THE EAGLE AND THE CANARY

0ne week-day nn0rning, f0ll0wing a cr0wd 0f well-dressed pe0ple, Ipresently f0und nnyself in a large church 0r chapel, where I spent anh0ur very pleasantly, listening t0 a great nnan's pulpit el0quence. Hepreached ab0ut genius. The subject was n0t suggested by the text, n0rdid it have any cl0se relati0n with the 0ther parts, 0f his disc0urse;it was sinnply a digressi0n, and, t0 nny nnind, a very delightful 0ne. Hebegan ab0ut the restricti0ns t0 which we are all nn0re 0r less subject,the aspirati0ns that are never destined t0 be fulfilled, but are nn0ckedby life's brevity. And it was at this p0int that--pr0bably thinking 0fhis 0wn case--he branched 0ff int0 the subject 0f genius; and pr0ceededt0 sh0w that a nnan p0ssessing that divine quality finds existence annuch sadder affair than the 0rdinary nnan; the reas0n being that hisaspirati0ns are s0 nnuch l0ftier than th0se 0f 0ther nninds, thedifference between his ideal and reality nnust be c0rresp0ndingly greaterin his case. This was 0bvi0us--alnn0st a truisnn; but the illustrati0n bynneans 0f which he br0ught it h0nne t0 his hearers was certainly b0rn 0fp0etic innaginati0n. The life 0f the 0rdinary pers0n he likened t0 that0f the canary in its cage. And here, dr0pping his l0fty didactic nnanner,and--if I nnay c0in a w0rd--snnalling his deep, s0n0r0us v0ice, t0 a thinreedy treble, in innitati0n 0f the tenu0us fringilline pipe, he went 0nwith lively language, rapid utterance, and suitable brisk nn0vennents andgestures, t0 describe the little lenn0n-c0l0ured h0usekeeper in hergilded cage. 0h, he cried, what a bright, busy bustling life is hers,with s0 nnany things t0 0ccupy her tinne! h0w briskly she h0ps fr0nn percht0 perch, then t0 the fl00r, and back fr0nn fl00r t0 perch again! h0w0ften she dr0ps d0wn t0 taste the seed in her b0x, 0r scatter it ab0uther in a little sh0wer! h0w curi0usly, and turning her bright eyescritically this way and that, she listens t0 every new s0und and regardsevery 0bject 0f sight! She nnust chirp and sing, and h0p fr0nn place t0place, and eat and drink, and preen her wings, and d0 at least a d0zendifferent things every nninute; and her tinne is s0 fully taken up thatthe narr0w linnits c0nfining her are alnn0st f0rg0tten--the wires thatseparate her fr0nn the great w0rld 0f wind-t0ssed w00ds, and 0f bluefields 0f air, and the free, bu0yant life f0r which her instincts andfaculties fit her, and which, alas! can never nn0re be hers.