World Worship (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE ASPIRATIONS OF OENIDS. " Every day of thy life is a leaf of thy history." " That is thy world wherein thou tindest thyself." There are few miuds, however uncultivated and unrefined, that are altogether inaccessible to the beauties of creation. Even in childhood and infancy the breath of spring and the sunshine of the morning penetrate deep into the inner self, and stir thoughts and feelings there, bright and joyous as the buzz of natural life around; and in later years, when the mind no longer lives in its early freshness, but retains other images than the beautiful things of creation, our first introduction into the world of nature is remembered as an epoch in our history. Still are there moments when the babble of the mountain- torrent or the carol of the wild birds returns and swells on the ear, and the fertile valley or the deep greenwood are fresh in the memory. The bright visions of childhood and youth are recalled by these early reminiscences, and we love to retouch those scenes, which are often rendered sacred to us from their association with the first development of moral thought and feeling. Clara's enthusiasm for the beautiful deepened into a tone of earnest thoughtfulness as her time wore away at Eithinog. Sometimes she would seem to enjoy the fine scenery with all the zest and playfulness of a mountain cbild; then again, as if inspired by a loftier impulse, she would turn naturally to Mr. Egerton, and with girlish artlessness, ask hitn to explain her heart's yearnings. And Winfred, with his deep human sympathy and glowing imagination, was precisely the sort of character to influence a temperament like Clara's. He was not insensible of his power over this beautiful, and as yet unsophisticated child of nature, and was resolved to direct...