Hawthorne, Nathaniel / 2008-07-02 00:00:00
1843
TWICE-TOLD TALES
THE BIRTHMARK
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
IN THE LATTER PART of the last century, there lived a man of
science- an eminent proficient in every branch of natural
philosophy- who, not long before our story opens, had made
experience of a spiritual affinity, more attractive than any
chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the care of an
assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace-smoke, washed
the stain of acids from his fingers, and persuaded a beautiful woman
to become his wife. In those days, when the comparatively recent
discovery of electricity, and other kindred mysteries of nature,
seemed to open paths into the region of miracle, it was not unusual
for the love of science to rival the love of woman, in its depth and
absorbing energy. The higher intellect, the imagination, the spirit,
and even the heart, might all find their congenial aliment in pursuits
which, as some of their ardent votaries believed, would ascend from
one step of powerful intelligence to another, until the philosopher
should lay his hand on the secret of creative force, and perhaps
make new worlds for himself. We know not whether Aylmer possessed this
degree of faith in man's ultimate control over nature.
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