They will
transform
you from an Egyp-
tian emerald into a Persian diamond.
tian emerald into a Persian diamond.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v09 - Dra to Eme
A.
Dana, a scheme which Emerson
called a perpetual picnic, a French Revolution in small, an age of
reason in a patty-pan. ” This community existed seven years, and to
quote again from Emerson, — “In Brook Farm was this peculiarity,
that there was no head. In every family is the father; in every fac-
tory a foreman; in a shop a master; in a boat the skipper: but in
this Farm no authority; each was master or mistress of their actions;
happy, hapless anarchists. »
Here Mr. Dwight edited The Harbinger, a periodical published by
that community; taught languages and music, besides doing his share
of the manual labor. In 1848 he returned to Boston and engaged in
literature and musical criticism; and in 1852 he established Dwight's
Journal of Music, which he edited for thirty years. Many of his best
essays appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, and he contributed to
various periodicals.
He was one of the pioneers of scholarly, intelligent, original, and
literary musical criticism in America, and he possessed fine general
attainments and a distinct style. It is because of his clear perception
of the indispensableness of the arts- and especially of the art of
music — to life, and because of his clear statement of their vital rela-
tionship, that his work belongs to literature.
## p. 5085 (#253) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5085
MUSIC AS A MEANS OF CULTURE
From the Atlantic Monthly, 1870, by permission of Houghton, Mifflin
and Company
W*
TE As a democratic people, a great mixed people of all races,
overrunning a vast continent, need music even more than
others. We need some ever-present, ever-welcome influ-
ence that shall insensibly tone down our self-asserting and ag-
gressive manners, round off the sharp, offensive angularity of
character, subdue and harmonize the free and ceaseless conflict
of opinions, warm out the genial individual humanity of each
and every unit of society, lest he become a mere member of a
party, or a sharer of business or fashion. This rampant liberty
will rush to its own ruin, unless there shall be found some gen-
tler, harmonizing, humanizing culture, such as may pervade
whole masses with a fine enthusiasm, a sweet sense of reverence
for something far above us, beautiful and pure; awakening some
ideality in every soul, and often lifting us out of the hard hope-
less prose of daily life. We need this beautiful corrective of our
crudities. Our radicalism will pull itself up by the roots, if it
do not cultivate the instinct of reverence. The first impulse of
freedom is centrifugal,- to fly off the handle, - unless it be re-
strained by a no less free impassioned love of order. We need
to be so enamored of the divine idea of unity, that that alone
the enriching of that — shall be the real motive for assertion of
our individuality. What shall so temper and tone down our
« fierce democracy” ? It must be something better, lovelier,
more congenial to human nature than mere stern prohibition,
cold Puritanic «Thou shalt not! ” What can so quickly magnet-
ize a people into this harmonic mood as music ? Have we not
seen it, felt it?
The hard-working, jaded millions need expansion, need the
rejuvenating, the ennobling experience of joy. Their toil, their
church, their creed perhaps, their party livery, and very vote,
are narrowing; they need to taste, to breathe a larger, freer life.
Has it not come to thousands, while they have listened to or
joined their voices in some thrilling chorus that made the heav-
ens seem to open and come down ? The governments of the
Old World do much to make the people cheerful and contented;
here it is all laissez-faire, each for himself, in an ever keener
strife of competition. We must look very much to music to do
## p. 5086 (#254) ###########################################
5086
JOHN S. DWIGHT
this good work for us; we are open to that appeal; we can forget
ourselves in that; we blend in joyous fellowship when we can
sing together; perhaps quite as much so when we can listen to-
gether to a noble orchestra of instruments interpreting the high-
est inspirations of a master. The higher and purer the character
and kind of music, the more of real genius there is in it, the
deeper will this influence be.
Judge of what can be done, by what already, within our own
experience, has been done and daily is done. Think what the
children in our schools are getting, through the little that they
learn of vocal music, - elasticity of spirit, joy in harmonious
co-operation, in the blending of each happy life in others; a
rhythmical instinct of order and of measure in all movement; a
quickening of ear and sense, whereby they will grow up suscep-
tible to music, as well as with some use of their own voices, so
that they may take part in it; for from these spacious nurseries
(loveliest flower gardens, apple orchards in full bloom, say, on
their annual fête days) shall our future choirs and oratorio chio-
ruses be replenished with good sound material.
We esteem ourselves the freest people on this planet; yet per-
haps we have as little real freedom as any other, for we are the
slaves of our own feverish enterprise, and of a barren theory of
discipline, which would fain make us virtuous to a fault through
abstinence from very life. We are afraid to give ourselves up
to the free and happy instincts of our nature. All that is not
pursuit of advancement in some good, conventional, approved
way of business, or politics, or fashion, or intellectual reputation,
or professed religion, we count waste. We lack geniality; nor do
we as a people understand the meaning of the word. We ought
to learn it practically of our Germans. It comes of the same
root with the word genius. Genius is the spontaneous principle;
it is free and happy in its work; it is artist and not drudge; its
whole activity is reconciliation of the heartiest pleasure with the
purest loyalty to conscience, with the most holy, universal, and
disinterested ends. Genius, as Beethoven gloriously illustrates in
his Choral Symphony (indeed, in all his symphonies), finds the
keynote and solution of the problem of the highest state in
"Joy, taking his text from Schiller's Hymn. Now, all may not
be geniuses in the sense that we call Shakespeare, Mozart,
Raphael, men of genius. But all should be partakers of this
spontaneous, free, and happy method of genius; all should live
## p. 5087 (#255) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5087
childlike, genial lives, and not wear all the time the consequen-
tial livery of their unrelaxing business, nor the badge of party
and profession, in every line and feature of their faces. This
genial, childlike faculty of social enjoyment, this happy art of life,
is just what our countrymen may learn from the social “Lieder-
tafel” and the summer singing-festivals of which the Germans
are so fond. There is no element of national character which we
so much need; and there is no class of citizens whom we should
be more glad to adopt and own than those who set us such ex-
amples. So far as it is a matter of culture, it is through art
chiefly that the desiderated genial era must be ushered in. The
Germans have the sentiment of art, the feeling of the beautiful
in art, and consequently in nature, more developed than we have.
Above all, music offers itself as the most available, most popular,
most influential of the fine arts,— music, which is the art and lan-
guage of the feelings, the sentiments, the spiritual instincts of the
soul; and so becomes a universal language, tending to unite and
blend and harmonize all who may come within its sphere.
Such civilizing, educating power has music for society at
large. Now, in the finer sense of culture, such as we look for in
more private and select “society,” as it is called, music in the
salon, in the small chamber concert, where congenial spirits are
assembled in its name good music of course— does it not create
a finer sphere of social sympathy and courtesy? Does it not
better mold the tone and manners from within than any imita-
tive “fashion” from without ? What society, upon the whole, is
quite so sweet, so satisfactory, so refined, as the best musical
society, if only Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franz, Chopin, set the
tone! The finer the kind of music heard or made together, the
better the society. This bond of union only reaches the few;
coarser, meaner, more prosaic natures are not drawn to it.
Wealth and fashion may not dictate who shall be of it. Here
congenial spirits meet in a way at once free, happy, and instruct-
ive, meet with an object which insures “society”; whereas so-
called society, as such, is often aimless, vague, modifying and
fatiguing, for the want of any subject-matter. Here one gets
ideas of beauty which are not mere arbitrary fashions, ugly often
to the eye of taste. Here you may escape vulgarity by a way
not vulgar in itself, like that of fashion, which makes wealth
and family and means of dress its passports. Here you can be
as exclusive as you please, by the soul's light, not wronging any
## p. 5088 (#256) ###########################################
5088
JOHN S. DWIGHT
one; here learn gentle manners, and the quiet ease and courtesy
with which cultivated people move, without in the same process
learning insincerity.
Of course the same remarks apply to similar sincere reunions
in the name of any other art, or of poetry. But music is the
most social of them all, even if each listener find nothing set
down to his part (or even hers! ) but tacet.
We have fancied ourselves entertaining a musical house to-
gether, but we must leave it with no time to make report or
picture out the scene. Now, could we only enter the chamber,
the inner sanctum, the private inner life of a thoroughly musical
person, one who is wont to live in music! Could we know him
in his solitude! (You can only know him in yourself, unless he
be a poet and creator in his art, and bequeath himself in that
form in his works for any who know how to read. ) If the best
of all society is musical society, we go further and say: The
sweetest of all solitude is when one is alone with music. One
gets the best of music, the sincerest part, when he is alone.
Our poet-philosopher has told us to secure solitude at any cost;
there's nothing which we can so ill afford to do without. It is
a great vice of our society, that it provides for and disposes to
so little solitude, ignoring the fact that there is more loneliness
in company than out of it. Now, to a musical person, in the
mood of it, in the sweet hours by himself, comes music as the
nearest friend, nearer and dearer than ever before; and he soon
finds that he never was in such good company.
I doubt if sym-
phony of Beethoven, opera of Mozart, Passion Music of Bach,
was ever so enjoyed or felt in grandest public rendering, as one
may feel it while he recalls its outline by himself at his piano
(even if he be a slow and bungling reader and may get it out
by piecemeal). I doubt if such an one can carry home from the
performance, in presence of the applauding crowd, nearly so
much as he may take to it from such inward, private preparation.
Are you alone? What spirits can you summon up to fill the
vacancy, and people it with life and love and beauty! Take
down the volume of sonatas, the arrangement of the great Sym-
phony, the recorded reveries of Chopin, the songs of Schubert,
Schumann, Franz, or even the chorals, with the harmony of
Bach, in which the four parts blend their several individual
melodies together in such loving service of the whole, that the
plain people's tune becomes a germ unfolding into endless wealth
## p. 5089 (#257) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5089
and beauty of meaning; and you have the very essence of all
prayer, and praise, and gratitude, as if you were a worshiper in
the ideal church. Nothing like music, then, to banish the
benumbing ghost of ennui. It lends secret sympathy, relief,
expression, to all one's moods, loves, longings, sorrows; comes
nearer to the soul or to the secret wound than
any
friend or
healing sunshine from without. It nourishes and feeds the hid-
den springs of hope and love and faith; renews the old convic-
tion of life's springtime, – that the world is ruled by love, that
God is good, that beauty is a divine end of life, and not a snare
and an illusion. It floods out of sight the unsightly, muddy
grounds of life's petty, anxious, doubting moments, and makes
immortality a present fact, lived in and realized. It locks the
door against the outer world of discords, contradictions, impor-
tunities, beneath the notice of a soul so richly occupied: lets
“Fate knock at the door” (as Beethoven said in explanation of
his symphony),-- Fate and the pursuing Furies,--and even wel-
comes them, and turns them into gracious goddesses,- Eumen-
ides! Music, in this way, is a marvelous elixir to keep off old
age. Youth returns in solitary hours with Beethoven and Mozart.
Touching the chords of the Moonlight Sonata,' the old man is
once more a lover; with the andante of the Pastoral Symphony'
he loiters by the shady brookside, hand in hand with his fresh
heart's first angel. You are past the sentimental age, yet you
can weep alone in music, — not weep exactly, but find outlet
more expressive and more worthy of your manly faith.
A great grief comes, an inconsolable bereavement, a humil-
iating, paralyzing reverse, a blow of Fate, giving the lie to your
best plans and bringing your best powers into discredit with
yourself; then you are best prepared and best entitled to receive
the secret visitations of these tuneful goddesses and muses.
« Who never ate his bread in tears,
He knows you not, ye heavenly powers! ”
So sings the German poet. It is the want of inward, deep ex-
perience, it is innocence of sorrow and of trial, more than the
lack of any special cultivation of musical taste and knowledge,
that debars many people — naturally most young people, and all
who are what we call shallow natures - from the feeling and
enjoyment of many of the truest, deepest, and most heavenly
of all the works of music. Take the Passion Music of Bach, for
IX-319
## p. 5090 (#258) ###########################################
5090
JOHN S. DWIGHT
instance; if you can sit down alone at your piano and decipher
strains and pieces of it when you need such music, you shall find
that in its quiet quaintness, its sincerity and tenderness, its absti-
nence from all striving for effect, it speaks to you and entwines
itself about your heart, like the sweetest, deepest verses in the
Bible; when the soul muses till the fire burns. ”
Such a panacea is this art for loneliness. But sometimes too
it may intensify the sense of loneliness, only for more heavenly
relief at last. Think of the deep composer, of lonely, sad Beetho-
ven, wreaking his pain upon expression in those impatient chords
and modulations, putting his sorrows into sonatas, and wringing
triumph always out of all! Look at him as he was then,- mo-
rose, they say, and lonely and tormented; look where he is now,
as the whole world knows him, feels him, seeks him for its joy
and inspiration -- and who can doubt of immortality?
Now, in such private solace, in such solitary joys, is there not
culture ? Can one rise from such communings with the good
spirits of the tone-world and go out, without new peace, new
faith, new hope, and good-will in his soul? He goes forth in the
spirit of reconciliation and of patience, however much he may
hate the wrong he sees about him, or however little he accept
authorities and creeds that make war on his freedom. The man
who has tasted such life, and courted it till he has become accli-
mated in it, whether he be of this party or that, or none at all;
whether he be believer or "heretic,” conservative or radical, fol.
lower of Christ by name or “Free Religionist," — belongs to the
harmonic and anointed body-guard of peace, fraternity, good-will;
his instincts have all caught the rhythm of that holy march; the
good genius leads, he has but to follow cheerfully and humbly.
For somehow the minutest fibres, the infinitesimal atoms of his
being, have got magnetized as it were into a loyal, positive direc-
tion towards the pole-star of unity; he has grown attuned to a
believing, loving mood, just as the body of a violin, the walls of
a music hall, by much music-making become gradually seasoned
into smooth vibration.
## p. 5090 (#259) ###########################################
## p. 5090 (#260) ###########################################
GEORG
EBERS.
## p. 5090 (#261) ###########################################
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## p. 5090 (#262) ###########################################
## p. 5091 (#263) ###########################################
5091
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
(1837-)
EORG EBERS, distinguished as an Egyptian archæologist and as
a historical novelist, was born in Berlin in 1837. At ten
years of age he was sent to school in Keilhau, where under
the direction of Froebel he was taught the delights of nature and the
pleasure of study. His university career at Göttingen was interrupted
by a long and serious illness. During his convalescence he pursued
with avidity his study of Egyptian archæology, and with neither dic-
tionary nor grammar to help him in the mastery of hieroglyphics, he
acquired to some degree this ancient language. Later, under the
learneu Lepsius, he became a thorough and brilliant scholar in the
science which is his specialty. It was at this epoch that he wrote
An Egyptian Princess,' for the purpose of realizing to himself a
period which he was studying. Thirteen years later his second work,
Uarda,' was published. When restored to health, he launched him-
self with enthusiasm on the life of a university professor. He taught
for a time at Jena, and in 1870 removed to Leipsic. He has made
several journeys into Egypt, sharing his experiences with the public.
“The Egyptian Princess) is Ebers's most representative romance.
It is perhaps the subtle quality of popularity, rather than exceptional
merit, which has insured its success. The scene of the story is laid
at the time when Egypt drew its last free breath, unconscious that
at the very height of its intellectual vigor its national life was to be
cut off; the time when Amasis held the throne of the Pharaohs, and
Cambyses was king of Persia. (Uarda' gives a picture of Egypt
under one of the Rameses. Homo Sum,' a tale of the desert ancho-
rites in the fourth century, is filled with the spirit of the early Christ-
ians. In the story of Die Schwestern? (The Sisters) Ebers takes the
reader to Memphis, the temple of Serapis, and the palace of the
Ptolemies. The ethical element enters largely into the novel Der
Kaiser' (The Emperor), of Christianity in the time of Hadrian.
In the Frau Bürgermeisterin' (The Burgomaster's Wife), Ebers
leaves behind him the world of antiquity, and deals with the heroic
struggle against the Spanish rule made in 1547 by the city of Ley-
den. Gred,' a long and quiet novel, most carefully executed, is a
minute picture of middle-class Nürnberg, some centuries ago. (Ein
Wort' (A Word: Only a Word) also stands apart from the historical
It is a psychological and ethical story, working out the
roinances.
## p. 5092 (#264) ###########################################
5032
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
development of inconspicuous character. Both in Serapis' and
(The Bride of the Nile,' the victory of Christianity over heathenism
is celebrated. Not less interesting than his fiction is his book of
travels called Durch Gosen zum Sinai? (Through Goshen to Sinai).
In 1889, on account of his health, Ebers resigned his professorship.
He now passes his winters in Munich, where his life is that of a
scholar and a writer.
THE ARRIVAL AT BABYLON
From An Egyptian Princess)
S
(
EVEN weeks later, a long line of chariots and riders of every
description wound along the great highway that led from
the west to Babylon, the gigantic city which could be seen
from a long distance.
Nitetis, the Egyptian princess, sat in a gilt four-wheeled
chariot, called a Harmamaxa. ” The cushions were covered with
gold brocade; the roof was supported by wooden columns; its
sides could be closed by means of curtains.
Her companions, the Persian nobles, the dethroned King of
Lydia and his son, rode by the side of her chariot. Fifty car-
riages and six hundred sumpter-horses followed, and a regiment
of Persian soldiers on splendid horses preceded the procession.
The road lay along the Euphrates, through luxuriant fields of
wheat, barley, and sesame, which yielded two or even three hun-
dredfold. Slender date-palms, with heavy clusters of fruit, stood
in the fields, which were intersected in all directions by canals
and conduits. Although it was winter, the sun shone warm and
clear in the cloudless sky. The mighty river was crowded with
barges and boats, which brought the produce of the Armenian
highlands to the Mesopotamian plain, and forwarded to Babylon
the greater part of the wares which were brought to Thapsacus
from Greece.
Engines, pumps, and water-wheels poured refreshing moisture
on the fields and plantations along the banks, which were dotted
with numerous villages. Everything indicated that the capital of
a civilized and well-governed country was close at hand.
The carriage and suite of Nitetis stopped before a long
building of brick covered with bitumen, by the side of which
grew numerous plane-trees. Cresus was helped from his horse,
## p. 5093 (#265) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5093
approached the carriage of the Egyptian princess, and cried to
her:-“We have reached the last station-house. The high tower
that stands out against the horizon is the famous tower of Bel,
like your Pyramids one of the greatest achievements of mortal
hands. Before the sun sets we shall reach the brazen gates of
Babylon. Permit me to help you from the carriage, and to send
your women to you into the house. To-day you must dress
yourself according to the custom of Persian queens, so that you
may be pleasant in the eyes of Cambyses. In a few hours you
will stand before your husband. How pale you are! See that
your women skillfully paint joyous excitement on your cheeks.
The first impression is often decisive, and this is the case with
your future husband, more than with any one else. If, as I do
not doubt, you please him at first sight, you have won his heart
forever. If you displease him, he will, in accordance with his
rough habits, scarcely deign to look on you again with kindness.
Courage, my daughter. Above all things, remember what I have
taught you. ”
Nitetis wiped away a tear, and returned :—How shall I thank
you for all your kindness, Cresus, my second father, my pro-
tector and adviser! Oh, do not ever desert me! When the path
of my poor life passes through sorrow and grief, remain my
guide and protector, as you have been during this long journey
over dangerous mountain passes. Thank you, my father, thank
you a thousand times. )
With these words, the girl put her beautiful arms round the
old man's neck and kissed him like an affectionate daughter.
When she entered the court of the gloomy house, a
came towards her, followed by a train of Asiatic serving-women.
The leader, the chief eunuch, one of the most important Persian
court officials, was tall and stout. There was a sweet smile on
his beardless face; valuable rings hung from his ears; his arms
and legs, his neck, his long womanish garments, were covered
with gold ornaments, and his stiff artificial curls were surrounded
by a purple fillet, and sent forth a pungent odor. Boges, for
this was the eunuch's name, bowed respectfully to the Egyptian
and said, holding his fleshy hand covered with rings before his
mouth: - "Cambyses, the ruler of the world, sends me to meet
you, O queen, that I may refresh your heart with the dew of
his greetings. He further sends to you through me, his poorest
slave, the garments of Persian women, that you may approach
man
## p. 5094 (#266) ###########################################
5094
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
the gate of the Achæmenidæ in Median dress, as beseems the
wife of the greatest of rulers. These women your servants
await your commands.
They will transform you from an Egyp-
tian emerald into a Persian diamond. ” Boges drew back, and
with a condescending movement of his hand allowed the host of
the inn to present the princess with a most tastefully arranged
basket of fruit.
Nitetis thanked both men with friendly words, entered the
house, and tearfully put off the robes of her home; the thick
plait, the mark of an Egyptian princess, was unfastened, and
strange hands clad her in Median fashion.
Meanwhile her companions commanded a meal to be prepared.
Nimble servants fetched chairs, tables, and golden utensils from
the wagon; the cooks bustled about, and were so ready and eager
to help each other that soon, as if by magic, a splendidly laid
table where nothing was wanting, down to the very flowers,
awaited the hungry travelers.
The same luxury had been displayed during the whole jour-
ney, for the sumpter-horses that followed the royal travelers
carried every imaginable convenience, from gold-woven water-
proof tents down to silver footstools, and the carts that accom-
panied them bore bakers, cooks, cup-bearers, carvers, men to
prepare ointment, wreath-winders, and hair-dressers.
Well-appointed inns were established at regular intervals along
the high-road. Here the horses that had fallen on the way were
replaced by fresh ones, shady trees offered a pleasant shelter
from the heat of the sun, and on the mountains the fires of the
inns protected the traveler from cold and snow.
The Persian inns, which resembled our post-houses, were first
established by Cyrus the Great, who sought to shorten the enor-
mous distances between the different parts of his realm by means
of well-kept roads. He had also organized a regular postal serv-
ice. At every station the riders with their knapsacks found
substitutes on fresh horses ready for instant departure, who, after
receiving the letters which were to be forwarded, galloped off
post-haste, and when they reached the next inn threw their
knapsacks to other riders who stood in readiness. These couriers
were called Angares, and were considered the swiftest horsemen
in the world.
When the company, who had been joined by Boges the
eunuch, rose from table, the door of the inn opened.
1
A long-
## p. 5095 (#267) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5095
drawn sigh of admiration was heard, for Nitetis stood before the
Persians in the splendid Median court dress, proudly exultant in
the consciousness of her beauty, and yet suffused with blushes at
her friends' astonishment.
The servants involuntarily prostrated themselves in the Asiatic
manner, but the noble Achæmenidæ bowed low and reverently.
It was as if the princess had laid aside all shyness with the sim-
ple dress of her home, and assumed the pride and dignity of a
queen with the silken garments, heavy with gold and jewels, of
a Persian princess.
The deep respect which had just been shown her seemed to
please her. With a condescending movement of her hand she
thanked her admiring friends; then she turned to the chief
eunuch and said to him kindly but proudly:-“You have done
your duty. I am not dissatisfied with the robes and the slaves
you have provided for me. I shall duly praise your care to my
husband. Meanwhile, receive this golden chain as a sign of my
gratitude. ”
The powerful overseer of the king's wives kissed her hand
and silently accepted the gift. None of his charges had yet
treated him with such pride. All the wives whom Cambyses had
owned till now were Asiatics, and as they were acquainted with
the full power of the chief eunuch, they were accustomed to do
all they could to win his favor by means of flattery and submis-
sion.
Boges again bowed low to Nitetis; but without paying any
further attention to him, she turned to Cresus and said in a low
tone:-“I cannot thank you, my gracious friend, with word or
gift for what you have done for me; it will be owing to you
alone if my life at this court becomes, if not happy, at least
peaceful. ” Then she continued in a louder voice, audible to her
traveling companions:—“Take this ring, which has not left my
hand since our departure from Egypt. Its value is small, its
significance great. Pythagoras, the noblest of all the Greeks,
gave it to my mother when he came to Egypt to listen to the
wise teachings of our priests. She gave it to me when I left
home. There is a seven engraved on this simple turquoise.
This number, which is indivisible, represents the health of
body and soul, for nothing is less divisible than health. If but
a small portion of the body suffers, the whole body is ill; if
one evil thought nestles in our heart, the harmony of the soul is
## p. 5096 (#268) ###########################################
5096
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
.
1
disturbed. Whenever you look at this seven, let it remind you
that I wish you perfect enjoyment of bodily health, and the con-
tinuance of that benignity which makes you the most virtuous
and therefore the most healthy of men. No thanks, my father,
for I should remain in your debt though I should restore to
Cresus the wealth of Creesus. Gyges, take this Lydian lyre of
ivory, and when its strings give forth music, remember the
giver. To you, Zopyrus, I give this chain, for I have noticed
that you are the most faithful friend of your friends, and we
Egyptians put bonds and ropes into the fair hands of our god-
dess of love and friendship, beautiful Hathor, as a symbol of her
binding qualities. To you, Darius, the friend of Egyptian lore
and the starry firmament, I give for a keepsake this golden
ring, on which you will find the Zodiac engraved by a skillful
hand. Bartja, my dear brother-in-law, you shall receive the most
precious treasure I possess. Take this amulet of blue stone. My
sister Tachot put it round my neck when for the last time I
pressed a kiss upon her lips before we fell asleep. She told me
this talisman would bring sweet happiness in love to him who
wore it. She wept as she spoke, Bartja. I do not know what
she was thinking of, but I hope I am carrying out her wish
when I lay this treasure in your hand. Think that Tachot is
giving it to you through me her sister, and think sometimes of
the garden of Sais. ”
She had spoken in Greek till then. Now she turned to the
servants, who were waiting at a respectful distance, and said in
broken Persian : “You too must accept my thanks. You shall
receive a thousand gold staters. Boges,” she added, turning to
the eunuch, "I command you to see that the sum is distributed
not later than the day after to-morrow! Lead me to my car-
riage, Cresus! ”
The old man hastened to comply with her request. While he
conducted Nitetis to the carriage, she pressed his arm against
her breast and whispered, "Are you satisfied with me, my
father? ”
"I tell you, maiden,” returned the old man, you will be the
first at this court after the king's mother, for true regal pride
is on your brow, and you possess the art of doing great things
with small means. Believe me, a trifling gift, chosen as you can
choose, will cause greater pleasure to a nobleman than a heap
of gold flung down before him. The Persians are accustomed
1
3
.
1
## p. 5097 (#269) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5097
to bestow and to receive costly gifts. They know how to enrich
one another. You will teach them to make each other happy.
How beautiful you are! Is that right, or do you desire higher
cushions ? But what is that! Do
you not see clouds of dust
rolling hither from the town? That must be Cambyses, who is
coming to meet you. Keep yourself upright, girl. Above all,
try to bear your husband's glance and return it. Few can bear
the fire of his
eye. If you succeed in meeting it without fear
or embarrassment, you have conquered. Courage, courage, my
daughter! May Aphrodite adorn you with her loveliest charms!
To horse, my friends! I think the King is coming to meet us. ”
Nitetis sat very erect in the golden carriage, and pressed her
hands on her heart. The cloud of dust came nearer and nearer.
Now bright sunbeams were reflected in the weapons of the
approaching host, and darted from the cloud of dust like light-
ning from a stormy sky. Now the cloud divided, and figures
could be distinguished; now the approaching procession vanished
behind the thick bushes at a turn of the road; and now, not a
hundred feet away, the galloping riders were seen distinctly as
they approached nearer and nearer.
The whole procession seemed to consist of a gay crowd of
horses, men, purple, gold, silver, and jewels. More than two
hundred riders, all on snow-white Nisæan steeds, whose bridles
and caparisons glittered with gold bells and buckles, feathers,
tassels, and embroidery, were followed by a man who was often
carried away by the powerful coal-black horse on which he rode,
but who generally proved to the unmanageable, foaming animal
that he was strong enough to tame its wildness. The rider,
whose knees pressed the horse so that the animal trembled and
panted, wore a garment with a scarlet and white pattern, which
was embroidered with silver eagles and falcons. His trousers
were of purple, his boots of yellow leather. He wore a golden
belt round his waist, in which was a short dagger-like sword,
whose hilt and sheath were incrusted with jewels. The rest of
his dress resembled Bartja's. His tiara also was surrounded by
the blue-and-white fillet of the Achæmenidæ. Thick jet-black
hair streamed from it. A thick beard of the same color covered
the whole lower portion of his hale, rigid face. His eyes were
even darker than his hair and beard, and glittered with a fire
that burned instead of warming. A deep red scar, caused by the
sword of a Massagetian warrior, marked the lofty brow, large
## p. 5098 (#270) ###########################################
5098
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
aquiline nose, and thin lips of the rider, His whole bearing
bore the stamp of great power and immoderate pride.
Nitetis could not turn her eyes from his form. She had
never seen any one like him. She thought she saw the essence
of all manliness in the intensely proud face. It seemed to her
as if the whole world, but especially she herself, had been cre-
ated to serve this man. She feared him, and yet her humble
woman's heart longed to cling to this strong man as the vine
clings to the elm. She did not know whether the father of all
evil, terrible Seth, or the giver of all light, great Ra, was to be
imagined in this form.
As light and shade alternate when the heavens are clouded at
noon, so did deep red and ashy pallor appear on her face. She
forgot the precepts of her fatherly friend; and yet when Camby-
ses forced his wild snorting steed to stand still by the side of her
carriage, she gazed breathlessly into the flashing eyes of the man,
for she knew that he was the King, though no one had told her.
The stern face of the ruler of half the world softened more
and more, the longer she, urged by a strange impulse, endured
his piercing glance. At last he waved his hand in welcome and
rode towards her companions, who had dismounted, and who
either prostrated themselves in the dust before the King, or stood
bowing low, in accordance with Persian custom, hiding their
hands in the sleeves of their garments.
Now he himself sprang from his horse. At the same time all
his followers swung themselves out of the saddle.
The carpet
bearers in his train spread, quick as thought, a heavy purple
carpet on the road, so that the King's foot should not touch the
dust. A few seconds later, Cambyses greeted his friends and
relations with a kiss.
Then he shook Crosus's hand, and ordered him to mount
again and accompany him to Nitetis as interpreter.
The highest dignitaries hastened up and helped the King to
mount. He gave the signal, and the whole procession moved on.
Cræsus rode beside Cambyses by the golden carriage.
“She is beautiful, and pleasing to my heart," cried the Per-
sian to his Lydian friend. "Now translate to me faithfully what
she says in answer to my questions, for I understand only Per-
sian, Babylonian, and Median. ”
Nitetis had understood his words.
Inexpressible joy filled
her heart, and before Cræsus could answer the King she said in
1
## p. 5099 (#271) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5099
a low tone, in broken Persian, "How shall I thank the gods,
who let me find favor in your eyes? I am not ignorant of the
language of my lord, for this noble old man has instructed me
in the Persian language during our long journey. Pardon me if
I can answer in broken words only. My time for instruction
was short, and my understanding is only that of a poor ignorant
maiden. ”
The usually stern King smiled. His vanity was flattered by
Nitetis's eagerness to gain his approbation, and this diligence in
a woman seemed as strange as it was praiseworthy to the Per-
sian, who was used to see women grow up in ignorance and
idleness, thinking of nothing but dress and intrigue.
He therefore answered with evident satisfaction, "I am glad
that I can speak to you without an interpreter. Continue to try
to learn the beautiful language of my fathers. My companion
Croesus shall remain your teacher in the future. ”
“Your command fills me with joy,” said the old man, “for I
could not desire a more grateful or more eager pupil than the
daughter of Amasis. ”
«She confirms the ancient fame of Egyptian wisdom,” re-
turned the King; and I think that she will soon understand and
accept with all her soul the teachings of the magi, who will
instruct her in our religion. ”
Nitetis looked down. The dreaded moment was approaching.
She was henceforth to serve strange gods in place of the Egyp-
tian deities.
Cambyses did not observe her emotion, and continued:— "My
mother Cassandane shall initiate you in your duties as my wife.
I will conduct you to her myself to-morrow. I repeat what you
accidentally overheard: you please me.
Look to it that you
keep my favor.
We will try to make you like our country; and
because I am your friend I advise you to treat Boges, whom I
sent to meet you, graciously, for you will have to obey him in
many things, as he is the superintendent of the harem. ”
“He may be the head of the women's house,” returned Nite-
tis. But it seems to me that no mortal but you has a right to
command your wife. Give but a sign and I will obey, but con-
sider that I am a princess, and come from a land where weak
woman shares the rights of strong men; that the same pride fills
my breast which shines in your eyes, my beloved! I will gladly
obey you the great man, my husband and ruler; but it is as
## p. 5100 (#272) ###########################################
5100
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
impossible for me to sue for the favor of the unmanliest of men,
a bought servant, as it is for me to obey his commands. "
Cambyses's astonishment and satisfaction increased. He had
never heard any woman save his mother speak like this, and the
subtle way in which Nitetis unconsciously recognized and exalted
his power over her whole existence satisfied his self-complacency.
The proud man liked her pride. He nodded approvingly and
said, “You are right. I will have a special house prepared for
you.
I alone will command you. The pleasant house in the hang-
ing gardens shall be prepared for you to-day.
"I thank you a thousand times! ” cried Nitetis. "If you but
knew how you delight me by your gift! Your brother Bartja
told me much of the hanging gardens, and none of the splendors
of your great realm pleased us as much as the love of the king
who built the green mountain. ”
« To-morrow you will be able to enter your new dwelling.
Tell me how you and the Egyptians liked my envoys ? ”
“How can you ask! Who could become acquainted with noble
Croesus without loving him? Who could help admiring the excel-
lent qualities of the young heroes, your friends? They have
become dear to our house, especially your beautiful brother
Bartja, who won all hearts. The Egyptians are averse to stran-
gers, but whenever Bartja appeared among them a murmur of
admiration arose from the gaping throng.
At these words the King's face grew dark. He gave his horse
a heavy blow, so that it reared, turned its head, galloped in
front of his retinue, and in a few minutes reached the walls of
Babylon.
The walls seemed perfectly impregnable, for they were two
hundred cubits high, and their breadth was so great that two
carriages could easily pass each other. Two hundred and fifty
high towers surmounted and fortified this huge rampart. A
greater number of these citadels would have been necessary if
Babylon had not been protected on one side by impenetrable
marshes. The enormous city lay on both sides of the Euphrates.
It was
more than nine miles in circumference, and the walls
protected buildings which surpassed even the pyramids and the
temples of Thebes and Memphis in size.
Nitetis looked with astonishment at this huge gate; with joyful
emotion she gazed at the long wide street, which was festively
decked in her honor.
## p. 5101 (#273) ###########################################
5101
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
(1832-)
he period of political disorder and disturbance which fol-
lowed the revolution of 1868 in Spain was also a period of
disorder and decline for the Spanish stage. The drama -
throwing off the fetters of French classicism that paralyzed inspira-
tion at the beginning of the century — had revived for a time. But
after its rejuvenescence of the glories of the Golden Age of Spanish
literature, uniting a new beauty of form with truth to nature in the
Classic-Romantic School, it sank into a debasement hitherto unknown.
Meretricious sentiment, dullness, or buffoon-
ery, chiefly of foreign production, occupied
the scene before adorned by the imagina-
tion, the wisdom, and the wit, of a Zorilla,
a Tamayo, a Ventura de la Vega.
It was at this period of dramatic deca-
dence that Echegaray appeared to revive
once more the romantic traditions of the
Spanish stage, peopling it again with noble
and heroic figures, — in whom, however, the
chivalric spirit of the Middle Ages is at
times strangely joined to the casuistic mod-
ern conscience. The explanation of this is
José ECHEGARAY
perhaps to be found in part in the mental
constitution of the dramatist, in whom the
analytic and the imaginative faculties are united in marked degree,
and who had acquired a distinguished reputation as a civil engineer
long before he entered the lists as an aspirant for dramatic honors.
Born in Madrid in 1832, his earlier years were passed in Murcia, where
he took his degree of bachelor of arts, applying himself afterward
with notable success to the study of the exact sciences. Returning
to Madrid, after enlarging his knowledge of his profession of civil
engineer by practical study in various provinces of Spain, he was
appointed a professor in the School of Engineers, where he taught
theoretical and applied mathematics, finding time however for the
production of important scientific works, and for the study of polit-
ical economy and general literature. On the breaking out of the
revolution of 1868 he joined actively in the movement, taking office
under the new government as Director of Public Works, and holding
## p. 5102 (#274) ###########################################
5102
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
a ministerial portfolio. He took office a second time in 1872, and
later filled the post of Minister of Finance, which he resigned on the
proclamation of the Republic. Retiring from public life, he went to
Paris; and while there wrote, being then a little past forty, his first
dramatic work, The Check-Book,' a domestic drama in one act,
which was represented anonymously in Madrid two years later, when
the author for the third time held a ministerial portfolio.
(The Check-Book) was followed in rapid succession by a series of
productions whose titles, “La Esposa del Vengador' (The Avenger's
Bride), 'La Ultima Noche (The Last Night), En el Puño de la
Espada' (In the Hilt of the Sword), Como Empieza y Como Acaba'
(How it Begins and How it Ends), sufficiently indicate their charac-
ter. They are of unequal merit, but all show dramatic power of
a high order. But on the representation in 1877 of Locura o
Santidad ? (Madman or Saint ? ), the fame of the statesman and the
scientist was completely and finally eclipsed by that of the dramatist,
in whom the press and public of Madrid unanimously recognized
a new and vital force in the Spanish drama. In this tragedy the
keynote of Echegaray's philosophy is clearly struck. Moral perfec-
tion, unfaltering obedience to the right, is the end and aim of man;
and the catastrophe is brought about by the inability of the hero to
make those nearest to him accept this ideal of life. «Then virtue is
but a lie,” he cries, when the conviction of his moral isolation is
forced upon him; "and you, all of you whom I have most loved in
this world, perceiving what I regarded as divinity in your are only
miserable egoists, incapable of sacrifice, a prey to greed and the
mere playthings of passion! Then you are all of you but clay; you
resolve yourselves to dust and let the wind of the tempest carry you
Beings shaped without conscience or free-will are simply
atoms that meet to-day and separate to-morrow. Such is matter
then let it go! ”
But the punishment of sin, in Echegaray's moral code, is visited
upon the innocent equally with the guilty; and the guilty are never
allowed to escape the retributive consequences of their wrong-doing.
The pessimistic coloring of the picture would be at times unendur-
ably oppressive, were it not relieved and lightened by the moral
dignity of the hero. Echegaray's pessimism is, so to say, altruistic,
never egoistic; and the compensating sense of righteousness vindi-
cated rarely fails to explain, if not to justify, his darkest scenes.
Judged by the canons of art, Echegaray's dramatic productions
will be found to have many imperfections. But their defects are the
defects of genius, not of mediocrity, and spring generally from an
excess of imagination, not from poverty of invention or faulty insight.
The plot is often overweighted with an accumulation of incidents,
off! .
## p. 5103 (#275) ###########################################
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
5103
and the means employed to bring about the desired end are often
lacking in verisimilitude. Synthetic rather than analytic in his
methods, and a master in producing contrasts, Echegaray captivates
the imagination by arts which the cooler judgment not seldom con-
demns. His characters too are not always inhabitants of the real
world, and not infrequently act contrary to the laws which govern it.
The secondary characters are too often carelessly drawn, sometimes
being mere shadowy outlines, while an altogether disproportionate
part of the development of the plot is intrusted to them.
On the other hand, in the world of the passions Echegaray treads
with secure step. Its labyrinthine windings, its depths and its heights,
are all familiar to him. Here every accent uttered is the accent of
truth; every act is prompted by unerring instinct. Nothing is false;
nothing is trivial; nothing is strained.
called a perpetual picnic, a French Revolution in small, an age of
reason in a patty-pan. ” This community existed seven years, and to
quote again from Emerson, — “In Brook Farm was this peculiarity,
that there was no head. In every family is the father; in every fac-
tory a foreman; in a shop a master; in a boat the skipper: but in
this Farm no authority; each was master or mistress of their actions;
happy, hapless anarchists. »
Here Mr. Dwight edited The Harbinger, a periodical published by
that community; taught languages and music, besides doing his share
of the manual labor. In 1848 he returned to Boston and engaged in
literature and musical criticism; and in 1852 he established Dwight's
Journal of Music, which he edited for thirty years. Many of his best
essays appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, and he contributed to
various periodicals.
He was one of the pioneers of scholarly, intelligent, original, and
literary musical criticism in America, and he possessed fine general
attainments and a distinct style. It is because of his clear perception
of the indispensableness of the arts- and especially of the art of
music — to life, and because of his clear statement of their vital rela-
tionship, that his work belongs to literature.
## p. 5085 (#253) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5085
MUSIC AS A MEANS OF CULTURE
From the Atlantic Monthly, 1870, by permission of Houghton, Mifflin
and Company
W*
TE As a democratic people, a great mixed people of all races,
overrunning a vast continent, need music even more than
others. We need some ever-present, ever-welcome influ-
ence that shall insensibly tone down our self-asserting and ag-
gressive manners, round off the sharp, offensive angularity of
character, subdue and harmonize the free and ceaseless conflict
of opinions, warm out the genial individual humanity of each
and every unit of society, lest he become a mere member of a
party, or a sharer of business or fashion. This rampant liberty
will rush to its own ruin, unless there shall be found some gen-
tler, harmonizing, humanizing culture, such as may pervade
whole masses with a fine enthusiasm, a sweet sense of reverence
for something far above us, beautiful and pure; awakening some
ideality in every soul, and often lifting us out of the hard hope-
less prose of daily life. We need this beautiful corrective of our
crudities. Our radicalism will pull itself up by the roots, if it
do not cultivate the instinct of reverence. The first impulse of
freedom is centrifugal,- to fly off the handle, - unless it be re-
strained by a no less free impassioned love of order. We need
to be so enamored of the divine idea of unity, that that alone
the enriching of that — shall be the real motive for assertion of
our individuality. What shall so temper and tone down our
« fierce democracy” ? It must be something better, lovelier,
more congenial to human nature than mere stern prohibition,
cold Puritanic «Thou shalt not! ” What can so quickly magnet-
ize a people into this harmonic mood as music ? Have we not
seen it, felt it?
The hard-working, jaded millions need expansion, need the
rejuvenating, the ennobling experience of joy. Their toil, their
church, their creed perhaps, their party livery, and very vote,
are narrowing; they need to taste, to breathe a larger, freer life.
Has it not come to thousands, while they have listened to or
joined their voices in some thrilling chorus that made the heav-
ens seem to open and come down ? The governments of the
Old World do much to make the people cheerful and contented;
here it is all laissez-faire, each for himself, in an ever keener
strife of competition. We must look very much to music to do
## p. 5086 (#254) ###########################################
5086
JOHN S. DWIGHT
this good work for us; we are open to that appeal; we can forget
ourselves in that; we blend in joyous fellowship when we can
sing together; perhaps quite as much so when we can listen to-
gether to a noble orchestra of instruments interpreting the high-
est inspirations of a master. The higher and purer the character
and kind of music, the more of real genius there is in it, the
deeper will this influence be.
Judge of what can be done, by what already, within our own
experience, has been done and daily is done. Think what the
children in our schools are getting, through the little that they
learn of vocal music, - elasticity of spirit, joy in harmonious
co-operation, in the blending of each happy life in others; a
rhythmical instinct of order and of measure in all movement; a
quickening of ear and sense, whereby they will grow up suscep-
tible to music, as well as with some use of their own voices, so
that they may take part in it; for from these spacious nurseries
(loveliest flower gardens, apple orchards in full bloom, say, on
their annual fête days) shall our future choirs and oratorio chio-
ruses be replenished with good sound material.
We esteem ourselves the freest people on this planet; yet per-
haps we have as little real freedom as any other, for we are the
slaves of our own feverish enterprise, and of a barren theory of
discipline, which would fain make us virtuous to a fault through
abstinence from very life. We are afraid to give ourselves up
to the free and happy instincts of our nature. All that is not
pursuit of advancement in some good, conventional, approved
way of business, or politics, or fashion, or intellectual reputation,
or professed religion, we count waste. We lack geniality; nor do
we as a people understand the meaning of the word. We ought
to learn it practically of our Germans. It comes of the same
root with the word genius. Genius is the spontaneous principle;
it is free and happy in its work; it is artist and not drudge; its
whole activity is reconciliation of the heartiest pleasure with the
purest loyalty to conscience, with the most holy, universal, and
disinterested ends. Genius, as Beethoven gloriously illustrates in
his Choral Symphony (indeed, in all his symphonies), finds the
keynote and solution of the problem of the highest state in
"Joy, taking his text from Schiller's Hymn. Now, all may not
be geniuses in the sense that we call Shakespeare, Mozart,
Raphael, men of genius. But all should be partakers of this
spontaneous, free, and happy method of genius; all should live
## p. 5087 (#255) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5087
childlike, genial lives, and not wear all the time the consequen-
tial livery of their unrelaxing business, nor the badge of party
and profession, in every line and feature of their faces. This
genial, childlike faculty of social enjoyment, this happy art of life,
is just what our countrymen may learn from the social “Lieder-
tafel” and the summer singing-festivals of which the Germans
are so fond. There is no element of national character which we
so much need; and there is no class of citizens whom we should
be more glad to adopt and own than those who set us such ex-
amples. So far as it is a matter of culture, it is through art
chiefly that the desiderated genial era must be ushered in. The
Germans have the sentiment of art, the feeling of the beautiful
in art, and consequently in nature, more developed than we have.
Above all, music offers itself as the most available, most popular,
most influential of the fine arts,— music, which is the art and lan-
guage of the feelings, the sentiments, the spiritual instincts of the
soul; and so becomes a universal language, tending to unite and
blend and harmonize all who may come within its sphere.
Such civilizing, educating power has music for society at
large. Now, in the finer sense of culture, such as we look for in
more private and select “society,” as it is called, music in the
salon, in the small chamber concert, where congenial spirits are
assembled in its name good music of course— does it not create
a finer sphere of social sympathy and courtesy? Does it not
better mold the tone and manners from within than any imita-
tive “fashion” from without ? What society, upon the whole, is
quite so sweet, so satisfactory, so refined, as the best musical
society, if only Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franz, Chopin, set the
tone! The finer the kind of music heard or made together, the
better the society. This bond of union only reaches the few;
coarser, meaner, more prosaic natures are not drawn to it.
Wealth and fashion may not dictate who shall be of it. Here
congenial spirits meet in a way at once free, happy, and instruct-
ive, meet with an object which insures “society”; whereas so-
called society, as such, is often aimless, vague, modifying and
fatiguing, for the want of any subject-matter. Here one gets
ideas of beauty which are not mere arbitrary fashions, ugly often
to the eye of taste. Here you may escape vulgarity by a way
not vulgar in itself, like that of fashion, which makes wealth
and family and means of dress its passports. Here you can be
as exclusive as you please, by the soul's light, not wronging any
## p. 5088 (#256) ###########################################
5088
JOHN S. DWIGHT
one; here learn gentle manners, and the quiet ease and courtesy
with which cultivated people move, without in the same process
learning insincerity.
Of course the same remarks apply to similar sincere reunions
in the name of any other art, or of poetry. But music is the
most social of them all, even if each listener find nothing set
down to his part (or even hers! ) but tacet.
We have fancied ourselves entertaining a musical house to-
gether, but we must leave it with no time to make report or
picture out the scene. Now, could we only enter the chamber,
the inner sanctum, the private inner life of a thoroughly musical
person, one who is wont to live in music! Could we know him
in his solitude! (You can only know him in yourself, unless he
be a poet and creator in his art, and bequeath himself in that
form in his works for any who know how to read. ) If the best
of all society is musical society, we go further and say: The
sweetest of all solitude is when one is alone with music. One
gets the best of music, the sincerest part, when he is alone.
Our poet-philosopher has told us to secure solitude at any cost;
there's nothing which we can so ill afford to do without. It is
a great vice of our society, that it provides for and disposes to
so little solitude, ignoring the fact that there is more loneliness
in company than out of it. Now, to a musical person, in the
mood of it, in the sweet hours by himself, comes music as the
nearest friend, nearer and dearer than ever before; and he soon
finds that he never was in such good company.
I doubt if sym-
phony of Beethoven, opera of Mozart, Passion Music of Bach,
was ever so enjoyed or felt in grandest public rendering, as one
may feel it while he recalls its outline by himself at his piano
(even if he be a slow and bungling reader and may get it out
by piecemeal). I doubt if such an one can carry home from the
performance, in presence of the applauding crowd, nearly so
much as he may take to it from such inward, private preparation.
Are you alone? What spirits can you summon up to fill the
vacancy, and people it with life and love and beauty! Take
down the volume of sonatas, the arrangement of the great Sym-
phony, the recorded reveries of Chopin, the songs of Schubert,
Schumann, Franz, or even the chorals, with the harmony of
Bach, in which the four parts blend their several individual
melodies together in such loving service of the whole, that the
plain people's tune becomes a germ unfolding into endless wealth
## p. 5089 (#257) ###########################################
JOHN S. DWIGHT
5089
and beauty of meaning; and you have the very essence of all
prayer, and praise, and gratitude, as if you were a worshiper in
the ideal church. Nothing like music, then, to banish the
benumbing ghost of ennui. It lends secret sympathy, relief,
expression, to all one's moods, loves, longings, sorrows; comes
nearer to the soul or to the secret wound than
any
friend or
healing sunshine from without. It nourishes and feeds the hid-
den springs of hope and love and faith; renews the old convic-
tion of life's springtime, – that the world is ruled by love, that
God is good, that beauty is a divine end of life, and not a snare
and an illusion. It floods out of sight the unsightly, muddy
grounds of life's petty, anxious, doubting moments, and makes
immortality a present fact, lived in and realized. It locks the
door against the outer world of discords, contradictions, impor-
tunities, beneath the notice of a soul so richly occupied: lets
“Fate knock at the door” (as Beethoven said in explanation of
his symphony),-- Fate and the pursuing Furies,--and even wel-
comes them, and turns them into gracious goddesses,- Eumen-
ides! Music, in this way, is a marvelous elixir to keep off old
age. Youth returns in solitary hours with Beethoven and Mozart.
Touching the chords of the Moonlight Sonata,' the old man is
once more a lover; with the andante of the Pastoral Symphony'
he loiters by the shady brookside, hand in hand with his fresh
heart's first angel. You are past the sentimental age, yet you
can weep alone in music, — not weep exactly, but find outlet
more expressive and more worthy of your manly faith.
A great grief comes, an inconsolable bereavement, a humil-
iating, paralyzing reverse, a blow of Fate, giving the lie to your
best plans and bringing your best powers into discredit with
yourself; then you are best prepared and best entitled to receive
the secret visitations of these tuneful goddesses and muses.
« Who never ate his bread in tears,
He knows you not, ye heavenly powers! ”
So sings the German poet. It is the want of inward, deep ex-
perience, it is innocence of sorrow and of trial, more than the
lack of any special cultivation of musical taste and knowledge,
that debars many people — naturally most young people, and all
who are what we call shallow natures - from the feeling and
enjoyment of many of the truest, deepest, and most heavenly
of all the works of music. Take the Passion Music of Bach, for
IX-319
## p. 5090 (#258) ###########################################
5090
JOHN S. DWIGHT
instance; if you can sit down alone at your piano and decipher
strains and pieces of it when you need such music, you shall find
that in its quiet quaintness, its sincerity and tenderness, its absti-
nence from all striving for effect, it speaks to you and entwines
itself about your heart, like the sweetest, deepest verses in the
Bible; when the soul muses till the fire burns. ”
Such a panacea is this art for loneliness. But sometimes too
it may intensify the sense of loneliness, only for more heavenly
relief at last. Think of the deep composer, of lonely, sad Beetho-
ven, wreaking his pain upon expression in those impatient chords
and modulations, putting his sorrows into sonatas, and wringing
triumph always out of all! Look at him as he was then,- mo-
rose, they say, and lonely and tormented; look where he is now,
as the whole world knows him, feels him, seeks him for its joy
and inspiration -- and who can doubt of immortality?
Now, in such private solace, in such solitary joys, is there not
culture ? Can one rise from such communings with the good
spirits of the tone-world and go out, without new peace, new
faith, new hope, and good-will in his soul? He goes forth in the
spirit of reconciliation and of patience, however much he may
hate the wrong he sees about him, or however little he accept
authorities and creeds that make war on his freedom. The man
who has tasted such life, and courted it till he has become accli-
mated in it, whether he be of this party or that, or none at all;
whether he be believer or "heretic,” conservative or radical, fol.
lower of Christ by name or “Free Religionist," — belongs to the
harmonic and anointed body-guard of peace, fraternity, good-will;
his instincts have all caught the rhythm of that holy march; the
good genius leads, he has but to follow cheerfully and humbly.
For somehow the minutest fibres, the infinitesimal atoms of his
being, have got magnetized as it were into a loyal, positive direc-
tion towards the pole-star of unity; he has grown attuned to a
believing, loving mood, just as the body of a violin, the walls of
a music hall, by much music-making become gradually seasoned
into smooth vibration.
## p. 5090 (#259) ###########################################
## p. 5090 (#260) ###########################################
GEORG
EBERS.
## p. 5090 (#261) ###########################################
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## p. 5090 (#262) ###########################################
## p. 5091 (#263) ###########################################
5091
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
(1837-)
EORG EBERS, distinguished as an Egyptian archæologist and as
a historical novelist, was born in Berlin in 1837. At ten
years of age he was sent to school in Keilhau, where under
the direction of Froebel he was taught the delights of nature and the
pleasure of study. His university career at Göttingen was interrupted
by a long and serious illness. During his convalescence he pursued
with avidity his study of Egyptian archæology, and with neither dic-
tionary nor grammar to help him in the mastery of hieroglyphics, he
acquired to some degree this ancient language. Later, under the
learneu Lepsius, he became a thorough and brilliant scholar in the
science which is his specialty. It was at this epoch that he wrote
An Egyptian Princess,' for the purpose of realizing to himself a
period which he was studying. Thirteen years later his second work,
Uarda,' was published. When restored to health, he launched him-
self with enthusiasm on the life of a university professor. He taught
for a time at Jena, and in 1870 removed to Leipsic. He has made
several journeys into Egypt, sharing his experiences with the public.
“The Egyptian Princess) is Ebers's most representative romance.
It is perhaps the subtle quality of popularity, rather than exceptional
merit, which has insured its success. The scene of the story is laid
at the time when Egypt drew its last free breath, unconscious that
at the very height of its intellectual vigor its national life was to be
cut off; the time when Amasis held the throne of the Pharaohs, and
Cambyses was king of Persia. (Uarda' gives a picture of Egypt
under one of the Rameses. Homo Sum,' a tale of the desert ancho-
rites in the fourth century, is filled with the spirit of the early Christ-
ians. In the story of Die Schwestern? (The Sisters) Ebers takes the
reader to Memphis, the temple of Serapis, and the palace of the
Ptolemies. The ethical element enters largely into the novel Der
Kaiser' (The Emperor), of Christianity in the time of Hadrian.
In the Frau Bürgermeisterin' (The Burgomaster's Wife), Ebers
leaves behind him the world of antiquity, and deals with the heroic
struggle against the Spanish rule made in 1547 by the city of Ley-
den. Gred,' a long and quiet novel, most carefully executed, is a
minute picture of middle-class Nürnberg, some centuries ago. (Ein
Wort' (A Word: Only a Word) also stands apart from the historical
It is a psychological and ethical story, working out the
roinances.
## p. 5092 (#264) ###########################################
5032
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
development of inconspicuous character. Both in Serapis' and
(The Bride of the Nile,' the victory of Christianity over heathenism
is celebrated. Not less interesting than his fiction is his book of
travels called Durch Gosen zum Sinai? (Through Goshen to Sinai).
In 1889, on account of his health, Ebers resigned his professorship.
He now passes his winters in Munich, where his life is that of a
scholar and a writer.
THE ARRIVAL AT BABYLON
From An Egyptian Princess)
S
(
EVEN weeks later, a long line of chariots and riders of every
description wound along the great highway that led from
the west to Babylon, the gigantic city which could be seen
from a long distance.
Nitetis, the Egyptian princess, sat in a gilt four-wheeled
chariot, called a Harmamaxa. ” The cushions were covered with
gold brocade; the roof was supported by wooden columns; its
sides could be closed by means of curtains.
Her companions, the Persian nobles, the dethroned King of
Lydia and his son, rode by the side of her chariot. Fifty car-
riages and six hundred sumpter-horses followed, and a regiment
of Persian soldiers on splendid horses preceded the procession.
The road lay along the Euphrates, through luxuriant fields of
wheat, barley, and sesame, which yielded two or even three hun-
dredfold. Slender date-palms, with heavy clusters of fruit, stood
in the fields, which were intersected in all directions by canals
and conduits. Although it was winter, the sun shone warm and
clear in the cloudless sky. The mighty river was crowded with
barges and boats, which brought the produce of the Armenian
highlands to the Mesopotamian plain, and forwarded to Babylon
the greater part of the wares which were brought to Thapsacus
from Greece.
Engines, pumps, and water-wheels poured refreshing moisture
on the fields and plantations along the banks, which were dotted
with numerous villages. Everything indicated that the capital of
a civilized and well-governed country was close at hand.
The carriage and suite of Nitetis stopped before a long
building of brick covered with bitumen, by the side of which
grew numerous plane-trees. Cresus was helped from his horse,
## p. 5093 (#265) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5093
approached the carriage of the Egyptian princess, and cried to
her:-“We have reached the last station-house. The high tower
that stands out against the horizon is the famous tower of Bel,
like your Pyramids one of the greatest achievements of mortal
hands. Before the sun sets we shall reach the brazen gates of
Babylon. Permit me to help you from the carriage, and to send
your women to you into the house. To-day you must dress
yourself according to the custom of Persian queens, so that you
may be pleasant in the eyes of Cambyses. In a few hours you
will stand before your husband. How pale you are! See that
your women skillfully paint joyous excitement on your cheeks.
The first impression is often decisive, and this is the case with
your future husband, more than with any one else. If, as I do
not doubt, you please him at first sight, you have won his heart
forever. If you displease him, he will, in accordance with his
rough habits, scarcely deign to look on you again with kindness.
Courage, my daughter. Above all things, remember what I have
taught you. ”
Nitetis wiped away a tear, and returned :—How shall I thank
you for all your kindness, Cresus, my second father, my pro-
tector and adviser! Oh, do not ever desert me! When the path
of my poor life passes through sorrow and grief, remain my
guide and protector, as you have been during this long journey
over dangerous mountain passes. Thank you, my father, thank
you a thousand times. )
With these words, the girl put her beautiful arms round the
old man's neck and kissed him like an affectionate daughter.
When she entered the court of the gloomy house, a
came towards her, followed by a train of Asiatic serving-women.
The leader, the chief eunuch, one of the most important Persian
court officials, was tall and stout. There was a sweet smile on
his beardless face; valuable rings hung from his ears; his arms
and legs, his neck, his long womanish garments, were covered
with gold ornaments, and his stiff artificial curls were surrounded
by a purple fillet, and sent forth a pungent odor. Boges, for
this was the eunuch's name, bowed respectfully to the Egyptian
and said, holding his fleshy hand covered with rings before his
mouth: - "Cambyses, the ruler of the world, sends me to meet
you, O queen, that I may refresh your heart with the dew of
his greetings. He further sends to you through me, his poorest
slave, the garments of Persian women, that you may approach
man
## p. 5094 (#266) ###########################################
5094
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
the gate of the Achæmenidæ in Median dress, as beseems the
wife of the greatest of rulers. These women your servants
await your commands.
They will transform you from an Egyp-
tian emerald into a Persian diamond. ” Boges drew back, and
with a condescending movement of his hand allowed the host of
the inn to present the princess with a most tastefully arranged
basket of fruit.
Nitetis thanked both men with friendly words, entered the
house, and tearfully put off the robes of her home; the thick
plait, the mark of an Egyptian princess, was unfastened, and
strange hands clad her in Median fashion.
Meanwhile her companions commanded a meal to be prepared.
Nimble servants fetched chairs, tables, and golden utensils from
the wagon; the cooks bustled about, and were so ready and eager
to help each other that soon, as if by magic, a splendidly laid
table where nothing was wanting, down to the very flowers,
awaited the hungry travelers.
The same luxury had been displayed during the whole jour-
ney, for the sumpter-horses that followed the royal travelers
carried every imaginable convenience, from gold-woven water-
proof tents down to silver footstools, and the carts that accom-
panied them bore bakers, cooks, cup-bearers, carvers, men to
prepare ointment, wreath-winders, and hair-dressers.
Well-appointed inns were established at regular intervals along
the high-road. Here the horses that had fallen on the way were
replaced by fresh ones, shady trees offered a pleasant shelter
from the heat of the sun, and on the mountains the fires of the
inns protected the traveler from cold and snow.
The Persian inns, which resembled our post-houses, were first
established by Cyrus the Great, who sought to shorten the enor-
mous distances between the different parts of his realm by means
of well-kept roads. He had also organized a regular postal serv-
ice. At every station the riders with their knapsacks found
substitutes on fresh horses ready for instant departure, who, after
receiving the letters which were to be forwarded, galloped off
post-haste, and when they reached the next inn threw their
knapsacks to other riders who stood in readiness. These couriers
were called Angares, and were considered the swiftest horsemen
in the world.
When the company, who had been joined by Boges the
eunuch, rose from table, the door of the inn opened.
1
A long-
## p. 5095 (#267) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5095
drawn sigh of admiration was heard, for Nitetis stood before the
Persians in the splendid Median court dress, proudly exultant in
the consciousness of her beauty, and yet suffused with blushes at
her friends' astonishment.
The servants involuntarily prostrated themselves in the Asiatic
manner, but the noble Achæmenidæ bowed low and reverently.
It was as if the princess had laid aside all shyness with the sim-
ple dress of her home, and assumed the pride and dignity of a
queen with the silken garments, heavy with gold and jewels, of
a Persian princess.
The deep respect which had just been shown her seemed to
please her. With a condescending movement of her hand she
thanked her admiring friends; then she turned to the chief
eunuch and said to him kindly but proudly:-“You have done
your duty. I am not dissatisfied with the robes and the slaves
you have provided for me. I shall duly praise your care to my
husband. Meanwhile, receive this golden chain as a sign of my
gratitude. ”
The powerful overseer of the king's wives kissed her hand
and silently accepted the gift. None of his charges had yet
treated him with such pride. All the wives whom Cambyses had
owned till now were Asiatics, and as they were acquainted with
the full power of the chief eunuch, they were accustomed to do
all they could to win his favor by means of flattery and submis-
sion.
Boges again bowed low to Nitetis; but without paying any
further attention to him, she turned to Cresus and said in a low
tone:-“I cannot thank you, my gracious friend, with word or
gift for what you have done for me; it will be owing to you
alone if my life at this court becomes, if not happy, at least
peaceful. ” Then she continued in a louder voice, audible to her
traveling companions:—“Take this ring, which has not left my
hand since our departure from Egypt. Its value is small, its
significance great. Pythagoras, the noblest of all the Greeks,
gave it to my mother when he came to Egypt to listen to the
wise teachings of our priests. She gave it to me when I left
home. There is a seven engraved on this simple turquoise.
This number, which is indivisible, represents the health of
body and soul, for nothing is less divisible than health. If but
a small portion of the body suffers, the whole body is ill; if
one evil thought nestles in our heart, the harmony of the soul is
## p. 5096 (#268) ###########################################
5096
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
.
1
disturbed. Whenever you look at this seven, let it remind you
that I wish you perfect enjoyment of bodily health, and the con-
tinuance of that benignity which makes you the most virtuous
and therefore the most healthy of men. No thanks, my father,
for I should remain in your debt though I should restore to
Cresus the wealth of Creesus. Gyges, take this Lydian lyre of
ivory, and when its strings give forth music, remember the
giver. To you, Zopyrus, I give this chain, for I have noticed
that you are the most faithful friend of your friends, and we
Egyptians put bonds and ropes into the fair hands of our god-
dess of love and friendship, beautiful Hathor, as a symbol of her
binding qualities. To you, Darius, the friend of Egyptian lore
and the starry firmament, I give for a keepsake this golden
ring, on which you will find the Zodiac engraved by a skillful
hand. Bartja, my dear brother-in-law, you shall receive the most
precious treasure I possess. Take this amulet of blue stone. My
sister Tachot put it round my neck when for the last time I
pressed a kiss upon her lips before we fell asleep. She told me
this talisman would bring sweet happiness in love to him who
wore it. She wept as she spoke, Bartja. I do not know what
she was thinking of, but I hope I am carrying out her wish
when I lay this treasure in your hand. Think that Tachot is
giving it to you through me her sister, and think sometimes of
the garden of Sais. ”
She had spoken in Greek till then. Now she turned to the
servants, who were waiting at a respectful distance, and said in
broken Persian : “You too must accept my thanks. You shall
receive a thousand gold staters. Boges,” she added, turning to
the eunuch, "I command you to see that the sum is distributed
not later than the day after to-morrow! Lead me to my car-
riage, Cresus! ”
The old man hastened to comply with her request. While he
conducted Nitetis to the carriage, she pressed his arm against
her breast and whispered, "Are you satisfied with me, my
father? ”
"I tell you, maiden,” returned the old man, you will be the
first at this court after the king's mother, for true regal pride
is on your brow, and you possess the art of doing great things
with small means. Believe me, a trifling gift, chosen as you can
choose, will cause greater pleasure to a nobleman than a heap
of gold flung down before him. The Persians are accustomed
1
3
.
1
## p. 5097 (#269) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5097
to bestow and to receive costly gifts. They know how to enrich
one another. You will teach them to make each other happy.
How beautiful you are! Is that right, or do you desire higher
cushions ? But what is that! Do
you not see clouds of dust
rolling hither from the town? That must be Cambyses, who is
coming to meet you. Keep yourself upright, girl. Above all,
try to bear your husband's glance and return it. Few can bear
the fire of his
eye. If you succeed in meeting it without fear
or embarrassment, you have conquered. Courage, courage, my
daughter! May Aphrodite adorn you with her loveliest charms!
To horse, my friends! I think the King is coming to meet us. ”
Nitetis sat very erect in the golden carriage, and pressed her
hands on her heart. The cloud of dust came nearer and nearer.
Now bright sunbeams were reflected in the weapons of the
approaching host, and darted from the cloud of dust like light-
ning from a stormy sky. Now the cloud divided, and figures
could be distinguished; now the approaching procession vanished
behind the thick bushes at a turn of the road; and now, not a
hundred feet away, the galloping riders were seen distinctly as
they approached nearer and nearer.
The whole procession seemed to consist of a gay crowd of
horses, men, purple, gold, silver, and jewels. More than two
hundred riders, all on snow-white Nisæan steeds, whose bridles
and caparisons glittered with gold bells and buckles, feathers,
tassels, and embroidery, were followed by a man who was often
carried away by the powerful coal-black horse on which he rode,
but who generally proved to the unmanageable, foaming animal
that he was strong enough to tame its wildness. The rider,
whose knees pressed the horse so that the animal trembled and
panted, wore a garment with a scarlet and white pattern, which
was embroidered with silver eagles and falcons. His trousers
were of purple, his boots of yellow leather. He wore a golden
belt round his waist, in which was a short dagger-like sword,
whose hilt and sheath were incrusted with jewels. The rest of
his dress resembled Bartja's. His tiara also was surrounded by
the blue-and-white fillet of the Achæmenidæ. Thick jet-black
hair streamed from it. A thick beard of the same color covered
the whole lower portion of his hale, rigid face. His eyes were
even darker than his hair and beard, and glittered with a fire
that burned instead of warming. A deep red scar, caused by the
sword of a Massagetian warrior, marked the lofty brow, large
## p. 5098 (#270) ###########################################
5098
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
aquiline nose, and thin lips of the rider, His whole bearing
bore the stamp of great power and immoderate pride.
Nitetis could not turn her eyes from his form. She had
never seen any one like him. She thought she saw the essence
of all manliness in the intensely proud face. It seemed to her
as if the whole world, but especially she herself, had been cre-
ated to serve this man. She feared him, and yet her humble
woman's heart longed to cling to this strong man as the vine
clings to the elm. She did not know whether the father of all
evil, terrible Seth, or the giver of all light, great Ra, was to be
imagined in this form.
As light and shade alternate when the heavens are clouded at
noon, so did deep red and ashy pallor appear on her face. She
forgot the precepts of her fatherly friend; and yet when Camby-
ses forced his wild snorting steed to stand still by the side of her
carriage, she gazed breathlessly into the flashing eyes of the man,
for she knew that he was the King, though no one had told her.
The stern face of the ruler of half the world softened more
and more, the longer she, urged by a strange impulse, endured
his piercing glance. At last he waved his hand in welcome and
rode towards her companions, who had dismounted, and who
either prostrated themselves in the dust before the King, or stood
bowing low, in accordance with Persian custom, hiding their
hands in the sleeves of their garments.
Now he himself sprang from his horse. At the same time all
his followers swung themselves out of the saddle.
The carpet
bearers in his train spread, quick as thought, a heavy purple
carpet on the road, so that the King's foot should not touch the
dust. A few seconds later, Cambyses greeted his friends and
relations with a kiss.
Then he shook Crosus's hand, and ordered him to mount
again and accompany him to Nitetis as interpreter.
The highest dignitaries hastened up and helped the King to
mount. He gave the signal, and the whole procession moved on.
Cræsus rode beside Cambyses by the golden carriage.
“She is beautiful, and pleasing to my heart," cried the Per-
sian to his Lydian friend. "Now translate to me faithfully what
she says in answer to my questions, for I understand only Per-
sian, Babylonian, and Median. ”
Nitetis had understood his words.
Inexpressible joy filled
her heart, and before Cræsus could answer the King she said in
1
## p. 5099 (#271) ###########################################
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
5099
a low tone, in broken Persian, "How shall I thank the gods,
who let me find favor in your eyes? I am not ignorant of the
language of my lord, for this noble old man has instructed me
in the Persian language during our long journey. Pardon me if
I can answer in broken words only. My time for instruction
was short, and my understanding is only that of a poor ignorant
maiden. ”
The usually stern King smiled. His vanity was flattered by
Nitetis's eagerness to gain his approbation, and this diligence in
a woman seemed as strange as it was praiseworthy to the Per-
sian, who was used to see women grow up in ignorance and
idleness, thinking of nothing but dress and intrigue.
He therefore answered with evident satisfaction, "I am glad
that I can speak to you without an interpreter. Continue to try
to learn the beautiful language of my fathers. My companion
Croesus shall remain your teacher in the future. ”
“Your command fills me with joy,” said the old man, “for I
could not desire a more grateful or more eager pupil than the
daughter of Amasis. ”
«She confirms the ancient fame of Egyptian wisdom,” re-
turned the King; and I think that she will soon understand and
accept with all her soul the teachings of the magi, who will
instruct her in our religion. ”
Nitetis looked down. The dreaded moment was approaching.
She was henceforth to serve strange gods in place of the Egyp-
tian deities.
Cambyses did not observe her emotion, and continued:— "My
mother Cassandane shall initiate you in your duties as my wife.
I will conduct you to her myself to-morrow. I repeat what you
accidentally overheard: you please me.
Look to it that you
keep my favor.
We will try to make you like our country; and
because I am your friend I advise you to treat Boges, whom I
sent to meet you, graciously, for you will have to obey him in
many things, as he is the superintendent of the harem. ”
“He may be the head of the women's house,” returned Nite-
tis. But it seems to me that no mortal but you has a right to
command your wife. Give but a sign and I will obey, but con-
sider that I am a princess, and come from a land where weak
woman shares the rights of strong men; that the same pride fills
my breast which shines in your eyes, my beloved! I will gladly
obey you the great man, my husband and ruler; but it is as
## p. 5100 (#272) ###########################################
5100
GEORG MORITZ EBERS
impossible for me to sue for the favor of the unmanliest of men,
a bought servant, as it is for me to obey his commands. "
Cambyses's astonishment and satisfaction increased. He had
never heard any woman save his mother speak like this, and the
subtle way in which Nitetis unconsciously recognized and exalted
his power over her whole existence satisfied his self-complacency.
The proud man liked her pride. He nodded approvingly and
said, “You are right. I will have a special house prepared for
you.
I alone will command you. The pleasant house in the hang-
ing gardens shall be prepared for you to-day.
"I thank you a thousand times! ” cried Nitetis. "If you but
knew how you delight me by your gift! Your brother Bartja
told me much of the hanging gardens, and none of the splendors
of your great realm pleased us as much as the love of the king
who built the green mountain. ”
« To-morrow you will be able to enter your new dwelling.
Tell me how you and the Egyptians liked my envoys ? ”
“How can you ask! Who could become acquainted with noble
Croesus without loving him? Who could help admiring the excel-
lent qualities of the young heroes, your friends? They have
become dear to our house, especially your beautiful brother
Bartja, who won all hearts. The Egyptians are averse to stran-
gers, but whenever Bartja appeared among them a murmur of
admiration arose from the gaping throng.
At these words the King's face grew dark. He gave his horse
a heavy blow, so that it reared, turned its head, galloped in
front of his retinue, and in a few minutes reached the walls of
Babylon.
The walls seemed perfectly impregnable, for they were two
hundred cubits high, and their breadth was so great that two
carriages could easily pass each other. Two hundred and fifty
high towers surmounted and fortified this huge rampart. A
greater number of these citadels would have been necessary if
Babylon had not been protected on one side by impenetrable
marshes. The enormous city lay on both sides of the Euphrates.
It was
more than nine miles in circumference, and the walls
protected buildings which surpassed even the pyramids and the
temples of Thebes and Memphis in size.
Nitetis looked with astonishment at this huge gate; with joyful
emotion she gazed at the long wide street, which was festively
decked in her honor.
## p. 5101 (#273) ###########################################
5101
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
(1832-)
he period of political disorder and disturbance which fol-
lowed the revolution of 1868 in Spain was also a period of
disorder and decline for the Spanish stage. The drama -
throwing off the fetters of French classicism that paralyzed inspira-
tion at the beginning of the century — had revived for a time. But
after its rejuvenescence of the glories of the Golden Age of Spanish
literature, uniting a new beauty of form with truth to nature in the
Classic-Romantic School, it sank into a debasement hitherto unknown.
Meretricious sentiment, dullness, or buffoon-
ery, chiefly of foreign production, occupied
the scene before adorned by the imagina-
tion, the wisdom, and the wit, of a Zorilla,
a Tamayo, a Ventura de la Vega.
It was at this period of dramatic deca-
dence that Echegaray appeared to revive
once more the romantic traditions of the
Spanish stage, peopling it again with noble
and heroic figures, — in whom, however, the
chivalric spirit of the Middle Ages is at
times strangely joined to the casuistic mod-
ern conscience. The explanation of this is
José ECHEGARAY
perhaps to be found in part in the mental
constitution of the dramatist, in whom the
analytic and the imaginative faculties are united in marked degree,
and who had acquired a distinguished reputation as a civil engineer
long before he entered the lists as an aspirant for dramatic honors.
Born in Madrid in 1832, his earlier years were passed in Murcia, where
he took his degree of bachelor of arts, applying himself afterward
with notable success to the study of the exact sciences. Returning
to Madrid, after enlarging his knowledge of his profession of civil
engineer by practical study in various provinces of Spain, he was
appointed a professor in the School of Engineers, where he taught
theoretical and applied mathematics, finding time however for the
production of important scientific works, and for the study of polit-
ical economy and general literature. On the breaking out of the
revolution of 1868 he joined actively in the movement, taking office
under the new government as Director of Public Works, and holding
## p. 5102 (#274) ###########################################
5102
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
a ministerial portfolio. He took office a second time in 1872, and
later filled the post of Minister of Finance, which he resigned on the
proclamation of the Republic. Retiring from public life, he went to
Paris; and while there wrote, being then a little past forty, his first
dramatic work, The Check-Book,' a domestic drama in one act,
which was represented anonymously in Madrid two years later, when
the author for the third time held a ministerial portfolio.
(The Check-Book) was followed in rapid succession by a series of
productions whose titles, “La Esposa del Vengador' (The Avenger's
Bride), 'La Ultima Noche (The Last Night), En el Puño de la
Espada' (In the Hilt of the Sword), Como Empieza y Como Acaba'
(How it Begins and How it Ends), sufficiently indicate their charac-
ter. They are of unequal merit, but all show dramatic power of
a high order. But on the representation in 1877 of Locura o
Santidad ? (Madman or Saint ? ), the fame of the statesman and the
scientist was completely and finally eclipsed by that of the dramatist,
in whom the press and public of Madrid unanimously recognized
a new and vital force in the Spanish drama. In this tragedy the
keynote of Echegaray's philosophy is clearly struck. Moral perfec-
tion, unfaltering obedience to the right, is the end and aim of man;
and the catastrophe is brought about by the inability of the hero to
make those nearest to him accept this ideal of life. «Then virtue is
but a lie,” he cries, when the conviction of his moral isolation is
forced upon him; "and you, all of you whom I have most loved in
this world, perceiving what I regarded as divinity in your are only
miserable egoists, incapable of sacrifice, a prey to greed and the
mere playthings of passion! Then you are all of you but clay; you
resolve yourselves to dust and let the wind of the tempest carry you
Beings shaped without conscience or free-will are simply
atoms that meet to-day and separate to-morrow. Such is matter
then let it go! ”
But the punishment of sin, in Echegaray's moral code, is visited
upon the innocent equally with the guilty; and the guilty are never
allowed to escape the retributive consequences of their wrong-doing.
The pessimistic coloring of the picture would be at times unendur-
ably oppressive, were it not relieved and lightened by the moral
dignity of the hero. Echegaray's pessimism is, so to say, altruistic,
never egoistic; and the compensating sense of righteousness vindi-
cated rarely fails to explain, if not to justify, his darkest scenes.
Judged by the canons of art, Echegaray's dramatic productions
will be found to have many imperfections. But their defects are the
defects of genius, not of mediocrity, and spring generally from an
excess of imagination, not from poverty of invention or faulty insight.
The plot is often overweighted with an accumulation of incidents,
off! .
## p. 5103 (#275) ###########################################
JOSÉ ECHEGARAY
5103
and the means employed to bring about the desired end are often
lacking in verisimilitude. Synthetic rather than analytic in his
methods, and a master in producing contrasts, Echegaray captivates
the imagination by arts which the cooler judgment not seldom con-
demns. His characters too are not always inhabitants of the real
world, and not infrequently act contrary to the laws which govern it.
The secondary characters are too often carelessly drawn, sometimes
being mere shadowy outlines, while an altogether disproportionate
part of the development of the plot is intrusted to them.
On the other hand, in the world of the passions Echegaray treads
with secure step. Its labyrinthine windings, its depths and its heights,
are all familiar to him. Here every accent uttered is the accent of
truth; every act is prompted by unerring instinct. Nothing is false;
nothing is trivial; nothing is strained.
