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490 ¦ . «**¦' ¦ ** «***. [SaWjrba*,
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Companions Of My Solitude. Companions Of...
I Will describe thein v that so I may have moire mastery over them . Instead of suffering them to haunt me as vague faces and half-fashioned resemblances , I will make them into distinct pictures , which I tean . give away , or hang up in my room , turning them , if I please , with their faces to the Vail j and in short be free to do what I like with them . " Hence we meet here with no set discUssibnj no elaborate essay , but the noting down of those thoughts and trains of thought which frequently solicit the writer ' s attention j BornetirneB they < ex > pand into the length of an essay * but generally
they preserve the form of reverie . These are relieved by a pleasant narrative of the day ' s incidents , or the aspects of the waik— -some of which are touched with a most delicate pencil . 5 $ . g .- — ' * Thus I thought in my walk this dull and dreary afternoon , till the rising of the moon and the return from school of the children with their satchels doming over the down warned me , too , that it was time toreturn home : and so , trying not to think any more of these things , 1 looked at the bare beech trees , still
beautiful , and the dull sheep-ponds scattered here and there , and thought that the country even in winter and in these northern regions , like a great man in adversity and just disgrace , was still to be looked at With hopeful tenderness , even if , in the main's base , there must also be somewhat of respectful coritleniriation . As I neared home I comforted myself , too , by thinking that the inhabitants of sunnier climes do not know how winning and joyful is the look of the chimney-tops of our homes in the midst of what to them would seem most desolate and dreary . "
Again ( and we call attention to the beautiful image in the sentence printed by us in italics ) : — " Such were my thoughts this wet day which I had made up my mind was to be a dreary day throughout j but I had hardly come to the end of what I had to say , when , may it be a good omen that the chapter itself may bring some cheer to some one in distress , the sun peeped out , the drops of rain upoii the leaves glistened in the sunshine like afflictions beautified by heavenly thoughts , and all nature invited me out to enjoy the gladness of her aspect , more glad by contrast with her former friendly gloom . " And this : —
" I went down again upon the bridge , looked up at the solemn sky , lor the moon was clouded now , and beneath me at the dim waters , being able to discern naught else : and still with some regard to what I had been thinking of in the church-yard , hoped that , in a future state at least , we might have some opportunity of loving and making our peace with tho 3 e whom we have wronged here , and of seeing
that our wrong , overruled by infinite goodness , has not wrought all the injury which there was in it to do . " So I walked on , having those dim . apprehensions and undefined feelings which are yet , perhaps , thcxuifashioned substance of our sincerest and most exact afterthought , until darkness and the cold and the thought of to-morrow ' s journey drove me homeward —the home so emblematical for man in his pilgrimage—the home of an inn . "
In consequence of this novel form the essays have a quite individual character , and stand out from the class to which we might otherwise refer them . Those who remember the author ' s previous work , Friends in Council , will be prepared for the admixture of wisdom , sympathy , humour , and searching analysis of inotivc ; but the form of Companions of my Solitude is even more agreeable . It admits of infinite variety . It is made various .
An epigram sparkles amidst a grave discussion ; u . touch of humour quaintly illustrates a serious thought ; an aphorism generalizes a page of observation ; ii period vibrates with the resonance of honest indignation ; and then a bit of landscape ( soothingly reposes the mind . Our old friends Ellesmere , Dunsford , Lucy , and the dog Ilollo are introduced , and are welcome , and conversation breaks the monotony of the old man ' s talk .
Criticism runs into panegyric . We have nothing to question , nothing to disapprove . The few extracts we are about to make will convey no accurate idea of the work , but they will amuKe the reader , and perhaps Hend him to the Hource : —
J'OJ'K AN 1 > 1 MJIUTAN . " The pendulouH folly of mankind oscillates as far in thin direction as it han como from thut ; and an absurd 1 ' uritau is only a corrolativo to u wicked Pope . " ( ilVi : A JMMJ A HAD NAMt " Moreover thin oeiiHoriouaneHS is not only a Bin , but tho inventor of many ninn . Indeed tho manuliioturu of ttir . H is no cany a manufacture , thut I am convinced men could readily be perouftded that it was wicked to use the left letf as much aa the right ; whole congregations would only permit thefnftelreft to hop ; and , what in more to our jpres & nt point , would tHMiAider that , when they walked in the ordinary fashion * thoy wero committing a deadly » in . Now I should not
think that the man who were to invent this sin would be a benefactor to the human race . " You often hear in a town , or village , a bit of domestic history which seems at first to militate against what I have been saying , but is in reality very consistent with it . The story is of some poor man , and is apt to run thus . He began to frequent the alehouse ; he sought out amusements ; there was a neighbouring fair where he first showed his quaisrelsome disposition ; th « n came worse things j ahtt how here he is in prison . YeSj T should reply , he frequented with a Stealthy ahame those places which you > who would ignore all amusement j have suffered to be most coarse and demoralising . All along he
had an exaggerated notidri of the felattie that he wafc justly liable to from his first steps iw the downward path : the truth unfortunately is , that you go along way to make a small error intd a sin , when you miscall it So . t would not therefore have a clergyman talk of an alehouse as if it were the pit of Aoheram } on the contrary , I would have him acknowledge that , considering the warmth and cheerfulness to be found in the sanded parlour of the village inn , it is very natural that men should be apt to frequent it . I would have him , however , go on to show what frequenting the alehouse mostly , leads ^ , a nd how the labourer ' s home might be made to rival the alehouse : and I would have him help to make it so , or , in some waV to promote some substitute for th ' e alehouse . "
SMALL MISERIES . " It is a strange faricy of nitfteV but t cannot help wishing we could move for returns , as their phrase is in Parliament ,, for the suffering caused in any one day , or other period of time , throughout the world , to be arranged under certain heads ; and we should then see what the world has occasion to fear most . What a large amount would come under the heads of unreasonable fear of others , of miserable quarrels amongst relations upon infiriitesirnally small subjects , of imaginary slights , of undue cares , of false shames ,
of absolute misunderstandings , of unnecessary pains to maintain credit or reputation , of vexation that we cannot make others of the same mind with ourselves . What a wonderful thing it would be to see set doWn in figures , as it were , how ingenious we are in plaguing one another . My own private opinion is , that the discomfort caused by injudicious dress worn entirely in deference , as it has before been remarked , to the most foolish of mankind , in fact to the tyrannous majority , would outweigh , many an evil that sounded very big .
" Tested by these perfect returns , which I imagine might be made by the angelic world , if they regard human affairs , perhaps our every-day shaving , severe shirt-collars and other ridiculous garments are equivalent to a great European war once in seven years ; and we should find that women ' s stays did about as much harm , i . e . caused as much suffering , as an accasional pestilence—say , for instance , the cholera . We should find perhaps that the vexations arising from the income tax were nearly equal to those caused amongst the same class of sufferers by the ill-natured things men fancy have beeri said behind their backs : and perhaps the whole burden and vexation resulting from the aggregate of the respective national debts of that unthrifty family , the European race , the
whole burden and vexation J say , do not come up to the aggregate of annoyances inflicted in each locality by the one ill-natured person who generally infests each little village , parish , lioutee , or community . " There is no knowing what strange comparisons and discoveries I should in my fancy have been led to —perhaps that the loVe , said to He inherent in'the softer sex , of having the last word , cairsCB as much mischief as all the tornadoes of the tropics ; or that the vexution inflicted by servants on their masters by assuring them that such and such duties do not belong to their place , is equivalent to all the sufferings that have been caused by mad dogs since the World began . " In touching upon the necessity for amusement , he says the man must have some of what the fluid is ho greedy of : —•
* ' Do not imagine wo grow out of that ; % oe dibc / uw ourselves by various solemnities ; but we have none of usloat the child nature yet . "
OOJIMON ITiAOttH . " But indeed all moral wiitingn teem , with thin remark in one form or other . You uuimot have inconsistent advantages . L ) o not nhuu this maxim because it in common-plttcc . On tho contrary , take the closest heed of what observant men , who would probably like to allow originality , are yet con-Htruined to repeat . Therein lira the marrow of tho windoin of the world . "
There are some Herioiifl and noteworthy paRHiigcs in the essay on the greiit sin of great ; cities ^ -that which Onuntfi in our st . NM . fi , rniiiH thou & artdR in body and soul—that wjiieh no sophist Can palliate , yet which few have the courage to speak openly about in our fastidious society . Having named poverty w the primary cause ,, the- author next adds : 44 The next great caune In in tho over * rigid view * and opinions , especially m iitfninut women , eKpc ^ toct in reference to uhchfmtity . Christianity has boonin
feohib hieASure ttt blame for this ; though , if rightly applied , it would have been , the surest mre . * Publicans and sinners ! ' Such did he prefer before the company of pharisees and hypocrites . These latter * however , have been in great credit ever since ; and , for my part , I see no end to their being pronounced , for ever the dhoiciS society of the world . " The virtuous , carefully tended and carefully brought up , ought to bethink themielvei how little they may owe to their own merit that they are Virtuous * for it iS in the fevil cttrieurrerice of bad disposition and mafeterlefes fcpportunitjr that crime come * . Of course to an eril-di * posed inind ,
opportunity will never be-wanting f but when one person ot class of persons is frorit circumstances peculiarly exposed to temptation , ahd goes wrong , it is no great stretch of charity for others to conclude that that person , or class , did not beghi with # orse dispositions than they themselves whb are still without S , stain . This ii Very obvious ; but it is to be observed that the reasbhing powers which are very prompt iri mastering atiy simple scientific proposition , expe-srietice a wonderful halting in their logic when applied tb the furtherance of charity . 41
There is a very homely proverb about the fate of the pitcher that goes often to the water which might be an aid to charity , and which bears closely on the present case . The Spaniards , from whom I dare say ^ e have the proverb , express it prettily and pithily .: — " * Cantarillo que muchas vezes va a Id . fuehte , 11 * O dexk la asa , o la frerite . ' " « The little pitcher that goes bfteh to the fountain , either leave * the handle or the spout behind sorbe day . ' The dainty vasei which is kept under a glass-case in a drawing-rcrom should not be too proud of remaining without flaw , considering its great advantages . 44 In the New Testament we have such matters
treated in a truly divine manner . There is no palliation of crime . Sometimes our charity is mixed up with a mash of sentiment and sickly feeling that we do not know where we are , and what is vice and what is virtue " . But here are the brief stern words , * Go , and sin no more ; ' but , at the same time , there is an infinite consideration for the criminal , not however as criminal , but as human being ; I rriean not in respect of her criminality , but of her humanity . " Now an instance of our want of obedience to these Christian precepts has often struck me in the not visiting married women whose previous lives will not bear inspection . Whose will ? Not merely all Christian people , but all civilized people , ought to set their faces against this excessive retrospection .
" But if ever there were an occasion on . which men ( I say men but I mean more especially women ) , should be careful of scattering abroad unjust and severe sayings , it is in speaking of the frailties and delinquencies of women . For it is one of those things where an unjust judgment , or the fear of one , breaks , down the bridge behind the repentant ; and has often made an error into a crime , and a single crime into a life of crime .
" A daughter has left her home , m & dly , ever so wickedly if you like , but what are too often the demons tempting her onwards and preventing her return ? The uncharitable speeches she has heard at home ; and the feeling she shares with most of us , that those we have lived with are the shurpest judges of our conduct . " Would you , then , exclaims some reader or hearer , take back and receive with tenderness a daughter who had erred ? ' Yes , ' I reply , ' if she had been the most abandoned woman upon earth . '
"A foolish family pride often adds to this uncharitable way of feeling and speaking which I venture to reprehend . Our care is not that an evil and an unfortunate thing haa happened , but that our family has been disgraced , ua wo call it . Family -vanity mixes up with and exasperates rigid virtue , ( jl ood Heavens , if wo could but see where disgnico really lies , how often men would be ashamed of their riches and their honours ; and would discern that a bud temper , or an irritable disposition , was tho greatest family disgrace that they possessed . " We will conclude with an excellent protest against the unreasonable demand with which reformera are always met when they have only a doctrine , but no nvHteui , to ( suggest : —
One of the kind of reproaches that will over bo inade with much , or littlo , justice ( generally with liltlfl justice ) , against any men who endeavour to reform or improve anything , ia tliut they are not readj r with ( l ( . 'Jiniic propositions , thut they are like tho chorus in a Greek play , milking general lumuiku uuout nature and human ntluiro , without suggesting any clear and decided course to bfc taken . Sometimes this reproach i & just , but very often , on the other hand , it is utterly
uim-iiHonubh'i . Jbrequentiy tho couroo to be taken in each individual inHtnnCe in onu that it would be flftlnoBt impossible to decide , still more to lay down with minUteiioBH , without A knowledge of thi fideti in the particular instance : wherena what ia Wanted io » ot to nugget a course of action , but ft habit o ( thought which will modify n 6 t one or two acti 6 na Only , bat nil actions , time oouao within the scope of tlmt thought . " .
490 ¦ . «**¦' ¦ ** «***. [Sawjrba*,
490 ¦ . «**¦' ¦ ** «*** . [ SaWjrba * ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1851, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24051851/page/14/
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