Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-01-11
HIS SPECTACLES.
They Created a New World Full of
Details.

the touch of mans hands than from
-tnN look 6S, Of his eyes. Az
y Lao AlQ!l'- CIIstl. Z 4.hd yet knew
the general meaning of faces quite
we'll when they were near me-bet-
ter, perhaps, than do now. Lon
don! You can imagine what London
was like, evening London above all.
1t swan in haze of romance, won
dertul masses of cab, bus and man,
aglow with diffused light, doomed out
of mist and vanished into it. Chatter
of unseen feet echoed up to my very
ears, Life was perpetual surprise,
an adventure. Who knew what faces
would suddenly take form ont of the
void
put on the glasses and looked at
the opticians young man and beheld
that ae was wrinkled.
Horribly wrinkled. He was all
wrinB les. His face was nothing but
innun cradle ugly lines and splotches.
Expression there was none that
could focus-lines and splotches were
all that could be seen.
Would keep them on? Or should
he put them in the case? The lines
bunch6l themselves up into hideous
questioning creases.
l world keep them on so as to get
used to them, muttered, subcon-
scious of complete loathing.
The cblivious young man agreed.
"Yes, you'd better give your eyes
bit Of practice before you start
reading, sir Good evening, sir"
with mSre creases).
I stepped out stupidity into the
street, shSing at the doorpost, into
the concentrated glare of electric
lights that danced and flashed on the
lenses of MY spectacles.
After a moment or two of dazzle
I began to See. To see with terrible
distinctness, The eyes began to &C
cept this n9w universe. So awfully
new! There was no background
now, no picture, no atmosphere. Iso-
lated men and things to the furthest
limit of vision stood out, rounded,
raw and paipable. l could put my
eyes on three sides OF them. There
was no street of soft-blending shad-
ow and CLEAN; there were only
houses, lamv-posts, electric globes,
vehicles, passengers. There were no
men, only hats, coats, trousers, boots,
jerking ridinulously. No faces
only featureS-and when they got
nearer, labyriaths of CHASTITY witch
ing lines. No concrete thing at all
only irrelevant details of things
which the painful vision kept pur-
suing with more and more minute
ness.
And yet my eyes had a feeling of
pride--pride that they could see so
far, that these dots of men SLOUGH
ing under lanlppost before the Man.
sion House should vibrate so clear
an image to Cornhill. They began,
with something of an effort, to dis
regard these tnSistent neighboring in
dividuals and 20 shoot off into vast
perspectives, to daily with details
hundreds of yards away. This was a
much larger world had got. II it
would only adjust itself, would be-
having. But % yet it was so pur-
poseless; every object was detached
frem its fellows. The old harmony
was gone. Things no longer fitted
in. Details thrust themselves upon
me. l lost a glance at the soul of
the passer through watching the
twitch of his lips.
Then the faces began to simplify,
lines assumed their proper subordi-
| nkt
expressions l perceived that they
had eyes, Fearful eyes, thousands of
eyes, surrounding me, looking at me.
was betrayed. felt utterly en-
barrassed; almost l blushed at this
infinite critical inspection. Every
button and stitch of me knew itself
for laughter. / felt that my hat
was too small, my hair too long, that
my boots wer1 unpublished. fastened
to re-hat. cliE aud polish myself.
/ had coms nut of my chrysalis.
For the FIRST time 1 was markedly
within handst:iEe of the world.
The novelty was interesting. One
Was afraid of 1t all, but attracted by
1t. In this world one was in constant
danger of attack. A militant world.
Every man way down the street
walked with his hand on his sword
hilt. A brief A. Of shivering, and my
spirit rose to the challenge Of 1t.
walked the pavement thrilling to
the glance OF these innumerable
identities.
Nothing has altered. The objects
look at are just the same. My eyes
are the same. only now two little
pieces Of convex pebble are fixed be-
tween the eyes and the objects. One
takes OFF the spectacles and ex-
amines them for a solution to the
mystery. Absurd! What easy vic
tins are our senses of their instru-
ments!
1t makes one uneasy. Tangible
matter ceases to be the steadfast
thing we had imagined it. How can
be sure that what these pebbles
show me is truer tnan my old vision
A little difference IN the curving OF
the lens, and 10! another universe
How can be sure that both of them
are not quite untrue? What is the
standard? What da you see. readers
long.sighted, shoTt-sighted, clear
eyed, purbllnd readers? Upon wha
sort of universe DO those unreliable
eyeballs of yours look out? We have
given common names to the things
you and see, but they are not thu
same. Luckily there seems to b.
some sort of family likeness between
them. else were we hopelessly Gu
of from all comparison. What yol
mean is something like what I meal
by umbrella, but not quite. Ant
; when we take more remote and com
plicated objeets-when we combil
them, when we begin 20 deal with alb