Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
There was, besides, a serving man, whose name was Phil. Our
retrospective glance presents Phil as a shipwrecked carpenter, cast away
upon the desert island of a school, and carrying into practice an
ingenious inkling of many trades. He mended whatever was broken, and
made whatever was wanted. He was general glazier, among other things,
and mended all the broken windows--at the prime cost (as was darkly
rumored among us) of ninepence for every square charged three-and-six to
parents. We had a high opinion of his mechanical genius, and generally
held that the Chief "knew something bad of him," and on pain of
divulgence enforced Phil to be his bondsman. We particularly remember
that Phil had a sovereign contempt for learning; which engenders in us a
respect for his sagacity, as it implies his accurate observation of the
relative positions of the Chief and the ushers. He was an impenetrable
man, who waited at table between whiles, and, throughout "the half" kept
the boxes in severe custody. He was morose, even to the Chief, and never
smiled, except at breaking-up, when, in acknowledgment of the toast,
"Success to Phil! Hooray!" he would slowly carve a grin out of his
wooden face, where it would remain until we were all gone. Nevertheless,
one time when we had the scarlet fever in the school, Phil nursed all
the sick boys of his own accord, and was like a mother to them.
There was another school not far off, and of course our school could
have nothing to say to that school. It is mostly the way with schools,
whether of boys or men. Well! the railway has swallowed up ours, and the
locomotives now run smoothly over its ashes.
So fades and languishes, grows dim and dies,
All that this world is proud of,
and is not proud of, too. It had little reason to be proud of Our
School, and has done much better since in that way, and will do far
better yet.
A STORY OF ORIENTAL LOVE.
Poets have complained in all countries and in all ages, that true love
ever meets with obstacles and hindrances, and the highest efforts of
their art have been exhausted in commemorating the sufferings or the
triumphs of affection. Will the theme ever cease to interest? Will the
hopes, the fears, the joys, the vows of lovers, ever be deemed matters
of light moment, unworthy to be embalmed and preserved in those immortal
caskets which genius knows how to frame out of words? If that dreary
time be destined to come--if victory decide in favor of those mechanical
philosophers who would drive sentiment out of the world--sad will be the
lot of mortals; for it is better to die with a heart full of love, than
live for an age without feeling one vibration of that divine passion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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