The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-09-12

shy al Their SubJects-HccuItar Results
oi Isoston CuIture-OId Hobby Riders
A:red-Iante and His Beatrice.
Especial CorrespondenceI
NEW York, Aug IG-Not long since /
turned eastward ia search of light / shall
never forget the first night l reached Con-
cord, Mass. l arrived about q in the even
in:s, and was just congratulating myself upon
detecting in the hall of my boarding house tho
of delicateIy cooked viands, when l
was summoned to "tea." My heart nearly
failed me at the ominous word; but 50 sharp
set was my appetite that it was impossible to
blot out faith that something must come to
aplcase my hunger. i descended, crossed the
threshold of the dining room, and there lay
the board before me. Covered with spotless
linen it certainly was, but on the linen stood
only teapot, bread and butter, blueberries
round, dark, hard and defiant some
slices of pale cake.
a New England tea Is enough to draw
tears from a stone. But this was the land Of
philosophy; here indeed was simple living,
however it might be as to high thinking. My
dropping spirits were not elated by the nfor-
nation that breakfast was served at q: ID a. IN
dinner at noon, and tea at $50 p. m. Thirteen
mortal hours To digest those blueberries! |
understood the origin of transcendentaEsn.
l was already disciple for mysticism, and
chapel where the School of Philosophy was
held
IL was pretty path l took under grand
elnis, past the Emerson home, along one of
the principal streets of Concord. The chapel
Is an unpainted, rough board building vine
clad and nestled ON grassy slope in an
orchard adjoining the old Alcott house.
1t is a decidedly close little place when tho
sun shines with full summer heat and the
has. nf lott tnin drill, n. IL.
down philosophic necks; hut were seekers
after the higher way, 50, of course, did not
notice the small a.iversitics of this mundane
sphere.
For those disinclined to make their pilgrim
ages to Mecca on foot there huge omni-
buses running to and fro. These vehicles are,
OF course, not named omnibuSes. A spade is
not called spade Mt Hillside chapel The
conveyance for the pnystics is barge" 1t
was in one of these that first saw Miss Pea
body Her hair hung, once upon time, no
doubt, in ringlets either side her face, but
years had made havoc of the curls, and now
straight locks struggled unkempt to tho shout
ders. With mantle hanging OH this side, kcr-
chief off that; with brooch and shawl pin
askew with wcll-inked digitS, with one black
cotton glove depending "a good inch beyond
the fingers Of the left hand, with bonnet hang
ing 10y sleazy strings from the back of her
Peabody
When one thinks of the noble work she has
done for education feels i'm spite of her
appearance, certain tenderness and gratitude
for the gentle lady bending under her weight
Of fours.,orc years. She has made our paths
easier, let not make hers rough
As Miss Peabody entered the chapel, directly
behind her came n little girl of some nine
summers, nursing IA big doll This infant
III
Then Mrs Cheney, the lecturer Of the even
ing, made her appearance. Miss Peabody
rose from her arm chair on the platform al
yanced to Mrs Cheney and siluted her with
a transcenlental kiss and embrace. 1t was
sweet to the affections flourish on the
platform. Before the lecture there was
last thing necessary. Miss Peabody
must lie supplied with n tumblcr Of water.
Now all is ready and Mrs. Cheney begins to
discourse Oh Dante and Michael Angelo"
Soon the infant philosopher, the owner of
the doll, succumbs to sleep. Miss Peabodys
bedtime is also apparently passed; her eyes
tight shut and head nodding. How hui
man it is to start up and in manner affirm
that we have been wide awake all the time
But after acting this mild form of deceit sew
ertl times, catastrophe overlook the ancient
philosopher. Miss Peabody gave big
mol a',d heal and tunbler went simulta-
madeus rushed To her assistance, and in the
twinklins, OF eye the lap was bailed out and
Mis- Peabody righted; and again she was
silently protesting that she had only intended
10 make deep obeiSance To the golden truths
spoken and tn offer up hbations of water
Hamlet would have agreed with me, that all
things i'll heaven and earth are dreamed of in
this philosophy.
As l attended the school from day to day,
f..p hal mot han, fxxs,
lecturers were at all deeply verscd in their
subject. IL Is possible, perhaps on n founda
ton Of those New England enthusiastically
and general smartness-to build up a passably
good exposition of social questions in our own
times; but to discuss an Italian poet of by
gone century requires scholarship. Most of
the acquisitions ON Dant. Were mere
demic essays, not worth, To a real student, the
time consumed in listening To them. One
feeble effort was merely chaotic mass of
quotations from various books on the poet,
and most of these from critic considered
by the scholarly of absolutely no worth.
And such WAS the public criticism
made 10y the only Dante authority
present. Professor Thomas Davidson
Some of the lecturers began with
excuses for lack of preparation, notably one
in which the speaker stated that the ideas
presented were based ON impressions made by
youthful study OF Dante thirty OF forty years
ago This eirort-if anything 80 feeble can
be cstiie,i sucii-cndcd with a sentimental ode
as hong ~ il was weak, written by the lee
tures when about ~ years old Valuable
contribution this To Dantesque literature!
During the week devoted tn the great Italian
poet the ecstasy with which pante's love for
Beatrice WAS referred To, sounded very odd To
.impjc Nineteenth century ears Mrs Julia
Ward Howe, i'll her lecture, mentioned
that Beatrice married another than
her lover, bnt failed in her eulo-
siu:n of the poets infinite love To tell us
that he, too, married some one else, and had
eeyc, prnsiic children. | grow impatient
with tbs slurs at modern life and eSaltation
OF chiyaIry.
No one even specifically acquainted with
the subject could claim that the knights Of
chivalry paid respect to woman comparable