Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/168

168THE HALLIG.

Godber caught joyfully at this praise of his birth-
place. "Is it not so ?" cried he ; "is not our life de-
lightful ? These numerous privations, this isolation
from the world, this want of outward attraction, throw
man back again upon himself, and teach him to find
within his own breast, in his little domestic circle the
happiness which is the more enduring because it is in-
dependent of external things, and has its root, as well
as its nourishment, in man himself. Even the dangers
which are connected with a residence here serve to keep
alive in us the childlike, humble, trusting spirit from
which proceed faith, confidence, and a cheerful depend-
ence on our Father in heaven. Here, man is once more
man, having stripped off the gay trappings which are,
after all, rather a care than a pleasure to him. Here,
he is free from the chains which conventionality has
forged for him by a thousand habits and necessities
which his heart does not know, and does not need, in
order to be happy ; which even he himself has only too
often felt to be fetters, without having the courage to
shake them off before the world. Here he is himself,
not what custom makes him, not what others require
him to be. Here, he may rejoice and weep, work and
rest, love and shun, where, how, and whom he will. He
has no master but himself, and there is no man to call
him to account. Not for all the treasures of the earth,
would I again willingly come under the yoke of this
perverted world, which cries 'Peace, peace, and there
is no peace,' where there is nothing but disunion and
distrust, struggling and straining for a goal which lies
far behind, which runs blindfold after its own pleasure,
and finds only disgust, fatigue, and satiety without en-