The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-06-23

call an intellectual and what we call an unlntol-
lectual man, is only that in one his intellect is
developed, and that in the other it is not
sometimes for want of observation-disclosures, j
think, from the heavy, sluggish, bodily structure
which he has inherited from uneducated, I'M
thinking, animal ancestors. The thick skull
and fat brain shut down and clog the spirit
In the spiritual body it can work better. And
well'educated persons are always more or less
intellectual, and different in their intellectual
powers. AS they go on in their development,
they separate further No two great Tor, in
other words, well-developed men are really
alike, even if we call them by the same names,
Of artists" philosophers or saints" They
start like divergent lines from common
point, their birth. At ten months DID, the diff
ference between them may still be microscopic
but it can commonly already be seen by sharp
observers; at the end of ten years, they are at
least an inch apart at twenty, yard; at fifty,
o mile; and when they leave the world, and We
lose sight of them, often a league. Only
imagine, then, what the difference must be be-
tween the intellectual powers and qualities of
even common men, whose development has
gone on under all the favorable influences of
the heavenly subsequently,, example, en-
couragement, assistance, and the most judicious
and afectionate guidance--for thousands of
ages
was still dwelling upon the picture of heaven,
and him who had drawn it. Herman" said
she, with her blue eyes swimming in tears, as
he paused, it seems to me as If, feeling you
dc about the other world, you must almost long
to die"
Sand leave your" said he, smiling, but
drawing her cool hand to him, and laying it
upon his forehead, which was too hot. 8 i am
very we'll cOntented to wait where l am, and en-
Joy the distant prospect. One must not be too
impatient Even at the banquet of eternity,
do not want the fruit before / have had my
second course"
He looked too tired to talk any more, and
called Constance to come and sing to him the
Psalm of Life" which she and Clara had
ranged as duet to a beautiful air of Handefs.
Herman was very much IN love with life. He
had taken its attitudes and sounded its depths
already, as few men have at his or any age.
He had not yet begun to gain strength as fast
as he or they had hoped. In May, the weather
was raw, damp, windy, and altogether untavOr-
able to his passing so much time as he would
have wished to do in the open air; for he was
not sufficiently vigorous to take exercise active
| enough to keep him warm Outefdoors. In
June, there was no cold to complain of; but
the heat came Oh so suddenly and violently,
that " it was enough" so Edward declared, ITO
melt down bronze Hercules F" and Herman,
| at least, like the bronze Hercules, in re-
spect to its effect upon him, though certainly
not at that time in any other respect. 1t
continued through July, and Herman had not
yet rallied in any good degree from the prostra-
| ton which it had caused in him; though for a
week past-ever since August came in--both
atmosphere and temperature had seemed made
for him, dry and bright, but as cool and bracing
as September. If he was disappointed, how
ever, in the rapidity of his convaescence, he
showed scarcely any sign of noticing its delay,
except, indeed that whereas in May all his lit
tie plans for rides, walks, or long drives, to
show Constance old favorte views and haunts
in the neighborhood, were made for g tomorrow
or the day after" and in June for next week"
they were now fixed for "next month"
! Scarcely any such plans had yet been carried
out Eager as he was for exertion, he looked
| SO utterly unfit for it, and was sometimes so
unwell after it, that Edward, III his professional
capacity, had forbidden it for the present, with
some peremptorness; and the young athletes
| daily exercise was now little more than short
airing in barouche in the afternoon, and in
| the morning a saunter across the road, and up
the barbery- crested bank to the bars of the pad
dock, where poor old Bayard, fast falling into
the dotage of his short-lived kind, hobbled
along at sight of his master, putting his best
| foot (which was by no means good one) fore
most, to receive a bunch of pink and white
clover blossoms. Thither Constance, follow
ing Herman one day, heard him condoling
with the venerable steed, and saying, as he
pated his nose, 4" SIC transit SIC trdnsin,us-
poor fine old fellow So the most glorious bays
of this world must soon droop and perishl"
But it must have been merely general re-
| Election; for, though there tenderness in
his voice, there was no sadness and, at the
sound of her light step behind him, he turned
round with smile as bright as the morning.
and, dividing his flowers between Bays mouth
and her hair, playfully crowned her forehead
with rosy diadem.
The summer is very apt to be trying
time to any one who is not strong, particularly
a summer like this. A little bracing, breezy,
autumn weather will set him up, you'll find !"
so Edward said; so Herman thought; and
Constance believed and Clara hoped. In the
mean while, if the summer had been "a trying
| time" to him, it had also apparently been,
| thus far, a season of enjoyment, almost unal-
| Logged and unearthly. The messages of remem-
brance, the kind inquiries of one after an
| other old acquaintance of his family, of which
Edward had reports to bring back, every time
that he went to Boston; the beauty and tran
guilty of the fair wild Nature about him, and
the attendance of Constance and Clara, were
daily and hourly teasts to him. The greater
Pnfl VI thcH oayS thcy spent III the tent, ptcHtu
in one or another dry, airy, and picturesque
spot, in order that he might enjoy the scenery,
and be constantly breathing in the pure salt
breath of the brine, without fatigue, without
/ exposure, and with them. He heard them
read he saw them work. and talked with
| them or, when too tired to speak or hear an
other word, he stretched himself at their feet,
and they thought he slept, while he +" felt their
presence and enjoyed the memory of past
| sorrow, the hope OF coming Joy, and the soft,
luling whispers of the ripping waves beneath
them, that murmured Of Eternity, Eternity !"
while the young man dreamed of life.
He seemed so happy, that it seemed hard to
RIM the risk Of disturbing him by word, look,
or sign, but after a second week passed by, |
bringing seven bright suns, and day by day, |
clear, fresh breezes, but still no visible amend
ment in him, Edwards anxiety at last broke |
through the fear of exciting Herman's, (which
hitherto had kept him silent since the first few
days Of his return,) so far that he suggested to
him that he might hasten his recovery by hav-
ing further advice. Herman was not disturbed
by this proposal On the contrary, he caught
at il with some eagerness; and it appeared
that be had been kept from making it himself,
only by the fear of hurting his brothers profess
sional feelings.
Therefore, week after week, one eminent
| physician after another came to Sea Farm !; |
and to one after another he repeated, with the |
same kind of calm, clear earnestness, the same
story of " not one single pain, or bad feeling |
even, that he was conscious of; but such strange
weakness and sluggishness, fatigue without ex-
| ertion,i sinking without appetite, and drowsi- |
ness without power to sleep" They, singly |
and severally, answered, that he had been