Vita Sancti Benedicti.Ullmannis about three thousand years old.The New YorkHeraldonce called him Mephistopheles. He is not Mephistopheles, however, but the same thing, which isUllmann. He is a spirit bearing human form. Don't forget.KingSolomonsat beneath the golden pavilion one afternoon, playing silver melodies on a gold harp. Up went the notes—the spirits of the Sephiroth bore them—even up to a premium, and the very angels stopped sewing on their white robes to hear the ravishing melody.By his side sat the Queen of Sheba, counting out her money.Suddenly, there was a strange vibration, a marvelous tone. The queen paused. The king smiled. The angels went on with their sewing. (According to RabbiAbarbanel, they were knitting. This created a schism between the schools of Cracow and Cordova, which lasted four centuries.)'Why smilest thou, OhSolomon?''I smiled, my dear queen, because you and I became, just now, unwittingly, the parents of a strange being.''Why,Solomon—how you talk!' exclaimed the Q. of S.'Yea, for the ring of thy gold, oh my Queen, and the last chord-tone from my harp mingled in mystical unity and made a sound unheard before on earth. And the spirit of that sound, which is of money and of music, is the spirit whereof I spoke.'Then the queen marveled greatly at the wisdom ofSolomon, and gave him a shekel. The king rung it on the table and touchedhis harp. Again the strange tone thrilled out loud.'There he goes!' quothSolomon. 'My blessing on him. And therefore the sprite is called Blessed to this day, which in Latin isBenedict.
Vita Sancti Benedicti.
Ullmannis about three thousand years old.
The New YorkHeraldonce called him Mephistopheles. He is not Mephistopheles, however, but the same thing, which isUllmann. He is a spirit bearing human form. Don't forget.
KingSolomonsat beneath the golden pavilion one afternoon, playing silver melodies on a gold harp. Up went the notes—the spirits of the Sephiroth bore them—even up to a premium, and the very angels stopped sewing on their white robes to hear the ravishing melody.
By his side sat the Queen of Sheba, counting out her money.
Suddenly, there was a strange vibration, a marvelous tone. The queen paused. The king smiled. The angels went on with their sewing. (According to RabbiAbarbanel, they were knitting. This created a schism between the schools of Cracow and Cordova, which lasted four centuries.)
'Why smilest thou, OhSolomon?'
'I smiled, my dear queen, because you and I became, just now, unwittingly, the parents of a strange being.'
'Why,Solomon—how you talk!' exclaimed the Q. of S.
'Yea, for the ring of thy gold, oh my Queen, and the last chord-tone from my harp mingled in mystical unity and made a sound unheard before on earth. And the spirit of that sound, which is of money and of music, is the spirit whereof I spoke.'
Then the queen marveled greatly at the wisdom ofSolomon, and gave him a shekel. The king rung it on the table and touchedhis harp. Again the strange tone thrilled out loud.
'There he goes!' quothSolomon. 'My blessing on him. And therefore the sprite is called Blessed to this day, which in Latin isBenedict.
Thus wasUllmannborn, who was the first who ever sold music; and, whereas before his time music was only iron or silvern, after he took it up it became golden—very fine, and ra-ther ex-pen-sive. Howbeit, he loved music as well as money, and gave the people their money's worth, and many a jolly opera and fine tenor did he bring out: yea, had it been possible he would have engagedDon Juan Tenoriohimself, so that Don Giovanni might have been produced as perfectly as possible—the Don Giovanity of vanities.
Apropos of music, there is among the novelties of the season a French 'operetta,' entitled 'Les Noces de Jeannette,' in which a very peculiar bridegroom distinguishes himself, like Christopher Strap in 'Pleasant Neighbors,' by smashing the furniture. This recalls something which we heard narrated in the operafoyerthe other evening.
Some years ago, in Paris, there was a very good comedian who prided himself on being perfectly 'classic.' To be classic in France is to be elegantly conventional. No actress can be reallykissedaccording to classic rules; the lips must be faintly smacked about three feet from her shoulder. Wills are classically written by a flourish of the pen, and classical banqueters never pretend to eat.
Now there was a humorous scene which greatly depended on much breakage of furniture; and to this scene our actor, in the opinion of the manager, did not do justice. Rolling over one tea-cup didnot, according to the latter, constitute a grand smash.
The actor became irritated. 'Pa'r'r-bleu!' he exclaimed, 'youshallhave a grand smash then, if you must, and no mistake.'
The scene begun. There was a tea-table, and the irate performer gave one kick, and sent the whole concern crashing into the pit. There was a roar of applause.
('Ah! this is something like,' said the manager, rubbing his hands.)
The chairs were next attacked and broken into the completest kindling-wood, as by a madman. The manager began to look grave.
There were two tables left, a piano, and a closet. The actor stepped behind the scenes and reappeared with an axe. Bang! went the timber—crack—splinter—
'Stop!' roared the manager.
'Go on!' 'bravo!' 'go on!' roared the audience.
The stage was cleared, but the scenery still remained. And into the scenery went the actor 'like mad.' Planks and canvas came tumbling down; the manager called his assistants; the house was delirious with joy. The manager rushed on the stage; the actor kicked him over into the orchestra, and seizing the prompter's box, hurled it crashing after.
We do not know how matters were arranged, but we believe that the manager never tried afterwards to convert a classic actor to the romantic school.
The shade of BishopBerkleywould rejoice, could it read at this late date such a tribute to the merit of the once famed tar water, which he invented. But a solemn feeling steals over our heart when we remember that the hand which penned these lines now lies cold in death, and that the shades of the idealist and the poet may ere this have joined in the spirit land.
From the granite of the North,Leapt this pure libation forth,Cold as the rocks that restrained it;From the glowing Southern pine,Oozed this dark napthalian wine,Warm as the hearts that contained it;In a beaker they combineIn a nectar as divineAs the vintage of the Rhine,While I pledge those friends of mineWho are nearest, who are dearest in affection.I have filled it to the brim;Not a tear could ride its rim;Not a fleck of sorrow dimThe flashing-smiles that swimIn the crystal which restores their recollection.Floating on the pitchy wine,Comes an odor of the brine,Half suggesting solemn surges of the sea;A sailor in the shrouds,Furling sail amid the clouds;Noisy breakers singing dirges on the lee,To those friends upon the main,Who have ventured once again,In the realm which cleaves in twainLoving hearts, that fill with painWhen the storm proclaims the terrors of December.I will clink the beaded edgeOf the beaker, while I pledgeSafety over surf and sedge,Foaming round the sunken ledge,In the track of all the loved ones we remember.And through Carolinian woods,Ever muffled in the hoodsOf their fir-trees' aromatic evergreen,I can hear the mellow stops,Ever swaying in their tops,To the playing of an organist unseen.And the breezes bring the balmOf the solitude and psalm,From that indolence of calm,In the land of pine and palm,Over hills, and over rivers and savannas,Till my feelings undergoAll their mortal overthrow,In celestial strains which flow,In a song of peace below,From those regions where archangels sing hosannas.
A friend who has roamed in his time over the deserts and slept in Bedawee tents; one to whom the East is as a second mother, and in whose faith the Koran is necessary to really put the finishing touch to a true gentleman, sends us the following eccentric proverbs from the Arabic.
Words of Wisdom.'A well is not to be filled with dew.'
There speaks the Arab, choice of water as of wine.
'May a deadly disease love you and Allah hate you!'
Uncle Toby, who would not have had the heart to curse a dog so, would have found the Excommunication of Ernulphus quite outdone in the desert, where cursing is perfected.
'He lays goose eggs, and expects young turkeys.''The dream of the cat is about mice.'
Meaning, as we say, that what is bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh.Æsophas dramatized this proverb in a pretty fable.
'The people went away; the baboons remained.''A rose fell to the lot of a monkey.'
Or, as the Latins said, 'Asinus ad Lyram'—'A gold ring in a sow's ear.'
'God bless him who pays visits, and short ones at that.''The husband of two parrots—a neck between two sticks.''I asked him about his father. "My uncle's name isShayb," he replied.''They wanted a keeper for the pigeon-house, and gave the keys to the cat.''Filth fell upon dirt. "Welcome! my friend," said he.''Scarcer than fly-brains.''Gain upon dirt rather than loss upon musk.'
'God bless him who pays visits, and short ones at that.'
'The husband of two parrots—a neck between two sticks.'
'I asked him about his father. "My uncle's name isShayb," he replied.'
'They wanted a keeper for the pigeon-house, and gave the keys to the cat.'
'Filth fell upon dirt. "Welcome! my friend," said he.'
'Scarcer than fly-brains.'
'Gain upon dirt rather than loss upon musk.'
Musk plays a great part in the East. Even the porters in Cairo bear bags of it and are scented by it.
'When the monkey reigns, dance before him.'
This slavish proverb is thoroughly Oriental.
'They met a monkey defiling the mosque. "Dost thou not fear," quoth they, "lest God may metamorphose thee?" "I should," quoth he, "if I thought he would change me into a gazelle."''He fled from the rain and sat down under the water-spout.'
'They met a monkey defiling the mosque. "Dost thou not fear," quoth they, "lest God may metamorphose thee?" "I should," quoth he, "if I thought he would change me into a gazelle."'
'He fled from the rain and sat down under the water-spout.'
Or, as we say, out of the frying-pan into the fire.
Divers and sundry 'screeds' which we had hoped to lay on this present 'Editor's Table,' are unavoidably postponed until the February number, when they will make their 'positively first and last appearance.' Hoping that our own first appearance may not be without your approbation, we conclude, wishing you, reader, once more—very sincerely—the happiest of 'happy New Years.'
FOOTNOTES:[1]We honestly believe the true course to pursue with South Carolina, is to colonize her under the protection of our troops. Let us start with a settlement of Yankees at Beaufort, who shall addict themselves to the raising of cotton and other southern products. Let them employ the negroes whose masters have run away, and who areipso factofree. As our army gradually extends its lines, let the northern pioneer proceed, to occupy and cultivate the soil. This will bring about a practical solution of some vexed questions.[2]The reader is earnestly requested to peruse the sermons of the Southern clergy, collected in anextraof Putnam'sRebellion Record, and especially a discourse by the Rev. Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans, in which the man of God asserts that slavery is a 'divine trust, to be perpetuated and continued.'[3]Note by the Editor.—The reader will find further reference to the grave ofAaron Burrin an article, in the present number of theContinental Monthly, entitled 'The Graveyard at Princeton.'[4]Apart from philosophical and theological agitation in America, great additions were made to our general literature by translations from French and German, and their influence upon our younger writers is visible at the present day in almost every newspaper article. This task of translating and editing was accomplished—for the time—on a grand scale and in a scholarly manner. Chief among those who devoted themselves to it was George Ripley, who, in his excellentLibrary of Foreign Standard Literature, gave the public the choicer gems of French and German philosophy, poetry, or lighter prose. C. S. Henry, then professor of philosophy in the University of New York, embraced with zeal the teachings of Cousin, translated hisPsychology,—there had been a version of the 'Lectures' published in 1838,—and wrote, for the use of students, a small but comprehensiveHistory of Philosophy, which would have been perfectly 'eclectic' had it not devoted a somewhat unfair proportion of its pages to eclecticism. Translations of minor German lyrics into English, in most instances surpassing their rivals of British origin, were made by several young Unitarian clergymen, among which those by Cranch, Peabody, and Brooks, were, we believe, preëminent. TheDial, by its criticisms of foreign literature and art, guided many to the originals, while the Orthodox onslaught, in reviews or in lectures, by Murdoch and others, in which German philosophy was carefully traced from Lucifer down to Hegel, gave to hungry and inquiring neophytes many valuable hints. As, with the majority of its friends, 'Transcendentalism' assumed a deeply religious form, there resulted, of course, a grand revival of pietistic, mystical, and magical reading. Even the polemics of the early Quakers were un-dusted, while Swedenborg was soon found to be a rich mine. In due time, the works of Jung-Stilling, and other occult seers of the Justinus Kerner school, were translated, and contributed, in common with the then new wonders of animal magnetism and clairvoyance, to prepare the public for 'spiritualism.' The appearance, in 1841, of a translation of theHeinrich von Ofterdingenof Novalis, by a student of Cambridge, named Stallknecht, was one of the works of the day which increased the interest in foreign literature, and made its study fashionable. This mystical romance, called by its author the 'Apotheosis of Poetry,' was distinguished by a simple pathos, an ultra-refinement of thought, an almost womanly delicacy of expression, and a deeply religious sentiment. Such works fascinated many who had been proof against the sterner allurements of the more practical Goethe or the aristocratic Schiller, and added a new regiment to the army that was assailing with vehemence the fortress of German literature.[5]Cymbeline, Act III., Sc. 2.
FOOTNOTES:[1]We honestly believe the true course to pursue with South Carolina, is to colonize her under the protection of our troops. Let us start with a settlement of Yankees at Beaufort, who shall addict themselves to the raising of cotton and other southern products. Let them employ the negroes whose masters have run away, and who areipso factofree. As our army gradually extends its lines, let the northern pioneer proceed, to occupy and cultivate the soil. This will bring about a practical solution of some vexed questions.
[1]We honestly believe the true course to pursue with South Carolina, is to colonize her under the protection of our troops. Let us start with a settlement of Yankees at Beaufort, who shall addict themselves to the raising of cotton and other southern products. Let them employ the negroes whose masters have run away, and who areipso factofree. As our army gradually extends its lines, let the northern pioneer proceed, to occupy and cultivate the soil. This will bring about a practical solution of some vexed questions.
[2]The reader is earnestly requested to peruse the sermons of the Southern clergy, collected in anextraof Putnam'sRebellion Record, and especially a discourse by the Rev. Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans, in which the man of God asserts that slavery is a 'divine trust, to be perpetuated and continued.'
[2]The reader is earnestly requested to peruse the sermons of the Southern clergy, collected in anextraof Putnam'sRebellion Record, and especially a discourse by the Rev. Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans, in which the man of God asserts that slavery is a 'divine trust, to be perpetuated and continued.'
[3]Note by the Editor.—The reader will find further reference to the grave ofAaron Burrin an article, in the present number of theContinental Monthly, entitled 'The Graveyard at Princeton.'
[3]Note by the Editor.—The reader will find further reference to the grave ofAaron Burrin an article, in the present number of theContinental Monthly, entitled 'The Graveyard at Princeton.'
[4]Apart from philosophical and theological agitation in America, great additions were made to our general literature by translations from French and German, and their influence upon our younger writers is visible at the present day in almost every newspaper article. This task of translating and editing was accomplished—for the time—on a grand scale and in a scholarly manner. Chief among those who devoted themselves to it was George Ripley, who, in his excellentLibrary of Foreign Standard Literature, gave the public the choicer gems of French and German philosophy, poetry, or lighter prose. C. S. Henry, then professor of philosophy in the University of New York, embraced with zeal the teachings of Cousin, translated hisPsychology,—there had been a version of the 'Lectures' published in 1838,—and wrote, for the use of students, a small but comprehensiveHistory of Philosophy, which would have been perfectly 'eclectic' had it not devoted a somewhat unfair proportion of its pages to eclecticism. Translations of minor German lyrics into English, in most instances surpassing their rivals of British origin, were made by several young Unitarian clergymen, among which those by Cranch, Peabody, and Brooks, were, we believe, preëminent. TheDial, by its criticisms of foreign literature and art, guided many to the originals, while the Orthodox onslaught, in reviews or in lectures, by Murdoch and others, in which German philosophy was carefully traced from Lucifer down to Hegel, gave to hungry and inquiring neophytes many valuable hints. As, with the majority of its friends, 'Transcendentalism' assumed a deeply religious form, there resulted, of course, a grand revival of pietistic, mystical, and magical reading. Even the polemics of the early Quakers were un-dusted, while Swedenborg was soon found to be a rich mine. In due time, the works of Jung-Stilling, and other occult seers of the Justinus Kerner school, were translated, and contributed, in common with the then new wonders of animal magnetism and clairvoyance, to prepare the public for 'spiritualism.' The appearance, in 1841, of a translation of theHeinrich von Ofterdingenof Novalis, by a student of Cambridge, named Stallknecht, was one of the works of the day which increased the interest in foreign literature, and made its study fashionable. This mystical romance, called by its author the 'Apotheosis of Poetry,' was distinguished by a simple pathos, an ultra-refinement of thought, an almost womanly delicacy of expression, and a deeply religious sentiment. Such works fascinated many who had been proof against the sterner allurements of the more practical Goethe or the aristocratic Schiller, and added a new regiment to the army that was assailing with vehemence the fortress of German literature.
[4]Apart from philosophical and theological agitation in America, great additions were made to our general literature by translations from French and German, and their influence upon our younger writers is visible at the present day in almost every newspaper article. This task of translating and editing was accomplished—for the time—on a grand scale and in a scholarly manner. Chief among those who devoted themselves to it was George Ripley, who, in his excellentLibrary of Foreign Standard Literature, gave the public the choicer gems of French and German philosophy, poetry, or lighter prose. C. S. Henry, then professor of philosophy in the University of New York, embraced with zeal the teachings of Cousin, translated hisPsychology,—there had been a version of the 'Lectures' published in 1838,—and wrote, for the use of students, a small but comprehensiveHistory of Philosophy, which would have been perfectly 'eclectic' had it not devoted a somewhat unfair proportion of its pages to eclecticism. Translations of minor German lyrics into English, in most instances surpassing their rivals of British origin, were made by several young Unitarian clergymen, among which those by Cranch, Peabody, and Brooks, were, we believe, preëminent. TheDial, by its criticisms of foreign literature and art, guided many to the originals, while the Orthodox onslaught, in reviews or in lectures, by Murdoch and others, in which German philosophy was carefully traced from Lucifer down to Hegel, gave to hungry and inquiring neophytes many valuable hints. As, with the majority of its friends, 'Transcendentalism' assumed a deeply religious form, there resulted, of course, a grand revival of pietistic, mystical, and magical reading. Even the polemics of the early Quakers were un-dusted, while Swedenborg was soon found to be a rich mine. In due time, the works of Jung-Stilling, and other occult seers of the Justinus Kerner school, were translated, and contributed, in common with the then new wonders of animal magnetism and clairvoyance, to prepare the public for 'spiritualism.' The appearance, in 1841, of a translation of theHeinrich von Ofterdingenof Novalis, by a student of Cambridge, named Stallknecht, was one of the works of the day which increased the interest in foreign literature, and made its study fashionable. This mystical romance, called by its author the 'Apotheosis of Poetry,' was distinguished by a simple pathos, an ultra-refinement of thought, an almost womanly delicacy of expression, and a deeply religious sentiment. Such works fascinated many who had been proof against the sterner allurements of the more practical Goethe or the aristocratic Schiller, and added a new regiment to the army that was assailing with vehemence the fortress of German literature.
[5]Cymbeline, Act III., Sc. 2.
[5]Cymbeline, Act III., Sc. 2.
BOSTON:J. R. GILMORE, 110 TREMONT STREETNEW YORK: GEORGE P. PUTNAM, 532 BROADWAY.ROSS & TOUSEY, AND H. DEXTER AND COMPANYPHILADELPHIA T. B. PETERSON & BROTHER
Enlarged Sixteen Pages.
THE PRESENT NUMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL
Contains Articles by Ex-Gov. Boutwell, Hon. Horace Greeley, Hon. George P. Difofway, A. Oakey Hall, Richard B. Kimball, Henry T. Tuckerman, Frederick W. Shelton, The Author of "The Cotton States," J. Warren Newcomb, Jr., Henry P. Leland, Miss Delia L. Colton, Charles G. Leland, and other diftinguished writers.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, byJames R. Gilmore, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
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