The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 12, October, 1858   By: Various

The collection of essays and articles in this issue of The Atlantic Monthly provides a rich tapestry of thought-provoking ideas and insightful commentary on the pressing issues of the time. From discussions on politics and society to literature and culture, each piece offers a unique perspective that challenges readers to consider new viewpoints and expand their understanding of the world around them. The diverse range of topics covered in this volume ensures that there is something for everyone to enjoy, making it a must-read for anyone interested in engaging with complex ideas and stimulating intellectual discourse. Overall, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 12, October, 1858 is a thoughtfully curated collection that will leave readers both informed and inspired.

First Page:

Half a dozen rivulets leap down the western declivity of the Rocky Mountains, and unite; four thousand miles away the mighty Missouri debouches into the Mexican Gulf as the result of that junction. Did the rivulets propose or plan the river? Not at all; but they knew, each, its private need to find a lower level; the universal law they obeyed accomplished the rest. So is it with the great human streams. Mighty beginnings do not lie in the minds of the beginners. History is a perpetual surprise, ever developing results of which men were the agents without being the expectants. Individual actors, with respect to the master claim of humanity, are, for the most part, not unlike that fleet hound which, enticed by a tempting prospect of meat, outran a locomotive engine all the way from Lowell to Boston, and won a handsome wager for his owner, while intent only on a dinner for himself. Humanity is served out of all proportion to the intention of service. Even the noble souls, never wanting in history, who follow not a bait, but belief, see only in imperfect survey the connections and relations of their deeds. Each is faithfully obeying his own inward vocation, a voice unheard by other soul than his own, and the inability to calculate consequences makes the preëminent grandeur of his position; or he is urged by the high inevitable impulse to publish or verify an idea: the Divine Destiny works in their hearts, and plans over their heads... Continue reading book >>