The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-11-01

of their linen with slight infusion OF
indigo. The fact is, we all like a small
measure Of the blues as our constant
temper of mind. Just bit of salutary
melancholy is welcome to the sunniest
disposition, We pay money to see an
actor portray the sentimental sorrows of
lonely Rip Van Winkle. So we choose
notices and wear tokens and braid ring
let's, to keep us in a suitable sadness
when days of parting have to be endur-
ed. This is what we call constitutional.
There is an actual sadness in the sound
OF words, which goes far towards max
ing them poetic. In that curious analy-
siI Of his procedure when he undertook
the composition OF "The Rlven," Edgar
A. Poe tells us that one of the first
things he did was to select the sonorous
refrain which he designed should con-
sanity apI ear at the conclusion of
verses full of detection and mourning
over the missed maiden called Lenore."
And the sad bird did his reiterative duty
with the solemn "Nevermore.n One Of
the loud preachers of Britain was oEce
asked what word he deemed the saddest
in the English language; he mentioned
lost" But Doctor Samuel John'on
gave his vote for "the last The coun-
try parsons choice seems to have been,
if we may infer from the title of his
essay in the Recreations, gone"
Around this he weaves dozen shrouds.
1t is the burden of human life which
supplies the subtle feeling underlying |
the power here invoked. The tolling of |
disconsolate words and the procession of |
lugubrious sentences are merely the OBJ
sequies a lonely and bereaved spirit
thinks are fitting for his state of mind
| nf pf |
souls. Bystanders ought to laugh great
deal more than they do at such eX-
hibitions. On the contrary, we fall into
decent and sympathetic tears. The
comic lies only one tenuous stratum
above the pathetic. The most ridiculous
spectaces a man can find are seen every
day at the railway station and on the
sea going steamers. Parents hug their
children in the funniest manner, and
maidens do all they dare to in the same
direction with their escorts. And we :
stand there with our eyes moist, with no
symptoms of amusement. We go off
with sigh, thinking how cheerless
houses look when closed
In this way localities often acquire a
permanent gloom. They even become
haunted with ghosts of past griefs. No
one can visit spots like Josephine's arbor
at Malmaison, or stand beside the little Z
pillar in the dooryard of the chateau la
beled lie dernier pas de rEmpereW." !
without deepest emotion. On the mautel
Just beside now lies dull bit of shvered
mirror glass which picked up in the
parlor of Eugenie's boudoir utter the 8
German cannon had riddled it. That V
small, beautiful room in Saint Cloud
Palace filed my whole soul with depres y
sion. l brought away the fragment u
which the now desOlate woman may d
have seen a thousand times when she u
arranged her hair. | admit | was ndig-
nant a few days ago when a fBcetlous
friend said he considered it good sub q,
iect for her reflection Does any one .
want to pun upon relics he found: or !,
reverent attendants he knew, in Walter 2
Scott's study in Abbotsford ? Under u
stand, once more, for the pith of the n
thought is in the recollection it is human Is
life that peoples the ground and the y
home. Go quietly and gently into your %
wife's room see her v'ork-bOX look on III
the silent thimble, notice the afghan 10 10
across the sofa; she is there, although III
the ocean is between you two-perhaps III
more than hundred oceans. " au
The most tremendous reach of this "
sort of thinking is gained the moment
the sublime majesty ct death enters a." a"
ones mind. How natural is that kind W w
discussion raised with Elisha by those ", W.
qffectiUnate "sons of the prophets" who -.
asked his permission to go and look for hu
Eljah's ascended body, lest perhaps it -,
-oin or int some valley y Nehemiah tin
4 a., mo ,,roacI,od ono of bis p,ost Won brt
iorf,i saro,ons mon th.t fragment ~ a cal
I mot laN IA ~ an lnl
lot r entitled The search for the de pa,
,arted' Habtually even the most W!i ,S,i
rained intelligenCes are tempted to rush
fl upon some ouch useless errand when 'nt
he weight of mourning grows unendur- M aMu'
bile. Out Of humanity at lis best comes Sn'
Up this habit of populating the haunts OF l'a ne
'eloved ones with their images, until the m ,iie
cry air is filled with beautiful sense an'
f a permanent presence that brings W W
omfort. 1t gives the most welcome :"
hOughts to US concerning our depart. an
ire. TennysOn in his song makes the oLe
brightly little May Queen tell her aol M
mother this ma a
For lying broad awake thought OF you and lar
hiIle GEAR be
sS" you sltt'ng !" INC ho"se' anu "o hunger the
here" har
At this point in our meditation, how do
yer, it becomes instructive with the me
majority of us to demand some kind of e
Does an absolute crash ing
wait everything good and holy and pra
ender in this life Does II do no good pra
D do good 1t certainly does some sen
ood to do well. There is God over abr
cad all this time. Thomas Moore states upC
ne sinlple fact IN verse which many the
asteful people think is beautiful poetry; rea
"And so twin be when | am gone; oil
Those evening bells will still ring on; g.,
While other bards will walk these dclls, III
And sing your praise, sweet evening bells !" -,
Very well; what of that !? Does any h.
ody want to keep walking in earthly
ellis and singing about ringing bells, smi
trough summer and winter, and on ser
through the evening into the night one
md does anyone want the bells going exI
n the time And are all bards Jealous for
{ each other? 1t will prove to be bet thii
er business to give up simple sentiment wal
nd lei in the element of true spiritual eve
" beyond these shams. Real life goes so
n unhindered and God is on his throne. the
nus the thought a shallow soul Is only TAX
about grows high and nan
ely. Thus it generates devotion, Our The
,rewells grow religious by a dett and YOU
,tricate integraling of the language ed |
,ith piety. Even the volatile ParlsIans the
" adieu-"iO God = Our grand old We
ood-bye is God be with you :' This of t
ads as straight to that matchless part -
~ of the Apost!e Paul with the elders be )
Ephesus. mol,
Al tine head of this article, as a sug- in g