Bernard Palissy: An Impersonation

BERNARD PALISSY.

AN IMPERSONATION. BY WILLIAM A. HYDE, PRESIDENT OF THE POCATELLO STAKE OF ZION.

I was born upon the earth in the year 1509, and now, after an absence from the midst of its inhabitants for 315 years, I am called, by a fellow-being, to teach tonight the lesson of my life. It is a pleasure for me to know that I have lived so long, and

am in the mind of one at least. It is a fortunate thing that the lives of evil or incapable men soon go out, and become as if they had not been, so far as their influence on the world is felt; and fortunate that good deeds, noble thoughts, and persevering lives, always live to bless mankind. Mine is the lesson of perseverance; and do not impute to me egotism when I say that there is no more forcible one in the

pages of all your histories. The incidents of my life, even now, after so long a removal from earth's turmoil, are vivid upon my memory, as though scorched and burned there. My childhood's home was the pleasantest region on earth, amid the sunshine and flowers and smiles of balmy, southern France. My parents were poor, and gave me for a heritage only a strong, healthy body; a happy, hopeful disposition, and a will that stood al- ways my trusted servant. I did not have advantages in education

as you of today have; I had no other books than heaven and earth, which are open to all; but to these great tutors, I applied myself with zeal, and many lessons of value, they taught me. From earth,

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and the beauties and glories of nature, I learned for myself, by- observation, the fundamental truths upon which all books are written. The stars gave me some of their secrets, and their truths; and from beyond their lights, the spirit that permeates the world— the life and source of knowledge— came into my soul to fire my ambitions to noble purposes and great ends. So I went into the world, not armed with a shallow education, but with a few great truths and high ideals, and with a heaven- implanted hope, an unconquerable desire to make of myself a man to be known and honored. The bent of my mind was artistic, and I imitated the lines and colors of nature with my poor facilities, until I had mastered the rudiments of drawing, and knew something of coloring. While engaged in this study, I also learned reading and writing. My home being in the vicinity of some glass works, I applied the knowledge gained of art practically to glass painting, and, in the intervals of my labors in this direction, gained also some knowledge of the science of land measuring. But the glass trade was a decaying one, and I could see no future in it for me. So, at the age of eighteen, I turned my face to the world, and asked the question, "What have you for me?" Over the threshold of a new life, I passed, to put my small powers and weak forces in competition with the mighty world; to conquer? Oh, how I hoped it; —to be defeated? The young, brave heart need never ask that question! I traveled eastward toward Gascony, then northward, working at my trade, when I could find employment, and sojourned, in the course of my travels, in France, Flanders and lower Germany. Thus ten years of my life were passed, unsettled and unproductive; save for a broader experience in the ways of men, and the culture and finish that travel gives. At this time, I married, and settled down at my old trades of glass painting and land measuring, in the small town of Saintes. Here three children were born, and I found my responsibilities and expenses increase beyond my capacity to provide. Something must be done for my family, and for myself, and I began to look around for a more remunerative employment. My thoughts naturally turned to an art kindred to my own, and I investigated the painting and enameling of earthenware; but I had

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never seen clay moulded and baked, and the subject was entirely new to me; in its prosecution I must have everything to learn. At this time, an event occurred, of apparently small moment, which determined my future, and made me what I am. I saw an elegant cup of Italian make. Its beauties and the possibilities of the art so impressedfme that from that moment, I became the servant of a great ambition. I lived to labor to imitate, or sur- pass, that glorious piece of art. I revelled in its beauties, but my artistic soul comprehending its merits could not grasp its secrets, and my life must now be a labor to solve them. Had I been single, I should have laid allmy work and plans to one side and gone to but my family Italy, the home of its manufacture, in search of it,

claimed my care, and I must not desert them, and my investigations must be carried on at home in the intervals of time left me from the care of my loved ones. These obstacles did not deter me, and I entered upon my consecrated task.

My first steps must be by guess, in the darkness of a com- plete ignorance. I took such chemicals as I thought would unite to form the enamel, and, buying earthen vessels, I broke them in pieces and placed upon them the formulas I had made, numbering each, and preserving the record of its compound. These I baked in a furnace which I had constructed for that purpose, but the re- sult of my labors was a failure. I had nothing but broken pots and wasted doings for my time and labor. My disappointment, I could endure, but in this labor the sympathy and support of my wife was lacking — she could not bring herself to look calmly upon experiments which deprived her and our children of the comforts to which she was entitled, and my home life under such conditions was far from being pleasant. But I could not desist; and, although I regretted the losses and consequent hardships to my family, I must persevere, and, if need be, they must suffer with me in this great labor to which my life was now dedicated. For months and years, I pursued my experiments. The first furnace erected proved a failure, and I built another in which I wasted chemicals, fuel and broken pots, until poverty stared me and my family in the face. Thus, I fooled away several years in sorrow and sighs, not being able to arrive at my intentions. In the intervals of my experiments, I had worked at glass painting,

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drawing portraits, and measuring land, from which our meager in- come was derived; but, at length, I was no longer able to carry on my experiments for lack of fuel. Not deterred at this, I sought some other way to accomplish my purpose, and, buying more pot- tery, I broke them into three or four hundred pieces and carried them to a neighboring furnace to be baked. I went to see the pieces taken out, but, to my dismay, the whole were failures. But I was not defeated; the actuating force of my life came to my aid, and I determined on the spot to begin afresh. At this time, for- tune favored me with a contract from the government to survey some salt marshes, in the neighborhood, from which I derived some means. With part of this, I bought more pottery and chemicals, and took them to be burned, the result gave me a glimmer of hope; the heat of the furnace had melted some of the compounds, but in none of them could I find a trace of the beautiful enamel. For two more years full of hardships and mental agony, I went on experimenting, until the means I had accumulated was gone, and I was reduced to poverty again; but I decided to make one last de- termined effort: With the aid of the little experience already gained, I carried three hundred pieces of pottery with my ingredi- ents very carefully compounded, and took them to the furnace, going myself to watch the process and note the results. Who that has not through deep trial and sore affliction seen his hopes defeated time after time, with the prize in advance ever luring him on, can imagine the suspense, almost anguish, with which I watched the result of this my last supreme effort. At last, these pieces of inanimate clay, to bear me the message of

hope or the tidings of despair, emerged from their bath of fire. The material on one only of the three hundred pieces had melted, and it was allowed to cool as it hardened. Oh glorious victory it grew white — beautifully transparently — gloriously white! Oh the ecstasy of that moment! My labors at last requited my — family to be relieved —my name to be vindicated — my great hopes to be realized — my insane persistence justified. Like one mad with joy, I ran home to my wife to show her this treasure, born to me of our sufferings, our labors, our tears, and our sacrifice.But this success, though in a measure satisfying, was not complete,

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and it merely served to lure me on to greater struggles and hard- ships. To facilitate the perfection of my invention, I decided to build an improved furnace. Being now in poverty, the work must be my own, and so I turned brickmaker, drayman and mason combined. From the field where I made my bricks, I carried them on my back to the selected spot where I laid them together with the mortar I had mixed. Here, after eight months of arduous labor, I erected what I fondly hoped should be the means of my complete and un- qualified success. In the meantime, I had fashioned a number of vessels which had been subjected to a preliminary baking; these I covered with my compound and prepared for the grand crucial ex- periment. Although without means, I had for some time been ac- cumulating a great store of fuel for the occasion. At last the fire was lit, and all that day, I sat by the furnace watching the result; then the hours dragged through a long, weary night. On the morrow, my wife brought me a portion of our scanty meal, and on and on through a second day and a second night of anxiety, I passed to a third day and a third night, a fourth day, a fourth night of horror; my pile of fuel diminishing, my hopes failing, but ever my unconquerable will sustaining me. With wild, red eyes, disheveled hair, on the verge of madness, through the hours, now almost the eternities, of the sixth day, I passed until broken in body and heart, I sank at my post of duty! There must have been something wrong in the flux! I must have made some mistake in the materials! Surely I had not lost all that I had previously gained! So I set to work to compound again more carefully, if possible, more materials for a new experi- ment. But my money was now all gone. How could I buy more pots and fuel? One more hope: I could borrow, and I found a friend who could trust me. After two more weeks of prepara- tion I was ready again for what I fully hoped to be my final tri- umph. It was the most desperate experiment of the whole, for my all was placed upon it. At last the fire was lit, it blazed up, the heat raged and became intense, but the enamel would not melt. My fuel began to run short, and I was in despair. Hold, there

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were the garden palings! They would burn, and so were torn up and thrown upon the flames, but still the enamel would not melt! In an agony of desperation, I turned to the house — there was the shelving — this would burn, and ten minutes more might suffice!

Amid the crashing of the boards and the screams of my wife and children, who now ran wailing through the streets, the shelves were sacrificed in my wild anxiety —then followed tables, chairs

and household furniture in the last mad moments when success meant my salvation but failure my complete and irretrievable ruin! But 0! I was saved! The last great burst of heat had melted the enamel. The common brown jars when taken out were covered with a glaze which, when allowed to cool, became beautifully white. For this I could endure reproach, the jibes of friends, the taunts of foes, the complaints of my family, the pains of my own body! No longer the slave, now I was the master, and I felt the divine spirit of a conqueror! Now the way was clear before me; no need to hesitate. Now I must reap what in my tears I had sown. I next hired a potter to mold some vessels while I made some medallions in clay, an innkeeper agreeing to keep myself and fam- ily while I worked. But how to pay my potter? I had no money, but I still had clothing, and I took from my back a portion of my scanty apparel to satisfy my employee. I next erected an improved furnace; but 0, the blunder which can in a moment undo the painstaking labor of <a life! Unfortu- nately, I lined the interior of the furnace with flint, which, when it became heated, broke, and the fragments were scattered over my beautiful vessels! I could have sold them for a smaller amount,

but the spirit of the artist revolted from it. Nothing should go out in my name that did not show the best I could do. My char- acter and reputation, so gallantly fought for, were not thus to be lightly bartered away, so I broke in pieces the entire batch! Nevertheless, hope continued to inspire me, and I held on manfully. When visitors called, I entertained them with pleasantry while I was really sad at heart. "Worst of all the sufferings I had to en- dure were the mockings and persecutions of my own household, who were so unreasonable as to expect me to accomplish work without the means of doing so.

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For years, my furnaces were without covering or protection, and, while tending them, I have been for nights at the mercy of the wind and rain. Sometimes the tempest would beat so furiously that I have been forced to abandon my post and seek shelter with- in doors —there to reel without a light, to find, in my chamber, where I should have found consolation and comfort, a worse persecution than the storms outside, which makes me even now marvel that I was not consumed by my many sorrows.* At this stage of my life, who can blame me if I became melan- choly and almost hopeless! I wandered about the fields of Saintes alone, for I had no friends, for my family railed at and persecuted me, and my former friends derided me. Scorn was my portion in the abodes of men, but at last I took heart, and for a year I labored at my old trade making enough money to pay some of my debts, and keep my family, then again, with brighter hopes, my old ambition reinstated itself, and I returned once more to my darling enterprise. I had already spent eight years in search of the enamel, but

eight more years of careful experimental plodding passed before I perfected my invention. I gradually learned dexterity by experi- ence; every mishap was a fresh lesson to me, until at last I had mastered my art. The earths and clays were at my command, enamels my willing and obedient servants; and now, by right of a full and broad experience, I took heart and called myself a potter. These sixteen years of my life had been my apprenticeship when I had everything to learn, alone, beginning at the very beginning. Now the tide of my life turned, and I floated out on a wave of popularity and prosperity. My wares sold readily, and my debts were paid, and my family kept in comfort. Now the highest bent of my artistic soul found opportunity for exercise; ever and ever improving, — went on and on. From nature the animals the I — flowers — I drew their choicest beauties, and in my vessels of clay

they reappeared, clothed in my most divine art. Those children of my hands have now become famous. They are sought after and

• In a number of instances, I have used the exact words of Smiles,

the nature of the composition being such that quotation marks could not be used.

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treasured as the diamonds of the earth, or the pearls of the deep. Artists rave over them, rich men pour out their gold for them, and why should they not? for their value is the price of the tears of wailing children— the pains of a distracted soul— the breaking of a great heart —the triumph again of the truth, that, whatso- ever is worthy shall remain and endure, for time cannot efface it! Now having entered upon a successful career, I was in the way to pass my life in an honored and congenial employment, but the storms of my life were not ended yet. What an unfortunate dispensation, or fate, or providence that, having risked all for my art, I must now risk even life itself for conscience sake

I was a Protestant. Deep as my artistic instincts were my religious convictions, and my soul, the slave to no man nor men, could brook no restraints of its liberty. Dependent on no man by reason of my conscious power, the truths of my religion, as I un- derstood them, I gave to my fellow-man. Better for me to have quietly enjoyed my beliefs and preserve my peace than to rouse the opposition of fanatics. I incurred the anger of the enemies of my faith; and, being esteemed a dangerous heretic, my shop at Saintes was thrown open, and mobs entered and destroyed my prop- erty, and I was arrested and thrown into prison. I was tried,

condemned, and ordered burnt at the stake. Here might have been the ending of my career, but for a fortunate circumstance; a rich and powerful noble, for whom I had designed some work, seeing in my death the incompletion of his plans, interceded in my behalf, and I was saved. To take me from the hands of the authorities in that district, through his influence, I was appointed inventor of rustic figures to the king. What an unflattering comment on the mind and heart of a man to say that not my deserts, but his selfishness, had saved my life; that I who had shown, by my every act, the integrity and earnestness of my purposes, should but for the cleverness of my hands be sacrificed to ignorance and hate! But no matter the — art, for which I had sacrificed so much, had now turned my friend indeed, and I accepted the boon of extended life with due grati- tude and praise. Now I was lodged in the palace of the queen, and there, for years in my royal quarters, under that great edifice, I prosecuted

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my labors, adding more and more to the triumphs of my genius. Besides carrying on this work, with the aid of my sons, I found time to write upon various subjects. I published books on the potters art, and also wrote and lectured upon agriculture, fortifi- cation, and natural history. My mind had expanded, and I had im- bibed a broad education, and I considered it my duty to give man- kind the benefit of it. I fought ignorance in all its phases, whether in the form of alchemy, astrology, or witch-craft. The light I

possessed, which was God-given, it was not for me to hide under a bushel. It is no wonder that in an age of fanaticism there was gath- ered around me again a whirlwind of persecution, and that soon I was arrested and imprisoned. The cowardly Henry the Third, who had been my patron, came to me saying "that for forty-five years I had served him and his mother faithfully, but that now, if I did not renounce my religion, he was constrained to turn me over to my enemies!" "Sire," I said, "I am ready to give up my life for the glory of God! You have said many times that you have pity on me, and now I have pity on you, that have been forced to utter the word constrained; it is not spoken like a king, for it is not what you and your whole party can effect on me, for I know how to die!" Should I be forced against my whose every act of life will

had proved the potency and power of the soul of man! Was I, who had conquered the obstacles of a lowly birth, of poverty, and of opposition, who had unlocked the mysteries of nature and com- pelled success by innate mastery —was I to go whimpering in my seventy-eighth year into a peaceful grave, with every example of my life in mutiny! No! Before this craven soul, I stood the king, in all the royal panoply of right; if die I must, it would be a fitting end to die at last opposed to wrong, and in the upholding of my principles! But the courage of my persecutors failed them, and I was consigned to the Bastile where, in solitude, I passed the last years of my old age, and of my life, in the happiness which comes only to the soul that is true to itself. Then the angel of death came into my cell, and I was liberated! Past prison bars and walls — past the dominion of men, unto

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the liberty of a larger world, I went conquering still; the earth beneath, the great God above me, but ever in my spirit the satis- fying consciousness of a life, bravely, honorably, humbly spent in the service of mankind and my God! The secrets of my after life I may not tell; but has my spirit shrunken? Have my powers diminished? Is my art forgotten? Shall I not rise at last with the intelligence I gained below? Shall I not, in that great day when a holy city is built to his high name — palaces of in light, with an immortalized art, 0, glorious thought,

be potter indeed to the King! The lesson of my life is now before you. Brave heart, tremb- ling amid difficulties, take courage and persevere; the goal will yet be won! Coward and laggard, as you shrink from the tasks of life, and cringe beneath the frown of man, know that there is no seat of honor for you, now nor hereafter; the powers given you, unemployed, shall vanish away, and you be left barren of joy and happiness. The path to the royalty of merit stretches on, and up, sometimes through rocks and thorns, but ever, ever ending among the noble, forceful spirits of the universe!