New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-02-15
Biographies Of sorrow.

| -. "a inournfal works among them. Hay
len 8 autobiography is.the last publication Of
the class and aa it Is now being generally read.
| 1t gives US text for some xe1narks.
The biographical sketches Of Keats. sferring
| Poe' Letitia f. Landon. and Margaret Fuller
Ossol, are far Representatives of this sorrowful
| 4terature. Not, lndeed, that they all strike as
/ deep note of sadness in our hearts or ilustrate
the same aspects Of human grief @ona siebs
| amid the pomps of summer noon another he
meath the silent stars. The tonesof this sfricl-
| en- spirit is low and subdued: Of that, loud and
| oaspben1ous. Here, are plaintiye utterances
there, terrible outbursts. But this only deepens
| the painful emotion The thought forces itself
upon us, that human life has a nervous net
work, delicate and tender, spread over the world,
without as well as within, and that thousand
forces are playing on it with ceaseless freedom,
| But these books are reducible to a single
class. Their subjects are members Of the same
aoaseholt, and their mourning robes, if not
lash enable alike. are Of the same hue All of
| them walk beside the g Mothers of .Soryoao.''
When they speak it is in the same strain and if
silent, their hearts threb the same pulse upon
the yielding air.
1t is easy to trace out the main causes Of their
suferings. Men Of Genius usually begin the
| world by quarrel with Providence So far
| from mendng the matter in this way, they
rarely fail to sharpen the daggers that pierce
| them. Such warfare is the most improbable
OF all strife. If these laws were unjust and
cruel, it would be folly to contend against their
omnipotence. But wise as they are; full OF in
| finite moral tenderness even amid their physical
| severity, and ever seeking to discipline us in
the patient pursuit of immortal aims; it is little
| short of madness to indulge hostile temper
| towards them. The fact il, that genius is too
much engrossed with its own ideal contempla-
tions to care for its personal adaptations to the
| external world. It forgets that thought is not
| the chief purpose of life Its dreams are not
T1y1tJya n
| empt from the condition Of earthly objects. Ge-
| MUS is tavorite with its possessor. But it is
| no pet with the seasons or with storekeepers 1t
is down on the Ievsl of common humanity wher-
ever meat and bread are concerned; and in
| matters of elevated happiness, it is subject to
mere stringent laws than apply to the rest of
| mankind But Genius persists in claiming ex-
| ceptional privileges, and because stern Nature
| turns deaf ear and shows an indignant face,
snrrenders itself to pettish tsmpers and bitter
reyilngs f{ -
Nor are gifted men less frequently unreason-
able in their social claims. They expect too
much from society. They expect it too, in the
wrong way. The organization of the world is
on principles of personal industry and earnest
solicitude for ones indiyidualinterests. Wheth-
er this is right or wrong is no practical ques-
ton. 1t is so; and candidates in the race of
life, eager for its honors or emoluments are
| bound to take it for granted and act according
ly But these men are dead against all such
miserable conyentionalisms They have no sym
pathy with the creed of the streets. The phi
losophy of workshops and busy marts is their
abhorrence. OF course, they have right to
| their opinions. But if they take rebeilious
| attitude or even practice indifference to the
rules of sober, everyday affairs, they must bear
the responsibilities, They cannot have the rain
/ bow without the storm
In our day. society is the {. chief Of sinners.,'
according to the prevailing fashion of opinion on
this subject. 1t is the veriest Saturn, devour-
ing its own children; the giant Moloeh with its
hot brazen arms around the horizon. Person-
/ al guilt, in its myriad shapes, from careless
ness up to deliberate crime, is altogether an
| excusable weakness, small misfortune And
thus, responsibility is gracefully shifted off, and
| every man of neglected worth is busy in trial
| of society for ruinous libel on his fortunes
| With what eloquence he pleads his injured inno-
! cence! Alas! for the cause and the client! A
| little common sense would sson secure a true
verdict And if the grumbler would fall into
| the ranks of human service, and do duty in the
| open field of hard .endeavor, he wonld soon get
| his share of the world as well as acquire a ca
pacity to enjoy its blessings. IN. Y. Times.
| DRYDEN's PoYEgrY.--I was after preparinga
second edition of Virgil, that the great Dryden,
who had lived, and was to die, in harness, found
| himself still obliged to seek for daily bread
Scarcely relieved from one heavy task, he was
compelled to hasten to another; and his efforts
were now stimulated by domestic faeling---
the expected return of his son in i'll health from
| Rome. In letter to his bookseller he patheti-
cally writes, @ If it please God that Inlast die
| of oUer-study, cannot spend my life better than
| in preserving his" 1twas on this occasion, on the
i verge of his seyentieth year, as he describes
/ himself in the dedication OF his Virgil, that,
worn out with study, and oppressed with for
tune,'' he contracted to supply the bookseller
with ten thousand verses at sixpence a line.
! SELECTIONS FROM THE LONDON DIoGENEs.-
The Most Difficult ascent. Getting up sub-
/ scription. ..
Tae Table .cf Distance The dinner-table
| Of rich relation.
What the Lady says TO her Bonnet. 'sBe
| off, with you. $
What the Most Selfish Man nepef Objects
to Pay. Attention to his own comfort
Raisin' the Spirits We notice that Charles
Dickens advertises his ''Child's History of Eng
land, with a table of dates.' We fancy that
table of muscatels and almonds would prove
more acceptable.
EDWIN FoRREsT.-0f this gentleman, who is
now playing at Washington. the Union Of that
city speaks in the following just terms OF praise;
Mr.. Forrest is one of those who have reached o
dazzling eminenee, after having fought through
and fought down a most violent opposition.
| The very fact that he came before the public
without the advantage of early education pre-
pared him for the most cruel criticisms, and it
was long after his amazing merits in his arduous
profession were developed that he was enabled
to take, and to hold his position in the front
rank of his competitors. From that moment,
though not unopposed OF unassailed he has
steadily advanced Calumny has tracked his
footsteps, and some of those who affect TO know
most have sought to destroy him by unjust and
ungenerous structures; but he has always had
the people with him. As the elder Kean. on his
return home, on the night of his first appear
ance in London, said to his wife, when she want
ed to know how Lord -- was pleased "D-n
Lord -" said Kean, ssths pit rose at me -
So with Forrest The masses, Including not
only the constituent, but the representative, not
only the teacher, but the scholar, have always
been his strongest supporters. The acting OF
Mr. Forrest, like most Of the characters he as
sumes, is massive and dignifed OF exquisite
| Judgment and taste, and especially familiar
with the sources and springs Of human passions,
Forrest plays upon the feelings with resistless
influence; and points which in other hands
would be lost are rendered by him with mel
| low and ehastened eloquenee that speaks to the
| heart as with voice OF inspiration. His acting
| is like great painting which may be inspected
| eysrEs dag e 5s{s5zE