Volume I Part 10 (2/2)

”And so he went onward, ever onward, for twenty-seven years--then, indeed, he had gone far enough”

GOETHE'S _words concerning Schiller_

I would say soaret's inward condition, of her ai this chapter of her story Her powers, whether of mind, heart, or will, have been sufficiently indicated in what has preceded In the sketch of her friendshi+ps and of her studies, we have seen the affluence of her intellect, and the deep tenderness of her woy which she displayed in study and labor

But to what _aim_ were these powers directed? Had she any clear view of the deh, pure purpose? This is, after all, the test question, which detects the low-born and low-old,--

”Touch thearet's life _had an aim_, and she was, therefore, essentially a enius, in whoives birth to impulse, deed to deed” This aim was distinctly apprehended and steadily pursued by her froious, alnity to her whole career, and made it heroic

This aim, from first to last, was SELF-CULTURE If she ever was a others, and gaining fame, position, admiration,--this vanity had passed before I knew her, and was replaced by the profound desire for a full development of her whole nature, by means of a full experience of life

In her description of her own youth, she says, 'VERY EARLY I KNEW THAT THE ONLY OBJECT IN LIFE WAS TO GROW' This is the passage:--

'I was now in the hands of teachers, who had not, since they caent question as to their business here Good dispositions and eave a tone to all they said, which was pleasing, and not perverting They, no doubt, injured those who accepted the husks they proffered for bread, and believed that exercise of memory was study, and to knohat others kneas the object of study But tominds--I had seen how they took their food and did their exercise, and what their objects were _Very early I knew that the only object in life was to grow_ I was often false to this knowledge, in idolatries of particular objects, or iht of it, have always been controlled by it, and this first gift of thought has never been superseded by a later love'

In this she spoke truth The good and the evil which flow froreat idea of self-developinally self-chosen, was reat master of this school, in whose unequalled eloquence this doctrine acquires an alious, and alious, because it recognized so divine, infinite, i divine in outward nature and providence, by which the soul is led along its appointed way It was alar thoughts and cares; in its recognition of a high standard of duty, and a great destiny for aret was enabled to do and bear, with patient fortitude, ould have crushed a soul not thus supported Yet it is not the highest aim, for in all its forms, whether as personal iion, it has at its core a profound selfishness Margaret's soul was too generous for any low fore-minded to become a modern ascetic, the defective nature of her rule of life, showed itself in her case, only in a certain supercilious tone toward ”the vulgar herd,” in the absence (at this period) of a tender huenius and power Afterward, too, she may have suffered from her desire for a universal huness to see that we dom, of Heaven halt and maimed,--that a perfect development here must often be wholly renounced

But how aret, an imperfect aim, than to worshi+p with lip-service, as h it be in a loftier tearet, the doctrine of self-culture was a devotion to which she sacrificed all earthly hopes and joys,--everything but manifest duty And so her course was ”onward, ever onward,” like that of Schiller, to her last hour of life

Burned in her cheek with ever deepening fire The spirit's YOUTH, which never passes by;-- The COURAGE which, though worlds in hate conspire, Conquers, at last, their dull hostility;-- The lofty FAITH, which, ever her, Now presses on, noaiteth patiently,-- With which the good tends ever to his goal, With which day finds, at last, the earnest soul

But this high idea which governed our friend's life, brought her into sharp conflicts, which constituted the pathos and tragedy of her existence,--first with her circumstances, which seemed so inadequate to the needs of her nature,--afterwards with duties to relatives and friends,--and, finally, with the law of the Great Spirit, whose will she found it so hard to acquiesce in

The circuaret lived appeared to her life a prison She had no room for utterance, no sphere adequate; her poere unemployed With what eloquence she described this want of a field! Often have I listened onder and aderated the evil, and yet unable to combat her rapid statements Could she have seen in ho years a ould open before her, by which she could ee into an ample field,--how soon she would find troops of friends, fit society, literary occupation, and the opportunity of studying the great works of art in their own hoaret, like every really earnest and deep nature, felt the necessity of a religious faith as the foundation of character The first notice which I find of her views on this point is contained in the following letter to one of her youthful friends, when only nineteen:--

'I have hesitated ion You are mistaken! I have not formed an opinion

I have deter or feeble natures need a positive religion, a visible refuge, a protection, as es nearer to the grave But s I have yet experienced:or receiving assistance or sympathy When disappointed, I do not ask or wish consolation,--I wish to know and feel ate its nature and its source; I will not have s soothed; 'tis therefore that ularly barren of illusions I know, I feel the time must come when this proud and impatient heart shall be stilled, and turn fro above

But--shall I say it?--the thought of that calht of deepest sadness; so re is that future existence, which still the ression I believe in a God, a Beauty and Perfection to which I am to strive all my life for assimilation From these two articles of belief, I draw the rules by which I strive to regulate ions as necessary to the happiness of ible pros of which I do not _now_ feel the need At present, ion as its rule; and, in my opinion, this is the natural and proper course froe What I have written is not hastily concocted, it has a iven you, in this little space, the substance of hts, the clues to many cherished opinions 'Tis a subject on which I rarely speak I never said so iven you all I know, or think, on the ly!'