Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

4. Dear to me the South's fair land,
Dear the central mountain band,
Dear New England's rocky strand,
Dear the prairied West.

5. By our altars, pure and free,
By our law's deep rooted tree,
By the past dread memory,

By our WASHINGTON !

6. By our common parent tongue,
By our hopes, bright, buoyant, young,
By the tie of country, strong,

We will still be one.

[blocks in formation]

These truly patriotic lines are admirably suited to each returning anni→ versary of our national independence, in all parts of the United States.

72. A BEAUTIFUL GEM.—E. K. Hervey.

1. I know thou art gone to the land of thy rest;
Then why should my soul be so sad?

I know thou art gone where the weary are blest,
And the mourner looks up and is glad;
Where Love has put off in the land of its birth,
The stain it has gathered in this,

And Hope, the sweet singer that gladden'd the earth,
Lies asleep in the bosom of bliss.

2. I know thou art gone where thy forehead is starr'd With the beauty that dwelt in thy soul,

Where the light of thy loveliness cannot be marred,
Nor thy heart be flung back from its goal;
I know thou hast drunk of the Lethe that flows
Through a land where they do not forget;
That sheds over memory only repose,
And takes from it only regret.

3. This eye must be dark that so long has been dim,
Ere again it may gaze upon thine;

But my heart has revealings of thee and thy home,
In many a token and sign;

I never look up with a vow, to the sky,

But a light like thy beauty is there;
And I hear a love murmur, like thine, in reply,
When I pour out my spirit in prayer.

4. In the far-away dwelling, wherever it be,
I believe thou hast visions of mine;

And the love that made all things as music to me,
I have not yet learned to resign.

In the hush of the night, on the waste of the sea,
Or alone with the breeze on the hill,

I have ever a presence that whispers of thee,
And my spirit lies down and is still.

5. And though like a mourner that sits by a tomb,
I am wrapped in a mantle of care,

Yet the grief of my bosom-oh! call it not gloom,
Is not the black grief of despair.

By sorrow revealed as the stars are by night
Far off a bright vision appears;

And Hope, like the rainbow--a creature of light,

Is born, like the rainbow, in tears.

The proper elocution of this "beautiful Gem," will readily occur to the reader, especially to the bereaved husband or wife.

73. How SCHOLARS ARE MADE.-D. Webster.

1. Costly apparatus and splendid cabinets have no magical power to make scholars. In all circumstances, as a man is,

under God, the master of his own fortune, so is he the maker of his own mind. The Creator has so constituted the human intellect, that it can grow only by its own action, and by its own action, it most certainly and necessarily grows.

2. Every man must, therefore, in an important sense, educate himself. His books and teachers are but helps; the work is his. A man is not educated until he has the ability to summon, in case of emergency, all his mental powers in vigorous exercise, to effect his proposed object.

3. It is not the man who has seen most, or who has read most, who can do this; such an one is in danger of being borne down, like a beast of burden, by an overloaded mass of other men's thoughts. Nor is it the man that can boast merely of native vigor and capacity.

4. The greatest of all the warriors that went to the siege of Troy, had not the preeminence, because nature had given him strength, and he carried the largest bow, but because self-discipline had taught him how to bend it.

74. Books. Dr. Channing.

1. It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in reach of all. In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours.

They are the voices of the 2. God be thanked for books. distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages. Books are the true levellers. They give to all who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence of the best and greatest of our race.

of

3. No matter how poor I am, no matter though the prosperous my own time will not enter my obscure dwelling, if the sacred writers will enter and take up their abode under my roof, if Milton will cross my threshold, to sing to me of Paradise, and Shakspeare, to open to me the worlds of imagi nation, and the workings of the human heart, and Franklin, to enrich me with his practical wisdom, I shall not pine for want of intellectual companionship; and I may become a cul

tivated man, though excluded from what is called the best society in the place where I live.

These beautiful and excellent remarks on books, were made by Dr. Channing in the course of his address, introductory to the "Franklin Lectures," delivered at Boston, in 1838, on "Self-Culture."

75. GILBERT MOTIER DE LAFAYETTE.—John Quincy Adams.

1. Fellow citizens:-Ages have passed away since Lafayette said, "May this immense 'Temple of Freedom' ever stand, a lesson to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, a sanctuary for the rights of mankind! and may these happy United States attain that complete splendor and prosperity, which will illustrate the blessings of their government, and for ages to come, rejoice the departed souls of its founders!" but ages are the years of the existence of nations.

2. The founders of this immense "Temple of Freedom" have all departed, save here and there a solitary exception, even while I speak, at the point of taking wing. The prayer of Lafayette is not consummated. Ages upon ages are still to pass away, before it can have its full accomplishment; and for its full accomplishment, his spirit, hovering over our heads, in more than echocs, talks around these walls.

3. It repeats the prayer which from his lips fifty years ago, was at once a parting blessing and a prophecy; for were it possible for the whole human race, now breathing the breath of life, to be assembled within this "Hall," your orator would, in your name, and in that of your constituents, appeal to them, to testify for your fathers of the last generation, that, so far as depended upon them, the blessing of Lafayette has been. prophecy.

4. Yes! This immense "Temple of Freedom" still stands, a lesson to oppressors, an example to the oppressed, and a sanctuary for the rights of mankind. of a benignant Providence, the splendor and prosperity of these Yes! with the smiles happy United States, have illustrated the blessings of their government, and we may humbly hope, have rejoiced the departed souls of its founders.

5. For the past, your fathers and you, have been responsi

ble. The charge of the future, devolves upon you, and your children. The vestal fire of freedom is in your custody! May the souls of its departed founders never be called to witness its extinction by neglect, nor a soil upon the purity of its keepers.

The above beautiful and eloquent extract is from an "Oration on the life and character of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette, delivered at the request of both houses of the congress of the United States, before them, in the house of representatives, at Washington, on the 31st of December, 1834, by Hon. John Quincy Adams." Lafayette, who was born in France, in September, 1757, came to America at the early age of 19, which was soon after the adoption of the "Declaration;" and, voluntarily joining the army of Washington, devoted himself, his life, and fortune, to the patriotic and righteous cause of North American independence. In the year 1785, he returned to France, where he remained about forty years, and then he revisited the people of the United States, by whom he was hailed welcome,thrice welcome. His reception was cordial, glorious, and triumphant. The sentiment pervaded every bosom.

"We bow not the neck, we bend not the knee;
But our hearts, Lafayette, we surrender to thee."

After the expiration of a brief period he again returned to France, where he continued to take a deep interest in the concerns of the American people, till the close of his life. The noble spirit of liberty which animated Lafayette, pervades the mind of his eulogist, ex-President Adams. Let us all cherish it "as the immediate jewel of the soul," and exclaim:

"For ever float the standard sheet,

Where lives the foe but falls before us;
With freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And freedom's banner waving o'er us."

76. PART OF A SPEECH OF ELISHA WILLIAMS.

1. Gentlemen of the jury:-In all human probability this is the last time, that I shall ever address a jury of my beloved county of Columbia. I have had the honor of entering this hall of justice for about forty years; but prejudice and corruption never entered it before. Prejudice is an innocent passion, so long as its possessor is unconscious of its existence; but when he becomes conscious of the existence of prejudice, it becomes corruption. Every thing, gentlemen, that I have attempted to introduce, in the shape of testimony, has been clipned by the long scissors of the law.

« VorigeDoorgaan »