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THE LANDLORD.

BY HENRY D. THOREAU.

UNDER the one word, house, are included the school house, the alms house, the jail, the tavern, the dwelling house; and the meanest shed or cave in which men live, contains the elements of all these. But no where on the earth sands the entire and perfect house. The Parthenon, St. Peter's, the Gothic minster, the palace, the hovel, are but imperfect executions of an imperfect idea. Who would dwell in them? Perhaps to the eye of the gods, the cottage is more holy than the Parthenon, for they look down with no especial favor upon the shrines formally dedicated to them, and that should be the most sacred roof which shelters most of humanity. Surely, then, the gods who are most interested in the human race preside over the Tavern, where especially men congregate. Methinks I see the thousand shrines erected to Hospitality shining afar in all countries, as well Mahometan and Jewish, as Christian, khans, and caravansaries, and inns, whither all pilgrims without distinction resort.

Likewise we look in vain east or west over the earth to find the perfect man; but each represents only some particular excellence. The Landlord is a man of more open and general sympathies, who possesses a spirit of hospitality which is its own reward, and feeds and shelters men from pure love of the creatures. To be sure, this profession is as often filled by imperfect characters, and such as have sought it from unworthy motives, as any other, but so much the more should we prize the true and honest Landlord when we meet with him.

Who has not imagined to himself a country inn, where the traveller shall really feel in, and at home, and at his public house, who was before at his private house; whose host is indeed a host, and a lord of the land, a self-appointed brother of his race; called to his place, beside, by all the winds of heaven and his good genius, as truly as the preacher is called to preach; a man of such universal sympathies, and so broad and

genial a human nature, that he would fain sacrifice the tender but narrow ties of private friendship, to a broad, sunshiny, fair-weather-and foul friendship for his race; who loves men, not as a philosopher, with philanthropy, nor as an overseer of the poor, with charity, but by a necessity of his nature, as he loves dogs and horses; and standing at his open door from morning till night, would fain see more and more of them come along the highway, and is never satiated. To him the sun and moon are but travellers, the one by day and the other by night; and they too patronise his house. To his imagination all things travel save his sign-post and himself; and though you may be his neighbor for years, he will show you only the civilities of the road. But on the other hand, while nations and individuals are alike selfish and exclusive, he loves all men equally; and if he treats his nearest neighbor as a stranger, since he has invited all nations to share his hospitality, the farthest travelled is in some measure kindred to him who takes him into the bosom of his family.

He keeps a house of entertainment at the sign of the Black Horse or the Spread Eagle, and is known far and wide, and his fame travels with increasing radius every year. All the neighborhood is in his interest, and if the traveller ask how far to a tavern, he receives some such answer as this: "Well, sir, there's a house about three miles from here, where they haven't taken down their sign yet; but it's only ten miles to Slocum's, and that's a capital house, both for man and beast." At three miles he passes a cheerless barrack, standing desolate behind its sign-post, neither public nor private, and has glimpses of a discontented couple who have mistaken their calling. At ten miles see where the Tavern stands,-really an entertaining prospect,-so public and inviting that only the rain and snow do not enter. It is no gay pavilion, made of bright stuffs, and furnished with nuts and gingerbread, but as plain and sincere as a

caravansary; located in no Tarrytown, where you receive only the civilities of commerce, but far in the fields it exercises a primitive hospitality, amid the fresh scent of new hay and raspberries, if it be summer time, and the tinkling of cow-bells from invisible pastures; for it is a land flowing with milk and honey, and the newest milk courses in a broad deep stream across the premises.

In these retired places the tavern is first of all a house-elsewhere, last of all, or never-and warms and shelters its inhabitants. It is as simple and sincere in its essentiais as the caves in which the first men dwelt, but it is also as open and public. The traveller steps across the threshold, and lo! he too is master, for he only can be called proprietor of the house here who behaves with most propriety in it. The Landlord stands clear back in nature, to my imagination, with his axe and spade felling trees and raising potatoes with the vigor of a pioneer; with Promethean energy making nature yield her increase to supply the wants of so many; and he is not so exhausted, nor of so short a stride, but that he comes forward even to the highway to this wide hospitality and publicity. Surely, he has solved some of the problems of life. He comes in at his back door, holding a log fresh cut for the hearth upon his shoulder with one hand, while he greets the newly arrived traveller with the other.

Here at length we have free range, as not in palaces, nor cottages, nor temples, and intrude no where. All the secrets of housekeeping are exhibited to the eyes of men, above and below, before and behind. This is the necessary way to live, men have confessed, in these days, and shall he skulk and hide? And why should we have any serious disgust at kitchens? Perhaps they are the holiest recess of the house. There is the hearth, after all, and the settle, and the faggots, and the kettle, and the crickets. We have pleasant reminiscences of these. They are the heart, the left ventricle, the very vital part of the house. Here the real and sincere life which we meet in the streets was actually fed and sheltered. Here burns the taper that cheers the lonely traveller by night, and from this hearth ascends the smokes that populate the valley to his eyes by day. On

the whole, a man may not be so little ashamed of any other part of his house, for here is his sincerity and earnest, at least. It may not be here that the besoms are plied most-it is not here that they need to be, for dust will not settle on the kitchen floor more than in nature.

Hence it will not do for the Landlord to possess too fine a nature. He must. have health above the common accidents of life, subject to no modern fashionable diseases; but no taste, rather a vast relish or appetite. His sentiments on all subjects will be delivered as freely as the wind blows; there is nothing private or individual in them, though still original, but they are public, and of the hue of the heavens over his house,-a certain out-of-door obviousness and transparency not to be disputed. What he does, his manners are not to be complained of, though abstractly offensive, for it is what man does, and in him the race is exhibited. When he eats, he is liver and bowels, and the whole digestive apparatus to the company, and so all admit the thing is done. He must have no idiosyncracies, no particular bents or tendencies to this or that, but a general, uniform, and healthy development, such as his portly person indicates, offering himself equally on all sides to men. He is not one of your peaked and inhospitable men of genius, with particular tastes, but, as we said before, has one uniform relish, and taste which never aspires higher than a tavern sign, or the cut of a weathercock. The man of genius, like a dog with a bone, or the slave who has swallowed a diamond, or a patient with the gravel, sits afar and retired, off the road, hangs out no sign of refreshment for man and beast, but says, by all possible hints and signs, I wish to be alone-good-bye-farewell. But the landlord can afford to live without privacy. He entertains no private thought, he cherishes no solitary hour, no sabbath day, but thinks-enough to assert the dignity of reason—and talks, and reads the newspaper. What he does not tell to one traveller, he tells to another. He never wants to be alone, but sleeps, wakes, eats, drinks, sociably, still remembering his race. He walks abroad through the thoughts of men, and the Iliad and Shakspeare are tame to him, who hears the rude but homely incidents of the road from every

traveller. The mail might drive through his brain in the midst of his most lonely soliloquy, without disturbing his equanimity, provided it brought plenty of news and passengers. There can be no pro-fanity where there is no fane behind, and the whole world may see quite round him. Perchance his lines have fallen to him in dustier places, and he has heroically sat down where two roads meet, or at the Four Corners, or the Five Points, and his life is sublimely trivial for the good of men. The dust of travel blows ever in his eyes, and they preserve their clear, complacent look. The hourlies and half-hourlies, the dailies and weeklies, whirl on well worn tracks, round and round his house, as if it were the goal in the stadium, and still he sits within in unruffled serenity, with no show of retreat. His neighbor dwells timidly behind a screen of poplars and willows, and a fence with sheafs of spears at regular intervals, or defended against the tender palms of visitors by sharp spikes, but the traveller's wheels rattle over the door-step of the tavern, and he cracks his whip in the entry. He is truly glad to see you, and sincere as the bull's-eye over his door. The traveller seeks to find, wherever he goes, some one who will stand in this broad and catholic relation to him, who will be an inhabitant of the land to him a stranger, and represent its human nature, as the rock stands for its inanimate nature; and this is he. As his crib furnishes provender for the traveller's horse, and his larder provisions for his appetite, so his conversation furnishes the necessary aliment to his spirits. He knows very well what a man wants, for he is a man himself, and as it were the farthest travelled, though he has never stirred from his door. He understands his needs and destiny. He would be well fed and lodged, there can be no doubt, and have the transient sympathy of a cheerful companion, and of a heart which always prophesies fair weather. And after all the greatest men, even, want much more the sympathy which every one can give, than that which the great only can impart. If he is not the most upright, let us allow him this praise, that he is the most downright of men. He has a hand to shake and to be shaken, and takes a sturdy and unquestionable interest in you, as if he had assumed the

care of you, but if you will break your neck, he will even give you the best advice as to the method.

The great poets have not been ungrateful to their landlords. Mine host of the Tabard inn, in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, was an honor to his profession :

For to han been an marshal in an halle. "A semely man our Hoste was, with alle, A large man he was, with eyen stepe; A fairer burgeis is ther non in Chepe: Bold of his speche, and wise, and well ytaught,

And of manhood him lacked righte naught.

Eke thereto, was he right a mery man,
And after souper plaien he began,
And spake of mirthe amonges other
thinges,

Whan that we hadden made our reckoninges."

He is the true house-band, and centre of the company-of greater fellowship and practical social talent than any

He it is, that proposes that each shall tell a tale to while away the time to Canterbury, and leads them himself, and concludes with his own tale:

"Now, by my fader's soule that is ded, But ye be mery, smiteth of my hed: Hold up your hondes withouten more speche."

He is a

If we do not look up to the Landlord, we look round for him on all emergencies, for he is a man of infinite experience, who unites hands with wit. more public character than a statesman-a publican, and not consequently a sinner; and surely, he, if any, should be exempted from taxation and military duty.

Talking with our host is next best and instructive to talking with one's self. It is a more conscious soliloquy; as it were, to speak generally, and try what we would say provided we had an audience. He has indulgent and open ears, and does not require petty and particular statements. "Heigho!" exclaims the traveller. Them's my sentiments, thinks mine host, and stands ready for what may come next, expressing the purest sympathy by his demeanor. "Hot as blazes!" says the other," Hard weather, sir,-not much stirring now-a-days," says he.

ums, but a good fellow, that is, good to be associated with. Who ever thought of the religion of an innkeeper

partook of the sacrament, said his prayers, feared God, or the like? No doubt he has had his experiences, has felt a change, and is a firm believer in the perseverance of the saints. In this last, we suspect, does the peculiarity of his religion consist. But he keeps an inn, and not a conscience. How many fragrant charities, and sincere social virtues are implied in this daily offering of himself to the public. He cherishes good will to all, and gives the wayfarer as good and honest advice to direct him on his road, as the priest.

He is wiser than to contradict his guest in any case; he lets him go on, he lets him travel. The latest sitter leaves him stand--whether he was joined to the Church, ing far in the night, prepared to live right on, while suns rise and set, and his "good-night" has as brisk a sound as his "good-morning," and the earliest riser finds him tasting his liquors in the bar ere flies begin to buzz, with a countenance fresh as the morning star over the sanded floor, and not as one who had watched all night for travellers. And yet, if beds be the subject of conversation, it will appear that no man has been a sounder sleeper in his time. Finally, as for his moral character, we do not hesitate to say, that he has no grain of vice or meanness in him, but represents just that degree of virtue which all men relish without being obliged to respect. He is a good man, as his bitters are good-an unquestionable goodness. Not what is called a good man,-good to be considered, as a work of art in galleries and muse

To conclude, the tavern will compare favorably with the church. The church is the place where prayers and sermons are delivered, but the tavern is where they are to take effect, and if the former are good, the latter cannot be bad.

THE FATHERLAND.

BY J. R. LOWELL.

WHERE is the true man's fatherland?
Is it where he by chance is born?
Doth not the free-winged spirit scorn
In such pent borders to be spanned?
Oh yes, his fatherland must be
As the blue heaven wide and free!

Is it alone where freedom is,

Where God is God and man is man?
Doth he not claim a broader span
For the soul's love of home than this?
Oh yes! his fatherland must be
As the blue heaven wide and free!

Where'er a human heart doth wear

Joy's myrtle wreath, or sorrow's gyves,
Where'er a human spirit strives
After a life more pure and fair,

There is the true man's birthplace grand!
His is a world-wide fatherland!

Where'er a single slave doth pine,

Where'er one man may help another,-
Thank God for such a birthright, brother!

That spot of earth is thine and mine;
There is the true man's birthplace grand!
His is a world-wide fatherland!

WASHINGTON ALLSTON.

(With an engraving on steel.)

THE subject of this sketch was born in Charleston, S. C., November 5th, -1779. He was fitted for college at Newport, R. I., and his school-fellows remember his strong predilection for his art at that early age. When he was sixteen years old he entered Harvard University, and graduated in 1800 with a poem. In college he painted several pictures, and copied some of those belonging to the institution. His designs at this period are distinguished for their tragic and romantic effect; one of them, from Schiller's "Robbers," represents Charles de Moor, meditating suicide in the forest, pistol in hand.

After leaving college, he disposed of his paternal estate in South Carolina, and, in 1801, embarked for London, where he spent some three years as a student at the Royal Academy, WEST at that time being President. He then went to Italy, where he spent four years, and returned to America in 1809. After remaining at home two years, during which period he married a sister of the late Dr. Channing, he sailed again for England in 1811.

While abroad he divided his time between London, Paris and Rome. Few American artists have devoted so much time to preparatory studies. He qualified himself thoroughly in every department of the art, and gained an exact knowledge of anatomy; he spent much time in modelling-a practice which he continued to the last year of his life. In 1818, he returned to America, where he afterwards remained.

His figure was tall, commanding, well-proportioned and very erect. The lines of his face were softened, as if the tone of the fair features he moulded had been reflected there. His hair in his later years fell in long silver locks, and was very abundant, graceful, and waving. We have seen a picture of Fuseli which reminds us of him, though the former wanted a certain inward religious expression peculiar to Allston. His countenance expressed with great animation what was passing in his mind, and each emotion was mirrored there with singular fidelity.

If ever any man was a painter in his appearance, that man was Allston; his language, the tones of his voice, his gestures, were polished and refined, as they only could be, by an unwearied study of beauty. He impressed his visitor by a certain patient expression, as if he had devoted more of life to labor than most men ; and had an inward look of industry, as if toil had been harmonized into the softest beauty, yet lost not a whit of its sternness. He was this unwearied worker. His gestures and frequent changes of position were always graceful, and well illustrated his conversation. He displayed that high-bred courtesy, in which great artists are not inferior to kings. He poured out the glass of wine, and attended you to the door, with a pleasure in each little civility that showed how magnificent his feelings were. It was a high service he did in the great court of love, not any thing individual. This elegance and polish made his society enchanting, but he possessed, besides, a keen and subtle intellect, a warm and generous heart, and a lofty and religious spirit.

Among his Poems, (for he also excelled in this art) many will remember his "England and America," gratefully inserted in the Sibylline Leaves, by Coleridge. In his Sylphs of the Seasons, the longest poem of his early volume, the same minute care to polish without weakening, which renders his pictures such monuments of artistical skill, is observable; his later poems, like "Rosalie," have an added delicacy and sweetness, as his later female heads have. Years in him, did but deepen the creative beauty of his soul, and a serene gentleness rests every where on his last works, like the latest beams of the sun over the landscape.

His only published work of fiction, "Monaldi," could have been composed by no one except a great painter, and the conceptions of master-pieces are strewn on its pages. It is a bold tale of imaginative passion, a thrilling narrative of the lights and shadows of human character. He has left a series

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