendicular, and faced the foe, with a
determination that I would stand it through--that the grinning,
howling brine should get no more secrets out of me. And, in fact, it
did not.
Meanwhile, what horrors--what complicated horrors--did not that
crowded deck present! Did the priestly miscreants of the middle ages
ever represent among the torments of purgatory the deck of a channel
steamer? If not, then they forgot the "lower deep," that Satan
doubtless thought about, according to Milton.
There were men and women of every age and complexion, with faces of
every possible shade of expression. Defiance, resolute and stern,
desperate resolves never to give in, and that very same defiant
determination sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought. A deep
abyss of abdominal discontent, revealing afar the shadow, the
penumbra, of the approaching retch. And there were _bouleversements,_
and hoarse confidences to the sea of every degree of misery. The wind
was really risen quite to a gale, and the sea ran with fearful power. Two
sailors, standing near, said, "I wouldn't say it only to you, Jack, but
in all the time I've crossed this here channel, I've seen nothin' like
this."
"Nor I neither," was the reply.
About mid channel a wave struck the windward quarter, just behind the
wheel, with a stroke like a rock from a ballista, smashed in the
bulwarks, stove the boat, which fell and hung in the water by one end,
and sent the ladies, who were sitting there with boxes, baskets,
shawls, hats, spectacles, umbrellas, cloaks, down to leeward, in a
pond of water. One girl I saw with a bruise on her forehead as large
as an egg, and the blood streaming from her nostrils. Shrieks
resounded, and for a few moments, we had quite a tragic time.
About this time H. gave in, and descended to Tartarus, where the floor
was compactly, densely stowed with one mass of heaving wretches, with
nothing but washbowls to relieve the sombre mosaic. How H. fared there
she may tell; I cannot. I stood by the bulwark with my boots full of
water, my eyes full of salt spray, and my heart full of the most
poignant regret that ever I was born. Alas! was that channel a channel
at all? Had it two shores? Was England over there, where I saw nothing
but monstrous, leaping, maddening billows, saying, "We are glad of it;
we want you; come on here; we are waiting for you; we will serve you
up"?
At last I seriously began to think of Tartarus myself, and of a calm
repose flat on my back, such as H. told of in his memorable passage.
But just then, dim and faint on the horizon, I thought I discerned the
long line of a bank of land. It was. This was a channel; that was the
shore. England had not sunk. I stood my ground; and in an hour we came
running, bounding, and rolling towards the narrow mouth of the
Folkstone pier heads.
LETTER XLIX
LONDON.
MY DEAR:--
Our last letters from home changed all our plans. We concluded to
hurry away by the next steamer, if at that late hour we could get
passage. We were all in a bustle. The last shoppings for aunts,
cousins, and little folks were to be done by us all. The Palais Royal
was to be rummaged; bronzes, vases, statuettes, bonbons,
playthings--all that the endless fertility of France could show--was
to be looked over for the "folks at home."
You ought to have seen our rooms at night, the last evening we spent
in Paris. When the whole gleanings of a continental tour were brought
forth for packing, and compared with the dimensions of original
trunks--ah, what an hour was that! Who should reconcile these
incongruous elements--bronzes, bonnets, ribbons and flowers, plaster
casts, books, muslins and laces--elements as irreconcilable as fate
and freedom; who should harmonize them? And I so tired!
"Ah," said Jladame B., "it is all quite easy; you must have a packer."
"A packer?"
"Yes. He will come, look at your things, provide whatever may be
necessary, and pack them all."
So said, so done. The man came, saw, conquered; he brought a trunk,
twine, tacks, wrapping paper, and I stood by in admiration while he
folded dresses, arranged bonnets, caressingly enveloped flowers in
silk paper, fastened refractory bronzes, and muffled my plaster
animals with reference to the critical points of ears and noses,--in
short, reduced the whole heterogeneous assortment to place and
proportion, shut, locked, corded, labelled, handed me the keys, and it
was done. The charge for all this was quite moderate.
How we sped across the channel C. relates. We are spending a few very
pleasant days with our kind friends, the L.'s, in London.
ON BOARD THE ARCTIC, Wednesday, September 7.
On Thursday, September 1, we reached York, and visited the beautiful
ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, and the magnificent cathedral. How
individual is every cathedral! York is not like Westminster, nor like
Strasbourg, nor Cologne, any more than Shakspeare is like Milton, or
Milton like Homer. In London I attended morning service in
Westminster, and explored its labyrinths of historic memories. The
reading of the Scriptures in the English tongue, and the sound of the
chant, affected me deeply, in contrast with the pictorial and dramatic
effects of Romanism in continental churches.
As a simple matter of taste, Protestantism has made these buildings
more impressive by reducing them to a stricter unity. The multitude of
shrines, candlesticks, pictures, statues, and votive offerings, which
make the continental churches resemble museums, are constantly at
variance with the majestic grandeur of the general impression. Therein
they typify the church to which they belong, which has indeed the
grand historic basis and framework of Christianity, though overlaid
with extraneous and irrelevant additions.
This Cathedral of York has a severe grandeur peculiar to itself. I saw
it with a deep undertone of feeling; for it was the last I should
behold.
No one who has appreciated the wonders of a new world of art and
association can see, without emotion, the door closing upon it,
perhaps forever. I lingered long here, and often turned to gaze again;
and after going out, went back, once more, to fill my soul with a
last, long look, in which I bade adieu to all the historic memories of
the old world. I thought of the words, "We have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
These glorious arches, this sublime mystery of human power and skill,
is only a shadow of some eternal substance, which, in the ages to
come, God will yet reveal to us.
It rained with inflexible pertinacity during all the time we were at
York; and the next day it rained still, when we took the cars for
Castle Howard station.
In riding through the park from the station, we admired an avenue
composed of groups of magnificent beeches, sixteen or eighteen in a
group, disposed at intervals on either hand.
The castle, a building in the Italian style, rose majestically on a
slight eminence in the centre of a green lawn. We alighted in the
crisis of one of the most driving gusts of wind and rain, so that we
really seemed to be fleeing for shelter. But within all was bright and
warm.
Lady Carlisle welcomed us most affectionately, and we learned that,
had we not been so reserved at the York station, in concealing our
names, we should have received a note from her. However, as we were
safely arrived, it was of no consequence.
Several of the family were there, among the rest Lady Dover and Mr.
and Mrs. E. Howard. They urged us to remain over night; but as we had
written to Leeds that we should be there in the evening train, we were
obliged to decline. We were shown over the castle, which is rich in
works of art. There was a gallery of antiques, and a collection of
paintings from old masters. In one room I saw tapestry exactly like
that which so much interested us in Windsor, representing scenes from
the Book of Esther. It seemed to be of a much more ancient date. I was
also interested in a portrait of an ancestor of the family, the
identical "Belted Will" who figures in Scott's Lay.
"Belted Will Howard shall come with speed,
And William of Deloraine, good at need."
In one of the long corridors we were traversing, we heard the voice of
merriment, and found a gay party of young people and children amusing
themselves at games. I thought what a grand hide-and-go-seek place the
castle must be--whole companies might lose themselves among the
rooms. The central hall of the building goes up to the roof, and is
surmounted by a dome. The architecture is in the Italian style, which
I think much more suited to the purposes of ordinary life than for
strictly religious uses. I never saw a church in that style that
produced a very deep impression on me. This hall was gorgeously
frescoed by Italian masters. The door commands the view of a
magnificent sweep of green lawn, embellished by an artificial lake. It
is singular in how fine and subtle a way different nationalities
express themselves in landscape gardening, while employing the same
materials. I have seen no grounds on the continent that express the
particular shade of ideas which characterize the English. There is an
air of grave majesty about the wide sweep of their outlines--a quality
suggestive of ideas of strength and endurance which is appropriate to
their nationality.
[Illustration: _of Castle Howard, with the artificial lake in the
foreground._]
In Lord Carlisle's own room we saw pictures of Sumner, Prescott, and
others of his American friends. This custom of showing houses, which
prevails over Europe, is, I think, a thing which must conduce greatly
to national improvement. A plea for the beautiful is constantly put in
by them--a model held up before the community, whose influence cannot
be too highly estimated. Before one of the choicest paintings stood
the easel of some neighboring artist, who was making a copy. He was
quite unknown to the family, but comes and goes at his pleasure, the
picture being as freely at his service as if it were an outside
landscape.
After finishing our survey, I went with Lady Carlisle into her own
_boudoir_. There I saw a cabinet full-length picture of her
mother, the Duchess of Devonshire. She is represented with light hair,
and seemed to have been one whose beauty was less that of regular
classic model, than the fascination of a brilliant and buoyant spirit
inspiring a graceful form. Lady Carlisle showed me an album,
containing a kind of poetical record made by her during a passage
through the Alps, which she crossed on horseback, in days when such an
exploit was more difficult and dangerous than at present. I
particularly appreciated some lines in closing, addressed to her
children, expressing the eagerness with which she turned from all that
nature and art could offer, in prospect of meeting them once more.
Lord Carlisle is still in Turkey, and will, probably, spend the winter
in Greece. His mother had just received a letter from him, and he
thinks that war is inevitable.
In one of the rooms that we traversed I saw an immense vase of bog oak
and gold, which was presented to Lord Carlisle by those who favored
his election on the occasion of his defeat on the corn-law question.
The sentiment expressed by the givers was, that a defeat in a noble
undertaking was worthy of more honor than a victory in an ignoble one.
After lunch, having waited in vain for the rain to cease, and give us
a sunny interval in which to visit the grounds, we sallied out hooded
and cloaked, to get at some of the most accessible points of view. The
wind was unkindly and discourteous enough, and seemed bent on baffling
the hospitable intentions of our friends. If the beauties of an
English landscape were set off by our clear sky and sun, then
patriotism, I fancy, would run into extravagance. I could see that
even one gracious sunset smile might produce in these lawns and groves
an effect of enchantment.
I was pleased with what is called the "kitchen garden," which I
expected to find a mere collection of vegetables, but found to be a
genuine old-fashioned garden, which, like Eden, brought forth all that
was pleasant to the eye and good for food.
There were wide walks bordered with flowers, enclosing portions
devoted to fruit and vegetables, and, best of all this windy day, the
whole enclosed by a high, solid stone wall, which bade defiance to the
storm, and made this the most agreeable portion of our walk.
Our friends spoke much of Sumner and Prescott, who had visited there;
also of Mr. Lawrence, our former ambassador, who had visited them just
before his return.
After a very pleasant day we left, with regret, the warmth of this
hospitable circle, thus breaking one more of the links that bind us to
the English shore.
Nine o'clock in the evening found us sitting by a cheerful fire in the
parlor of Mr. E. Baines, at Leeds. The father of our host was one of
the most energetic parliamentary advocates of the repeal of the corn
laws. Mr. B. spoke warmly of Lord Carlisle, and gave me the whole
interesting history of the campaign which the vase at Castle Howard
commemorated, and read me the speech of Lord C. on that occasion.
It has occurred to me, that the superior stability of the English
aristocracy, as compared with that of other countries, might be
traced, in part, to their relations with the representative branch of
the government. The eldest son and heir is generally returned to the
House of Commons by the vote of the people, before he is called to
take his seat in the House of Peers. Thus the same ties bind them to
the people which bind our own representatives--a peculiarity which, I
believe, never existed permanently with the nobles in any other
country. By this means the nobility, when they enter the House of
Lords, are better adapted to legislate wisely for the interests, not
of a class, but of the whole people.
The next day the house was filled with company, and the Leeds offering
was presented, the account of which you will see in the papers. Every
thing was arranged with the greatest consideration. I saw many
interesting people, and was delighted with the strong, religious
interest in the cause of liberty, pervading all hearts. Truly it may
be said, that Wilberforce and Clarkson lighted a candle which will
never go out in England.
Monday we spent in a delightful visit to Fountains Abbey; less rich in
carvings than Melrose, but wider in extent, and of a peculiar
architectural beauty. We lunched in what _was_ the side gallery
of the refectory, where some drowsy old brother used to read the lives
of saints to the monks eating below. We walked over the graves of
abbots, and through the scriptorium, which reminded me of the
exquisite scene in the Golden Legend, of the old monk in the
scriptorium busily illuminating a manuscript.
In the course of the afternoon a telegraph came from the mayor of
Liverpool, to inquire if our party would accept a public breakfast at
the town hall before sailing, as a demonstration of sympathy with the
cause of freedom. Remembering the time when Clarkson began his career,
amid such opposition in Liverpool, we could not but regard such an
evidence of its present public sentiment as full of encouragement,
although the state of my health and engagements rendered it necessary
for me to decline.
Tuesday we parted from our excellent friends in Leeds, and soon found
ourselves once more in the beautiful Dingle; our first and our last
resting-place on English shores.
Sad letters from home met us there; yet not sad, since they only told
us of friends admitted before us to that mystery of glory for which we
are longing--of which all that we have seen in art or nature are but
dim suggestions and images.
A deputation from Ireland here met me, presenting a beautiful bog oak
casket, lined with gold, and carved with appropriate national symbols,
containing an offering for the cause of the oppressed. They read a
beautiful address, and touched upon the importance of inspiring with
the principles of emancipation the Irish nation, whose influence in
our land is becoming so great. Had time and strength permitted, it had
been my purpose to visit Ireland, to revisit Scotland, and to see more
of England. But it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
And now came parting, leave taking, last letters, notes, and messages.
The mayor of Liverpool and the Rev. Dr. Raffles breakfasted with us,
and after breakfast Dr. R. commended us in prayer to God. Could we
feel in this parting that we were leaving those whom we had known for
so brief a space? Never have I so truly felt the unity of the
Christian church, that oneness of the great family in heaven and on
earth, as in the experience of this journey. A large party accompanied
us to the wharf, and went with us on board the tender. The shores were
lined with sympathizing friends, who waved their adieus to us as we
parted. And thus, almost sadly as a child might leave its home, I left
the shores of kind, strong Old England--the mother of us all.
THE END.
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