Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-06-16
THE ANTI-SLAVERY BUGLE.
From The dublin University Magazine.
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

The story of Auderscn's life is, in itself, a per
feet roman. c of reality and it conveys II noble
moral lesson, which will so down p~rofitaSly to-
postcrity. y poor boy is born i'll a country and
amid scenes which offer no extraordinary spur to
the development of talent, but rather the reverse.
From his very childhood he has intuitivoly felt that
he possessed that within him which distinguished
aud set him apart from others OF his own age aud
class-somcthing that would, with Gods blessing,
hereafter enable him to become n great man, even
as other poor little boys had become of whom we
read in the story books. AS he commenced the
cultivation OF the talent which has been intrustcd
to him, with trust in God and persevero" for his
motto, amid extreme Encouragement, and rebufis.
Poverty cannot extlnguish TIE sacred spark in his
breast the meanness of his education and his ig
norancc of the world, shall not dnunt him. A
mere child in years and in knowledge Of all that
is practical in life sets forth all alone from his hum.
bic home, and arrives at the distant great city,
%friendlcss and almost 2enniless. Onward-upt the
hill !! that is the secret cry of his heart and he
fights with adverse circumstauces-he struggles
onward and upward-till he stands at the summit
of the goal, triumphant, yet bowed down with
gratitude to the Divine Protector, whose aid he
never ceased to implore, and filed with love to-
wards his brother man. And now, great men and
princes, yea, kings and queens, greet him kindly,
and take him by the hand and set him at their
table, and tell him how they admire his works and
his heroic victory in the great battle of life And
they tell him they wish to confer on him such out
ward marks of their royal approval, as may testi-
ify to the sincerity of that admiration in the eyes of
their subjects. And so the crosses and stars of
four orders Of kniShthood glitter on his breast. and
he is the friend and companion of the great and
noble, and the cherished author of innumerablc
readers in both hemispheres-he the son of the
poor Odensee shoemaker! Well may he himself
marvel ut his own career. and be disposed to con.
slider himself specially favored by God and man.
As the touch of Midas transmutes all things into
gold, so does that of Andersen all things into pc
esy. lie takes II stalk of fax, a tree, q flower, OF
even a solitary blade of grass growing in n barren,
thirsty soil, and endows it with eloquent language,
with melodious utterance Of charming thoughts
and yet we cannot smile, and say, this is a childish
lcOnceit, for we feel and know shat Il profound NOR.
al truth or wise counsel is symbolized in the beau
tifully worded ~allcgory. There is a purpose in
the most see. lingly fanciful and fantastic of his
conceptions-another meaning than what promin
emily meets the eye, and the youngest Of his read
ers is aware of this. No living author has 81
perseveringly and successfully labored to show IL
that the clements of the richest poetry, and a sou
of goodness dwell in everything that surround us
as Andersen. lie luvcsts the most common pro
ductions of nature, and the mcanest and most fl
lmiliar domestic objects with n halo of pocsy, an,
we glow with pleasure, an wonder that we nevc
appreciated the real loveliness and spiritual sym
bollsm OF all created things, till he, the magician
unveiled all before us, and babe us rejoice an,
thank God for the innumcrable gifts and blessing
that fill the earth for our use and delight Say
do we not owe a deep debt of gratitude 30 the MAJ
who, with r%csistless eloquence, and in all sincerit
OF purpose,-strives with ycarning heart and soul
to induce US to love God and one another bette
than we do-strivcs to purify us, to gladden. an,
ennoble us by gentlcst, sweetest cachings-striye
to eschew the evil, and search out only the goo,
and true and beautiful, in nature and in man
strives to impart to us all n portion of his owl
genial faith and sensibility, so that we may be
come happy even as he is himself? Say, wha
does this man deserve of his fellows? lie is
poet, a true poet, and a great poet, and he wOul
have us all lie poets also, Tor he knows there ar
the elements of poetry inherent in every man, a
though unto very few is given the faculty to adj
quately express what they feel. lie would hay
us all participate in that exquisite enjoyment
the works Of creation which is the poet
birthright-a b~irtlright that kings can ne
Their give nor take away. He would have us lrv
somewhat more after the fashion that the Almight
designed, when he babe man rcplcnish the ear
with his kind, Say, then, reader, hath this man
this president poet--lived altogether in vain in h
generation, and shall his name perish with h
body on earth? We trow not.