Year: 1861

'"NlOhot buhb VIC CduuOb uuu ldulb WIN ~
yet we End it impossible for us to love it
Such character gets beyond the reach o
our sympathies Human affection is like
ivy. 1t cannot cling TO glass it mus
plant its feet in imperfectons 1t is not tC
be denied that imperfectons is the true fla
vor of humanity. The mind refuses to sym
pathize where it does not exist. What the
world would call perfect man-what would
be adjudged a perfect man by the best
StandardS-would be as tasteleSs as n last
years apple. A perfect woman could no
more be loved than she could be hated. |
never saw man with perfect face-a face
modelled so symmetrically and so perfectly
'hat no fault could be found with it-who
was not more or less q numskull. A pret.
W man Is always pretty fool and the


more symmetrical the features of a woman
are, the more does she approach to the style
u oeauty and expression and native gifts of
pToceIain doll. The mind aud the cbaroc.
ter can be so symmetrical that they will
lose all charm and all significance. They
decend into simple prettiness, which is sim
pie insipdity


l say that imperleCtion is the true flavor
of humanity. In explanation, ought TO
say that all individuality is either based
upon it or pre.snpposes it. For instance I:
the preponderance of certain powers and
qualities of mind and character in me. ovrr
certain other powers and qualities, aud the
weakness aud imper!cction of these latter as
related 10 the former, and TO the individual
tiles Of others, make my individuality wha,
it is. II in me all mental and moral pow
ers were in Cqnpose-if were o Symmctri
cal man, as the first Adam may possibly
have been-I should have no individuality,
no qualities that would distinguish me
no weakness that would furnish footholds
for human symputhy-no freshness and
flavor. A whole world full of perfect men
and women, each one like every other,
would be unultcrahly stupid Where there
is no weakness, there is no Individuality {;
where there is no individuality, there
Is no true humanity where there is no true
humanity there is no sympathy and where
there is no sympathy there is no pleasure.


we demand that a man shall live according
TO bis law-marfeSt aud express himself
according to his law and then he will be.
come the object Of our sympathy or antipa.
thy, according to our law. We demand
that the true flower of every individualit,
shall be declared, and not be masked by
the imposition of conventional rcgula
tions.


If every tree in the world were perfcct
according to any recognized standard, then
all the trees would be alike, and wouli
cease to be attractive and picturesque.
We keep all perfect things out of pictures,
because they are formal and tas,eess. A
bran cottage, with picket fence around
it, and everything cleaned up about it, is too
perfect TO be picturesque, An old, tumble
down mill, with rude and rotten limbcrs,
and wheel outside is decidedly picturesque
because its iHperlections make it inform
al. The most unattractive of all houses is
a model house A house that no man can
find fault with, is house that no man can
love. 1t is precisely thus with human
character and with men. a proper, perfect,
model man, is an unloveable man. A
sphere cannot be made to fit all angle, aud
spherical character has no point of sym
pathy with one that is thrown into the an
giles necessary for individuality. So we
neither love symmetry and perfection in men,
according to any recognized standard, nor
the appearance of them. We demand not
only that men shall have individuality, but
that they shall express it in their language
and in their lives. In society, VIC demand
variety The harmony and sweetness of so
ciaI life consist in the adjustment of the
strong points Of some to the weak points oi
others. d.


With these facts so very evident as they
must be to all thoughtful minds, it is strange
that such an effort is to be made to bring
all men to certain standard and style OF
life. l do not believe there is a country on
the face Of the earth where public opinion
and fashion and conventional and individual
notions, exercise so despotic sway as they
do in America There is, in this "iree cOun-
try" no play to individuality tolerated
No room is made for the pecularties OF a
man-no freedom is given 10 his mode oi
manifestation. A man who has peculiar
manners, and whose style of Individuality /:
marked, has no room allowed to him at all
He is very likely to be called fool, and


laughed at by his interiors. We take nc
pains to look through the outside to lind
the heart and soul, and refused to see ex
celence behind manifestations that offend
our notions or our tastes. We go to heaI
preacher, and if he do not happen to have
the externals, and the style of delivery
which we most admire, We condemn him al
once. We make no room for his individual
ty, and allow to it no freedom of moniCesta
ton. Room and freedom-that which tht
ocean has, that which the rivers have, tha
which the forest has, and that from whicl
all of them derive their bounty and thei
glory-room and freedom are denied to mel
by men who need both, quite as much a
their fellows.


The choicest food Of the gossips in tn
personal peculartieS of their acquaintance
The grand staple Of ridicule is this sam
individuality, whose Importance | have er
deavored to illustrate. All the small wit
of society busy themselves upon the eccer
tricities of those around them. Churc
aud creed, party and platform, fashion an
custom, oil direct themselves against Ii
development of individuality SensitiV


natures shrink before such an array
influences, and retire into themselves, draV


ing back and keeping in check all their ou


reaching individuality. Many a man il


deed, who would face cannOn's moat
| u,ithnnt tran,blinos ainakac "a han beSet ID