Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-11-30
Biographical.
From the Aeto- York Evangelist.
LAMlRTlNE. NO. |,
BY JOHN 3. C. ABBOTT.

BY JOHN 3. c. ABBOTT. .e
There are two classes Of characters which con.
tlnuaIly attract our observation, those in which
the material, and those in which the spiritual
predOmlnaes The one lives mainly in the
world OF fact the other in the world of thought
aud feeling. The one is merry, joyous, and
Us thing deeply TO heart, is unsuscep-
tihle of intense affection, but Con fit from
II nd TO friend, and from Joy to joy, ms the
butterfly beauteous creation of the sunlight, fits
from flower to flower The other is pensive,
with strain Of mournfulness vibrating upon all
the chords of the spirit, attuned, like the wires
of an EOan harp, only to plantiv~ apeIody.-
The full soul beams through molstened eye,
in every hn"r "r true happiness, in every emo
ton OF notwithstanding affection Those of the
first class are far better adapted to encounter
the storms and the conflicts Of such world as
this. Those of the latter class have richer Joys,
and deeper sorrows, and nobler nature.
AIphonse de Lamartne, who has recently oc-
cupIed so prominent position in France, pre-.
sents, in his active character a very striking il.
lustratlon Of the man who lives in the world of
intellect and of feeling. And it is the fervor of
his glowing soul, which has enabled him to ex-
ert an Influence, so facinating, over nearly all
human hearts He was ir infancy rocked in
the cradle of storms. The French Revolution
swept, like tornado, over the fortunes of the
family, 'whelminR them in recoverable ruin.
The sensitive little boy wept, with almost burst
ing heart, as his imagination followed his father
to the dungeons of prison, where lie was for
long time immured. More serene days, howev-
er, succeeded these months of woe, and the i'm.
Poverished parents gathering the wrecks of their
shattered hopes, led their children to an obscure
but rural retreat, where upon the green lawn of
the farmhouse, and under the shade of majestic
linden trees, and upon the margin of rustng
brook, where the duckIings fed and swan, the
poetic boy, ever surrendering himself to reverie
passed tranquil and happy childhood.
Happy indeed is that child who has mother
real mother; not one who merely nurses and
carresses and dresses her infant, as a modern
fashionable fondles her poodle dog but one who
has mind and heart, to inspire the soul of
her child with feeling, to create within him I'M
mortal desires, to ennobIe his intellectual nature
with lofty hopes and aspirations. Such mother
had Lamartine Her noble spirit was fused in
his. She has been and still is even from her
celestial home. the guardian angel OF his life
my mother" says Lamartne, "received from
her mother, on the pillow of death, beautiful
Bible, in which she taught me to read when
was little child. That Bible had engravings
on sacred subjects on every page. When had
rected my lesson well, and cad, with few errors
the half page of sacred history, my mother I'M
covered the engraving, and holding the book
open upon her knees, prompted me to look, aud
explained it to me for my recompense. The
silvery, afectionate sound solemn and passionful,
of her voice, gave to every sentiment she uttered
powerful, charming and love-ke accent; and
those SOFT impressive tones ring, even now, i'll
my ears, after years of silence"
1t was by the side Of this mother that this beautiful
boy, his little hand casped in hers, ana his large blue
eye gstening with emotion, imbibed from the word of
God the first inspirations of poetry and led to
those inward comnunings which have rendered his
career through life ilustrious But as time passed
IN, the boy, still in his early years, was sent to the
Oensve soudes Of the clOster to attend to his collie
gate education, under the tuition Of grave and melan
holy monks. In that secluson into which no souEd
If this worlds turmoil penetrated, where noon day
cast but dim twilight into the sombre cells of the
world renouncing, where chants and anthems mathis
and vespers patelnosters and Ave Maras alone div
ersied the monotonous hours the spirit of Lainartine
revelcd in congenia, yet melancholy joys. His own
thoughts were his world In that alone he lived. The
storms which howled around the venerable towers Of
The monastery; the moonbeams which slept upon the
graves Of the departed brothers, the cheerful sunlight
of the warm spring morning, which awuke the voice
Of melody from every songster of the garden and of
the grove, but the excitements CT those inward
Thoughts -stimulants to that luxury of emotion in
which Lanartne lived and moved and had his being.
From these sombre Of reyerie and ofsudy, La
MARITIME emerged into the noisy and tumuuous world,
all unprepared for the perilous encounter with its
temptations.
A heart like that Of Lamartne must have, besides
its God, congenul heart, whose spirit shall blend in
kindred sympathy with his own Such one he soon
found in Elva Her soul ardent sincere and passion
ful tlrobbed unison with every emotion which glow
ed in his own They mtt but to be attracted to each
other by resstess power. To her the ardent youth
surrendered his soul, with the homage almost of ador.
alton. She was the whole world to him. A young
man of such temperament, loves with an intensity
which is almost agonzing. His spirit struggles to es-
cape from the letters of its material bondage to blend
in celestial affinity with the object of its doatry. In
the dreams of night and the reveres oday, the image
ofthe loved entrances every faculty of The SOUL in
delrium from which there Is TO escape. The habit
ofstudy-the high culture of the reflective powers
past indulgence in imagination and revee do but give
new energy to this alI.absorbing passion uxuriating
in the mysterious depths of the human SOUL Love-
who has yet understood its power? 1t is the essence of
Deity 1t is the element Of heaven It is the soul Of
pety 1t is the bliss, and the bane of EARTH the most
terrible and agitating passiOn which can wreck the