Here, the surface of things is certainly
humdrum, the streets dingy, the green places, where the child goes
a-maying, tame enough. But nowhere are things more apt to respond to the
brighter weather, nowhere is there so much difference between rain and
sunshine, nowhere do the clouds roll together more grandly; those quaint
suburban pastorals gather a certain quality of grandeur from the
background of the great city, with its weighty atmosphere, and portent
of storm in the rapid light on dome and bleached stone steeples.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 86: From "Appreciations," 1889.]
[Footnote 87: Macabre: very grim.]
[Footnote 88: Opus operatum (a phrase from Catholic theology): the work
performed through the sacraments--baptism, confirmation, etc.--the
efficacy of which is not dependent on the participants.]
DR. HEIDEGGER'S EXPERIMENT[89]
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
That very singular man, old Dr. Heidegger, once invited four venerable
friends to meet him in his study. There were three white-bearded
gentlemen, Mr.
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