The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-02-08
Love Letters Of Famous Men.


Lonion Qtsra Dr. Johnson was not 4
letter writer in the rue sense of the
word His halancesi sryie lacked fexi-
biiitv his arong nataTe absndsn. but
bis e?is;les breathe the siresrify Of his
Piety. the holiness eF BIS spirit. the
Dependence Of his heart upon hualaa
Affection He could write with pict-Tss-
que. some what pondsrous yiyaeify, .
seen by the group Ok letters addres=ed
to Mrs Thraie during hisjourney through
the Hebrides. which the lally thsuznt
we're more delizetfal than his books
How pathetic and solemn IS the glimpse
We have Of the sick nan IN The s5Iloxing
written to bis friend, Mrs. Booshbv;
TITS again midnight. and I am again
alone. With what meditation shall
amilse this waste hour Of darkness and
yaeuity. II / turn my thong upon my
sell, what 10 / pre- eeive but = poor. help
less body, reduced BY a biAzt Of-wind to
weakness and misery - How taachins
IS this reqn--t TO Ai-s Porter shall
take il very kindly If yoa mike Is rnie
to write 70 me once at least every week,
fJr am nov very dssoi1fe aasI 4m both
to be university forgotten"
Mr. Lewes has thrown iiscre,sit upon
the correspondence Of Bettina he treats
it as a romance Of Bestira's brain. AIDING
th4s: How much exaggerstiou. and
how much pure exaggeratioa. am
in no position TO explain The book,
when il APPEARED two years after the
poets death, threw Germany into a fer
ment It was the story q the passion
ate feeling with which Goethe, alto years
Of age, hal inspired a young girl Of %
and ef the half Tolerant. half ecou-agins
response ae had m--Ie % i. The poet
seemed 4 god 70 Betfina This orphan
girl, half Gernzn. half Rattan, @ntiuen-
tai. mystic. ariiant, loved the poet with
al the strength Of her soul before She
saw him and when she knew him She
worshipped him Ike vpiary in an
ahanlonmeas II deFot.oa. iie on the
ground "a the spot whcve Thy feet rsS,'-i
am well there anjl ~ where else. she
writes. Goethe s;nswers.i letters fuil of
such eutbursts in manner that showed
his vanity was uttered, his intellectual
curiosity which WIS ever on the alert
f5r manifestations of char1cseri aroused.
- Thy letters he writes. are ike braid
Of a thousand colors which I Enbind N
ORDER % classify it, beautifnl wealth
He bids her 90 on confnding her feelings
70 him - that ne may translate them.
put them into rhyme. Use them An
other time he writes: Thy letters are
re-read with great deal Of pleas
ure; what my pen could snsFer flils to
convey the imm-iiate impression they
produea. and to which one allows one
self % willingly 20 Weld. feeling uatwith-
standing that those are all Illusions. for
who could reasonably believe in 80 mgch
love Il is best 10 acrept il all as a dream
Another time he vriss, Thou art Ike a
lovely light, soffly Frightening the even
ing Of my life Did the great nan tire
his votary dill Goethe's wife cause the
s,Idden rupture thar az the eud Of Gonr
years rid the poet Of Bettina's rapiurous
Devotion Long aierwar,i they met
again Just once, short time before the
poets death.
OF the love letters Of iilusfrious men.
none are exquisite or trieicsIlly pathetic
than those Qf Keats 20 bis Leoparie-z.-
As the boy poet called the. woman he
loved. There Is 10 pi.lyfaluess in those
letters. They are written from the SHAH
ow OF the tomb with tire despair Of an
all-absorbing love, making life q rap
tare.
Balzae's letters to the C0mtesse Hanska
the lady whom he afierward married,
are maryels Of expression in the sway Of
love oyer a rich natare have in the
treasure OF your Letters, in the n8 less in
comparable one Of my rero,lertlons Of
you. in my grateful and constant thought
Of all the good you have done my soul
by your advice, ycrsr exs-npi-, sovereign
renIeiIes against all misfortune anil
bless you often, my dear AMI beneEunt
star. in the silence Of the night and in
the stress of my tornents. Baizac hai
written a few wears, before 10 a woman
friend, Friendship goes further than
ioge, for TO ne il appears % be the last
st1ge Of love. quietHcss. and security in
happiness When love t0aciIei bis
heart h. wrote no more ofthe superiority
Of friendship