The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-11-20
A LITERARY LIFE.

a LIIEhAh1 LII II.
II to know wisdom were 10 practise u, II lame
brought true dignity and peace OF mind, OF nap
piness consisted in nourshing the intellect with
lis appropriate food, and surrounding the lmagl-
nation with ideal beauty. literary life would be
the most enviable which the lost OF this world al
fords. But the truth is far otherwise. The
man of letters has no immutable, all-conquer'ng
yolition, more than other men; TO understand
and to perform two very different things
with him as with every one. His fame rarely
exerts a favorable influence on his dignity oil
character, and never on his peace Of mind Its
glitter is external, for the eyes OF others Within
i is but the aiment Of unrest, the oil cast upon
the ever-gnawing fire of ambition, quckening
into fresh vehemence the blaze which II stills
for a moment Moreover this man OF letters IS
not wholly made of spirit, but Of clay anG spirit
mixed His thinking faculties may be nobly
trained and exercised, but he must have alec
tons as well as thoughts To make HIM happy,
and food and raiment must be given HIM or he
dies. Far from being the most enylable, his
way of life is, perhaps, among the many modes
by which an ardent mind endeavors TO express
its activity the most thickly beset with suffering
and degradation Look at the biography o.
authors! Except the NeBgdte calendar, IL
is the most sickening chapter in the history Of
man. The calamites of these people are fer
tile topic; and too often their faults and wees
have kept pace with their caamities. Nor IS II
difficult to see how this has happened Talent
OF any sort is generally accompanied with pc
culiar fneness of sensibility of genius this is
the most essential constituent; and life in any
shape has sorrows enough for hearts so formed.
The employments ofliterature sharpen this natu-
raj tendency; the vexations that accompany
them frequently exasperate il into morbid sore
ness The cares and tolls of literature are the
business of life; its delights too ETHEREAL and
too transient to furnish the perennial How OF sa-
tisfaction, coarse, but plenteous and substantial
of which happiness in this world OF ours IS
made. The most finished efforts of the mind
give il little pleasure, frequently they give II
pain for mems aims are ever far beyond their
strength. And the outwardrecompense OF these
undertakings, the distinction they confer, is OF
still smaller value: the desire for it is Unsuitable
even when successful and when baffied, II Is
sues in jealousy and envy and every pitiful and
painful feeling. So keen temperament with
so little to restrain or satisfy much to distress
or tempt it, produces contradictions which few
are adequate to reconcile. Hence the unhappi
ness of literary men hence their faults and fol
lies.
Thus literature is apt to form dangerous and
disseminating occupation even for the amateur
But for HIM whose rank and worldly comforts
depend on it, who does not live TO write, but
fully increased. Few spectacles are more af-
fcting than that of such man, gifted and
so fated so iostled and tossed 10 and fro in the
r,,do bas,o OF life, tire bumtings or which he IS
so little fitted to endure. Cherishing it may be
the loftiest thoughts, and clogged with the mean
est wants Of pure and holy purposes, yet ever
driven from the straight path by the pressure Of
necessity, or the impulse of passion thirsting
for glory, and frequently in want of daily bread ;
lowering between the empyrean of his fancy,
and the squalid desert of reality; cramped and
foiled in his most strenuous exertions; dssatis-
fed with his best performances, Disguised with
his fortune, the man Of letters too often spends
his weary days in conflicts with obscure misery;
harrassed, chagrined, debased or maddened; the
victim at once Of tragedy and farce, the last for
lorn outpost in the war of mind against matter
Many are the noble souls that have persisted bit
terly, with their tasks unfinished, under these
corroding woes Some in utter famine, like OF
way some in dark insanity, like Cowper and
Collins some like Chatterton, have sought
out more stern quietus and turning their in
dignant steps away from world which refused
them welcome, have taken refuge in that strong
fortress, where poverty and cold neglect and
the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heirto
could not reach them anymore.
Yet among these men are TO be found the
brightest specimens and the chief benefactors
of mankind! 1t is they that keep awake the
finer parts Of our souls that give us better aims
than power or pleasure and Withstand the total
sovereignty of mammon in this earth. They
are the vanguard in the march of mind the in
tellectual backwoodsmen, retaining from the
idle wilderness new territories for the thought
and the activity of their happier brethren. Pity
that from all their conquests, so rich in benefits
to others, themselves should reap 50 little But
il is vain to murmur. They are volunteers in
this cause; they weighed the charms of il
against the perils, and they must abide the re-
suits of their decision, as all must. The hard
ships Of the course they follow are formidable,
but not all inevitable and to such as pursue il
rightly, it is not without its great rewards. IL
an authors life is more agitated and more pain
full than that of others, it may also be made more
spirit-stirring and exalted: fortune may render
him unhappy; II is only himself that can render
him despcable. The history Of gerius has, in
fact, its bright side as well as its dark. And If
il is distressing to survey the misery, and what
is worse, the debasemeni of so many gifted men,
il is douby cheering on the other hand to reflect
on the few, who, amid the temptations and sor-
rows to which life in all its provinces and most
in theirs is liable, have travelled through il in
calm and virtuous majesty, and are now hallow-
ed in our memories, not less for their conduct
than their writings. Such men are the flower
of this lower world to such alone can the cpl
tibet of great be applied with its true emphasis
There is a congruity in their proceedings which
one loves to contemplate: che who would write
heroic poems, should make his whole life a he
roIc poem"
So thought our Milton, and what was more
difficult he acted so. To Milton, the moral king
Of authors, an heroic multitude out Of many ages
and countries might be joined; 'cloud Of wit
nesses," that encompass the true literary man
throughout his pilgrimage, inspiring him to lofty
emulation, cheering his solitary thoughts with
hope, teaching him TO struggle, 10 endure, to
conquer difficulties, or, in failure and heavy suf-
ferings, TO
narm ih' nhlnrel hreast