Part iii
. Stanza 5._
Again to the battle, Achaians! Our hearts bid the tyrants defiance! Our land, the first garden of Liberty's tree, It has been, and shall yet be, the land of the free.
_Song of the Greeks._
Drink ye to her that each loves best! And if you nurse a flame That 's told but to her mutual breast, We will not ask her name.
_Drink ye to Her._
To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die.
_Hallowed Ground._
Oh leave this barren spot to me! Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree![516-1]
_The Beech-Tree's Petition._
FOOTNOTES:
[512-3] See John Webster, page 181.
The mountains too, at a distance, appear airy masses and smooth, but seen near at hand they are rough.--DIOGENES LAERTIUS: _Pyrrho, ix._
[513-1] At length, fatigued with life, he bravely fell, And health with Boerhaave bade the world farewell.
CHURCH: _The Choice_ (1754).
[513-2] See Sterne, page 379.
[514-1] See Norris, page 281.
[514-2] See Freneau, page 443.
[514-3] See Coleridge, page 504.
[515-1] When the stormy winds do blow.--MARTYN PARKER: _Ye Gentlemen of England._
[515-2] The starres, bright centinels of the skies.--HABINGTON: _Castara, Dialogue between Night and Araphil._
[516-1] Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough!
G. P. MORRIS: _Woodman, spare that Tree._
HENRY CLAY. 1777-1852.
The gentleman [Josiah Quincy] cannot have forgotten his own sentiment, uttered even on the floor of this House, "Peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must."[516-2]
_Speech, 1813._
Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.
_Speech at Ashland, Ky., March, 1829._
I have heard something said about allegiance to the South. I know no South, no North, no East, no West, to which I owe any allegiance.
_Speech, 1848._
Sir, I would rather be right than be President.
_Speech, 1850_ (referring to the Compromise Measures).
FOOTNOTES:
[516-2] See Quincy, page 505.
F. S. KEY. 1779-1843.
And the star-spangled banner, oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
_The Star-Spangled Banner._
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation![517-1] Then conquer we must when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust!" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
_The Star-Spangled Banner._
FOOTNOTES:
[517-1] It made and preserves us a nation.--MORRIS: _The Flag of our Union._
HORACE SMITH. 1779-1849.
Thinking is but an idle waste of thought, And nought is everything and everything is nought.
_Rejected Addresses. Cui Bono?_
In the name of the Prophet--figs.
_Johnson's Ghost._
And thou hast walked about (how strange a story!) In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago, When the Memnonium was in all its glory.
_Address to the Mummy at Belzoni's Exhibition._
THOMAS MOORE. 1779-1852.
When Time who steals our years away Shall steal our pleasures too, The mem'ry of the past will stay, And half our joys renew.
_Song. From Juvenile Poems._
Weep on! and as thy sorrows flow, I 'll taste the luxury of woe.
_Anacreontic._
Where bastard Freedom waves The fustian flag in mockery over slaves.
_To the Lord Viscount Forbes, written from the City of Washington._
How shall we rank thee upon glory's page, Thou more than soldier, and just less than sage?
_To Thomas Hume._
I knew, by the smoke that so gracefully curl'd Above the green elms, that a cottage was near; And I said, "If there 's peace to be found in the world, A heart that was humble might hope for it here."
_Ballad Stanzas._
Faintly as tolls the evening chime, Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time.
_A Canadian Boat-Song._
Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, The rapids are near, and the daylight 's past.
_A Canadian Boat-Song._
The minds of some of our statesmen, like the pupil of the human eye, contract themselves the more, the stronger light there is shed upon them.
_Preface to Corruption and Intolerance._
Like a young eagle who has lent his plume To fledge the shaft by which he meets his doom, See their own feathers pluck'd to wing the dart Which rank corruption destines for their heart.[518-1]
_Corruption._
A Persian's heaven is eas'ly made: 'T is but black eyes and lemonade.
_Intercepted Letters. Letter vi._
There was a little man, and he had a little soul; And he said, Little Soul, let us try, try, try!
_Little Man and Little Soul._
Go where glory waits thee![519-1] But while fame elates thee, Oh, still remember me!
_Go where Glory waits thee._
Oh, breathe not his name! let it sleep in the shade, Where cold and unhonour'd his relics are laid,
_Oh breathe not his Name._
And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls, Shall long keep his memory green in our souls.
_Oh breathe not his Name._
The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory's thrill is o'er; And hearts that once beat high for praise Now feel that pulse no more.
_The Harp that once through Tara's Halls._
Who ran Through each mode of the lyre, and was master of all.
_On the Death of Sheridan._
Whose wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade.
_On the Death of Sheridan._
Good at a fight, but better at a play; Godlike in giving, but the devil to pay.
_On a Cast of Sheridan's Hand._
Though an angel should write, still 't is devils must print.
_The Fudges in England. Letter iii._
Fly not yet; 't is just the hour When pleasure, like the midnight flower That scorns the eye of vulgar light, Begins to bloom for sons of night And maids who love the moon.
_Fly not yet._
Oh stay! oh stay! Joy so seldom weaves a chain Like this to-night, that oh 't is pain To break its links so soon.
_Fly not yet._
When did morning ever break, And find such beaming eyes awake?
_Fly not yet._
And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.
_Oh think not my Spirits are always as light._
Rich and rare were the gems she wore, And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore.
_Rich and rare were the Gems she wore._
There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet.
_The Meeting of the Waters._
Oh, weep for the hour When to Eveleen's bower The lord of the valley with false vows came.
_Eveleen's Bower._
Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights by my side In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree?
_Come, send round the Wine._
No, the heart that has truly lov'd never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close; As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets The same look which she turn'd when he rose.
_Believe me, if all those endearing young Charms._
The moon looks On many brooks "The brook can see no moon but this."[521-1]
_While gazing on the Moon's Light._
And when once the young heart of a maiden is stolen, The maiden herself will steal after it soon.
_Ill Omens._
'T is sweet to think that where'er we rove We are sure to find something blissful and dear; And that when we 're far from the lips we love, We 've but to make love to the lips we are near.
_'T is sweet to think._
'T is believ'd that this harp which I wake now for thee Was a siren of old who sung under the sea.
_The Origin of the Harp._
But there 's nothing half so sweet in life As love's young dream.
_Love's Young Dream._
To live with them is far less sweet Than to remember thee.[521-2]
_I saw thy Form._
Eyes of unholy blue.
_By that Lake whose gloomy Shore._
'T is the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone.
_The Last Rose of Summer._
When true hearts lie wither'd And fond ones are flown, Oh, who would inhabit This bleak world alone?
_The Last Rose of Summer._
And the best of all ways To lengthen our days Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear.
_The Young May Moon._
You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.
_Farewell! But whenever you welcome the Hour._
Thus, when the lamp that lighted The traveller at first goes out, He feels awhile benighted, And looks around in fear and doubt. But soon, the prospect clearing, By cloudless starlight on he treads, And thinks no lamp so cheering As that light which Heaven sheds.
_I 'd mourn the Hopes._
No eye to watch, and no tongue to wound us, All earth forgot, and all heaven around us.
_Come o'er the Sea._
The light that lies In woman's eyes.
_The Time I 've lost in wooing._
My only books Were woman's looks,-- And folly 's all they 've taught me.
_The Time I 've lost in wooing._
I know not, I ask not, if guilt 's in that heart, I but know that I love thee whatever thou art.
_Come, rest in this Bosom._
To live and die in scenes like this, With some we 've left behind us.
_As slow our Ship._
Wert thou all that I wish thee, great, glorious, and free, First flower of the earth and first gem of the sea.
_Remember Thee._
All that 's bright must fade,-- The brightest still the fleetest; All that 's sweet was made But to be lost when sweetest.
_All that 's Bright must fade._
Those evening bells! those evening bells! How many a tale their music tells Of youth and home, and that sweet time When last I heard their soothing chime!
_Those Evening Bells._
Oft in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days around me; The smiles, the tears, Of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken; The eyes that shone Now dimmed and gone, The cheerful hearts now broken.
_Oft in the Stilly Night._
I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed.
_Oft in the Stilly Night._
As half in shade and half in sun This world along its path advances, May that side the sun 's upon Be all that e'er shall meet thy glances!
_Peace be around Thee._
If I speak to thee in friendship's name, Thou think'st I speak too coldly; If I mention love's devoted flame, Thou say'st I speak too boldly.
_How shall I woo?_
A friendship that like love is warm; A love like friendship, steady.
_How shall I woo?_
The bird let loose in Eastern skies, Returning fondly home, Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies Where idle warblers roam; But high she shoots through air and light, Above all low delay, Where nothing earthly bounds her flight, Nor shadow dims her way.
_Oh that I had Wings._
This world is all a fleeting show, For man's illusion given; The smiles of joy, the tears of woe, Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,-- There 's nothing true but Heaven.
_This World is all a fleeting Show._
Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea! Jehovah has triumph'd,--his people are free.
_Sound the loud Timbrel._
As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion, Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee.
As still to the star of its worship, though clouded, The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea, So dark when I roam in this wintry world shrouded, The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee.
_The Heart's Prayer._
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.
_Come, ye Disconsolate._
Oh call it by some better name, For friendship sounds too cold.
_Oh call it by some better Name._
When twilight dews are falling soft Upon the rosy sea, love, I watch the star whose beam so oft Has lighted me to thee, love.
_When Twilight Dews._
I give thee all,--I can no more, Though poor the off'ring be; My heart and lute are all the store That I can bring to thee.[525-1]
_My Heart and Lute._
Who has not felt how sadly sweet The dream of home, the dream of home, Steals o'er the heart, too soon to fleet, When far o'er sea or land we roam?
_The Dream of Home._
To Greece we give our shining blades.
_Evenings in Greece. First Evening._
When thus the heart is in a vein Of tender thought, the simplest strain Can touch it with peculiar power.
_Evenings in Greece. First Evening._
If thou would'st have me sing and play As once I play'd and sung, First take this time-worn lute away, And bring one freshly strung.
_If Thou would'st have Me sing and play._
To sigh, yet feel no pain; To weep, yet scarce know why; To sport an hour with Beauty's chain, Then throw it idly by.
_The Blue Stocking._
Ay, down to the dust with them, slaves as they are! From this hour let the blood in their dastardly veins, That shrunk at the first touch of Liberty's war, Be wasted for tyrants, or stagnate in chains.
_On the Entry of the Austrians into Naples, 1821._
This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas, The past, the future,--two eternities!
_Lalla Rookh. The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan._
But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last.
_Lalla Rookh. The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan._
There 's a bower of roses by Bendemeer's stream.
_Lalla Rookh. The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan._
Like the stain'd web that whitens in the sun, Grow pure by being purely shone upon.
_Lalla Rookh. The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan._
One morn a Peri at the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate.
_Paradise and the Peri._
Take all the pleasures of all the spheres, And multiply each through endless years,-- One minute of heaven is worth them all.
_Paradise and the Peri._
But the trail of the serpent is over them all.
_Paradise and the Peri._
Oh, ever thus, from childhood's hour, I 've seen my fondest hopes decay; I never loved a tree or flower But 't was the first to fade away. I never nurs'd a dear gazelle, To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well And love me, it was sure to die.
_The Fire-Worshippers._
Oh for a tongue to curse the slave Whose treason, like a deadly blight, Comes o'er the councils of the brave, And blasts them in their hour of might!
_The Fire-Worshippers._
Beholding heaven, and feeling hell.
_The Fire-Worshippers._
As sunshine broken in the rill, Though turned astray, is sunshine still.
_The Fire-Worshippers._
Farewell, farewell to thee, Araby's daughter! Thus warbled a Peri beneath the dark sea.
_The Fire-Worshippers._
Alas! how light a cause may move Dissension between hearts that love! Hearts that the world in vain had tried, And sorrow but more closely tied; That stood the storm when waves were rough, Yet in a sunny hour fall off, Like ships that have gone down at sea When heaven was all tranquillity.
_Lalla Rookh. The Light of the Harem._
Love on through all ills, and love on till they die.
_Lalla Rookh. The Light of the Harem._
And oh if there be an Elysium on earth, It is this, it is this!
_Lalla Rookh. The Light of the Harem._
Humility, that low, sweet root From which all heavenly virtues shoot.
_The Loves of the Angels. The Third Angel's Story._
FOOTNOTES:
[518-1] See Waller, page 220.
[519-1] This goin ware glory waits ye haint one agreeable feetur.--LOWELL: _The Biglow Papers. First Series, No. 11._
[521-1] This image was suggested by the following thought, which occurs somewhere in Sir William Jones's Works: "The moon looks upon many night-flowers; the night-flower sees but one moon."
[521-2] In imitation of Shenstone's inscription, "Heu! quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminisse."
[525-1] This song was introduced in Kemble's "Lodoiska," act iii. sc. 1.
LORD DENMAN. 1779-1854.
A delusion, a mockery, and a snare.
_O'Connell v. The Queen, 11 Clark and Finnelly Reports._
The mere repetition of the _Cantilena_ of lawyers cannot make it law, unless it can be traced to some competent authority; and if it be irreconcilable, to some clear legal principle.
_O'Connell v. The Queen, 11 Clark and Finnelly Reports._
CLEMENT C. MOORE. 1779-1863.
'T was the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring,--not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
_A Visit from St. Nicholas._
LORD BROUGHAM. 1779-1868.
Let the soldier be abroad if he will, he can do nothing in this age. There is another personage,--a personage less imposing in the eyes of some, perhaps insignificant. The schoolmaster is abroad, and I trust to him, armed with his primer, against the soldier in full military array.
_Speech, Jan. 29, 1828._
In my mind, he was guilty of no error, he was chargeable with no exaggeration, he was betrayed by his fancy into no metaphor, who once said that all we see about us, kings, lords, and Commons, the whole machinery of the State, all the apparatus of the system, and its varied workings, end in simply bringing twelve good men into a box.
_Present State of the Law, Feb. 7, 1828._
Pursuit of knowledge under difficulties.[528-1]
Death was now armed with a new terror.[528-2]
FOOTNOTES:
[528-1] The title given by Lord Brougham to a book published in 1830.
[528-2] Brougham delivered a very warm panegyric upon the ex-Chancellor, and expressed a hope that he would make a good end, although to an expiring Chancellor death was now armed with a new terror.--CAMPBELL: _Lives of the Chancellors, vol. vii. p. 163._
Lord St. Leonards attributes this phrase to Sir Charles Wetherell, who used it on the occasion referred to by Lord Campbell.
From Edmund Curll's practice of issuing miserable catch-penny lives of every eminent person immediately after his decease, Arbuthnot wittily styled him "one of the new terrors of death."--CARRUTHERS: _Life of Pope_ (second edition), _p. 149_.
PAUL MOON JAMES. 1780-1854.
The scene was more beautiful far to the eye Than if day in its pride had arrayed it.
_The Beacon._
And o'er them the lighthouse looked lovely as hope,-- That star of life's tremulous ocean.
_The Beacon._
CHARLES MINER. 1780-1865.
When I see a merchant over-polite to his customers, begging them to taste a little brandy and throwing half his goods on the counter,--thinks I, that man has an axe to grind.
_Who 'll turn Grindstones._[528-3]
FOOTNOTES:
[528-3] From "Essays from the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe," Doylestown, Pa., 1815. It first appeared in the "Wilkesbarre Gleaner," 1811.
JOHN C. CALHOUN. 1782-1850.
The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts,[529-1] bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party.
_Speech, Feb. 13, 1835._
A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.[529-2]
_Speech, May 27, 1836._
FOOTNOTES:
[529-1] See Appendix, page 859.
[529-2] From this comes the phrase, "Cohesive power of public plunder."
DANIEL WEBSTER. 1782-1852.
(_From Webster's Works. Boston. 1857._)
Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.
_Speech at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820._[529-3] _Vol. i. p. 44._
We wish that this column, rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute also to produce in all minds a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object to the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of his country. Let it rise! let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play on its summit!
_Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. P. 62._
Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day.
_Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. Vol. i. p. 64._
Mind is the great lever of all things; human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered.
_Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. Vol. i. p. 71._
Knowledge, in truth, is the great sun in the firmament. Life and power are scattered with all its beams.
_Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. Vol. i. p. 74._
Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.
_Address on laying the Corner-Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825. Vol. i. p. 78._
Knowledge is the only fountain both of the love and the principles of human liberty.
_Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1843. P. 93._
The Bible is a book of faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a book of religion, of especial revelation from God.
_Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1843. P. 102._
America has furnished to the world the character of Washington. And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.
_Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1843. P. 105._
Thank God! I--I also--am an American!
_Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1843. P. 107._
Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.[530-1]
_Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, Aug. 2, 1826. P. 133._
It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment,--Independence now and Independence forever.[531-1]
_Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, Aug. 2, 1826. Vol. i. p. 136._
Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.
_Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, Aug. 2, 1826. Vol. i. p. 146._
Washington is in the clear upper sky.[531-2]
_Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, Aug. 2, 1826. Vol. i. p. 148._
He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.[531-3]
_Speech on Hamilton, March 10, 1831. P. 200._
One country, one constitution, one destiny.
_Speech, March 15, 1837. P. 349._
When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization.
_Remarks on Agriculture, Jan. 13, 1840. P. 457._
Sea of upturned faces.[531-4]
_Speech, Sept. 30, 1842. Vol. ii. p. 117._
Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth.
_On Mr. Justice Story, 1845. P. 300._
Liberty exists in proportion to wholesome restraint.
_Speech at the Charleston Bar Dinner, May 10, 1847. Vol. ii. p. 393._
The law: It has honored us; may we honor it.
_Toast at the Charleston Bar Dinner, May 10, 1847. Vol. ii. p. 394._
I have read their platform, and though I think there are some unsound places in it, I can stand upon it pretty well. But I see nothing in it both new and valuable. "What is valuable is not new, and what is new is not valuable."
_Speech at Marshfield, Sept. 1, 1848. P. 433._
Labour in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.
_Speech, April, 1824. Vol. iii. p. 141._
The gentleman has not seen how to reply to this, otherwise than by supposing me to have advanced the doctrine that a national debt is a national blessing.[532-1]
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. P. 303._
I thank God, that if I am gifted with little of the spirit which is able to raise mortals to the skies, I have yet none, as I trust, of that other spirit which would drag angels down.
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. P. 316._
I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston and Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever.
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. P. 317._
The people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.[532-2]
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. P. 321._
When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood.
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. Vol. iii. p. 342._
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
_Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, Jan. 26, 1830. Vol. iii. p. 342._
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
_Speech, June 3, 1834. Vol. iv. p. 47._
On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar off, they [the Colonies] raised their flag against a power to which, for purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome in the height of her glory is not to be compared,--a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts, whose morning drum-beat, following the sun,[533-1] and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.[533-2]
_Speech, May 7, 1834. P. 110._
Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable.
_Speech, July 25 and 27, 1846. Vol. v. p. 187._
I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.[533-3]
_Speech, July 17, 1850. P. 437._
There is no refuge from confession but suicide; and suicide is confession.
_Argument on the Murder of Captain White, April 6, 1830. Vol. vi. p. 54._
There is nothing so powerful as truth,--and often nothing so strange.
_Argument on the Murder of Captain White. Vol. vi. p. 68._
Fearful concatenation of circumstances.[534-1]
_Argument on the Murder of Captain White. Vol. vi. p. 88._
A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, duty performed or duty violated is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If we say the darkness shall cover us, in the darkness as in the light our obligations are yet with us.
_Argument on the Murder of Captain White. Vol. vi. p. 105._
I shall defer my visit to Faneuil Hall, the cradle of American liberty, until its doors shall fly open on golden hinges to lovers of Union as well as lovers of liberty.[534-2]
_Letter, April, 1851._
FOOTNOTES:
[529-3] This oration will be read five hundred years hence with as much rapture as it was heard. It ought to be read at the end of every century, and indeed at the end of every year, forever and ever.--JOHN ADAMS: _Letter to Webster, Dec. 23, 1821._
[530-1] Mr. Adams, describing a conversation with Jonathan Sewall in 1774, says: "I answered that the die was now cast; I had passed the Rubicon. Swim or sink, live or die, survive or perish with my country was my unalterable determination."--JOHN ADAMS: _Works, vol. iv. p. 8._
Live or die, sink or swim.--PEELE: _Edward I._ (1584?).
[531-1] Mr. Webster says of Mr. Adams: "On the day of his death, hearing the noise of bells and cannon, he asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was 'Independent Day,' he replied, 'Independence forever.'"--_Works, vol. i. p. 150._ BANCROFT: _History of the United States, vol. vii. p. 65._
[531-2] We shall be strong to run the race, And climb the upper sky.
WATTS: _Spiritual Hymns, xxiv._
[531-3] He it was that first gave to the law the air of a science. He found it a skeleton, and clothed it with life, colour, and complexion; he embraced the cold statue, and by his touch it grew into youth, health, and beauty.--BARRY YELVERTON (Lord Avonmore): _On Blackstone._
[531-4] See Scott, page 493.
[532-1] A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.--ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
[532-2] When the State of Pennsylvania held its convention to consider the Constitution of the United States, Judge Wilson said of the introductory clause, "We, the people, do ordain and establish," etc.: "It is not an unmeaning flourish. The expressions declare in a practical manner the principle of this Constitution. It is ordained and established by the people themselves." This was regarded as an authoritative exposition.--_The Nation._
That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.--ABRAHAM LINCOLN: _Speech at Gettysburg, Nov. 19, 1863._
[533-1] See Scott, page 495.
[533-2] The martial airs of England Encircle still the earth.
AMELIA B. RICHARDS: _The Martial Airs of England._
[533-3] See Patrick Henry, page 429.
[534-1] See Scott, page 494.
[534-2] Mr. Webster's reply to the invitation of his friends, who had been refused the use of Faneuil Hall by the Mayor and Aldermen of Boston.
JANE TAYLOR. 1783-1824.
Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!
_Essays in Rhyme._ (_On Morals and Manners. Prejudice._) _Essay i. Stanza 45._
Far from mortal cares retreating, Sordid hopes and vain desires, Here, our willing footsteps meeting, Every heart to heaven aspires.
_Hymn._
I thank the goodness and the grace Which on my birth have smiled, And made me, in these Christian days, A happy Christian child.
_A Child's Hymn of Praise._
Oh that it were my chief delight To do the things I ought! Then let me try with all my might To mind what I am taught.
_For a Very Little Child._[535-1]
Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My mother.
_My Mother._
FOOTNOTES:
[535-1] Written by Ann Taylor.
REGINALD HEBER. 1783-1826.
Failed the bright promise of your early day.
_Palestine._
No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung; Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung.[535-2] Majestic silence!
_Palestine._
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid.
_Epiphany._
By cool Siloam's shady rill How sweet the lily grows!
_First Sunday after Epiphany. No. ii._
When Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
_Seventh Sunday after Trinity._
Death rides on every passing breeze, He lurks in every flower.
_At a Funeral. No. i._
Thou art gone to the grave; but we will not deplore thee, Though sorrows and darkness encompass the tomb.
_At a Funeral. No. ii._
Thus heavenly hope is all serene, But earthly hope, how bright soe'er, Still fluctuates o'er this changing scene, As false and fleeting as 't is fair.
_On Heavenly Hope and Earthly Hope._
From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand, Where Afric's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand.
_Missionary Hymn._
Though every prospect pleases, And only man is vile.
_Missionary Hymn._
I see them on their winding way, About their ranks the moonbeams play.
_Lines written to a March._
FOOTNOTES:
[535-2] Altered in later editions to--
No workman's steel, no ponderous axes rung, Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung.
WASHINGTON IRVING. 1783-1859.
Free-livers on a small scale, who are prodigal within the compass of a guinea.
_The Stout Gentleman._
The almighty dollar,[536-1] that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.
_The Creole Village._
FOOTNOTES:
[536-1] See Jonson, page 178.
LEIGH HUNT. 1784-1859.
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.
_Abou Ben Adhem._
Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.
_Abou Ben Adhem._
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
_Abou Ben Adhem._
Oh for a seat in some poetic nook, Just hid with trees and sparkling with a brook!
_Politics and Poetics._
With spots of sunny openings, and with nooks To lie and read in, sloping into brooks.
_The Story of Rimini._
SAMUEL WOODWORTH. 1785-1842.
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view.
_The Old Oaken Bucket._
Then soon with the emblem of truth overflowing, And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well.
_The Old Oaken Bucket._
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well.
_The Old Oaken Bucket._
ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. 1785-1842.
A wet sheet and a flowing sea, A wind that follows fast, And fills the white and rustling sail, And bends the gallant mast. And bends the gallant mast, my boys, While like the eagle free Away the good ship flies, and leaves Old England on the lee.
_A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea._
While the hollow oak our palace is, Our heritage the sea.
_A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea._
When looks were fond and words were few.
_Poet's Bridal-day Song._
SIR W. F. P. NAPIER. 1785-1860.
Napoleon's troops fought in bright fields, where every helmet caught some gleams of glory; but the British soldier conquered under the cool shade of aristocracy. No honours awaited his daring, no despatch gave his name to the applauses of his countrymen; his life of danger and hardship was uncheered by hope, his death unnoticed.
_Peninsular War_ (1810). _Vol. ii.