The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-12-12

NvAi1 naye pH1s1d3 oufs on my rising m
stepping up % him. he stood.
~ am sfrsid, Mn Fsre1son,'' said, ~ u
Who ese go4 An apology the ruins has
lqne been yours, and am hat an intrude
bM you must pardon me hare cite
h#fd Of them IN the west, where they u
h*lowad, even more than they ara her
from their connection With the history /
soEpe of ouS nobiest Reformers; and, beside,
see no plaes 20 the neighborhood wher
Shnkspcare can Be read 10 more advantage.
Al" said he. taking the volume out q
~ hand, - reader of Shakespeare and d
atmirer of Knox. / qrestion whether th
herssiArch and ske poes had much 10 CON
mon" A
May, now. Mr.. Ferguson" replied, go
- 90 true Slot 70 question that. The
q much, very muck in common Kno,
wAs no rude Jack Oade, but great IN.
powerful uaindsd man; decidedly a. mucl
50 ss any Of the nobler conceptions Of th
dtamstist-his CIR ssrs, Bruises, or 0theI
los. Buchanan oouli have told YOU that b
bad sven much Of the spirit Of the poet II
him, and wanted only the ART and Just re
member how Milton spesks or him ID BIZ
trcopsgitica. Had the poet or sParadis4
Dsfa th00ght regarding him a. II has be
come fashionable % think and speex nov. b.
R9nld hardly have apostroptized him as
ksaS, the refsrnsey Of nafioa. a orsaf mas
ussmatsd by the spiylf Of God"
Pardon me," said tue young man, II an
little acquainted with the prose writings O.
hilten; and have, indeed, picked up most o.
my opinions Of Knox as secondhand Bu
nave read bis merry account OF the murdrl
O Beatens and found nothing to alter roy
pfeconcefved notions Of him, from either ths
matter or manner of the narrative Now
that think Of II, however, my opinion Of
Bacon would be no very adequate one, were
Il formed solelJ from the extract Of his his.
tory OF Henry VII, given by Kaimes In bis
lsts publication. Win you not extend your
walk p
We quilted the ruins together, and went
ssuntefing along the shore. Tnere was q
lch sunset glos 90 the water, and the hills
nat rise on the opposite side OF the Firth
stretched their unduiating line OF azure un.
Ger gergeous canopy of crimson and gold
Ny compan on pointed to the scene These
glOrioas Clouds" be said, 'are but wrea;hs
of vapor; and these lovely hills, accumula-
tions Of earth and stone. And il 10 thus
With all the past--with the past Of our own
little histories, that borrows 80 much OF IT.
golden beauty from the medium through
which we survey H--with the past, too, oi
al history. There IS poetry ia the remote
--the bleak bill seems . darker ornament,
and The cbilt wreath of vapor river Of FIRE.
And yeu, sir, seem to have contemplated the
history Of our stern Rsformers through this
poetical medium, till you forget that the
poetry Was not In them, but IN that through
which you surveyed thea,."
s'Ah, Mr.. Ferguson" replied, "you must
permit me to make 4 distinction. acquiesce
iuIly in the justice of your remark; the
analogy. too, is nice and striking, but
would lain carry it little further. Every
eye can see the beauty of the remote; but
there Is . teauty in the ncar-an interess, at
least--which every eye caanot see. Each OF
the thousand little plants that spring up at
our feet, has m interest and beauty T. the
b0tanist the mineraiogist would fiad sotne-
thing TO engage bim Ia every little stone
And it is thus with the poetry OF life ~
have sense Of it in the remote and the dis
taat but il Is oulY the men Who stand high
IA shs aft--its men of profound scitnce-
ssat discover it Ia the near. The nssdi-
ecre poet shares but the csnrnoner git, aud
30 he seeks his themes in ages or countries
far removed from his own; while the man
Of nObisr powers, knowing thai all nature is
instinct with poetry, seeks and fnis II IN
the men and scenes il his immediate neIgh.
borhood. As to our Refarnersv
Pardon me" said the young poet "the
remark strikes me, and, ere we lose il ia
something else, | must furnish you With an
Tnere rs an acquaintance Of
mine, a lad much about my own age, greatly
addicted to the study OF poetry. H ha~
been making verses all his lifelong he be-
gan ere he had learned TO write them even
and his judgment has been gradually over
growing bis earlier compositions, as you see
the advancing tide rising on the beach and
obliteratlng the prints on the sand. Now, |
have observed, that, in al h:s earlier COM
positions. he went far from home be could
nor attempt isstoral without first trans
porting himself 20 The wales OF Area IL Or
an ode to Pty or Hros, without losing the
warm living sentiment in the dead, cold, per-
sonlfications Of the Greek. the dope and
Pity he addressed wese, not the nndying A.
lendsnts Of human nature, but the shadowy
specsrcs Of remote age. Nov, however, /
feel that change has come over me. | seek
for poetry among the fields ana cottages OF
my own land. I-a-a-the triead Of whom
| speak But | interrupted your rer,ark
on the Reformers"
"Nay," replied, ''if you 20 on 80, would
much rather listen than speak. only meant
"a say that the Knoxes and MelvlIles of our
country have been robbed Of the admiration
aud sympathy Of many kindred sp,rit, By
the strangely erroneous nolioas that have
been abroai regarding them for at least the
last two ages. Knox, am convinced, would
nave been As great as Jeremy Taylor, had be
net been greater.n
We sauniered along the shore tlI the
evening had darkened into night, lost 10 an
agreeable interchange Of thought. "Ah r.
az length exclaimed NV companion, II had
almost forgotten my engagement, Mr.. Lind
ssy but u must not part us. You are q
stranger here, and must introduce you 70
some Of my pcquaintancs. There are few
Of us-- -cnvice spirits, of coprse--who meet
every Saturday sssnlne q John Hogg's and
A must just bring you 70 SEQ them. There
may be much i<ss vii than mirth amoog US
but you viii find as all sober when &C tbs
gay est and old John will b. quite a study
Tor you"
cHAPrEa II.
"ezy, ye red gsxns that sft<n here
hae foa-ted cskes 70 kafie's beer,
0in s'er thir d.ys h4s had their peer,
Sac blythe. sac DAFT
Ten nesr again IN liie's career
81 half kas sAft.n