Evening star., 1901-05-17

deaden the vital forces in order to Secure
tranquility; 1t raises them to an unknown
power. II destroys the spell of disease so
t>,Iae smae 1t may place us under q higher and
pufef spell. 1t takes out of the actual
world, not that it may drug our senses
out that 1t may introduce us into an ideal
world. We are absorbed in new interests,
put not in an unhealthy way. We thread
the forest Of Arden with Rosaiind we
tramp along the English roads with Jeanie
Leans we are free Of the old haunted
ayncheon mouse, We enter with breathless
eagerness into all the details Of Crusoe's
strange dwelling, We weep over flliaI m
gratitude with Lear and Goriot The world
OF disordered beds, and medicine Walls, and
heaFS Slck-rOOm OdOrS has passed from us
wholly; we are in the midst of adventures,
We are threading the mazes Of character
we are involved In the problems of hate
ana loVe, We are back once more IN the
scenes of youth, when the world was fresh.
we nave hopes and smiles and tears. Here
Is the blessed effect Of literature on the
su1erlng body through the mind
Ot course we shall awake from this beau
t1ul Illusion and draw back to the gray
world We shall toss on the bed of pain
again, we shall watch the dim shadows die
away and We Shall see again the sickly
GAVIN, we shall Know pain and misery and
weakness and all the ills that flesh Is heir
to. This we cannot help. But there will
be difference Those golden hours viii
not have been in vain. The mind will now
be filled with new and singular or attract
I've images, black self will not be the one
internal deity enthroned within the inner
shrine. Let mar have naught but his
own self to think about, and even We're he
sound in limb and heart and every organ
of the body, one might surely predict of
him that soon his heart would fail his
blood dry up, his limbs refuse their office
But the most helpless invalid who ever lay
from dawn to sunset on couch of suffer-
ing will bear the pain 30 long as the inind
can be withdrawn from itself, and this
can be accomplished In few better ways
than by a good book. And when the mind
is full OF images Of wonder and Of interest
the body feels the influence, the blood
flows with greater ease, the brain seems
less congested, the nerves are no longer
mere avenues of pain, the languor departs
and the entire frame receives such I'M
pulses as to give to 1t a new life. We
have to confess that man Is no mere decay
Ing body, but reasonable soul which Is
played on by unseen forces.
The great writer, then. is really good
physician. physician Of the body and the
mind. Little did Shakespeare or Scott or
Dickens dream of the diffused power which
would radiate from their works and tighten
UP the mind of countless sufferers. A chap
ter from "Pickwick'' is good as a tonic
better than most tonics, because we know
| and see all its constituent elements. A play
Of Shakespeare's is a deep draught Of puri-
flying and healing drink, of more value
than that in the bottle by the bedside. The
nature poetry Of Wordsworth sinks insen-
sibly into the soul with its healing and
| blessing agency. And the hidden but sure
sources Of spiritual power dominate the
F! body, and reach out into all its ducts and
| veins, and If they do not cure they help
US to bear our bodily infirmity Thus liter
ature lives In the lives not only of those
who are vigorous, but perhaps 1t performs
its highest and noblest work in the dis
eased and the stricken. What a piece OF
work, as Hamlet said, is a man! How
readily he responds to the unseen forces
which lie all about usi The humblest suf-
ferer on bed Of pain may be in the closest
communion with the mind Of mighty
genius whose magic has woven for him an
| Invisible garment which keeps out misery
| and despair. and gives nobler loves and
nobler cares.