The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-28

sldaulngly the pages Of GOd'S own
precious Book without feeling YOU ara
commencing with a Higher Spirit. and
consequently without finding some
tiln" 'rand and inspiring, full OF orig
manly and power and wisdom. The
Author is full OF Thoughts that wan
der through eternity and speaks in
weiGhty, solemn, imperious,
awakening as if it was indeed by one
and from n as having all authority
and power.
AS a prose writer Ruskin is truly
richly endowed, and deserves to rank
With the great English not
SO great aS some two or three-Mil-
ton for instance-and yet not much in
ferfor il anv to Jeremy Taylor, Ed
mund Burke and homas De Quincy.
! could call many detachable passages
from him that have the rich, grand,
organ--lke harmony Of language, and
the same tOne Of majestic thought and
inspired sentiment which roll in sue
cessive grandeur though many Of Mil
tons marve1Ously fictitious and I'M
pos1ns sentences and passages. l
think l could select sentences teeming
ith richness, the felicity. the harmony
the f%ervent, gentle fervor that radiates
ana distinguishes so much OF jeremy
lTaylOr'S most exquisite Workmanship.
Ruskin's devotion to nature was in
tense, and on many age you have
evidence that his low all Of her beau
ties and varieties is original and per-
vading. An English critic Of quite
fifty years Or more ago, said of him
1T is utterly impossible to convey to
any II who does not know his works.
one adequate idea at one of the in
tensity OF his love, and the ~unwaverin-
all tracing power OF his observation.
He takes you to the Mountains and the
clouds, to the meadow and the lake,
fn the Ncn1n and the rock and pCor
and amor you, eXclaim, yes that is
true, / haVe seen that. though Y
so clearly unit now: and l must be-
lieve tina much which I have not seen
is true, both because what | have seen,
and because when turn my eye from
III page to natures, ] meet with
constant confirmation OF your word
Indeed the highest and noblest Of Rus
kin's characteristics, is a deep, earn
est, encouraging Christianity. The
same writer quoted from Well says:
w know not how others may have
felt, out for ourselves, we can say,
that never until we knew his works
could we conceive so fully as they
have been revealed to Us, the feelings
with which Adam in Paradise and the
Angels Of God i'll heaven look on
Gods universe; We never until then
formed SO adequate an dea of the in
tenslty OF rapture With which q holy
mind may 8aZe upon the universe,
knowing ii. to be wrapped in the light
II God Without p~ercciNing his devo-
ton for and admiration Of God-sreat
and charming qualities-it will be i'm
possible to comprehend n sec the
intensity OF the rapture with which q
molly MIND may gaze upon the Uni
Verse. knowing il is to be wrapped in
he light OF Goo.
indeed the highest and nollcst o.
ltusEils characteristics is n deep,
earnest. nnWcaTNin& Christie nit-.
Nith"ut at once this in his ella actar
and writings, one will utterly fail in
q proper appreciation Of him in his
II qualities aad gifts. for his Chris
tianity certainly appears to be
ne clear and expanding arch
OF his mind; It IS 'his which
his raoral teacninS>-it is his
which throws such q YnelloWing, sub
DUNG. halloWing light upon his most
luminous pagea-it is this which
makes hin halloweti, seraphic ever
sometimes in his teachings. when It is
compared With the tavdry iittleness.
the sparkling insnidiiies and the lurid
fanaticisnn which SO distinguish many
OF the writer's who came later than
RuSkin. His lyle is manly. impress
slVc, forceful, ~eloquentlN and entirely
free from the gilded tWaddle and SIM
pering h~alderdaSh OF a school Of writ
ers tina fiourished with or after him.
Rushin vas no copyi.st as to style, bat
IS original, genuine, engaging. He had
Ii great command OF words and he
employed them with grace and pro-
prietN. What the great Robert Hall
said Ct the foremost OF Irish writers,
and the greatest OF British Par!ld-
mcntarians and advocates. Edmund
Burke, was true: Mir. Burke fancy
has laid all nature under tribute, and
has collected riches from every scene
Of the creation, and from every work
Of art"
] would be gratified to present to
the reader specimens OF ItuSkin's SUI
perb poems OF description. III which
he throws GVef tb1 dry details Of
science the rcfulsenf sarb Of poetic
heanty but in the form OF prose. But