The sun set; but set not his hope:
Stars rose; his faith was earlier up:
Fixed1 on the enormous galaxy2,
Deeper and older seemed his eye:
And matched his sufferance sublime3
The taciturnity of time.
He spoke4, and words more soft than rain
Brought the Age of Gold again:
His action won such reverence5 sweet,
As hid all measure of the feat7.
Work of his hand
He nor commends nor grieves:
Pleads for itself the fact;
As unrepenting Nature leaves
Her every act.
ESSAY III Character
I have read that those who listened to Lord Chatham felt that there was something finer in the man, than anything which he said. It has been complained of our brilliant English historian of the French Revolution, that when he has told all his facts about Mirabeau, they do not justify8 his estimate of his genius. The Gracchi, Agis, Cleomenes, and others of Plutarch’s heroes, do not in the record of facts equal their own fame. Sir Philip Sidney, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh, are men of great figure, and of few deeds. We cannot find the smallest part of the personal weight of Washington, in the narrative9 of his exploits. The authority of the name of Schiller is too great for his books. This inequality of the reputation to the works or the anecdotes10, is not accounted for by saying that the reverberation11 is longer than the thunder-clap; but somewhat resided in these men which begot12 an expectation that outran all their performance. The largest part of their power was latent. This is that which we call Character, — a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means. It is conceived of as a certain undemonstrable force, a Familiar or Genius, by whose impulses the man is guided, but whose counsels he cannot impart; which is company for him, so that such men are often solitary13, or if they chance to be social, do not need society, but can entertain themselves very well alone. The purest literary talent appears at one time great, at another time small, but character is of a stellar and undiminishable greatness. What others effect by talent or by eloquence14, this man accomplishes by some magnetism15. “Half his strength he put not forth16.” His victories are by demonstration17 of superiority, and not by crossing of bayonets. He conquers, because his arrival alters the face of affairs. ‘”O Iole! how did you know that Hercules was a god?” “Because,” answered Iole, “I was content the moment my eyes fell on him. When I beheld18 Theseus, I desired that I might see him offer battle, or at least guide his horses in the chariot-race; but Hercules did not wait for a contest; he conquered whether he stood, or walked, or sat, or whatever thing he did.”]’ Man, ordinarily a pendant to events, only half attached, and that awkwardly, to the world he lives in, in these examples appears to share the life of things, and to be an expression of the same laws which control the tides and the sun, numbers and quantities.
But to use a more modest illustration, and nearer home, I observe, that in our political elections, where this element, if it appears at all, can only occur in its coarsest form, we sufficiently19 understand its incomparable rate. The people know that they need in their representative much more than talent, namely, the power to make his talent trusted. They cannot come at their ends by sending to Congress a learned, acute, and fluent speaker, if he be not one, who, before he was appointed by the people to represent them, was appointed by Almighty20 God to stand for a fact, — invincibly21 persuaded of that fact in himself, — so that the most confident and the most violent persons learn that here is resistance on which both impudence22 and terror are wasted, namely, faith in a fact. The men who carry their points do not need to inquire of their constituents23 what they should say, but are themselves the country which they represent: nowhere are its emotions or opinions so instant and true as in them; nowhere so pure from a selfish infusion24. The constituency at home hearkens to their words, watches the color of their cheek, and therein, as in a glass, dresses its own. Our public assemblies are pretty good tests of manly25 force. Our frank countrymen of the west and south have a taste for character, and like to know whether the New Englander is a substantial man, or whether the hand can pass through him.
The same motive26 force appears in trade. There are geniuses in trade, as well as in war, or the state, or letters; and the reason why this or that man is fortunate, is not to be told. It lies in the man: that is all anybody can tell you about it. See him, and you will know as easily why he succeeds, as, if you see Napoleon, you would comprehend his fortune. In the new objects we recognize the old game, the habit of fronting the fact, and not dealing27 with it at second hand, through the perceptions of somebody else. Nature seems to authorize28 trade, as soon as you see the natural merchant, who appears not so much a private agent, as her factor and Minister of Commerce. His natural probity29 combines with his insight into the fabric30 of society, to put him above tricks, and he communicates to all his own faith, that contracts are of no private interpretation31. The habit of his mind is a reference to standards of natural equity32 and public advantage; and he inspires respect, and the wish to deal with him, both for the quiet spirit of honor which attends him, and for the intellectual pastime which the spectacle of so much ability affords. This immensely stretched trade, which makes the capes33 of the Southern Ocean his wharves34, and the Atlantic Sea his familiar port, centres in his brain only; and nobody in the universe can make his place good. In his parlor35, I see very well that he has been at hard work this morning, with that knitted brow, and that settled humor, which all his desire to be courteous36 cannot shake off. I see plainly how many firm acts have been done; how many valiant37 noes have this day been spoken, when others would have uttered ruinous yeas. I see, with the pride of art, and skill of masterly arithmetic and power of remote combination, the consciousness of being an agent and playfellow of the original laws of the world. He too believes that none can supply him, and that a man must be born to trade, or he cannot learn it.
This virtue38 draws the mind more, when it appears in action to ends not so mixed. It works with most energy in the smallest companies and in private relations. In all cases, it is an extraordinary and incomputable agent. The excess of physical strength is paralyzed by it. Higher natures overpower lower ones by affecting them with a certain sleep. The faculties39 are locked up, and offer no resistance. Perhaps that is the universal law. When the high cannot bring up the low to itself, it benumbs it, as man charms down the resistance of the lower animals. Men exert on each other a similar occult power. How often has the influence of a true master realized all the tales of magic! A river of command seemed to run down from his eyes into all those who beheld him, a torrent40 of strong sad light, like an Ohio or Danube, which pervaded41 them with his thoughts, and colored all events with the hue42 of his mind. “What means did you employ?” was the question asked of the wife of Concini, in regard to her treatment of Mary of Medici; and the answer was, “Only that influence which every strong mind has over a weak one.” Cannot Caesar in irons shuffle43 off the irons, and transfer them to the person of Hippo or Thraso the turnkey? Is an iron handcuff so immutable44 a bond? Suppose a slaver on the coast of Guinea should take on board a gang of negroes, which should contain persons of the stamp of Toussaint L’Ouverture: or, let us fancy, under these swarthy masks he has a gang of Washingtons in chains. When they arrive at Cuba, will the relative order of the ship’s company be the same? Is there nothing but rope and iron? Is there no love, no reverence? Is there never a glimpse of right in a poor slave-captain’s mind; and cannot these be supposed available to break, or elude45, or in any manner overmatch the tension of an inch or two of iron ring?
This is a natural power, like light and heat, and all nature cooperates with it. The reason why we feel one man’s presence, and do not feel another’s, is as simple as gravity. Truth is the summit of being: justice is the application of it to affairs. All individual natures stand in a scale, according to the purity of this element in them. The will of the pure runs down from them into other natures, as water runs down from a higher into a lower vessel46. This natural force is no more to be withstood, than any other natural force. We can drive a stone upward for a moment into the air, but it is yet true that all stones will forever fall; and whatever instances can be quoted of unpunished theft, or of a lie which somebody credited, justice must prevail, and it is the privilege of truth to make itself believed. Character is this moral order seen through the medium of an individual nature. An individual is an encloser. Time and space, liberty and necessity, truth and thought, are left at large no longer. Now, the universe is a close or pound. All things exist in the man tinged47 with the manners of his soul. With what quality is in him, he infuses all nature that he can reach; nor does he tend to lose himself in vastness, but, at how long a curve soever, all his regards return into his own good at last. He animates48 all he can, and he sees only what he animates. He encloses the world, as the patriot49 does his country, as a material basis for his character, and a theatre for action. A healthy soul stands united with the Just and the True, as the magnet arranges itself with the pole, so that he stands to all beholders like a transparent52 object betwixt them and the sun, and whoso journeys towards the sun, journeys towards that person. He is thus the medium of the highest influence to all who are not on the same level. Thus, men of character are the conscience of the society to which they belong.
The natural measure of this power is the resistance of circumstances. Impure53 men consider life as it is reflected in opinions, events, and persons. They cannot see the action, until it is done. Yet its moral element pre-existed in the actor, and its quality as right or wrong, it was easy to predict. Everything in nature is bipolar, or has a positive and negative pole. There is a male and a female, a spirit and a fact, a north and a south. Spirit is the positive, the event is the negative. Will is the north, action the south pole. Character may be ranked as having its natural place in the north. It shares the magnetic currents of the system. The feeble souls are drawn54 to the south or negative pole. They look at the profit or hurt of the action. They never behold50 a principle until it is lodged55 in a person. They do not wish to be lovely, but to be loved. The class of character like to hear of their faults: the other class do not like to hear of faults; they worship events; secure to them a fact, a connexion, a certain chain of circumstances, and they will ask no more. The hero sees that the event is ancillary56: it must follow him. A given order of events has no power to secure to him the satisfaction which the imagination attaches to it; the soul of goodness escapes from any set of circumstances, whilst prosperity belongs to a certain mind, and will introduce that power and victory which is its natural fruit, into any order of events. No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character. We boast our emancipation57 from many superstitions58; but if we have broken any idols59, it is through a transfer of the idolatry. What have I gained, that I no longer immolate60 a bull to Jove, or to Neptune61, or a mouse to Hecate; that I do not tremble before the Eumenides, or the Catholic Purgatory62, or the Calvinistic Judgment63-day,—— if I quake at opinion, the public opinion, as we call it; or at the threat of assault, or contumely, or bad neighbors, or poverty, or mutilation, or at the rumor64 of revolution, or of murder? If I quake, what matters it what I quake at? Our proper vice65 takes form in one or another shape, according to the sex, age, or temperament66 of the person, and, if we are capable of fear, will readily find terrors. The covetousness67 or the malignity68 which saddens me, when I ascribe it to society, is my own. I am always environed by myself. On the other part, rectitude is a perpetual victory, celebrated69 not by cries of joy, but by serenity70, which is joy fixed or habitual71. It is disgraceful to fly to events for confirmation72 of our truth and worth. The capitalist does not run every hour to the broker73, to coin his advantages into current money of the realm; he is satisfied to read in the quotations74 of the market, that his stocks have risen. The same transport which the occurrence of the best events in the best order would occasion me, I must learn to taste purer in the perception that my position is every hour meliorated, and does already command those events I desire. That exultation75 is only to be checked by the foresight76 of an order of things so excellent, as to throw all our prosperities into the deepest shade.
The face which character wears to me is self-sufficingness. I revere6 the person who is riches; so that I cannot think of him as alone, or poor, or exiled, or unhappy, or a client, but as perpetual patron, benefactor77, and beatified man. Character is centrality, the impossibility of being displaced or overset. A man should give us a sense of mass. Society is frivolous78, and shreds79 its day into scraps80, its conversation into ceremonies and escapes. But if I go to see an ingenious man, I shall think myself poorly entertained if he give me nimble pieces of benevolence81 and etiquette82; rather he shall stand stoutly83 in his place, and let me apprehend84, if it were only his resistance; know that I have encountered a new and positive quality; — great refreshment85 for both of us. It is much, that he does not accept the conventional opinions and practices. That nonconformity will remain a goad86 and remembrancer, and every inquirer will have to dispose of him, in the first place. There is nothing real or useful that is not a seat of war. Our houses ring with laughter and personal and critical gossip, but it helps little. But the uncivil, unavailable man, who is a problem and a threat to society, whom it cannot let pass in silence, but must either worship or hate, — and to whom all parties feel related, both the leaders of opinion, and the obscure and eccentric, — he helps; he puts America and Europe in the wrong, and destroys the skepticism which says, ‘man is a doll, let us eat and drink, ‘tis the best we can do,’ by illuminating88 the untried and unknown. Acquiescence89 in the establishment, and appeal to the public, indicate infirm faith, heads which are not clear, and which must see a house built, before they can comprehend the plan of it. The wise man not only leaves out of his thought the many, but leaves out the few. Fountains, fountains, the self-moved, the absorbed, the commander because he is commanded, the assured, the primary,—— they are good; for these announce the instant presence of supreme90 power.
Our action should rest mathematically on our substance. In nature, there are no false valuations. A pound of water in the ocean-tempest has no more gravity than in a midsummer pond. All things work exactly according to their quality, and according to their quantity; attempt nothing they cannot do, except man only. He has pretension91: he wishes and attempts things beyond his force. I read in a book of English memoirs92, “Mr. Fox (afterwards Lord Holland) said, he must have the Treasury93; he had served up to it, and would have it.” — Xenophon and his Ten Thousand were quite equal to what they attempted, and did it; so equal, that it was not suspected to be a grand and inimitable exploit. Yet there stands that fact unrepeated, a high-water-mark in military history. Many have attempted it since, and not been equal to it. It is only on reality, that any power of action can be based. No institution will be better than the institutor. I knew an amiable94 and accomplished95 person who undertook a practical reform, yet I was never able to find in him the enterprise of love he took in hand. He adopted it by ear and by the understanding from the books he had been reading. All his action was tentative, a piece of the city carried out into the fields, and was the city still, and no new fact, and could not inspire enthusiasm. Had there been something latent in the man, a terrible undemonstrated genius agitating96 and embarrassing his demeanor97, we had watched for its advent98. It is not enough that the intellect should see the evils, and their remedy. We shall still postpone99 our existence, nor take the ground to which we are entitled, whilst it is only a thought, and not a spirit that incites100 us. We have not yet served up to it.
These are properties of life, and another trait is the notice of incessant101 growth. Men should be intelligent and earnest. They must also make us feel, that they have a controlling happy future, opening before them, which sheds a splendor102 on the passing hour. The hero is misconceived and misreported: he cannot therefore wait to unravel103 any man’s blunders: he is again on his road, adding new powers and honors to his domain104, and new claims on your heart, which will bankrupt you, if you have loitered about the old things, and have not kept your relation to him, by adding to your wealth. New actions are the only apologies and explanations of old ones, which the noble can bear to offer or to receive. If your friend has displeased105 you, you shall not sit down to consider it, for he has already lost all memory of the passage, and has doubled his power to serve you, and, ere you can rise up again, will burden you with blessings107.
We have no pleasure in thinking of a benevolence that is only measured by its works. Love is inexhaustible, and if its estate is wasted, its granary emptied, still cheers and enriches, and the man, though he sleep, seems to purify the air, and his house to adorn108 the landscape and strengthen the laws. People always recognize this difference. We know who is benevolent109, by quite other means than the amount of subscription110 to soup-societies. It is only low merits that can be enumerated111. Fear, when your friends say to you what you have done well, and say it through; but when they stand with uncertain timid looks of respect and half-dislike, and must suspend their judgment for years to come, you may begin to hope. Those who live to the future must always appear selfish to those who live to the present. Therefore it was droll113 in the good Riemer, who has written memoirs of Goethe, to make out a list of his donations and good deeds, as, so many hundred thalers given to Stilling, to Hegel, to Tischbein: a lucrative114 place found for Professor Voss, a post under the Grand Duke for Herder, a pension for Meyer, two professors recommended to foreign universities, &c. &c. The longest list of specifications115 of benefit, would look very short. A man is a poor creature, if he is to be measured so. For, all these, of course, are exceptions; and the rule and hodiernal life of a good man is benefaction. The true charity of Goethe is to be inferred from the account he gave Dr. Eckermann, of the way in which he had spent his fortune. “Each bon-mot of mine has cost a purse of gold. Half a million of my own money, the fortune I inherited, my salary, and the large income derived116 from my writings for fifty years back, have been expended117 to instruct me in what I now know. I have besides seen,” &c.
I own it is but poor chat and gossip to go to enumerate112 traits of this simple and rapid power, and we are painting the lightning with charcoal118; but in these long nights and vacations, I like to console myself so. Nothing but itself can copy it. A word warm from the heart enriches me. I surrender at discretion119. How death-cold is literary genius before this fire of life! These are the touches that reanimate my heavy soul, and give it eyes to pierce the dark of nature. I find, where I thought myself poor, there was I most rich. Thence comes a new intellectual exaltation, to be again rebuked121 by some new exhibition of character. Strange alternation of attraction and repulsion! Character repudiates122 intellect, yet excites it; and character passes into thought, is published so, and then is ashamed before new flashes of moral worth.
Character is nature in the highest form. It is of no use to ape it, or to contend with it. Somewhat is possible of resistance, and of persistence123, and of creation, to this power, which will foil all emulation124.
This masterpiece is best where no hands but nature’s have been laid on it. Care is taken that the greatly-destined shall slip up into life in the shade, with no thousand-eyed Athens to watch and blazon125 every new thought, every blushing emotion of young genius. Two persons lately, — very young children of the most high God, — have given me occasion for thought. When I explored the source of their sanctity, and charm for the imagination, it seemed as if each answered, ‘From my non-conformity: I never listened to your people’s law, or to what they call their gospel, and wasted my time. I was content with the simple rural poverty of my own: hence this sweetness: my work never reminds you of that; — is pure of that.’ And nature advertises me in such persons, that, in democratic America, she will not be democratized. How cloistered126 and constitutionally sequestered127 from the market and from scandal! It was only this morning, that I sent away some wild flowers of these wood-gods. They are a relief from literature, — these fresh draughts128 from the sources of thought and sentiment; as we read, in an age of polish and criticism, the first lines of written prose and verse of a nation. How captivating is their devotion to their favorite books, whether Aeschylus, Dante, Shakspeare, or Scott, as feeling that they have a stake in that book: who touches that, touches them; — and especially the total solitude129 of the critic, the Patmos of thought from which he writes, in unconsciousness of any eyes that shall ever read this writing. Could they dream on still, as angels, and not wake to comparisons, and to be flattered! Yet some natures are too good to be spoiled by praise, and wherever the vein130 of thought reaches down into the profound, there is no danger from vanity. Solemn friends will warn them of the danger of the head’s being turned by the flourish of trumpets131, but they can afford to smile. I remember the indignation of an eloquent132 Methodist at the kind admonitions of a Doctor of Divinity,——‘My friend, a man can neither be praised nor insulted.’ But forgive the counsels; they are very natural. I remember the thought which occurred to me when some ingenious and spiritual foreigners came to America, was, Have you been victimized in being brought hither? — or, prior to that, answer me this, ‘Are you victimizable?’
As I have said, nature keeps these sovereignties in her own hands, and however pertly our sermons and disciplines would divide some share of credit, and teach that the laws fashion the citizen, she goes her own gait, and puts the wisest in the wrong. She makes very light of gospels and prophets, as one who has a great many more to produce, and no excess of time to spare on any one. There is a class of men, individuals of which appear at long intervals133, so eminently134 endowed with insight and virtue, that they have been unanimously saluted135 as divine, and who seem to be an accumulation of that power we consider. Divine persons are character born, or, to borrow a phrase from Napoleon, they are victory organized. They are usually received with ill-will, because they are new, and because they set a bound to the exaggeration that has been made of the personality of the last divine person. Nature never rhymes her children, nor makes two men alike. When we see a great man, we fancy a resemblance to some historical person, and predict the sequel of his character and fortune, a result which he is sure to disappoint. None will ever solve the problem of his character according to our prejudice, but only in his own high unprecedented136 way. Character wants room; must not be crowded on by persons, nor be judged from glimpses got in the press of affairs or on few occasions. It needs perspective, as a great building. It may not, probably does not, form relations rapidly; and we should not require rash explanation, either on the popular ethics137, or on our own, of its action.
I look on Sculpture as history. I do not think the Apollo and the Jove impossible in flesh and blood. Every trait which the artist recorded in stone, he had seen in life, and better than his copy. We have seen many counterfeits138, but we are born believers in great men. How easily we read in old books, when men were few, of the smallest action of the patriarchs. We require that a man should be so large and columnar in the landscape, that it should deserve to be recorded, that he arose, and girded up his loins, and departed to such a place. The most credible139 pictures are those of majestic140 men who prevailed at their entrance, and convinced the senses; as happened to the eastern magian who was sent to test the merits of Zertusht or Zoroaster. When the Yunani sage106 arrived at Balkh, the Persians tell us, Gushtasp appointed a day on which the Mobeds of every country should assemble, and a golden chair was placed for the Yunani sage. Then the beloved of Yezdam, the prophet Zertusht, advanced into the midst of the assembly. The Yunani sage, on seeing that chief, said, “This form and this gait cannot lie, and nothing but truth can proceed from them.” Plato said, it was impossible not to believe in the children of the gods, “though they should speak without probable or necessary arguments.” I should think myself very unhappy in my associates, if I could not credit the best things in history. “John Bradshaw,” says Milton, “appears like a consul141, from whom the fasces are not to depart with the year; so that not on the tribunal only, but throughout his life, you would regard him as sitting in judgment upon kings.” I find it more credible, since it is anterior142 information, that one man should know heaven, as the Chinese say, than that so many men should know the world. “The virtuous143 prince confronts the gods, without any misgiving144. He waits a hundred ages till a sage comes, and does not doubt. He who confronts the gods, without any misgiving, knows heaven; he who waits a hundred ages until a sage comes, without doubting, knows men. Hence the virtuous prince moves, and for ages shows empire the way.” But there is no need to seek remote examples. He is a dull observer whose experience has not taught him the reality and force of magic, as well as of chemistry. The coldest precisian cannot go abroad without encountering inexplicable145 influences. One man fastens an eye on him, and the graves of the memory render up their dead; the secrets that make him wretched either to keep or to betray, must be yielded; — another, and he cannot speak, and the bones of his body seem to lose their cartilages; the entrance of a friend adds grace, boldness, and eloquence to him; and there are persons, he cannot choose but remember, who gave a transcendant expansion to his thought, and kindled147 another life in his bosom148.
What is so excellent as strict relations of amity149, when they spring from this deep root? The sufficient reply to the skeptic87, who doubts the power and the furniture of man, is in that possibility of joyful150 intercourse151 with persons, which makes the faith and practice of all reasonable men. I know nothing which life has to offer so satisfying as the profound good understanding, which can subsist152, after much exchange of good offices, between two virtuous men, each of whom is sure of himself, and sure of his friend. It is a happiness which postpones153 all other gratifications, and makes politics, and commerce, and churches, cheap. For, when men shall meet as they ought, each a benefactor, a shower of stars, clothed with thoughts, with deeds, with accomplishments154, it should be the festival of nature which all things announce. Of such friendship, love in the sexes is the first symbol, as all other things are symbols of love. Those relations to the best men, which, at one time, we reckoned the romances of youth, become, in the progress of the character, the most solid enjoyment155.
If it were possible to live in right relations with men! — if we could abstain156 from asking anything of them, from asking their praise, or help, or pity, and content us with compelling them through the virtue of the eldest157 laws! Could we not deal with a few persons, — with one person, — after the unwritten statutes158, and make an experiment of their efficacy? Could we not pay our friend the compliment of truth, of silence, of forbearing? Need we be so eager to seek him? If we are related, we shall meet. It was a tradition of the ancient world, that no metamorphosis could hide a god from a god; and there is a Greek verse which runs,
“The Gods are to each other not unknown.”
Friends also follow the laws of divine necessity; they gravitate to each other, and cannot otherwise: —
When each the other shall avoid,
Shall each by each be most enjoyed.
Their relation is not made, but allowed. The gods must seat themselves without seneschal in our Olympus, and as they can instal themselves by seniority divine. Society is spoiled, if pains are taken, if the associates are brought a mile to meet. And if it be not society, it is a mischievous159, low, degrading jangle, though made up of the best. All the greatness of each is kept back, and every foible in painful activity, as if the Olympians should meet to exchange snuff-boxes.
Life goes headlong. We chase some flying scheme, or we are hunted by some fear or command behind us. But if suddenly we encounter a friend, we pause; our heat and hurry look foolish enough; now pause, now possession, is required, and the power to swell160 the moment from the resources of the heart. The moment is all, in all noble relations.
A divine person is the prophecy of the mind; a friend is the hope of the heart. Our beatitude waits for the fulfilment of these two in one. The ages are opening this moral force. All force is the shadow or symbol of that. Poetry is joyful and strong, as it draws its inspiration thence. Men write their names on the world, as they are filled with this. History has been mean; our nations have been mobs; we have never seen a man: that divine form we do not yet know, but only the dream and prophecy of such: we do not know the majestic manners which belong to him, which appease161 and exalt120 the beholder51. We shall one day see that the most private is the most public energy, that quality atones162 for quantity, and grandeur163 of character acts in the dark, and succors164 them who never saw it. What greatness has yet appeared, is beginnings and encouragements to us in this direction. The history of those gods and saints which the world has written, and then worshipped, are documents of character. The ages have exulted165 in the manners of a youth who owed nothing to fortune, and who was hanged at the Tyburn of his nation, who, by the pure quality of his nature, shed an epic166 splendor around the facts of his death, which has transfigured every particular into an universal symbol for the eyes of mankind. This great defeat is hitherto our highest fact. But the mind requires a victory to the senses, a force of character which will convert judge, jury, soldier, and king; which will rule animal and mineral virtues167, and blend with the courses of sap, of rivers, of winds, of stars, and of moral agents.
If we cannot attain168 at a bound to these grandeurs, at least, let us do them homage169. In society, high advantages are set down to the possessor, as disadvantages. It requires the more wariness170 in our private estimates. I do not forgive in my friends the failure to know a fine character, and to entertain it with thankful hospitality. When, at last, that which we have always longed for, is arrived, and shines on us with glad rays out of that far celestial171 land, then to be coarse, then to be critical, and treat such a visitant with the jabber172 and suspicion of the streets, argues a vulgarity that seems to shut the doors of heaven. This is confusion, this the right insanity173, when the soul no longer knows its own, nor where its allegiance, its religion, are due. Is there any religion but this, to know, that, wherever in the wide desert of being, the holy sentiment we cherish has opened into a flower, it blooms for me? if none sees it, I see it; I am aware, if I alone, of the greatness of the fact. Whilst it blooms, I will keep sabbath or holy time, and suspend my gloom, and my folly174 and jokes. Nature is indulged by the presence of this guest. There are many eyes that can detect and honor the prudent175 and household virtues; there are many that can discern Genius on his starry176 track, though the mob is incapable177; but when that love which is all-suffering, all-abstaining, all-aspiring178, which has vowed179 to itself, that it will be a wretch146 and also a fool in this world, sooner than soil its white hands by any compliances, comes into our streets and houses, — only the pure and aspiring can know its face, and the only compliment they can pay it, is to own it.
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fixed
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galaxy
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sublime
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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5
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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6
revere
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| vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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8
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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9
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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12
begot
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去式 )；产生，引起 | |
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13
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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14
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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15
magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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16
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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17
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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18
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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19
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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20
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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21
invincibly
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| adv.难战胜地，无敌地 | |
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22
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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23
constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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24
infusion
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| n.灌输 | |
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25
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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26
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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27
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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28
authorize
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| v.授权，委任；批准，认可 | |
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29
probity
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| n.刚直；廉洁，正直 | |
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30
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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31
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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32
equity
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| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
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33
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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34
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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35
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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37
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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39
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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40
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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41
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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43
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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44
immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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45
elude
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| v.躲避，困惑 | |
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46
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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47
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
animates
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| v.使有生气( animate的第三人称单数 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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49
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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50
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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51
beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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52
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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53
impure
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| adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的 | |
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54
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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55
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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56
ancillary
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| adj.附属的，从属的 | |
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57
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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58
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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59
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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60
immolate
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| v.牺牲 | |
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61
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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62
purgatory
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| n.炼狱；苦难；adj.净化的，清洗的 | |
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63
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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64
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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65
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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66
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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67
covetousness
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68
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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69
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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70
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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71
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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72
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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73
broker
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| n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排 | |
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74
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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75
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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76
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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77
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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78
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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79
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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80
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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81
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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82
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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83
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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84
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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85
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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86
goad
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| n.刺棒，刺痛物；激励；vt.激励，刺激 | |
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87
skeptic
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| n.怀疑者，怀疑论者，无神论者 | |
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88
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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89
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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90
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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91
pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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92
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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93
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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94
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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95
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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96
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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97
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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98
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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99
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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100
incites
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的第三人称单数 ) | |
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101
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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102
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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103
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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104
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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105
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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106
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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107
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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108
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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109
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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110
subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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111
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
enumerate
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| v.列举，计算，枚举，数 | |
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113
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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114
lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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115
specifications
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| n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述 | |
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116
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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117
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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118
charcoal
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| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
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119
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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120
exalt
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| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
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121
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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122
repudiates
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的第三人称单数 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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123
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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124
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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125
blazon
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| n.纹章，装饰；精确描绘；v.广布；宣布 | |
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126
cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
sequestered
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| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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128
draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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129
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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130
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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131
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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132
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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133
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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134
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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135
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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136
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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137
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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138
counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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139
credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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140
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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141
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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142
anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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143
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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144
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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145
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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146
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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147
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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148
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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149
amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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150
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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151
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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152
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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153
postpones
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| v.延期，推迟( postpone的第三人称单数 ) | |
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154
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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155
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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156
abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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157
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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158
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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159
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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160
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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161
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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162
atones
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的第三人称单数 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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163
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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164
succors
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| n.救助，帮助（尤指需要时）( succor的名词复数 )v.给予帮助( succor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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165
exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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166
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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167
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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168
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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169
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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170
wariness
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| n. 注意,小心 | |
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171
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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172
jabber
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| v.快而不清楚地说；n.吱吱喳喳 | |
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173
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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174
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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175
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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176
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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177
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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178
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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179
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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