Chapter I: Part 1

THE
YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.

CONDUCTED BY THE STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE.

“Dum mens grata manet, nomen laudesque YALENSES
Cantabunt SOBOLES, unanimique PATRES.”

NO. II.

MARCH, 1836.

NEW HAVEN:
HERRICK & NOYES.

MDCCCXXXVI.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS.

Page.
The Benefit of Thought, 41

Ode—The Birth of Poesy, 47

Macbeth, 48

The Cascade, 53

Story and Sentiment, No. II. 54

Pen and Ink, 62

Confessions of a Sensitive Man, No. II. 63

The Whale’s Last Moments, 69

Review—The Partisan, 70

Greek Anthology, No. II. 77

“Our Magazine,” 80

THE

YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── VOL. I. MARCH, 1836. NO. 2. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

THE BENEFIT OF THOUGHT.

The worst as well as the best of us in this world, sometimes love to stop and think. The bad man, wanting every fine feeling, and mostly giving his passions the rein, and suffering them to lead him, to the exclusion of what is beautiful in morals and religion, will sometimes be struck with the contrast between himself and others, and give a few moments to thought. Besides, there are, from the mutual relation of mind and body, certain states of physical feeling, which seem to make men pause, and set them thinking, whether they will or not. In fact, this seems a provision of nature, and it is a benevolent one; for men who think a great deal, are improved by it; and if so, it is obviously a kind plan of our Maker, who, by giving us constitutions susceptible of the changes in the natural world, leads us, thereby, to pause awhile, and familiarize ourselves with that which is wisest and best in the constitutions of our souls.

That a man is improved by thinking much, few will deny. If he sits and thinks upon his secular concerns, or employs himself in ambitious speculations, or upon any other of the subjects which beguile the greater part of the human family, we would not say he was improved, at least, but little, by it. But we think a man who now and then gives himself to solitude, will not employ his mind thus. It is a law of our natures, that earthly objects, even the best, and purest, if pursued long, and obtained in profusion, have a tendency to induce satiety and disgust. Most men have had experience of this; for few are there, we think, who have not, after calculating long on the delights of a prospective good, found on its attainment, its comparative worthlessness and insufficiency. Now the man who devotes a few moments to reflection, will have this great inducement to lead his mind off from such subjects as tend only to make him the more of a worldling, viz. that they cannot satisfy. Moreover, if he does not know, or does not remember this, as the result of former experience, he will (unless he be yoked with fetters of iron to the world, and his whole character be different from that of other men) if at first, in his retirement, he gives his mind up to outward objects, or to such as serve his worst passions—after a while, even then, experience the same, or something of the same satiety. The mind then turns somewhere else, for it must have nourishment; and whither, but into itself. It is thus, retirement puts a man in the way of being better.

Now the mind abstracted from outward, every-day objects, or such as have dominion over it through the medium of the senses, will soon become acquainted with its own noble faculties. It certainly is a truth, and every thinking man will remark it as he mingles with men, that they all seem unconscious of their natures. A wiser than man has revealed to us, and Philosophy tells us, that there are fountains of bliss in ourselves; and that if we taste of these, we shall look upon those things which constitute most of the enjoyment of our race, as worth little or nothing. Of this truth, we say, men seem ignorant. A being with half our natural faculties, would be capacitated for about as much bliss as most men take. The extent of many, we may say of most of the human family’s ideas of happiness, might almost be comprehended by a sagacious animal. Does it not consist mainly, in securing such a portion of worldly substance, as shall make them comfortable? It is so, manifestly. Now let me ask, if this, in the scale of being, elevates us much above brutes. Brutes do all this; and it might be remarked without much hazard, that, instinct taken into account, they take a higher stand than we do. Retirement, however, turning the mind into itself, as remarked above, tends to correct this evil; and did society think more, its condition would instantly be improved. Thought opens new sources of thought; these sources other sources, increasing in tenfold ratio: and this unravels that which is so often esteemed a mystery by many, viz. that men, once devoted to books, can never be brought back to business men; and, furthermore, it shows an egregious error in those who account for this devotion, on the grounds of habit. That we are creatures of habit in a great degree, none will deny; but that habit can be broken, is as readily admitted—whereas, this devotion was never known to be lessened.

The man who thinks much, in addition to the discovery of his great mental powers, discovers, also, his great moral capacities. Things that once struck him as strange in his moral constitution, and which, as they seemed inexplicable, he had so often dismissed with a glance, he now discovers, are so many evidences of a relationship to the Divine being: all is illuminated which, before, was so dark: the film passes from his eye: what he thought but a stagnant pool, he finds, now, is an ocean whose waters are limpid and sweet, the bottom of which is strewn with the richest and rarest shells: every exertion reveals to him a new treasure, until he wonders within himself at that perversity and blindness, which could pass over, undiscovered, such deep sources of improvement. Now one result of all this is, that he gains a just sense of the dignity of his being. We know how fashionable it is, to decry human nature; and we doubt not we shall receive censure, for turning off from such a beaten path. The great and good, of almost all time, have rather preferred to find fault, than bestow on it eulogium. But it seems to us, an abuse, and a perversion, for looking over society as we do, and catching here and there so many evidences of bright and heroic virtues as are presented—we cannot follow the fashion, and say, every man is altogether bad. There is every thing in the soul which is noble: it bears the imprint of a divine hand: and though its fair phasis be soiled, and blackened, as doubtless it is, by transgression, there are, nevertheless, some intelligent spots left, to show its divine origin.

Another result of patient thought is, a man discovers his proper relationship to society. Self-knowledge tends greatly to remove selfishness. By it, he learns his obligation, not only to God, but man; he begins to see how impossible it is, to live an isolated being; and he begins to feel, in its full force, that beautiful truth, that he is a part of the great chain which links society together. In proportion as he feels this, must his selfishness give place to nobler feelings. No man exhibits a more unprepossessing ignorance, than he who sets at nought the opinions, and feelings of others. He becomes an object of pity, and even contempt, to every thinking man; for so little is required to see his error, that we despise his oversight. If men did but know it, it is the cause of a large portion of the unhappiness of life. Society never finds a person in its midst, entirely wrapped in self, and scorning its good will, but it leaves such to the fate they merit, viz. to test their ill grounded belief, and see if they _can_ live, setting at nought the doctrine of mutual dependence. No! men were made dependent—mutually dependent—and it is the loveliest thing in morals that it is so; for just so far as it is recognized, is selfishness destroyed, and harmony established among men. This doctrine ought to be held up more than it is, especially in this nation: it would serve to correct and counteract, if any thing can do it, that spirit of self-interest, always the result of popular and free institutions.

The moral powers are greatly improved, also, by thought, and as a consequence, the moral taste. It is unfortunate, we think, that so much should have been said, and written, as there has been, on beauty and taste, and moral beauty, and moral taste, so often left out of the account. The order and harmony in Nature, has never wanted admirers; and eulogists, by scores, are found, to speak of high deeds, and heroic attachments. In the Arts, too, the ideal symmetry of Phidias; the burning canvass of Michael Angelo; and the fabulous shell of Orpheus—these have never lacked encomium. On the contrary, there has been something like a mad emulation among men, from the bright era of Grecian Pericles until now, to invent epithets of admiration. But how are high deeds and heroic virtues ennobled—what added grace and dignity is afforded the Fine Arts, when the principles of moral beauty are associated! Our object here, however, shall not be to discover, why moral taste is neglected, but rather to find out some principles by which it may be seen, and improved, wherever there is a wish for its culture. Taste is doubtless an inherent faculty; and, if the doctrine of innate ideas is admitted, then moral taste is an inherent faculty. Now every thing which relates to morals, affects moral taste; they cannot be dissociated: hence, would you look for its liveliest exercise, you will take the most elevated character. In such you will observe it, not in great display, but in the thousand little offices of life,

‘Those little, nameless, unremember’d acts
Of kindness and of love.’

It checks them, at every little departure from rectitude, and is a good and efficient guide, in all their intercourse with men. If a man would _improve_ his moral taste, let him, instead of that pernicious habit of revery to which there are so many inducements, especially in retirement, give his thoughts to the excellence of moral virtues: let him look at those sparks of beauty, so to speak, sometimes struck off from heroic characters, in trying circumstances: let him trace them in their two-fold results, as affecting others, and then refracting on himself; and much have we mistaken the human mind, if the practice do not benefit him. We are not aware of the extent of the benefit of a taste rightly understood, and rightly directed, because it is so very subtle and delicate; nevertheless, those many imperceptible advances which it makes against an ill regulated mind, operate powerfully as a whole, and do modify the disposition to a degree little dreamed of. It improves a man’s _whole_ character, and throws a charm around it, not otherwise, than as the flush sometimes seen lying along the sky of evening, which, thrown down to the earth by the atmosphere, gives it all a mellow glow of beauty.

From the above, we detect another truth. There are in society, certain little observances, which tend to regulate it—such as the forms of etiquette; which observances, it is deemed can best be learned _in_ society. This we deem a very pernicious doctrine. It is reasoning from wrong premises; and false _data_ in moral, assuredly bring about as wrong deductions, as in physical science. The very object to be attained, viz. the regulation of society, not only goes to show, that it is something which is extraneous, but presupposes that it can never be found there: and yet we are told, that politeness is the result of social intercourse. But this we believe not. So far from it, we believe that true politeness is _never_ learned there. Society is nothing but a hot bed—what grows in it, is rank and unwholesome. True, there is a something passing for politeness, very meaningless, and very stiff; but it is, at the same time, so very shallow, that men of sense make no pretensions to it: and _this_ is learned _in_ society. True politeness is of another growth. It is the offspring of correct principle; and any thing springing from such a source, we may not be much afraid of. True politeness is nothing but a refined kind of humanity; and give a man a kind heart, and one regulated by correct taste; and never fear, but he has that which will make his way any where, to the utter exclusion of these danglers on the skirts of good breeding. It is a sad thing, that we have such an abundance of _manners_ in the world, and so little _character_: that men think so little, they have mostly become frivolous and superficial: that frivolous and superficial manners, best become them. This is true however. We _have_ lost the substance, and taken the shadow; and now, in groping for it, we have got a substitute, without one of the virtues of its expatriated pre-occupant.

But though the age is not one marked by any very severe exercise of thought, and though utilitarian principles are threatening to sweep away almost every kind of speculative knowledge, yet we are not greatly fearful as to the result. The system is revolving, and a better succession will soon be among us. And why? Our hope is, in the fast increasing intelligence of the world. Though we might, and, did we give our mind, we should, find complaint, in respect to many of the features of the spirit of the day, deeming it too clamorous, and active, as having a tendency to injure what is pure and beautiful, in the ideal world—still, intelligence is fast and widely diffused; and on the whole, doubtless, the good will predominate. Those rank plants among us, such as false taste, sickly sensibility, affectation, and the like, will be crowded out by those of healthier growth, and society put on a new aspect; while, as evils, we shall have too much of a captious, matter-of-fact atmosphere, which rejects every thing not immediately communicated, through the medium of the senses. This, however, will be counteracted in some degree, by the few that _do_ think: and, further, by that _other_ few, who in all states of society hold their own, uncontaminated by that which is about them. These are they who bring into existence with them, those susceptibilities of harmony in the natural and moral world—minds, which separate them from their fellows—feelings, which earth never appreciates—and aspirations, which carry them up to breathe in a purer atmosphere, where the bustle, ‘and hoarse enginery of Life’ cannot come. These, we say, have an influence in society, though they are above it—‘birds of heavenly plumage fair,’ that, stooping occasionally from higher regions, appear for a moment, and then are gone.

In conclusion: the benefit of thought is most manifest, in that proper self-confidence, without which, there is no real dignity of character. To be a growing man, is to be a confident one; and the secret of greatness, lies in the consciousness of the ability to be great. We should be sorry to advocate folly,—modesty, we are taught from our cradles, is a virtue,—but by some unaccountable process, the thing has got to signifying something, better designated sheepishness; and hence, we have an _animal_ virtue. Different from these, however, are our ideas of modesty. True modesty is that proper appreciation of one’s own powers, which leads him never to offend, either by bashfulness or presumption: now, who so likely to hit the mark, as he who knows the strength of the bow. The workings of a great mind, conscious of its capacities—and its aspirations for eminence, are, in distinction to the greatness of little men, as opposite as possible—the one a mighty river, always overflowing, and enriching the soil through which it moves, with its abundant and generous fullness—the other an insignificant stream, always within its banks, as grudging the smallest pittance to the scene around. To be a modest man in a certain usage, is to be an ignorant one—for to underrate one’s self, and be honest in it, is to show ignorance of self; and he who knows not himself, has skipped the first page in the book of wisdom: but to be a modest man in a right sense, is to be a wise one—for it is a knowledge of self (which we suppose constitutes a wise man) that enables one to seize upon and retain, his proper station in society. It is this latter kind of modesty which is commendable. It is that of great men. It is that which, meet it where we will, we love to praise. Milton could stop, mid-word in one of his loudest invectives against the rotten fabric of Episcopacy, and speak of himself as ‘a poet sitting in the high regions of his fancy, with his garlands and singing robes about him’—and, with voice like the wild note of prophecy, proclaim ‘the great argument,’ as yet sleeping in the darkness of his vision; and of his confidence to produce a work ‘that posterity should not willingly let die.’ Was this folly? and yet, it was a full appreciation of what the great God had given him. No! It was knowledge—knowledge at home—knowledge gained by thought—the knowledge of energies proud enough, to build up a colossal monument to posterity—_and he did it_.

These are some of the advantages, we think, of a substantial knowledge of ourselves; and when we look at the age, and see how headlong it is, and how dangerously practical it is becoming; too much cannot be said, and too loudly it cannot be spoken, that there is need of more reflection, and more forethought.

ODE.
THE BIRTH OF POESY.

Spirit that floatest o’er me now,
So beautiful, so bright,
I know thee by that lip, that brow,
That eye of beaming light.
Hail! Sovereign of the golden lyre,
Rapture-breathing God,
All Hail!
We bow beneath thy rod,
Who dost, for aye, the glowing thought inspire.
Hail! Radiant One, we welcome thee,
Heaven-born, holy Poesy!

Spirit who weavest
Thy sweet spells so strong,
Answer me, answer me,
Spirit of Song,
Where was thy birth-place,
Where is thy home,
Why, o’er the doom’d earth,
Spirit, dost thou roam?

“When the dewy earth was young,
When the flowers of Eden sprung,
When first woman’s smile exprest
All the heaven of her breast,
Then and there I had my birth,
In the infancy of earth.

“Angel-hands my cradle made,
Woven gay from every flower,
And they swung it in the shade,
Sheltered from the noon-tide hour,
While the balmy air that crept
Murmuring thro’ the waving trees,
Rocked me gently till I slept
In the music of the breeze.

“Then, a hollow shell they brought,
Strung across with golden wires,
Every chord with passion fraught,
Thrills with joy, with hope inspires.
Angel-songs at eve I heard
Rise from many a circling hill,
And my harp whene’er ’t is stirr’d
Trembles to their cadence still!

“I am the spirit of joy and of mirth,
And I gladden the hearts of the sons of earth,
I twine a chaplet of deathless flowers
For the fair young brows of the laughing Hours,
I show to the Poet’s dreaming eye,
The shadowy realms of Phantasy,
A charm o’er the earth and the air I fling,—
Such are the offerings I bring.
Beings that people the depths of air,
Come when I speak my wizard prayer;
I tell my will, and away! away!
O’er the boundless fields of glowing day,
Where the quivering sunbeams ever play,
Onward and onward they wing their flight,
Brightening towards the source of light.
Beings that people the depths of sea,
Rise at my call and bow before me,
And they bear me down to their coral caves,
Where ever the roll of Sapphire waves
Thro’ vaulted roof and temples dim,
Sounds forth a strange and solemn hymn.
But would’st thou know where I love to dwell,
And where I weave my strongest spell,—
Where beameth the light of woman’s eye,
Where flowers spring up, there, there, am I!”

S.

MACBETH.

“There is some soul of goodness in things evil.”—_King Henry V._

Macbeth is a historical character. He is one of those who stand on the page of history as personifications of vice, rather than as men who possess any thing in common with ourselves. They distinguished themselves by a career of crime—in general that crime arose from ambition,—their names have become a proverb, and are associated in our minds with a particular form of vice as the entire and bare sum of their character. Yet when thus viewed, what are called examples affect us little more than a lifeless homily. They raise in us no sympathy, and of course no interest. They may indeed excite a hatred of that abstract form of vice, but against that we feel secure, and we make no attempt to derive from them any further benefit. Our abhorrence forbids; for we look upon them not as human beings with their varying hues, but as monsters, almost as monsters born. This horror, thus excited at personified vice, seems to speak well for our hearts, yet it will be found to prevent us from taking discriminating views of such characters, and from deriving any practical wisdom from them. We do not reflect that they were men like ourselves, that though deeply sunk in vice, they were once as innocent as we may suppose ourselves to be; that it was by objects working upon what is within every one of us, that they became what they were; that the deeper they were involved in the coil of wickedness, the more narrowly does it become us, would we derive true wisdom or true knowledge from them, to search out those places in the heart where its cords were first fastened on them; to find what was first effectually touched to make them what they were. Nor do we reflect that to obtain any practical knowledge of men, it is no way to separate whatever of good there may be in such characters, from the bad, however great it may be; since it is only to be obtained by observing the struggle between the two as they actually stand connected. Nor need we fear to admire too much, that, in the most vicious mind, which is worthy of our admiration; as if we should detest vice the less, for seeing the ruin it makes, or for detecting its insidiousness in undermining the fair qualities which may call forth our praise.

An excellent means of thus presenting to us the characters of history, as they are in their original cast, and as they progress or change in the course of events, may be found in the drama. The living beings in all their “intensity of life,” are before us; with the circumstances of life about them—whether actual circumstances or not is of little importance, if they are such as might have been expected. The scenes of a whole life pass rapidly, yet distinctly and freshly before us, as imagination loves, and as we should review the eventful life of one whom we had well known.

The tragedy before us moves towards its conclusion with a fearful rapidity, which we vainly wish to detain; and is invested with a stern and awful solemnity, disturbed only by thrilling scenes of horror.

Macbeth, the kinsman of king Duncan, and general of his army, returning from a victorious battle, is met by three witches, two of whom hail him with titles of nobility, which are almost instantly confirmed, and the third with that of future king. Led by this and his own ambition, he, at the suggestion of his wife, murders at midnight the king whom he had entertained, and charges the deed upon his guards. He is crowned, and to maintain his crown, is led into a series of butcheries, which ends in his own death by the hand of Macduff, aided by the English, who had been invited over by the sons of the murdered Duncan.

It might seem, at first view, that Macbeth is only one among the slaves of a vulgar ambition, which implies a mind already hardened, and which, attracted by some splendid object, sets itself, from purely selfish ends, to the attainment of it, and after some visitings of remorse, becomes thoroughly obdurate. The elements of such a character are gross and palpable; the representations obvious; and it is, we think, under this impression that this play has been pronounced to contain “no nice discriminations of character.”[1] But if we consider that Macbeth is in a great degree the subject of influence, acted upon rather than acting, and in some respects more sinned against than sinning; and how, at last, it is the sarcasm of his wife, and the fear of disappointing her whom he loves, full as much as his own ambition, which prevails on him to do the murder, the character becomes more complicated, and we are constrained to find the good and bad in it more evenly balanced, than we at first thought they could be. The truth about Macbeth seems to be, that with the peculiar openness of a hero, and with all his grandeur of intellect, together with nice discrimination of all that may become a man, he is wanting in that _energy of reflection_, which imparts integrity or moral entireness to the mind. In this respect, his conduct is well contrasted with that of Banquo, upon the reception of the infernal prediction. The want of this trait accounts also for the fact, that he is never self-possessed in his wickedness, and never acts properly upon a selfish plan. For this reason, when we mark the many pure and bright qualities, which might form the elements of a most noble character, and of whose value the ingenuous owner seems hardly conscious, we are tempted to exclaim in another sense,

“O Fortunatus! sua si bona noverit!”

And when we see these tarnished and obscured by means of deceit which he does not comprehend, or if he does, has not sufficient energy to dispel, though we cannot greatly respect, we can still admire and pity him. We cannot view him with the same feelings as we do Richard III, wholly remorseless, and self-possessed in wickedness absolutely unredeemed; nor as we do that cool, contriving villain, Iago. On account of his openness of mind also, his character will be best understood, not by formal analysis, but by following him through the various circumstances in which he is placed, and observing their effects on a mind too genial not to receive them, and withal too transparent to hide them.

Let us take him then as he is first presented to us. He is a hero. This character also remains with him throughout. It is heroism which urges him to deeds of high daring, which prompts his mind to its lofty conceptions of greatness, which struggles long and hard with his conscience, but at last plunges him in guilt, propelling him deeper and deeper into it, and called out in its utmost grandeur and intensity in braving the cowardice of remorse. But with the hero’s bravery and lion strength, there is united also the “milk of human kindness,” and the tenderest pity; for who, other than he who copied from his own breast, would have conceived of it thus, even when it opposed directly his designs.

And _pity_, like a _naked newborn babe_,
Striding the blast, or heav’ns cherubim, hors’d
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind.

But above all, as a hero he “is not without ambition.” Yet he is also “without the illness should attend it.” Naturally noble and ingenuous, his ambition up to this time had been rather than any thing else, an aimless, generous aspiring after that which should fill his own capacity, and sought no other reward for manly deeds than the doing them. It was consistent also with a state of high and pure moral feeling, as is not that which has always an end in view, and is always planning and plotting for it. Accordingly, we find it combined in him with great purity and ingenuousness of heart. “What he would highly, that would he holily.” Still it was dangerous, and, no guide to itself, was liable to take shape and direction from any conjunction of circumstances. Until now, however, he had gone with it securely and uprightly. He seems to have been kept in the path of duty and honor by the generous impulses of his nature, and perhaps more, with his peculiar openness, by the favorable influence of his kinsman the “good king Duncan,” whom he heartily loves and admires.

But now the trial is to come; to come too with circumstances, and at a time exactly adapted to overcome _him_. In the midst of an intoxicating self-complacency at his victory, a state of mind peculiarly genial for the reception of any suggestions favoring his promotion, he is met by three supernatural beings, (to him at least they were such,) in whom, from childhood, he had had an unwavering faith. That faith is confirmed by the almost instant fulfillment of two of their predictions. The third is unavoidably suggested to his mind as a necessary consequence. A strong conviction, amounting to a belief of destiny, that it must be fulfilled, seems from that time to have taken hold of his mind. And how is it to be done. His mind shrinks with ingenuous horror from the only way: he must _murder_ the king. He strives to escape from the idea. His mind cannot, with all its ambition, and all its heroism, look clearly through the deed to its end. It cannot _see_ in the wrong direction. It is untaught and unskilled in the ways of cunning wickedness. He is not sufficient master of himself to climb over the horror which rises before him. Nor yet has he _energy_ enough to get away from it. That strong conviction of the necessity of the deed, full as much, at least, as the desirableness of its end, still enchains him. He might indeed have reflected that it lay with him to do it or not, but he does not, and perhaps it was hardly to be expected that _he should_. His ambition, which had been the habit of his life, and which he had hitherto trusted in as his good guide, has received a direction which he cannot change, towards a point from which he cannot divert it. He is as it were _spell-bound_. Still he cannot consent; he even decides not to do it. His newly-won honor, gratitude, reputation which was most dear to him, admiration for Duncan, and pity for him as his intended victim, all forbid. Here his wife comes in, and by some of the finest rhetoric of sophistry, sarcasm, and rebuke for his want of heroism, induces him to “bend himself up to the terrible feat.” The part of the play about this crisis is peculiarly fine. There is the dagger scene, in which conscience is seen exerting its full sway over a mind which owns it not. In the night scene, especially, the author seems to have exerted himself to bring in every thing that could add to the horror of the scene. Though we are not introduced to the murder, yet we are made so fully to participate in the horrors of the murderer, that the effect is greater than if it had been so. All indeed that is presented to the senses, is the most ordinary. The scene is rendered _hideous_ by the knocking at the door, and the ill-timed jollity of the unconscious porter, more, perhaps, than by any thing else. Of Macbeth little more need be said, nor are we inclined to pursue the subject farther. Yet amidst all the dark and “strange deeds,” in which his heroism and the destiny of guilt involve him, and amidst all his desperation, he still exhibits longings for his former state of innocence and peace. For the murdered Duncan his feelings are none other than those of respectful compassion. In the very midst also of his deeds of guilt, and amidst his struggles with remorse, he reveals to his wife his anguish with the utmost tenderness of reposing affection. These things throw a softening over a character which would otherwise be purely abhorrent to our feelings. The idea of fate still clings to him, and the belief that by the murder of Duncan, he had more closely associated himself with those hellish beings who had led him on, adds yet another shade to the darkness of his mind. In an agony of desperation he consults them to learn, “by the worst means the worst.” From that hour, we feel that his doom is fixed; knowing that though

They “keep the words of promise to his ear,”
They’ll “break it to his hope.”

Thus it proves. Macbeth seeing one promise after another in which he had trusted, failing him, at last throws himself upon his own courage, which, as an acquired habit of the field at least, had never left him. With sword in hand he dies.

Lady Macbeth, who by her amazing, and fearful energy of intellect, could suppress remorse as long as there was any object to be accomplished, when at length her mind is left objectless, feels it in its most terrible power. When upon such a mind remorse fastens its fangs, that mind turns upon its devourer with an energy strong as its own power to grasp, and enduring as its hold. Nothing sooner than death can end the struggle.

And now that we are at the end of this fearful and gloomy history, we may just review the scene. Duncan, the meek and guileless father-king, shedding around him a cheerful, genial light! Macbeth, growing up in that light, and promising to reflect it back on its giver, and to add to its splendor! But that light is put out in darkness: a more fearful darkness comes over the _guilty man_, spreading to all about him, and gathering gloom, as we are hurried rapidly and certainly to the consummation. At length, when virtue reappears, though it be in the form of an avenger, the darkness begins to move away; and light, though mild and chastened, just gilds the scene as it closes.

G.

THE CASCADE.

‘It leapt and danced along all joyously,
Till winter winds swept o’er it.——’

I saw, as I stood by a mountain’s side
On a lovely summer day,
When the light winds in the vale had died,
And all was fresh and gay—
A cascade beautiful and clear
All gaily laughing in the sun,
As it dashed upon its bed of stone,
Sprinkling the wild flowers near.

And I thought how sweet it were to dwell
Beside that dashing stream,
Watching the white foam where it fell,
And vanished like a dream:
To list as its murmurs flew along
In all their thrilling harmony,
And mingled in sweet symphony,
With the wood-bird’s gushing song.

· · · · ·

The autumn winds swept through that wood,
With a sad and mournful sound;
Decay was in its solitude,
And dead leaves spread the ground:—
And I sighed, and cast a sorrowing look,
As I passed that spot again;
For Winter had thrown his icy chain
Across that gushing brook.

_March 1st, 1836._ H.

STORY AND SENTIMENT,
OR, CONVERSATIONS WITH A MAN OF TASTE AND IMAGINATION.
No. 2.

A WORD WITH THE READER.

‘Ho! how he prates of himself—listen!’

_Dryden’s Bride._

READER,—

If I was so fortunate as to please thee with my former offering—how shall I, as I resume my labors of this month, so weave from the store-house of my fancy such another vision, as shall make thee extend the hand of amity, and give me a second approving smile. To scribble for another, when you know not his taste—to attempt to bring out such a ‘conceit,’ as shall catch his kindness, and hurry him along with you into good humor, has ever, since the earliest essays in story writing, been accounted a delicate business. And why? because what pleases you, fair lady, pleases not my fellow student; and what pleases you, fellow student, pleases not somebody else; so a man finds himself like the bundle of oats betwixt—no, no! (Apollo forgive me!) I mean like the ass betwixt two bundles, &c. Washington Irving (Heaven bless him! and pardon _me_ for whipping his name into my thoughtless lucubrations) has somewhere—finding himself in a similar predicament—made this remark; ‘if the reader find, here and there, something to please him, let him rest assured that it was written expressly for intelligent readers like himself; but should he find any thing to dislike, let him tolerate it, as one of those articles which the author has been obliged to write for readers of a less refined taste.’ Allow me to say the same.

You should know, I think, by this time, that I am devoted to thy interest, as completely so, as ever belted knight on plain of Palestine, to his ‘ladye love,’—that my feelings and sympathies go out to thee, as a bee to its bower, a bird to its forest-nest, or any other of the bright creatures of God to the home of their affections—(by the by, you may smile at this. Stop! I know you’re not my ‘ladye love,’ nor am I a bee, or a bird, or any such nonsense; but, by my ‘saying of this simile,’ as sweet Sir Philip hath it, I meant only to apprise thee of my extreme devotion. You understand?),—that I would do any thing, to witch from thee, the heart-ache, even to the disquiet of the pleasant comfortableness of one of my soft, selfish, afternoon reveries,—that I would spend the last drop of my—no! not my blood exactly, for much as I love you, I love myself better; but I mean, I would spend the last drop of my—_ink_, to please you; and that you know is much better—for the ink of a literary man, _id est_ a poetical one, is worth more than his blood and body together.

But, though I have such a love for you, it would be sad, if, like the Paddy’s saddle-bags, it should all be found on one side; for I can no more prosper—and, if I must confess it, can no more love you without some remuneration, than a lover could kiss the turf on which his mistress had stepped, or make sonnets to her eye-brows, when she frowned on him. She is the sun of his existence, the centre, the cynosure of his passions, hopes, and dreams—to which, through the darkness that the world flings about him, he may send his longing eye, and his heart’s holiest aspirations. _You_ are the sun of _my_ being—the centre—cynosure—_et cetera, et cetera_; and it is equally impossible that I can make verses and stories for you, when every time I look up, I see that horrible scowl on your face—Pray, put it off.

But I’ll not believe you hate me—and when you receive this fresh number, and open upon this page for the _morceau_ I have for you, I know ye’ll give me a pleasant smile, and, with the honest Scotchman, say, ‘Deil! but I winna gie ither than thanks to a daft callan like ye.’

But—to business.

* * * * *

Talking with my friend one day on the subject of dueling, he gave me the following story.

THE DUEL.[2]

‘Men should wear softer hearts,
And tremble at these licens’d butcheries,
Even as other murders.’

_Bryant._

If there is one damning custom among the sons of men, ’tis dueling. Call it not murder—willful killing is murder; but this cool, calculating, exulting killing—killing not in madness, not in despair, when the heart tossed on a surge of passion, strikes, and repents next moment; but the coolly looking at the spot where the heart lies; the putting the dagger there calculatingly; and then, instead of pressing it home fiercely, thrusting it into the warm flesh, inch by inch, till the hot blood spurts over the fingers, and clots on the garments—this, what is this? Oh! call it not murder—murder is a thing of earth—earthly passions do it. But this—go to the pit where the damned shriek, and howl—select the most fiendish scheme of the prince of fiends—then, and then only, shall you have a parallel.

It was once my lot, to be a secondary actor, in a case of ‘honorable butchery;’ and one so black in itself, so heart-rending in consequences, that it is graven into my brain as with a stamp of fire. God of Heaven! when I think of it, even at this distance of time—when I see my friend stiff, ghastly, and stretched on the wet sands—when I hear the groans, which I heard there—when I see innocence, beauty, confiding affection, hanging over the yet warm corse, and pouring forth tears, as if crushed from the bottom of a heart loaded with the agony of ages—and then see the same creature, the inmate of a mad-house, and hear the moans and ravings for the dead object—and, with the peculiar characteristic of such insanity, accusing the loved one of coldness, ingratitude, unfaithfulness, and the like,—I say again, ages could not wipe out the recollection.

You are aware, that in the southern states, especially in the extreme south, men are guided more by their passions than at the north,—that there, dueling is little cared for,—that courageous is he who has shot his man,—that those only are cowards, who pale at blood, human blood, blood shed by their own hands. In no part of the south is this custom more prevalent, than at Natchez, on the Mississippi. New Orleans will not compare with it, or would not in the year 1816, the period of my story, and when I was a resident of that place. New Orleans, bad as it is, possessing greater means of indulgence, with its wealth to support theatres, gambling-houses, cock-pits, horse-races, and other such amusements—with its motley assemblage of inhabitants, Spanish, French, English, and Americans amalgamated,—with all these, it is not so bad as Natchez; and for this reason—that there are those, and in great numbers there, belonging to the northern and better regulated states, from whom, an imperceptible indeed, yet nevertheless great influence is sent into that community, and the people with more wickedness perhaps, have more conscience than any other of the extreme southern cities.

Natchez, it will be remembered, is on the eastern side of the Mississippi, and on one of the bends of that magnificent river, withdrawn a little from its banks, and sloping handsomely down to its flowing waters. Above and below the immediate town, are many eligible and pleasant sites for country seats, should that part of the country ever possess wealth and taste enough, to think of building them. But at the period of my story, there was nothing of the kind. Dark pine groves, and impenetrable thicks of beech and sycamore, with their lofty branches intertwined in many a wild convolution, made a high and thick canopy for the wearied traveler; while the beautiful flowers of the region, among which was the splendid magnolia, gave the forest, the freshness and fragrance of a lady’s flower garden. From morn till night, the woods were alive with music, and over all, was that sweet harmonist of nature, the American mocking-bird, with its rising and falling, ever-varying modulations—now screaming like the startled vulture of the cliffs—and now sinking away with a witching alternation of soft, plaintive, heart-moving minstrelsy, sufficient, it would seem, to charm rocks and forest trees,—He who built Thebes, would have thrown away his instrument in despair, could he have heard but one note of this wild-wood melodist.

I said there were no country seats there. I mistake. There was one bright spot, about twelve miles above Natchez, which, though it had small pretensions to the surpassing beauty of some of the fine superstructures on these northern rivers; nevertheless, for that day and place, it was, certainly, an elegant and hospitable mansion. That it was hospitable, many a man, yet living, can testify—for many were the travelers, visiting in that region, who spent days there, and enjoyed the rich hospitality and urbane attentions of its warm-souled, accomplished proprietor. This man, Charles Glenning, was certainly as gentlemanly a person as I ever knew. He was educated at the north—had spent his early days there—but for the sake of business, to which he betook him on leaving College, he went to the south, carrying with him as bright a bud of feminine loveliness, as ever God suffered to bloom in this uncongenial, ugly world. I cannot paint her—there’s no telling how beautiful she was. It wasn’t beauty of feature; neither was it beauty of mind—and yet, it was beauty of a high and ardent cast, which made you feel you were in the presence of a spirit, the moment you came near her. Forehead white as death—yet, neither intellectual nor otherwise,—soft blue eyes, that made you think they were little pieces cut out of the bluest summer sky,—complexion like ivory,—lips like the finest evening tints, in the back ground of one of Claude Lorraine’s landscapes,—and a figure as faultless as ever was hewn from the Pentelican marble, or set a painter a dreaming over his easel.—Imagine these, and you may get a glimpse of the laughing, bright-eyed Isabel Glenning.

Her love for her husband was as strange as her beauty. O! the treasure—the full, proud treasures of such a heart as that! Dive into mines—bring up jewels—fill your dwelling—win sceptres—ride the world like Cæsar or Alexander—and then offer me the pure, deep, devoted, heart’s affection of such a spiritual creature as she was, and I would spurn them all as the dirty commerce of dirtier minds. She lived only for him—she dreamed only for him—he was all. Place her in a palace, in an Esquimaux hut; in a fairyland, in a desert; no matter where—only with him—him she had chosen to live and die with, and her cup was full.

The circumstances which led me to their acquaintance were peculiar, and such as entwined me into their best feelings. They had been married about four summers; and the fruits of their union, was a little, crowing, curly headed boy, sweet as his mother’s beauty. I was hunting on the side of the Mississippi, one warm afternoon, when I observed something floating at a distance, which by means of my dog, was brought to land; and, to my surprise, were presented the lifeless, yet still warm features of this same little fellow. It seemed that playing near the river, he had fallen in, and was near about breathing his last. Taking him in my arms, I hurried home, and just in time to save him. From that hour, they loved me as a brother.

My story now leads me a little from the straight track, I have kept thus far—but ’tis necessary to turn aside a little, for the sake of the dark catastrophe, which brought sorrow and death into this Eden-dwelling I have described.

There was one Nat. Ralle, dwelling about half way between Natchez, and the plantation of my friend. His was one of those dark-browed, malicious countenances, which made one, in spite of himself, think of the devil, whenever he met him. He never spake like other men. If you met him in the woods of a morning, his salutation was in a low, surly tone, which made you doubtful as to its nature; and after he had passed you for forty or fifty yards, you might observe him stopping and looking back, as if he felt himself suspected by every body. This devil—for such he was, and such will he appear before I have done with him—more than once, had been seen prowling about the dwelling of Glenning; and once, being met suddenly, he turned and ran away into the woods, like one of the wild beasts he so much in disposition resembled.

There was a custom, which yet, I believe, exists in the southwestern new settlements, for a man to claim the exclusive privilege of hunting on a certain extent of ground, in the vicinity of his habitation. This right is as much insisted on, in certain parts of those states which I have visited, as are the game laws in England; and every one, every stranger-hunter, observes it, and recognizes the right by quitting the grounds, so soon as informed that an individual holds reasonable claim to them. This Ralle had, in open defiance of this knowledge, and against the reiterated, yet polite admonitions of Glenning, trespassed on his lands; and once shot a tame doe, which Glenning had kept for two or three years, the care of which had devolved on, and was a source of amusement to Isabel—and on that account it seemed a double injury.

Glenning, as cool a man as ever laid claim to the qualities of honor and honesty, at this, rode down to the plantation of Ralle, and mildly, yet earnestly, expostulated with him, on what was esteemed a breach of faith—careful at the same time to express his belief, that the shooting of his tame animal was undesigned, yet requesting, for fear of a similar occurrence, that he would hunt elsewhere in future, which thing he could do without incommoding himself.

To this mildness in Glenning, Ralle opposed the remark—‘That he would do as he pleased—that the woods were free, and that he should hunt towards the north or south, without asking leave of Yankee interlopers.’

This remark struck on the temper of Glenning, at an unlucky moment. The very consciousness of rectitude on his own part, made the insult fasten and rankle; and gave to it a barb, which, perhaps, in any other circumstances, would not have pained him. Glenning, I have said, was a gentleman. He was such, if there ever was one—a man of good morals, charitable in his disposition, and could not bear to inflict pain, even on a dumb beast. But there is, within the human heart—and philosophy may reason it over till doomsday, without explaining it—a something to quiet conscience, even in the best men, at times, and force them to acts, which in other circumstances they would shudder at. Dueling is one of them. Dueling, Glenning despised from his soul. I have heard him say so a thousand times, and sternly express his abhorrence of the man who could stain his hands with a fellow’s blood. He even rose once, and left an agreeable company, because he was told that such a gentleman present was a duelist. With such notions—and they were not mere talk with him—it is a thing I cannot explain, that he so far forgot himself as to hurl back the insult he had received, and in a manner calculated to lead to so sad a termination. He did so, however, and retort calling forth retort, they both lost their tempers—when, Ralle springing forward with a knife, Glenning knocked him down with the butt of his whip. He then turned and rode home.

Isabel met him at the door, and it needed but a glance to see that something was the matter. His brow was knit—his teeth set like a vise—and his lip curled with a stern haughtiness, which I had never supposed was in him before.

He tried to pass her. Isabel threw her arms about him, and burst into tears.

It awoke him—his happiness came back to his heart—the fiend fled from him—and he stood in the presence of that lovely, simple-hearted weeper, as helpless as a child. The effect of his passions unnerved him, like a fever; and he was forced to keep his chamber till evening. He then entered the parlor again.

To the fond inquisitiveness of Isabel, he now opposed, the heat of the weather, the weariness of his long ride, and some other little nothings; and by his wit, and pleasantry, succeeded in lulling her into a forgetfulness of the events of the day. O! that was a calm—a deep and awful calm. It was that which precedes the thunder—the moment between the flash and the bolt,—_And the bolt came_.

I had seen a messenger approach, and leave the gate at sun-set; and had suspicions, more than I dared acknowledge to myself. And yet, my friend was never more agreeable, than on that evening. It seemed as if some unheard of powers had been given him. Skilled in metaphysics—for they had amused him much at College—and, well acquainted with the principles, and history of the Fine Arts, he rambled from one to the other, with the most amusing madness—sometimes serious, sometimes turning a happy illustration into the most exquisite ridicule by some keen stroke of humor, and now running off again, in a manner at once new and electrifying. He was, on the whole, the most amusing man, for the time, I ever spent an evening with. Poor, poor Glenning!—but I will not anticipate.

When the evening closed, he followed me into my room; and, locking the door, sat down, and wept like a child.