Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1886-01-16
The Imagination.

Robt. G. Ingersoll in n. American Review.
The man Of imagination-that is to
say, of genius-having seen leaf and
a drop of water, can construct the
forests, the rivers and the seas. In
his presence all the cataracts fall and
foam, the mists rise, the clouds form
and float.
To really know one fact is to know
its kindred and its neighbors. Shak-
speare looking at a coat of mail in
stantly imagined the society, the con-
ditions that produced it, and what it
produced. He saw the castle, the
moat, the drawbridge, the lady in
the tower and the knightly lover
squirting over the plain. He saw the
bold baron and the rude retainer, the
trampled serf and all the glory and
the grief of feudal life.
The man of imagination has lived
the life of all people, of all races. He
was a citizen of Athens in the days
of Pericles listened to the eager elo-
quence of the great orator, and sat
upon the cliff, and with the tragic
poet heard "multitudinous laughter
of the sea-" He saw Socrates thrust
the spear Of question through the
shield and heart of falSehoOd; was
present when the great man drank
hemlock and met the night of death
tranquil as a star meets morning. He
has followed the peripatetic philoso-
pliers, and has been puzzled by the
sophists. He has watched Phidias
as he chiseled shapeless stone to
forms of love and awe.
He has lived by the slow Nile amid
the vast and monstrous. He knows
the very thought that wrought the
form and features of the Sphinx. He
has heard great Memnon'S morning
song-has lain him down with the
embalmed and waiting dead and felt
within their dust the expectation OF
another life mingled with cold and
suffocating doubts-the children born
of long delay.
He has walked the ways of mighty
Rome, has seen great Caesar with his
legions in the field, has stood with
vast and motley throngs and watched
the triumphs given to victorious men,
followed by uncrowned kings, the
captured hosts, and all the spoils OF
ruthless war. He has heard the
shout that shook the Coliseum's roof.
less walls when from the Keeling gla.
diator's hand the short sword fell
while from his bosom gushed the
stream of wasted life.
He has lived the life of savage men
has trod the forests silent depths
and in the desperate game of life o.
death has matched his though
against the instinct of the beast.
He knows all crimes and all regrets
all virtues and their rich rewards
He has been victim and victor, pur
suer and pursued, outcast and king
has heard the applause and curses o
the world, and on his heart have fal
len all the nights and Moons of failure
and success.
He knows the unspoken thoughts
the dumb desires, the wants and way
Of beasts. He has felt the crouchin|
tigers thrill, the terror of the am
pushed prey, and with the eagles h
has shared the ecstasy of flight ant
poise and swoop, and he has lain witt
sluggish serpents on the barren rocks
uncoiling slowly in the heat of noon
He has sat beneath the DO tree
contemplative shade, rapt in Bud
dha's mighty thought, and he ha
dreamed all dreams that Light, tn
alchemist, hath wrought from dus
and dew and stored within the Stun
brous poppy's subtle blood.
He has knelt with awe and drea
at every shrine, has offered ever
sacrifice and every prayer, has tn
consolation and the shuddering feal
has seen all devils, has Knocked an
worshiped all the gods-enioyed a
heavens and felt the pangs of ever
hell.
He has lived all lives, and throug
his blood and brain have crept til
shadow and the chill of every dealt
and his soul, Mazeppa-like, has bee