Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1870-11-30
NO. 80


hermits Of the solemn wood" His true
orison is the Forest Hymn" He ever
manifests what we may term the druid j.
cal spirit of poetry. H. loves the wood
lands, for theirs he may worship God in
secret d with uninterrupted fervor and
consolation. "Ths groves were Gods
first temples he sings, believing that
the, are worthy stilI to be so. Yet, If
he were less austere. if be shook off the
melancholy which is really oppressive, he
would become at once greater than he is.
Even in poem on s.June" he cannot
forge. the darksome ways of life. There
he chants of
"A call within the frozen mould,
| coffin borne thro' sleet,
And icy clouds above it rolled.
While fierce the tempest beat"
LOWELL AND HOLMES.
10 our rapid survey we must pass over
Lowell, in whom the youthful fun and
freshness of the nation seem typifed.
and Holmes, the most cultivated wit, if
not the chief humorist America has pro.
duced. The ''Biglow Papers" and the
"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, -
among other of their works, have gain
ed for them here. as well rs in their own
country. a need of praise as hearty and
universal as it is meriied and esteemed
The humorists of America are not the
least national and characteristic of the
race; and it would be idle and far from
just to treat them lightly and within the
compass of hurried and cursory observa
tons.
Whittier is the American lyrist par
eminence. He has no rival. but many
followers. He feels deeply, keenly, and
strongly, and his utierance is aglow with
the passion of which it is the form and
embodiment. He is truly national in
the most comprehensive sense, being VIC
lently swayed by every passing gust Of
New England prejudice, and at the same
time rooted in belief more fixed tlIan
tolerant. Many of bis poems smack of
bitterness. and too many of them are a
sort of versified "heedIess rhetoric =
Yet Whittier has ''done the state some
service" Although no formally laureat
ed bard, he was ncne the less the laure-
ate of the Anti Slavery Society. He
pleaded strenuously and powerfully for
the oppressed negroes, and to his con-
stancy and warmth of advocacy may well
be ascrihed share of the success. of en-
ancipation. Moreover, his delightful!
'.Songs of Labor" constltCte him the
laureate of crafts and craftsmen. His
tender sympathy and unvaryng kindness
in all that concerns the labors aud dis.
tress of mankind, attract and secure our
approval more than his forward, needless,
aud valueless partnership in verse repels
us. He is, further, a Quaker of the
Quakers; aud almost the only subject be
has chosen from the Old World be turns
to good account in favor of the sect.
WALT WHITMAN.
Walt Whitman is altogether another
sort Of man. having no sectional predi
lections, no hankering anxieies. no port
able advocacy, and little sentiment. He
is child of nature, and of nature in n
ruo- state. He has forced himself 10 be
ieve Tia at, stretched on bis back beneath
a burning sun, i, the proper attitude for
the oates of a nation whose .fcrte is con
fessedly ''loafing and wiring poems. -
Whitman has had the diversified, che q
uered, and somewhat wild career Of u
farmers son--has been almost any thing
from clodhopper to n poet-passing
through the stages of government clerk,
printer, and editor.
|
LIVING BEYOND THEIR MEAss -Bul
wer say that poverty is only an idea, in
| nine cases out Of ten. Some men with
$4,000 year suffer moro for want of
means, than others with $500 The
reason is. the richer man has artificial
wants. His income is $4,000 a year,
and he suffers enough from being dunned
for unpaid debts to kill sensitive man.
The man who earns dollar day and
does not 60 in debt, is the happier of the
two. Very few people who have never
been rich will believe this; but it is true.
There are thousands and thousands
with princely incomes who never know n
moments peace. because they live above
their means. There is really more hap
pness in The world among tho working
men. than among those who are called
rich.
Sojpurner Truth talked to the point in
n Womau's Suffrage meeting at Provi-
dence, rs follows:
Women you forget that you are the
mothers of creation; you forget sons
were cut off like grass by The war, and
your land was covered with their blood ;
you rig yourselves up in panniers. Gre
clan beud backs and fummeries; yea,
and mothers aud gay haired grand
mother wear high heeled shoes and
humps on their heads. and put them on
their babies, and stuff them out SO that
they keel over when the wind blows -
Oh, mothers. I'm ashamed of ye! What
will such lives rs you do for humanity .
When saw them women on The stage
Mt the Woman's Suffrage Convention the
other day, | thought. what kind of
reformors be you, with goose wings on
your heads, as if you were going to fly,
and dressed in such ridiculous fashion,
talking about reform aud woman's rights 7
Pears to me you had better reform your-
selves first.
PRoscRIPrIoN-An African at one
| of tho o,,unlrv r,reeinria owna a ranch