whereto each brought of his gains, as he felt prompted, a bunch of wild grapes from the woods, or bread-corn from his threshing-floor. The tone of the assemblies was cordial welcome for every one’s peculiarity; and scholars, farmers, mechanics, merchants, married women, and maidens, met there on a level of courteous respect. The only guest not tolerated was intolerance; though strict justice might add, that these “Illuminati” were as unconscious of their special cant as smokers are of the perfume of their weed, and that a professed declaration of universal independence turned out in practice to be rather oligarchic.
Of the class of persons most frequently found at these meetings Margaret has left the following sketch; —
‘“I am not mad, most noble Festus,” was Paul's
rejoinder, as he turned upon his vulgar censor with the
grace of a courtier, the dignity of a prophet, and the
mildness of a saint. But many there are, who, adhering
to the faith of the soul with that unusual earnestness
which the world calls “mad,” can answer their critics
only by the eloquence of their characters and lives.
Now, the other day, while visiting a person whose highest
merit, so far as I know, is to save his pennies, I was
astounded by hearing him allude to some of most
approved worth among us, thus: “You know we
consider those men insane.”
‘What this meant, I could not at first well guess, so completely was my scale of character turned topsy-turvy. But revolving the subject afterward, I perceived that WE was the multiple of Festus, and THOSE MEN of Paul. All the circumstances, seemed the same as in that Syrian hall; for the persons in question were they
