Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-11-19
sympathy PrncticnII1 Considered.

sympathy we nave called tne am0rOSla OF
the soul; and such, when mutual, it Isl but,
unreturned, it is wormwood in the chalice
of our being. ----.r
Unlike to love or friendship, Sympathy is
not, Of necessity, reciprocal. 1t shines not
from reflected beams, and burns not from
superadded fire. ~
Like breeze and stream, it sighs and flows
from Natures law, nor knows the wherefore
of its origin. Naught calls it forth and naught
restraints it is the uninstructed soul encom-
passing and comprehending all congenial
spirits in its own. Purpose il does not own;
motive it does not recognize; compensation
it does not understand. .'.
The higher ones nature is, the greater is
its Sympathy, which is perhaps synonym
for genius as the nucleus of love. The COM
pletely sympathetic mind and soul see and
feel all the wires Of psychal galvanism vi
-brating through the universe have there their
poles.
The lofty intellects that beam upon US
through the past, like Lucifer on mornings
trailing robe, were great because they SYM
pathized or understood; because they give us
back ourselves in olden neWness, or echo our
true thoughts in dim-remembered music.
Yet Sympathy is a melancholy gift. The
Furies grin when Clotho' weaves it in her
web for mortal lot. The pure divinities
lament when sympathy awaits the coming of
q new creature into life.
Framed as the highest gods for happiness
is he in whose fond bosom Sympathy takes
root. Fitted as well is he for woe so subtle
and profound that few can realize the air
drawn sources of his pain.
With equal faculty to suffer and enjoy,
each mortal must be ever on the rack; since
where the honey is there are thousand
stings, and underneath the fairest flowers
the deadliest serpent coils
From every cloud upon the Sympathist
shadow falls; from every suffering face he
catches a new source of pain; from every
burthen-b bearing being new fardels he re-
ceives, until he staggers like an ebriate be-
meath the foreign weight he is coerced to
carry. .
Mayhap, he does not murmur, Though his
knees tremble and his spirit shrinks may
hap his eye is bright from the moisture of
unshed tears. ...
Still, he fain would rest him for moment;
fain would put off for the nonce the package
of his pains.
Many pass and repass, among them those
for whom he has endured those whose
cast off ills yet bend him down. He asks
nothing; but he steals a glance at them
which, aimed at him, would have won his
soul, and the stony stare skaters expecta-
ton and stiles the longed-f for love.
No hope has the Sympathist from them:
they are heartless as q sepulcher. They are
not only thoughtless of their benefactor, but
they hate him who, by his own misfortune,
has added to their prosperity. Their better
nature rebukes them, and what should be
their gratitude is turned to gall.
Who will deny, hued by Salvatore pencil
though it be, this is picture of life? Who
can lay his hand upon his heart without feel
ing it is the painting of truth upon the easel
| of fancy2
The creature who is to sympathize with
thee may be at the polar circles, or beneath
the Equatorial line; may be dead, or dying,
or unborn. Think not to meet him; trust
| not to find herl Inevitable Chance is against
thee, and only q miracle will bring you to-
getherl Thou hast assumed the burthen; no
one will aid thee in the bearing; stagger and
fall, be wounded and bleed as thou mayest |
The gift was not of thy acceptance, but of
| the i'll Gods apportionment They assumed
| to reward they meant to punish. Thou hast
expiated the sin of others, and thy recon-
| pense is-newly- y-inhicted pain. What won
der that Jobs rebel, and saints grow demonsl
So many in this adder-crowded garden
| for fair it shows to outward sense-crave
| Sympathy, that they would seem to perish
| fromits absence; andhe who can, will give it
bounteously, though his blood dropped with
\ it, to the needer.
And yet how few who ask it can return it;
can fill the precious hagon they are draining;
| can heal the wounds their woes are making
The Sympathists are, after all, the ideal
RedeemeTs Of the world, the crucifed for the
sins of others, the daily dying that the sin
ners may survive. rm 80
The cause and end of Sympathy arc mys-
terious to itself Its birth is Involuntary its
endurance beautiful its remuneration ag-
ony. II sOws blessings, and Feaps curses; il
scatters flowers, and produces thorps; il
extends the goblet of nepenthe to the dis
tressed, and when 1t seeks to moisten its
| burning lips, the cordial draught is changed
70 MaTah' waters.
l. If then, thou would's know peace; If thou
would'st not bind thyself to the wheel ol
lXion; if thou would'rt breathe the atmos-
phere Of hope and innale the fragrance O
delicious delusion, expel from thy heart al
power Of Sympathy. Eradicate it, though
with il go the best of thy affections, thu
noblest of thy impulses. Let friendship, con
science, and love be its companions. Thor
art the better in this sphere for their dis
possession, and thou wilt be less wretched il
their absence. ~
Humanity wants Sympathy; but thoV
needest eallous contentment more. Thl
world is every mans foe: it robs him with
smile, and stabs him with its flatterinl
tongue. Turn thy back upon 1t forever
close thine ears against its prayers; shut al
thy heart to Its call for charity, and thoI
mays not be happy then; but the ability o
Il a. A. tr.eft..a slaa ill IL. IA