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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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selves they have come forth to give at least the benefit of their sentiment to the party they espouse . In no department can phrasemaking prosper where positive ideas have once been attained . Metaphors are powerless in astronomy epithets are useless as alembics ; images , be they never so beautiful , will fail to convince the physiologist . Language may adorn , it cannot create science . But as soon as we pass from the sciences to social science ( or politics ) , we find that here the absence of positive ideas gives the phrasemaker the ' same power of convincing , as in the early days of physical science was possessed by metaphysicians and poets . Here the phrasemaker is King ; as the one-eyed is King in the empire of the blind . l hrasemaker for phrasemaker we prefer the poet to the politician ; Victor Hugo to Leon Faucher ; Lamartine to Odilon Barrot ; Lamennais to Baroche ! Kossuth Mazzini—Lamartine , the three heroes of 1848 , were all , though
with enormous differences in their relative values and positions , men belonging to the race of Poets , men in whom the heart thought , men who were moved by great impulses and lofty aspirations , men who were " carried away by their imagination , " men who were " dreamers , " but whose dreams were of the stuff of which our Life is made .
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THE GLASS HATCHET . A HUNGARIAN TALE . In those adventurous times , when fairies ruled over human destinies , there lived a Count and his lady , for many years in the sweetest enjoyment of domestic bliss . They were the happy possessors of riches and health , and every gift of fortune ; but the realization of their dearest wish was wanting to perfect their felicity , namely , the birth of an heir to their riches and their love .
Twelve years had passed , and still no child ! at last all hope was given up of ever enjoying the long wished for blessing . But as Heaven carries out its own laws arbitrarily and unalterably , its favour , therefore , can neither be obtained by desires however ardent , nor by piously bestowing alms , but frequently showers its gifts upon us when least expected ; thus the Countess also , when she had already ceased even to dream of such a blessing , presented her husband with a beautiful boy .
But , alas 1 she paid very dearly for this protracted fruit of her love ; for , with the breathing of her infant , her own ceased . When the midwife and the physician despaired of her recovery , when her own feelings would not allow her to hope , she recommended the little one to her husband ' s special care ; adding , that he ought never to allow him to touch the ground with his feet , for if he did , a powerful and malicious Fairy would at once take possession of him . She affirmed that her guardian angel had , in her pains , whispered this warning to her . But she at the same time promised that , after her death , she would invisibly protect both her husband and the dear germ of her love . Scarcely had she uttered these words when she died in the arms of her deeply-grieved husband .
The Count now lived entirely secluded from the world , devoting all his time and care to his beloved son . But , however happy he was in his sight , and in the enjoyment of every luxury , he could not regain that cheerfulness of mind he possessed even before the birth of his dear child : for had he not lost his beloved wife ?—Still , on his part , nothing was neglected the child ' s education demanded . When the boy no longer needed the arms of his nurses , a peculiar chair was prepared for his use , in which he could , without any assistance , move about in the gardens of his father ' s estate ; besides this , he was always , when required , carried in a sedan-chair , and as carefully attended as watched , that his feet might never touch the ground .
But , as the physicians found that the development of his juvenile strength required more bodily exercise , they recommended his riding on horseback . His instruction in riding began already in his tenth year , and he became in a verv short time so skilful a horseman , that he was universally compared to a centaur . But as in all his rides he was always accompanied by his father ' s riding-master and a numerous suite , there was no fear of his falling . Tims intrusted to his own skill , and to the watchfulness of his suite , he used to ride out nearly every day , always safely returning home . Meanwhile fifteen years had elapsed since the death of the Countess , and her warning was now only observed from habifc .
One day the youth rode with his suite over fields and meadows to a woodwhere his father used sometimes to amuse himself in hunting . The road led towards a rivulet surrounded with bushes . All the horsemen successfully leaped over it ; but a hare , frightened by the trampling of the horses , suddenly rushed out from a bush , and with all its speed hastened to tlie wood . The valiant young Count ran after the fugitive , and was very near overtaking him , when the girth of his horse broke , and he fell with his saddle to the ground , and with a shriek he vanished from the eyes of his suite .
Scarcely had he fallen from his horse when the invisible Fairy seized him , and carried him away . Quite a new world now opened to his gaze , a world which gave him no joy , nor any hope of ever obtaining his deliverance . A strangely built castle , surrounded by a lake , was the residence of his mistress . The lake was crossed by an ethereal bridge , composed of nothing bat clouds ; beyond it were woods and mountains , eternally covered with fogs , animated neither by human voice nor any breathing creature . All was frightful , gloomy , and joyless , and only towards the east of the castle , where the lake bordered a narrow neck of land , was a path leading through a rocky valley , beyond which a sparkling river could be seen from a distance . No sooner did the Fairy reach her own dominion when she gave him to
understand , by many harsh words , that his days of joy were ended . She first of all gave him u glass hatchet , commanding him to immediately cross the bridge of clouds , to proceed to a forest , and to cut all the trees
therein before sunset , cautioning him at the same time , very earnestly , not to enter into any conversation with a black girl he would meet , for if he did not refrain from so doing he would draw upon himself her severest anger . The youth listened in all humility to the commands of hi s mistress , and repaired with his glass hatchet to the place of his destination . The bridge appeared to sink down under each of his steps , but fear prevented all hesitation , and he safely reached , though quite exhausted , the other side of the lake , and there hastened to begin his task . But at the first stroke his hatchet broke into a thousand pieces . A stream of tears rushed from his eyes ; the most deadly fear seized him , for he thought the infuriate Fairy would at once annihilate him . With a cry of fear he ran through the darkness of the wood , imploring even the dumb trees
for assistance and compassion . Exhausted from fear and fatigue , he at last sank under the shade of a hedge , there to await his ultimate fate , when sleep closed his eyes , freeing him , for a short time at least , from his anxiety . Suddenly , as if shaken by a mighty arm , he reopened his eyes , and saw a black girl standing before him . Mindful of the prohibition of his dominatrix , he at once recognized her as being the object of that prohibition ; he therefore did not dare to address a single word to her . But she very soon encouraged him with a friendly greeting , and asked him whether he too did not belong to the mistress of
those dominions ? He merely nodded affirmatively ; but , attracted towards the girl by an unutterable feeling , he contemplated her with increasing curiosity . She told him that she too was obliged to submit to the commands of the Fairy , who had bewitched her with this gloomy countenance until she should meet a youth who would take pity upon her , and carry her across the river which circumscribes the dominion as well as the power of the Fairy . Beyond this river she has no power to hurt a mortal being when , once having saved himself by swimming through its waves , he reaches the opposite shore .
These words inspired the youth with so much confidence that he , without any reserve , revealed his fate to her , begging her to advise him what he ought to do to escape the punishment for breaking the hatchet . The black girl glanced more and more kindly into the face of the poor stranger , and at last said to him : — " Learn that the Fairy under whose sway we are both groaning is my own mother ; but do not betray this my confession to her , for it would cost me my life . If , after two more tasks she will give yon , you promise me that you will redeem me , I , on my part , promise you my most efficient assistance in every difficulty and danger you may fall into ; for I , too , am endowed with a certain power to accomplish things apparently impossible to be performed ; and were I , moreover , to be protected by the arms of love , I could even frustrate the mighty purposes of my vindictive mother . "
The confidence of the youth once awakened by the amiable demeanour of the girl , he now became more and more firmly resolved ; and he did not hesitate to assure her that he would do his utmost to realize her wish , and thus to accelerate their mutual redemption . The girl now exhorted him to calm himself , and , after having drunk the beverage she would give , again to seek repose ; and , on awakening , he was not to say a single word to the Fairy about what had happened , but to tell her that all he should see on his awakening had been his cwa work . Highly pleased , the youth promised to punctually follow her advice . Then the girl drew out a flask from her bosom , tendered ifc to him , and , after ho had emptied its contents , she went away .
The young Count , in . obedience to the girl ' commendation , stretched himself under the shade of a bush and fell asleep , dreaming very pleasantly . But how great was his astonishment upon awakening , after a short rest , to perceive the glass hatchet uninjured lying at his feet , and all the trees in the forest cut clown ! He now hastened back across the bridge of clouds , and informed the Fairy that he had done as she had commanded him . The Fairy was astonished at hearing that the v / ood was all cut and the glass hatchet uninjured ; she , therefore , very strongly insisted upon his telling her whether he had seen or spoken to the black girl . ' But the youth firmly denied his having done so , assuring her that he hail so zealously occupied himself with his task that lie had not even found a moment to turn his eyes from the trees and hatchet . Satisfied with this answer , she gave him some bread and water ,
and showed him a small , obscure cell for his resting-place . Scarcely had the day began to dawn when the Fairy appeared , ordering him to cleave with the same hatchet the felled trees into logs , and to pile them up iu heaps , again forbidding him most earnestly to approach the black girl . Although this second task was not easier to perform than the first , neverlishment spirited than bpintua
theless the vouth proceeded towards its accomp more thelusa the youth proceeded towardsitsaccompusumencmore . ua ., before , as the promise of his confidant led him to expect a favourable result . With much more ease and rapidity than before , he passed over the bridge ot clouds , lie had hardly done so when the black girl appeared , giving him a hearty greeting . lie related to her how her mother had received him , and what new task she had set him to perform to-day ; the girl smiled kindly , and , again olforin tf him a small flask , repeated to him the same warning us
the day heroic . The soothing beverage began to operate , and the drowsy youth fell asleep , even more softly than he ever could have done at the lullaby of his nurse . But it was not of long duration : he soon awoke , and beheld with an agreeable surprise the immense task done . Quickly he returned to his mistress , and boasted of having accomplished
Untitled Article
308 QZff i 3 Le&iftt + [ Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 22, 1850, page 308, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1843/page/20/
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