Margaret's Providence journals are made extremely piquant and
entertaining, by her life-like portraiture of people and events; and
every page attests the scrupulous justice with which she sought
to penetrate through surfaces to reality, and, forgetting personal
prejudices, to apply universally the test of truth. A few sketches
of public characters may suffice to show with what sagacious,
all-observing eyes, she looked about her.
'At the whig caucus, I heard TRISTAM BURGESS,--"The old
bald Eagle!" His baldness increases the fine effect of his
appearance, for it seems as if the locks had retreated, that
the contour of his very strongly marked head might be revealed
to every eye. His _personnel_, as well as I could see, was
fitted to command respect rather than admiration. He is a
venerable, not a beautiful old man.
'He is a rhetorician,--if I could judge from this sample;
style in woven and somewhat ornate, matter frequently wrought
up to a climax, manner rather declamatory, though strictly
that of a gentleman and a scholar. One art in his oratory
was, no doubt, very effective, before he lost force and
distinctness of voice. I allude to his way,--after
having reasoned a while, till he has reached the desired
conclusion,--of leaning forward, with hands reposing but
figure very earnest, and communicating, confidentially as it
were, the result to the audience. The impression produced
in former days, when those low, emphatic passages could be
distinctly heard, must have been very strong. Yet there is too
much apparent trickery in this, to bear frequent repetition.
His manner is well adapted for argument, and for the
expression either of satire or of chivalric sentiment.'
* * * * *
'Mr. JOHN NEAL addressed my girls on the destiny and vocation
of Woman in this country. He gave, truly, a _manly_ view,
though not the view of common men, and it was pleasing to
watch his countenance, where energy is animated by genius. He
then spoke to the boys, in the most noble and liberal spirit,
on the exercise of political rights. If there is one among
them who has the germ of a truly independent man, too generous
to become a party tool, and with soul enough to think, as well
as feel, for himself, those words were not spoken in vain. He
was warmed up into giving a sketch of his boyhood. It was
an eloquent narrative, and is ineffaceably impressed on my
memory, with every look and gesture of the speaker. What gave
chief charm to this history was its fearless ingenuousness. It
was delightful to note the impression produced by his magnetic
genius and independent character.
'In the evening we had a long conversation upon Woman,
Whigism, modern English Poets, Shakspeare,--and, in
particular, Richard the Third,--about which we had actually
a fight. Mr. Neal does not argue quite fairly, for he uses
reason while it lasts, and then helps himself out with wit,
sentiment and assertion. I should quarrel with his definitions
upon almost every subject, but his fervid eloquence,
brilliancy, endless resource, and ready tact, give him great
advantage. There was a sort of exaggeration and coxcombry in
his talk; but his lion-heart, and keen sense of the ludicrous,
alike in himself as in others, redeem them. I should not like
to have my motives scrutinized as he would scrutinize them,
for I prefer rather to disclose them myself than to be found
out; but I was dissatisfied in parting from this remarkable
man before having seen him more thoroughly.
* * * * *
'Mr. WHIPPLE addressed the meeting at length. His presence is
not imposing, though his face is intellectual. It is difficult
to look at him, for you cannot be taken prisoner by his
eye, while, _en revanche_, he can look at you as long as he
pleases; and, as usual, with one who can get the better of his
auditors, he does not call out the best in them. His gestures
are remarkably fine, free, graceful, and expressive. He has
no natural advantages of voice,--for it is without compass,
depth, sweetness,--and has none of the winning tones which
reach the inmost soul, and none of the tones of passionate
energy, which raise you out of your own world into the
speaker's. But his modulation is smooth, measured, dignified,
though occasionally injured by too elaborate a swell, and his
enunciation is admirable.
'His theme was one which has been so thoroughly discussed
that novelty was not to be looked for; but his method and
arrangement were excellent, though parts were too much
expanded, and the whole might well have been condensed. There
were many felicitous popular hits. The humorous touches were
skilful, and the illustrations on a broad scale good, though
in single images he failed. Altogether, there was a pervading
air of ease and mastery, which showed him fit to be a leader
of the flock. Though not a man of the Webster class, he is
among the first of the second class of men who apply their
powers to practical purposes,--and that is saying much.'
* * * * *
'I went to hear JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY, one of the most
distinguished and influential, it is said, of the English
Quakers. He is a thick-set, beetle-browed man, with a
well-to-do-in-the-world air of pious stolidity. I was
grievously disappointed; for Quakerism has at times looked
lovely to me, and I had expected at least a spiritual
exposition of its doctrines from the brother of Mrs. Fry. But
his manner was as wooden as his matter, and had no merit but
that of distinct elocution. His sermon was a tissue of texts,
illy selected, and worse patched together, in proof of the
assertion that a belief in the Trinity is the one thing
needful, and that reason, unless manacled by a creed, is the
one thing dangerous. His figures were paltry, his thoughts
narrowed down, and his very sincerity made corrupt by
spiritual pride. One could not but pity his notions of the
Holy Ghost, and his bat-like fear of light. His Man-God seemed
to be the keeper of a mad-house, rather than the informing
Spirit of all spirits. After finishing his discourse, Mr. G.
sang a prayer, in a tone of mingled shout and whine, and then
requested his audience to sit a while in devout meditation.
For one, I passed the interval in praying for him, that the
thick film of self-complacency might be removed from the eyes
of his spirit, so that he might no more degrade religion.'
* * * * *
'Mr. HAGUE is of the Baptist persuasion, and is very popular
with his own sect. He is small, and carries his head erect;
he has a high and intellectual, though not majestic,
forehead; his brows are lowering and, when knit in indignant
denunciation, give a thunderous look to the countenance, and
beneath them flash, sparkle, and flame,--for all that may be
said of light in rapid motion is true of them,--his dark eyes.
Hazel and blue eyes with their purity, steadfastness, subtle
penetration and radiant hope, may persuade and win, but
black is the color to command. His mouth has an equivocal
expression, but as an orator perhaps he gains power by the air
of mystery this gives.
'He has a very active intellect, sagacity and elevated
sentiment; and, feeling strongly that God is love, can never
preach without earnestness. His power comes first from his
glowing vitality of temperament. While speaking, his every
muscle is in action, and all his action is towards one object.
There is perfect _abandon_. He is permeated, overborne, by
his thought. This lends a charm above grace, though incessant
nervousness and heat injure his manner. He is never violent,
though often vehement; pleading tones in his voice redeem him
from coarseness, even when most eager; and he throws himself
into the hearts of his hearers, not in weak need of sympathy,
but in the confidence of generous emotion. His second
attraction is his individuality. He speaks direct from the
conviction of his spirit, without temporizing, or artificial
method. His is the "unpremeditated art," and therefore
successful. He is full of intellectual life; his mind has not
been fettered by dogmas, and the worship of beauty finds
a place there. I am much interested in this truly animated
being.'
* * * * *
'Mr. R.H. DANA has been giving us readings in the English
dramatists, beginning with Shakspeare. The introductory was
beautiful. After assigning to literature its high place in
the education of the human soul, he announced his own view
in giving these readings: that he should never pander to a
popular love of excitement, but quietly, without regard to
brilliancy or effect, would tell what had struck him in
these poets; that he had no belief in artificial processes
of acquisition or communication, and having never learned
anything except through love, he had no hope of teaching any
but loving spirits, &c. All this was arrayed in a garb of
most delicate grace; but a man of such genuine refinement
undervalues the cannon-blasts and rockets which are needed
to rouse the attention of the vulgar. His naïve gestures,
the rapt expression of his face, his introverted eye, and the
almost childlike simplicity of his pathos, carry one back into
a purer atmosphere, to live over again youth's fresh emotions.
I greatly enjoyed his readings in Hamlet, and have reviewed
in connection what Goethe and Coleridge have said. Both have
successfully seized on the main points in the character of
Hamlet, and Mr. D. took nearly the same range. His views of
Ophelia, however, are unspeakably more just than are those of
Serlo in Wilhelm Meister. I regret that the whole course is
not to be on Shakspeare, for I should like to read with him
all the plays.
'I never have met with a person of finer perceptions. He
leaves out nothing; though he over-refines on some passages.
He has the most exquisite taste, and freshens the souls of his
hearers with ever new beauty. He is greatly indebted to the
delicacy of his physical organization for the delicacy of his
mental appreciation. But when he has told you what _he_
likes, the pleasure of intercourse is over: for he is a man of
prejudice more than of reason, and though he can make a lively
_exposé_ of his thoughts and feelings, he does not justify
them. In a word, Mr. Dana has the charms and the defects
of one whose object in life has been to preserve his
individuality unprofaned.'