Villa Eden Part 222

"On the one hand, you deny the operation of eternal laws; on the other, you fear it. Now look at these ma.s.ses of ice in the river. Do you care to learn something of that immeasurable and all-pervading wisdom which interrupts the laws of Nature when their strict, logical consequences would involve the destruction of the world?"

"Oh, if that were so! If I might but learn it!"

"Well, then, stop there. Do you know what changes regularly take place in bodies as they become warmer or colder?"

"Heat expands, and renders them lighter. Cold contracts, and makes them heavier."

"Is it the same with water?"

"I think so."

"No, it is not. If ice were heavier than water, it would sink, and the streams would freeze from the bottom upward. There suddenly we have a deviation, an exception to the so-called stern and implacable law of Nature. Water attains its utmost weight and density at a temperature of 38.75 Fahrenheit. Beyond this point, it grows lighter, and expands.

And I tell you I do not comprehend how a man knowing this can persist in denying G.o.d. For G.o.d is here. Here is no mere blind, self-regulative, natural law. Here is the free Genius of the Universal.

Here is Wisdom. Observe, if solidified water went on increasing in weight, and streams froze from beneath upward, the river-beds would remain undisturbed until the spring-thaws. And do you understand what the consequences would be?"

"Certainly; the fish would all die."

"Even so. Here is the wisdom of G.o.d. Here is the Deity who modifies the law of Nature for the preservation of his creatures. Our G.o.d no longer towers aloft above the waters and their laws. He lives and works within the waters. The law of Nature is broken that Nature may be preserved.

There are no more visible miracles; but all life, beyond a certain point, subsists by a miracle,--the miracle of Genius. The very surface of the earth, whereon we plant and build, is such a natural miracle.

Our globe is molten fire inside, and the crust remains cool above it.

Do you understand?"

"I believe I do."

"And now, my son, you have not to suffer and repent and make atonement under some iron law of Nature, because the man who was your father sinned. You are free. Least of all creatures, is man the helpless subject of natural law. He is lord of his fate. Look up! The world is very bright, and this whole, vast, beauteous world is full of G.o.d. Let the bell-ringers, yonder, understand and address him after their own fashion. It is not ours. The churches are but little chambers in the great temple of the universe. Let no man, in my presence, restrict the Highest to one revelation and one mode of worship. G.o.d, the great, the holy, is everywhere. It is impossible not to find him. We have him here, out under the broad arch of heaven, and we have him in our own hearts. He who thus feels the breath of the Infinite upon him--he lives a holy life. Come to my heart, my son! You have wrestled manfully! You are saved!"

Roland threw himself into the arms of this man, and kissed his garment, and wept in the fulness of his heart.

It was night when they disembarked; but within and around Roland all was ineffably bright. A new man stepped upon the sh.o.r.e.

Roland and Weidmann walked home in silence.

With a feeling of release, as if the evil spirit which possessed him had been exorcised by a spell, Roland entered the house with Weidmann.

He stood at the window, gazing long into the starlit heaven, and then wrote a letter to Manna. Out of an overflowing heart, he told her that to-day he had found the Highest--a trust, a faith, a rest, such as he had never believed possible. But he could not finish the letter.

He sought Eric, and begged that he would go back with him to Villa Eden.

Eric understood him; and the next day they departed together.

It was a happy coming home, when Eric and Roland arrived at the Villa.

They found the ladies tranquil and happy. Manna beamed with a twofold rapture. Her brother and her lover had come; and both brought strength with them and substantial invigoration.

They had much to tell one another; yet, when the first greetings were over, they reverted to higher and more general themes. All were struck with surprise, that Manna should have a story so like Roland's to tell.

Professor Einsiedel had several exceptions to take to Roland's communication; but he stifled them. The youth might some time advance another step; still it was needful for him to have taken this.

To the story of Manna's experience he listened with satisfaction. He could reflect that he had helped to establish her self-dependence.

Sitting with her hand in Eric's, Manna told her tale.

"It was hard for me to forego the old sacred consolations. Whenever I went to church, I thought of you and of myself. The strong, tremulous swell of the organ speaks so directly to the heart. Those tones are lost to you and me. You have told me that your friends used to deride you as a sentimentalist, because you could not overcome the longing in your soul for those organ-tones; and now that same desire awoke within me when I thought of you. But 'tis vain! It must be enough for us that the realm of music and of feeling is still vast and wide, without the strains of the church-organ. I cling to those n.o.ble words, 'My temple are ye.' If the human soul has become the temple of the Holy Ghost, we need no visible temple."

A spirit of consecration hovered over them as they were now a.s.sembled in the vine-clad house. They felt that they were members of the communion which has no name.

When Eric visited the little town, he was informed by the cooper, now, mine host of the "Carp," that the comedy-writer had wanted to make a carnival play out of Sonnenkamp's story, and bring it out in the market-place; but that he himself had not favored it, and they were going to represent a n.o.bility-mill instead. Commoners in front were to be thrust in above, and n.o.blemen with weapons and shields were to come out below, on the back side.

He begged Eric to be present at the carnival performance next day; but Eric was not in the mood.

CHAPTER XI.

A FULL HOUSE AND FULL DAYS.

On the following day came the Major, and Fraulein Milch, and Lina with her betrothed.

It was settled, that, if the snow remained, they were all to have a sleigh-ride to Mattenheim; for they wished to say good-by to Prince Valerian, who was soon to return home.

It was a day of domestic happiness and cheer.

Manna said repeatedly, that she had often wondered why they should have imposed this separation upon themselves; but she now understood that it was better so.

Fortune smiled upon them. They went to Mattenheim in several large sleighs; and, on their arrival, Knopf took his young friend, Roland, aside, and gave him a private letter from Lilian.

No one else knew why Roland was so extravagantly gay; but Knopf smiled quietly to himself.

Manna and the Professorin were cordially received by Frau Weidmann and her daughters-in-law. It refreshed the heart to see how full and rich at every stage of existence was the home-life at Mattenheim.

While Lina expressed her especial satisfaction in the fact, that here at Mattenheim one had five good meals a day, and insisted upon it that love sharpened the appet.i.te, the ladies from Villa Eden thoroughly enjoyed a glimpse into Frau Weidmann's housekeeping arrangements.

The Professorin had known her in her early years, and remembered what a fine appearance had been made by this tall lady, who now always wore a huge pair of spectacles. She, Manna, and Aunt Claudine, were moved to reflection and self-examination, as they beheld the woman's active life. All her household were busily employed, and yet it was perfectly quiet and orderly; and Frau Weidmann discharged her round of duties without tormenting herself by needless anxiety. She was proud to show the ladies her whole house, and particularly her great preserve-jars, containing provision not only for the various branches of her own family, but for the poor who have no forethought. She frankly complained that she had not time enough for self-culture, but said smilingly, that it was like the question of driving the birds away from her garden: she must either forego their singing, or good berries and lettuce, as it was impossible to have both.

Manna learned from Frau Weidmann many particulars of Pranken's life; of his bearing during his short stay at Mattenheim, as well as the facts generally known at the capital.

It had been painful to Manna to be obliged to deal so harshly with Pranken; for he had shown himself kind and good, both to her father and herself: but she was now relieved from this trouble also.

The ladies of Villa Eden were not a little surprised, however, to hear at Mattenheim of the great commotion in the New World; for papers and despatches had come with Lilian's letter from America, and Weidmann could not withhold from them his conviction that the new year would bring the great crisis of the century, perhaps of all modern history.

Were it possible to break up the Union, and to elevate slavery, which had been tolerated hitherto as a species of smuggling, into a prominent article of state-policy, the cause of freedom and humanity, for which they were all laboring, would be so fearfully injured and impeded, that the petty efforts of individuals would seem of no account.

Relief from this dark apprehension was experienced by all the company, as Weidmann read aloud a pa.s.sage from his nephew's letter.

Doctor Fritz wrote,--

"Surpa.s.sing all others in the greatness and majesty of his bearing, bright as the brightest example of cla.s.sic times, we have the n.o.ble Seward: and Germans ought especially to honor him, for he has publicly declared, that, wherever the Germans go, it is their task to clear the way for liberty, and that the true Germanic spirit is the spirit of freedom and toleration. This man, who had been named as a Presidential candidate along with Lincoln, and even before, when he saw that Lincoln's chances were better than his own, resolved that there should be no split in the Republican vote, and became a most zealous agitator in Lincoln's behalf."