New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-09-04
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 4

LARGE was isip, compared with the id1asry which
she received from thoae 10 whom the beauty OF her
private life WAS daily revealed, In thousand acss
of devoted and graceful banehcence.
In proportion to her power OF rejection, IN sne
Gaze Of inferior and fictitious characters, was Ene
strength of hsr attachment TO those whom sac
honored with her friendship. Among these Wets
several Of the most eminent nen IN the nstr0Po'
liz of New-York and OF Massachusetts. Nor was
she destitute, 81 is so often the case wish hgnly
Intellectual women, Of warm and eathusiasfc
friends among her own sex. II may oe rneasionea
asa singular fact that abe had feT enemies among
women; her power over them wss wondetai
magnetizing them By the atiaent stream OF heF
discourse; winning their generation 6y tue N AZ
tefIy power of her intellecr subIly tntertuslns
herself into their Affections by the Spontaneous
glow OF her sympathy; even where Rne started
many an ancient prejudice, or perhaps maay
wholesome conviction, by the Erenchant holiness
Of her theories Her most violent hostillfles were
with persons of the opposite sex. W hen sue net
them on their own arena, 1t YES usually the alsaai
for giving battle However powerful as cou1-
Blatant it was not in that capacity she gained neE
most brilliant tgiumphs. have been told By those
who attended her g Conversations with ladies' IN
Boston, that under the inspiration OF congenial
audience and q fayorits theme, her eloque1ce,
though often purpled over with vague twilight
glory, possessed an enchansmens which seemed
le.s like the utterapce ct daughter of the Pdr1
kGDa IMAM u Tue sunny SSHA1S vi al 1H@iANNA 49,
provisssrice.
Der early education acting upon her native
tasteg prepared her for al eminent rank in the
sphere Of elegant literature. She was initiated
ntu tho olasaicz when quite child, and oy tho
rough discipline IN ph0ugy laid the found alton t0t
the skill in languages which wsg subsc quenty one
OF her leading distinctions. In due course Of time
abe became familiar with the literature OF France
Germany and Italy, blending With her foreign
studies wide acqu sinIance with the great mas.
H. L. lof7r n ian
guage. Few persona of either sex in this country
had gone over wider range of study In the depart
men. of belle Iettres, or could claim greater de
gree Of receptivty for the nobest pro AUCTIONS Of
genius in modem civil cation. She was deeply IN
tsfesed In Italian literature profoundly entering
into the spirit Of Dante aud p1ssessing critic Il
knowledge and appreciation OF bis sublime poems.
But the fresh. living and romantic character Of
German literature exercised the strongest charm
ovefher intellect and fully attracted her within It's
magic circle. For q long time Goethe was the
hero of her intellectual worship; bis writings we're
her favorite study; and among her cherished plans
of literary effort complete and critical biography
Of the great bard held prominent place. am un
able 10 sueek from personal knowledge Oh this
point but am sure that ofIate years her enthusi
ann for Goethe must have greatly abated-her
me- born zeal FOR political liberty and her sympa
thy with struggling nations being inconsistent with
warm admiration for the impsssve, mpetturba0le
serenity the Epicarean Indifference and the super
human or inhumsn scoen with which he reg Arded
the troubled and blood stained current OF national
affairs.
She herself was thrown by the force OF circum
stances rather than OF inclination, upon the raging
sea Of politics. Her natural vocation was that OF
critic. With her fine, instructive sehse OF every
manifestation of beauty in literature and art, and
her analytical aaill she bad avery intellectual
qualification for consummate Judge OF artistic
merit. / do not say that her Judgment was not
I'D b1,h tn1tp |
that she was thus led into the error both OF an ex-
aseerased estimate OF some, and OF harsh intoler-
ance OF others But, with the genuine fairness ana
hindiness of her nature, she would have ousgro"n
this fault and with a wider range OF comprehen
sion would have attained to truer and more uni
versal appreciation OF various forms OF excellence
Ii was the error OF iuvenility and OF limited exPe-
rience She would have been sure TO lay It aside
with maturing wisdom, had she not been entced
from the walks of literature to the field OF politics.
For my own part | csHnot but regret that this
change was ever made. lt wac not IN accordance
with her highest tastes, nor her peculiar gifts For
MANY wears she kept herself aoof from tbs tur
moi Of controversy combining herself entir ely TO the
highest spheres of literature, and even sho wing no
sympathy with measures of political and social re
form, in which many OF her more sa1guine friends
were deeply engaged. Che might have oeen
called one ofthe New England Transcendentasts,
but with the Beformers OF that school she had no
communion, nor scarcely point in common Her
widely read as any of her writings. No one can
call in question the intellectual visoF which they
display, whatever ants gonism Of opinion they may
excite am happy TO notice that since her stormy
exit, with scarce a single exception, the presses
that were the loudest IN her yltuPeratlon are
prompt to do the most delcste and cordial justice
10 her memory.
With all the prominence which was held by
Margaret Fuller before the public, it must be nj.
niited that she has left nothing on record which
her friends can regard an adequate expression
OF her genius. Everything thatls said soous her
by those to whom she was best known, must nave
an air of exaggeraton to those who we're familiar
only With her productions. She did Lot live to
attain the power Of free, rapid symmetrical peliu-
cid expression with her pen, OF which she hsd
Euch surprising mastery in conversation der
written stvle suggested no adequate Idea OF the
force, vividness, and propriety of her Thoughts.
She needed the excitement of living sympathy or
opposition to open the fountains OF her eIoquence,
and to cothe her thickooming fancles, in the bead
tiful and picturesque garb which formed Tor them
both becoming ornament and necessary defeaso
| know not that aha would have ever attained the
fluent facility which Ia commanded by many lar IN
fefioF TO her1ef Still il ia often rot until late
period of mental development, that such minds
come into possession Of q vehicle adapted to their
nature Until then, like her. shey must expect to
be comprehended ouly in distant and uncertain
eEmpGes and even those, perhaps confined TO the
partial vision OF familiar friends The hBtory OF
her interior life from the time when she brat be-
came cor scious of her peculiar gifts, In very pre-.
cocious childhood, to the hour when she found her
grave in the wide weltering ses, would form
most curious chapter in the book Of human nature.
II will never be written.
54onPrRoEIERrs oFYIcK, ALBANY, JAY a. lseo-sealed
P"ss -Ss r'e ere, y u; S rassy ,se
f5aowlnS ,rlelss OF STATIONERY VA