New Thought Library is an online public library with free eBook and audio downloads.
Links to downloads for Mince Pie by Christopher Morley are at the bottom of this web page
Blessings abound for the spiritually aware. Help connect like minded seekers with the Spiritual Resources produced by the NewThought.NET/work
"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Divine word for profit."
~ 2 Corinthians 2:17
Serving New Thought is pleased to present
Mince Pie
"Evolution is better than Revolution. New Thought Library's New Thought Archives encompass a full range of New Thought from Abrahamic to Vedic. New Thought literature reflects the ongoing evolution of human thought. New Thought's unique inclusion of science, art and philosophy presents a dramatic contrast with the magical thinking of decadent religions that promulgate supersticions standing in the way of progress to shared peace and prosperity." ~ Avalon de Rossett
Contents - Instructions - On Filling an Ink Well - Old Thoughts for Christmas - Christmas Cards - On Unanswering Letters - A Letter to Father Time - What Men Live By - The Unnatural Naturalist - Sitting in the Barber's Chair - Brown Eyes and Equinoxes - 163 Innocent Old Men - A Tragic Smell in Marathon - Bullied by the Birds - A Message for Boonville - Making Marathon Safe for the Urchin - The Smell of Smells - A Japanese Bachelor - Two Days We Celebrate - The Urchin at the Zoo - Fellow Craftsmen - The Key Ring - "Owd Bob" - The Apple That No One Ate - As to Rumors - Our Mothers - Greeting to American Anglers - Mrs. Izaak Walton Writers a Letter to Her Mother - Truth - The Tragedy of Washington Square - If Mr. Wilson Were the Weather Man - The Truth at Last - Fixed Ideas - Trials of a President Travelling Abroad - Diary of a Publisher's Office Boy - The Dog's Commandments - The Value of Criticism - A Marriage Service for Commuters - The Sunny Side of Grub Street - Burial Service for a Newspaper Joke - Advice to Those Visiting a Baby - Abou Ben Woodrow - My Magnificent System - Letters to Cynthia: I. In Praise of Boobs - Letters to Cynthia: II. Simplification - To an Unknown Damsel - Thoughts on Setting an Alarm Clock - Songs in a Shower Bath - On Dedicating a New Teapot - The Unforgivable Syntax - Visiting Poets - A Good Home in the Suburbs - Walt Whitman Miniatures - On Doors -
Those who buy their ink in little stone jugs may prefer to do so because the pottle reminds them of cruiskeen lawn or ginger beer (with its wire-bound cork), but they miss a noble delight. Ink should be bought in the tall, blue glass, quart bottle (with the ingenious non-drip spout), and once every three weeks or so, when you fill your ink-well, it is your privilege to elevate the flask against the brightness of a window, and meditate (with a breath of sadness) on the joys and problems that sacred fluid holds in solution.
How blue it shines toward the light! Blue as lupin or larkspur, or cornflower—aye, and even so blue art thou, my scriven, to think how far the written page falls short of the bright ecstasy of thy dream! In the bottle, what magnificence of unpenned stuff lies cool and liquid: what fluency of essay, what fonts of song. As the bottle glints, blue as a squill or a hyacinth, blue as the meadows of Elysium or the eyes of girls loved by young poets, meseems the racing pen might almost gain upon the thoughts that are turning the bend in the road. A jolly throng, those thoughts: I can see them talking and laughing together. But when pen reaches the road's turning, the thoughts are gone far ahead: their delicate figures are silhouettes against the sky.
It is a sacramental matter, this filling the ink-well. Is there a writer, however humble, who has not poured into his writing pot, with the ink, some wistful hopes or prayers for what may emerge from that dark source? Is there not some particular reverence due the ink-well, some form of propitiation to humbug the powers of evil and constraint that devil the journalist? Satan hovers near the ink-pot. Luther solved the matter by throwing the well itself at the apparition. That savors to me too much of homeopathy. If Satan ever puts his face over my desk, I shall hurl a volume of Harold Bell Wright at him.
But what becomes of the ink-pots of glory? The conduit from which Boswell drew, for Charles Dilly in The Poultry, the great river of his Johnson? The well (was it of blue china?) whence flowed Dream Children: a Revery? (It was written on folio ledger sheets from the East India House—I saw the manuscript only yesterday in a room at Daylesford, Pennsylvania, where much of the richest ink of the last two centuries is lovingly laid away.) The pot of chuckling fluid where Harry Fielding dipped his pen to tell the history of a certain foundling; the ink-wells of the Café de la Source
For breakfast we had excellent-flavored coffee, hot and strong—not very clear and no great deal of cream—veal cutlets, elegant ham and eggs and nice bread and butter. I never sat down to a more plentiful or a nicer breakfast. I wish you could have seen the eggs—and the great dishes of meat. Sis [his wife] is delighted, and we are both in excellent spirits. She has coughed hardly any and had no night sweat. She is now busy mending my pants, which I tore against a nail. I went out last night and bought a skein of silk, a skein of thread, two buttons, a pair of slippers, and a tin pan for the stove. The fire kept in all night. We have now got four dollars and a half left. To-morrow I am going to try and borrow three dollars, so that I may have a fortnight to go upon. I feel in excellent spirits, and haven't drank a drop—so that I hope soon to get out of trouble.
Yes, let us clear the typewriter off the table: an ink-well is a sacred thing.
Do you ever stop to think, when you see the grimy spattered desks of a public post-office, how many eager or puzzled human hearts have tried, in those dingy little ink-cups, to set themselves right with fortune? What blissful meetings have been appointed, what scribblings of pain and sorrow, out of those founts of common speech. And the ink-wells on hotel counters—does not the public dipping place of the Bellevue Hotel, Boston, win a new dignity in my memory when I know (as I learned lately) that Rupert Brooke registered there in the spring of 1914? I remember, too, a certain pleasant vibration when, signing my name one day in the Bellevue's book, I found Miss Agnes Repplier's autograph a little above on the same page.
Among our younger friends, Vachel Lindsay comes to mind as one who has done honor to the ink-well. His Apology for the Bottle Volcanic is in his best flow of secret smiling (save an unfortunate dilution of Riley):
Sometimes I dip my pen and find the bottle full of fire, The salamanders flying forth I cannot but admire.... O sad deceiving ink, as bad as liquor in its way— All demons of a bottle size have pranced from you to-day, And seized my pen for hobby-horse as witches ride a broom, And left a trail of brimstone words and blots and gobs of gloom. And yet when I am extra good ... [here I omit the transfusion of Riley] My bottle spreads a rainbow mist, and from the vapor fine Ten thousand troops from fairyland come riding in a line. |
I suppose it is the mark of a trifling mind, yet I like to hear of the little particulars that surrounded those whose pens struck sparks. It is Boswell that leads us into that habit of thought. I like to know what the author wore, how he sat, what the furniture of his desk and chamber, who cooked his meals for him, and with what appetite he approached them. "The mind soars by an effort to the grand and lofty" (so dipped Hazlitt in some favored ink-bottle)—"it is at home in the groveling, the disagreeable, and the little."
I like to think, as I look along book shelves, that every one of these favorites was born out of an ink-well. I imagine the hopes and visions that thronged the author's mind as he filled his pot and sliced the quill. What various fruits have flowed from those ink-wells of the past: for some, comfort and honor, quiet homes and plenteousness; for others, bitterness and disappointment. I have seen a copy of Poe's poems, published in 1845 by Putnam, inscribed by the author. The volume had been bought for $2,500. Think what that would have meant to Poe himself.
Some such thoughts as these twinkled in my head as I held up the Pierian bottle against the light, admired the deep blue of it, and filled my ink-well. And then I took up my pen, which wrote:
On Filling an Ink-well This is a sacrament, I think! Holding the bottle toward the light, As blue as lupin gleams the ink: May Truth be with me as I write! That small dark cistern may afford Reunion with some vanished friend,— And with this ink I have just poured May none but honest words be penned! |
PREVIOUS PAGE - 1 - NEXT PAGE
Links to Additional Media for Mince Pie by Christopher Morley such as audio and ebooks are located at the bottom of this web page.
Discover a rainbow of exciting New Thought Communities around the corner and around the globe.
Find FellowshipDaily Wisdom from today's New Thought Leaders supports your Spiritual Journey with insights and affirmations.
Daily WisdomInterviews with New Thought Sharers around the world & explorations of current themes in New Thought
New Thought Talks
We give you a powerful platform upon which to do God's Work learning and sharing New Thought:
DivineJournal.com, NewThoughtCommunity.com, NewThoughtTao.com and many more ...
Use DivineJournal.com to Research, read & write New Thought Texts which you can share through NewThoughtBook.info.
New Thought Resources accessible to anyone in the world with an internet connection.
Find New Thought Communities around the corner & around the world.
FindACenter.com, NewThoughtCentres.com, NewThoughtCenters.com
Celebrating New Thought Diversity in thought and form, we weather all storms, thrive and prosper! NewThoughtDay.com, NewThoughtWeek.com
Listen to New Thought Radio broadcasts from the New Thought Streams PodCast Archive, along with a growing collection of New Thought Music directly from New Thought Artists around the world.
Listen to New Thought Radio 24/7/365"'The truth, once announced, has the power not only to renew but to extend itself. New Thought is universal in its ideals and therefore should be universal in its appeal. Under the guidance of the spirit, it should grow in good works until it embraces many lands and eventually the whole world.' ~ James A. Edgerton, New Thought Day, August 23rd, 1915."
New Thought Holidays August 23rdExplore the New Thought Tao and discover deeper wisdom. New Thought has many forms, Taoist New Thought brings insights to the table that are not so apparent in Abrahamic forms. While many Abrahamics fight to impose their views on the rest of the world. Taoist New Thought teaches the way of acceptance and understanding. Principles in the New Thought Tao provide powerful processes which serve as keys to deeper happiness and inner peace from the inside out.
Read Divine Tao #8 "Water" Tao #8New Thought conferences from various New Thought denominations and organizations are happening all ove rthe world. Whether Old New Thought or New Thought Today, find conference info about New Thought Conferences!.
New Thought Conferences ShareNew Thought Solutions for New Thought Sharers and New Thought Communities. Empowerment programs that awaken us to the co-creative "Power of We." Grow and thrive sharing a rainbow of New Thought wisdom with the world.
New Thought Solutions Thrive!A growing collection of New Thought books from Today's New Thought Leaders. Many New Thought books lack the marketing necessary to get them in front of you, with New Thought Books INFO those writers to find you and you to find those writers...
New Thought Books Read!