The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862

The Patience of Hope. By the Author of "A Present Heaven." With an Introduction by JOHN G. WHITTIER. Boston: Ticknor & Fields.

As the method by which an individual soul reaches conclusions with regard to the Saviour and the conditions of salvation, "The Patience of Hope" is worthy of particular attention. It does not, however, stand alone, but belongs to a class. Its peculiarity is that it proceeds by apposite text and inference, more than by the illumination of feeling,—aiming to convince rather than to reveal, as is the manner of those whose convictions have not quite become as a star in a firmament where neither eclipse nor cloud ever comes. Evidently there was a most searching examination of the Scriptures preparatory to the work; and yet the ample quotation, often fresh and felicitous, appears to be made to sustain a preconceived opinion, or, more strictly, an emotion. This emotion is so single and absorbing that there is some gleam of it in each varying view, and every sentiment is warm with it, however the flame may lurk as beneath a crust of lava. Only from a richly gifted mind, and a heart whose longings no fullness of mortal affection has power to permanently appease, could these aspirations issue. It is the tender complaint and patient hope of one whom the earth, and all that is therein, cannot satisfy. Moreover, so pure and irrepressible is the natural desire of the heart, so does it color and constitute all the dream of Paradise, that the divinest Hope not only thrills and palpitates with Love's ripest imaginings, but puts on nuptial robes. Touchingly she pictures herself as "The Mystic Spouse,—her that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon the arm of her Beloved,—and we shall see that she, like her Lord, is wounded in her heart, her hands, and her feet." Though sowing in such still remembered pain, she yet reaps with unspeakable joy. She has now the full assurance that the mystic and immortal embrace is for her, and in the fulness of her heart cries, "When were Love's arms stretched so wide as upon the Cross?"

It is in keeping with such an aspiration that this and kindred natures should perceive in Christianity the sacred mystery from which is to be drawn, in the world to come, the full fruition of the tenderest and most vital impulse of the human heart, and therefore to be most fitly meditated and vividly anticipated in cloistered seclusion. Throughout their revelations there is a yearning for Infinite Love; and ardent receptivity is regarded as the true condition for the conception and enjoyment of religion. It is clear that they have a passion, sublimated and glorified indeed, but still a passion, for Christ. This is the mightiest impulse to that exaltation of His person against which the calm and consummate reasoner contends in vain. Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made! The soul is touched with the strong necessity of loving; and its power becomes intense and inappeasable in proportion to the capacity of the heart; and yet some of the greatest of those have reposed so supremely in the innate and ineffable Ideal that to the uninitiated they have seemed in their serenity as pulseless as pearls. Through this sublime influence lovely women have become nuns, and have lived and died saints, that they might continually indulge and constantly cherish the blissful hope of being, in some spiritual form, the brides of Jesus. A long line of these, coeval with the Crucifixion, have passed on in maiden meditation, and so were fancy-free from all of mortal mould. This ecstatic dreaming is so charming, and so insatiable withal, that it seems to those who entertain it a divine vision. It is an enchantment so complete that Reason cannot penetrate its circle, and Logic has never approached it. Doubtless this fond aspiration finds freest and fairest expression in the Roman Church,—a communion that not only encourages, but enjoins, the adoration of the Virgin, in order that certain enthusiasts among men may also aspire to the skies on the wings of pure, yet passionate love.

The ready objection to this course of life is that it leads to solitude. It wins the devotee apart, and away from the influences to that universal brotherhood whereto Philanthropy fondly turns as the finest manifestation of the spirit of the Redeemer. And yet they are equally the fruits of His coming. Without the perfect Man the sublimest endurance and most marvellous aspiration of Hope would never have found development below. Now it has become a power that so pervades the bosoms of sects that they accept its soaring wing as one to which the heaven of heavens is open. This, certainly, is the greatest triumph that human nature has achieved over those who have systematically depreciated it; inasmuch as it is a heightening, not a change of heart. Verily, Love is stronger than Death; and in its complete presence or utter absence, here or hereafter, there is and will be the extreme of bliss or bale. Therefore it is in the affections to lead those sweetly and swiftly heavenward who singly seek the immortal way. So guided and inspired, it cannot but be a charming path; for those who perpetually walk therein come to look as though they were entranced with the perfume that floats from fields of asphodel. Characters so developed are beautiful exceedingly, and seem of a far higher strain than those who most generously and effectively labor for the amelioration and moral advancement of the race. They, more than any others who have riches there, illumine the grand, yet gloomy arches of the Christian Church with their ineffable whiteness. No preacher therein is so eloquent as their marble silence; for they reveal in their countenances the mystery of Redemption. Even while among the living, men looked upon them with awe,—feeling, that, though coeval in time, infinite space rolled between. They teach as no other order of teachers can, that the days and duties of life may be so cast under foot as to exalt one to be only a little lower than the angels. In fine, through them is made visible the value of the individual soul; and thus we see, as in the central idea of our author, that "that which moulds itself from within is free."

Jenkins's Vest-Pocket Lexicon. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co.

Compared with "Webster's Unabridged" or "Worcester's Quarto," this little pinch of words would make "small show." It is, however, a very valuable pocket-companion; for, to use the author's own phrase, it "omits what everybody knows, contains what everybody wants to know and cannot readily find." It is really a vade-mecum, small, cheap, and useful to a degree no one can fully appreciate until it has been thoroughly tried. Mr. Jabex Jenkins may claim younger-brotherhood with the men who have done service in the important department of education he has chosen to enter.

A Practical Guide to the Study of the Diseases of the Eye; their Medical and Surgical Treatment. By HENRY W. WILLIAMS, M.D. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 12mo. pp. 317.

If we readily accord our gratitude to those whose skilful hands and well-instructed judgment render us physical service in our frequent need, ought we not to offer additional thanks to such as by the high tribute of their mental efforts confirm and elucidate the more mechanical processes required in doing their beneficent work?

Do those who enjoy unimpaired vision, and who have not yet experienced the sufferings arising from any of the varied forms of ocular disease, appreciate the magnitude of the blessing vouchsafed to them? We venture to answer in the negative.

Occasionally, the traveller by railway has a more or less severe hint as to what an inflamed and painful eye may bring him to endure: those countless flying cinders which blacken his garments and draw unsightly lines upon his face with their slender charcoal-pencils do not always leave him thus comparatively unharmed. Suppose one unluckily reaches the eyeball just as the redness has faded from its sharp angles,—do we not all know how the rest of that journey is one intolerable agony, unless some fellow-traveller knows how to remove the offending substance? And even then how the blistered, delicate surface yearns for a soothing douche of warm water,—perhaps not to be enjoyed for hours!

From slighter troubles, through all the more serious and dangerous states arising from injury or produced by spontaneous or specifically aroused inflammation, to the wonderful operations devised to give sight, when the clear and beautiful lens has become clouded, or the delicate muscular meshes of the iris are bound down or drawn together so as to close the pupil and shut out the visible world, the learned and skilful operator comes to our aid, a veritable messenger of mercy. To be deprived of sight,—who can fully appreciate this melancholy condition, save those who have been in danger of such a fate, or have had actual experience of it, though only temporarily? Such a misfortune is universally allowed to be worse, by far, than congenital blindness. And this is not difficult to understand. The eyes that have been permitted to drink in the varied hues of the landscape, and to gaze with such delight upon the celestial revelations spread out nightly above and around them, are indeed in double darkness when all this power and privilege are swept away, it may be forever. The astronomer can truly estimate the value of healthy eyes.

In looking over again, after a thorough perusal some time since, the admirable work which forms the theme of this notice, we could not resist the impulse to call attention to the infinite uses, unbounded importance, and inestimable value of the organs of vision; and we have no fear but our postulate in regard to the manner in which we should all prize their conservators will be heartily acceded to.

This is hardly the place in which to enter into a minute professional examination of this new volume. If we advert generally to its purpose, and point out the undoubted benefits its recommendations and teaching are destined to confer, both upon those who are sufferers,—or who will be, unless they heed its warnings,—and upon the practitioners who devote either an exclusive or a general attention to the diseases of the eye, the end we have in view will be partially attained,—and fully so, if the author's convincing instructions are brought into that universal adoption which they not only eminently deserve, but must command. Let us hope that the clear style, sensible advice, and valuable information, derived from so varied an experience as that which has been enjoyed by our author, will have a wide and growing influence in the extensive field of professional ministrations demanded by this class of cases,—for, let it be remembered, and reverently be it written, "THE LIGHT OF THE BODY IS THE EYE."

The distinctive aim of the author—and which is kept constantly in view—is the simplifying both of the classification and the treatment of the diseases of the eye. We know of no volume which could more appropriately and beneficially be put into the hands of the medical student, nor any which could meet a more appreciative welcome from the busy practitioner. The former cannot, at the tender age of his professional life, digest the ponderous masses of ocular lore which adorn the shelves of the maturer student's library; and the latter, while he is glad to have these elaborate works at his command for reference, is refreshed by a perusal of a few pages of the more unpretending, but not less valuable vade-mecum.

While the professional reader will peruse this book with pleasure as well as profit, there are many points and paragraphs of great value to everybody. We advise every one to look over these pages, and we promise that many valuable hints will be gained in reference to the various ailments and casualties which are constantly befalling the eye. It is well in this world to become members of a Mutual-Assistance Society, and help one another out of trouble as often as we can. In order to do this, we must know how; and, in many cases, a little aid in mishaps such as are likely to occur to the eye may prevent a vast deal of subsequent injury and pain.

We cannot but refer to the singular good sense of the author in pressing upon his reader's attention the mischief so often wrought, hitherto,—and we fear still frequently brought about,—by over-activity of treatment. Especially does this find its exemplification in the care of traumatic injuries of the eye. Rashness and heroic measures in these cases are as unfortunate for the patient as are the well-meant efforts of friends, when a foreign substance has been inserted into the ear or nose, or a needle broken off in the flesh: what was at first an easily remedied matter becomes exceedingly difficult, tedious, and painful, after various pokings, pushings, and squeezings.

The author's experience in cases of cataract makes his observations upon that affection as valuable as they are clear and to the purpose. The same is true with regard to the use and abuse of spectacles.

A short account of that interesting and most important instrument, the Opthalmoscope, will command the attention of the general reader.

Finally, we notice with peculiar satisfaction the elegant dress in which the volume appears. A very marked feature of this is the agreeable tint given to the paper, so much to be preferred to the glaring snowy white which has been so long the rule with publishers everywhere. This is especially befitting a volume whose object is the alleviation of ocular distress, and we venture to say will meet with the commendation of every reader. A similar shade was adopted, some time since, by the publishers of "The Ophthalmic Hospital Reports," London, at the suggestion, we think, of its accomplished editor, Mr. Streatfeild.

Country Living and Country Thinking. By GAIL HAMILTON. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 12mo.

Our impression of this volume is that it contains some of the most charming essays in American literature. The authoress, who chooses to conceal her real name under the alias of "Gail Hamilton," is not only womanly, but a palpable individual among women. Both sex and individuality are impressed on every page.

That the hook is written by a woman is apparent by a thousand signs. That it proceeds from a distinct and peculiar personality, as well as from a fertile and vigorous intellect, is no less apparent. The writer has evidently looked at life through her own eyes, and interpreted it through her own experience. Her independence becomes at times a kind of humorous tartness, and she finds fault most delightfully. So cant and pretence, however cunningly disguised by accredited maxims and accredited sentimentality, can for a moment deceive her sharp insight or her fresh sensibility. This primitive power and originality are not purchased by any sacrifice of the knowledge derived at second-hand through books, for she is evidently a thoughtful and appreciative student of the best literature; but they proceed from a nature so strong that it cannot be overcome and submerged by the mental forces and food it assimilates.

Individuality implies will, and will always tends to wilfulness. The two are harmonized in humor. Gail Hamilton is a humorist in her wilfulness, and flashes suggestive thought and wisdom even in her most daring caprices and eccentricities of individual whim. She is wild in sentences, heretical in paragraphs, thoroughly orthodox in essays. Her mind is really inclosed by the most rigid maxims of Calvinistic theology, while, within that circle, it frisks and plays in the oddest and wittiest freaks. A grave and religious earnestness is at the foundation of her individuality, and she is so assured of this fact that she can safely indulge in wilful gibes at pretension in all its most conventionally sacred forms. This bright audacity is the perfection of moral and intellectual health. No morbid nature, however elevated in its sentiments, would dare to hazard such keen and free remarks as Gail Hamilton scatters in careless profusion.

When this intellectual caprice approaches certain definite limits, it is edifying to witness the forty-person power of ethics and eloquence she brings readily up to the rescue of the sentiments she at first seemed bent on destroying. As her style throughout is that of brilliant, animated, and cordial conversation, flexible to all the moods of the quick mind it so easily and aptly expresses, the reader is somewhat puzzled at times to detect the natural logic which regulates her transitions from gay to grave, from individual perceptions to general laws; but the geniality and heartiness which flood the whole book with life and meaning soon reconcile him to the peculiar processes of the intellect whose startling originality and freshness give him so much pleasure.

It would be unjust not to say that beneath all the fantastic play of her wit and humor there is constantly discernible an earnest purpose. Sense and sagacity are everywhere visible. The shrewdest judgments on ordinary life and character are as abundant as the quaint fancies with which they are often connected. But in addition to all that charms and informs, the thoughtful reader will find much that elevates and invigorates. A noble soul, contemptuous of everything mean and base, loving everything grand and magnanimous, is the real life and inspiration of the book.