Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1859-06-09
The Love Of the Reantifnl.

The love of the beautiful is of celestial
origin. 1t is the holy offspring of an affect
ion for the good and true. The myriad
phases of earthly beauty, that spring up in
lifo's humblcst pathways, are visible symbols
of the infinite, inehabe beauty of diyiner
spheres How afflucnt is the exuberapt earth
in revelations of lovelines! They burst into
life beneath our feet, in
. The bright mosacs that with stored beauty
The floor Of Natures temple tesselate--"
they beat the air with iris-tinted pinions
above our heads-stretch out enchanting
vistas before our eyes--dance on the crest OF
the impetuous NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. upon the
bosom of the tranquil stream-gaze at their
own images in the mirror of the CLASSY lake
look down from the ffulgent stars-unfurl
their orient.hued banners at the waving OF
Aurora's hand-shoot their meteoric lights
before wondering eyes-arch the prismatlDc
bow in the blue canopy abovc--start into lite
whenever Nature lifts her sceptre, an undlS-
puted sovereign. sparkle in every qulverlng
dcw-drop- puIsate through the great artery
of all creation. And day and night these
glorious witnesses of beauty's all-pervadins
existence are chanting in chorus, Love the
beautiful, for those immortal fountains,
whence all purity descends, are beauty's well.
spring." And the poet lifts his voice to
echo the universal hymn, and sings
THUS was Beauty sent from Heaven,
The lovely ministries of Truth and Good
In this dark world for Truth and Good are one
J And Beauty dWels in them, and they in her,
With like participation. Wherefore then,
o soni Of EARTH would We dissolve the tie! =
Bat the world is not embelished by the
beauty which prodigal Nature alone unfolds /;
her hand maiden Art, develops the beautiful
with emulating skill, and when she weds a
pure creation to noble use, her brow is
radiant with Natures borrowed crown! The
vivid reflex of the painters genius mirrored
upon our walIs--the triumph of the sculptor's
chscl reared in our homos-are not mere
tasteful, proitless Injuries. There is soul
refining power in their familiar contemplation
they quicken those higher sensibiiities
which time is making constant effort to
deaden--thcy find avenues to the dormant
heart, hitherto undiscovered-they lift the
daily thoughts out Of the monotonous round
Of petty solcitudes--out Of the mirc Of COM
mon place cares which SO quickly destroy
the freshness of the spirit--they fill the mind,
through the eye, with eevating images-wth
visions Of serener realms, until the clamor
and tumut of thi world sound aIar off, Thus
inspired, Art shares Natures glory when she
achieves the beautiful and lays the offering
upon a heaven-dedicated alter.
| There is class of beings who seem especially
gifted With beautyying eyes,
'with prompt embrace all beauty to enfold."
They have an unconscious power of idcalizing
whatever they look upon in Nature, in Art
in Humanity, They deck the granite hard
ness Of Reality with the tender and clinging
ivy OF sentiment, and cover the sharp angles
of bare facts with the volvety MOSES Of
Imagination. With them there is ever an
under-current of poetry flowing beneath life's
turgid stream Of tritest prose- They arc the
worlds true poets, though perchancc they
cannot lay claim to the smallest foothold Of
territory in Parnassus and have never beer
impclled by the stirring Of the divine affla.
tus' to pen an inspiration. They are the
true artists, though they paint no pictures
for they lave the artist-instinct throbbine
within, and a living panorama of graceful
forms, symmetrical outlines, and glorious
scenes, is ever passing in long procession
before their mental vision. Better still
they arc constantly moved by an irresistible
impulse to make Beauty and Use clasE
hand. As Lnnaeus constructed a dial ou
of flowers and, by the expanding and closing
of delicate blossoms, told the time of day al
accurately as il it had been chronicled by thu
intricate machinery of a watch, so the pass
ing hours of those who inherit this beautify
ing temperament are marked by the bloom
ing and folding of lfe's choicest flowers.