I am aware, on the other hand, that the case is by no means common in which an author is at all in condition to retrace the steps by which his conclusions have been attained.  In general, suggestions having arisen pell-mell, are pursued and forgotten in a similar manner.

* * * * *

=_Henry T. Tuckerman, 1813-._=

From “New England Philosophy,” an Essay from “The Optimist.”

=_223._= THE HEART SUPERIOR TO THE INTELLECT.

Constant supplies of knowledge to the intellect, and the exclusive cultivation of reason, may, indeed, make a pedant and a logician; but the probability is, these benefits—­if such they are—­will be gained at the expense of the soul.  Sentiment, in its broadest acceptation, is as essential to the true enjoyment and grace of life as mind.  Technical information, and that quickness of apprehension which New Englanders call smartness, are not so valuable to a human being as sensibility to the beautiful, and a spontaneous appreciation of the divine influences which fill the realms of vision and of sound, and the world of action and, feeling.  The tastes, affections, and sentiments are more absolutely the man than his talents or acquirements.  And yet it is by, and through, the latter that we are apt to estimate character, of which they are at best but fragmentary evidences.  It is remarkable that in the New Testament, allusions to the intellect are so rare, while the “heart” and the “spirit we are of” are ever appealed to....

To what end are society, popular education, churches, and all the machinery of culture, if no living truth is elicited which fertilizes, as well as enlightens.  Shakespeare undoubtedly owed his marvelous insight into the human soul, to his profound sympathy with man.  He might have conned whole libraries on the philosophy of the passions, he might have coldly observed facts for years, and never have conceived of jealousy like Othello’s,—­the remorse of Macbeth, or love like that of Juliet....

Sometimes, in musing upon genius in its simpler manifestations, it seems as if the great art of human culture consisted chiefly in preserving the glow and freshness of the heart.  It is certain that, in proportion as its merely mental strength and attainment take the place of natural sentiment, in proportion as we acquire the habit of receiving all impressions through the reason, the teachings of Nature grow indistinct and cold....  It is when we are overcome, and the pride of intellect vanquished before the truth of nature, when instead of coming to a logical decision we are led to bow in profound reverence before the mysteries of life, when we are led back to childhood, or up to God, by some powerful revelation of the sage or minstrel, it is then our natures grow.  To this end is all art.  Exquisite vocalism, beautiful statuary, and painting, and all true literature, have not for their great object to employ the ingenuity of prying critics, or furnish the world with a set of new ideas, but to move the whole nature by the perfection and truthfulness of their appeal.  There is a certain atmosphere exhaled from the inspired page of genius, which gives vitality to the sentiments, and through these, quickens the mental powers.  And this is the chief good of books.