"The front of Jove himself;
An eye like Mars to threaten and command;
A combination and a form indeed,
Where every god did seem to set his seal,
To give the world assurance of a man"
Blest Statesman He, whose Mind's unselfish will
Leaves him at ease among grand thoughts: whose eye
Sees that, apart from magnanimity,
Wisdom exists not; nor the humbler skill
Of Prudence, disentangling good and ill
With patient care. What tho' assaults run high,
They daunt not him who holds his ministry,
Resolute, at all hazards, to fulfil
Its duties; prompt to move, but firm to wait;
Knowing, things rashly sought are rarely found;
That, for the functions of an ancient State--
Strong by her charters, free because imbound,
Servant of Providence, not slave of Fate--
Perilous is sweeping change, all chance unsound.
Burke and Webster are models in the forensic literature of our own languageas truly as are Demosthenes and Cicero in the language of the ancientclassics. Each has distinct and inimitable characteristics which give forceand beauty to his work. The study of each should be ordered in such a wayas to put one in touch with those qualities of mind and heart, ofintellectual and moral manhood, by which each became a leader in politicalphilosophy and a model in literary style. One who studies such authors inorder to formulate a historical or a personal estimate merely, or tocompare each as to certain externals of rhetorical form, has lost the trueperspective of literary judgment.
Reading in the school and in the home is far too often pursued with apurpose to controvert and prove rather than to weigh and consider. Readingwhich does not result in enlarging, stimulating, and refining one's natureis but a busy idleness. The schools must see to it that the desultory anddissipating methods of reading, so prevalent in the home, are notencouraged. Pupils must be stimulated first of all to enjoy what isbeautiful in nature and in art: for here is
"A world of ready wealth,
Their minds and hearts to bless--
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness."
The wisdom of the classroom is too often "art tongue-tied by authority,"and hence it is not wisdom at all, but a sham and a pretence. Not untilpupils rise to the spontaneity which betokens a genuine love for the workin hand do they secure the richest results.
The publication of the masterpieces of the epic, the lyric, and the drama;of the novel, the essay, and the oration, in a convenient form and at sucha price as to bring them within the reach of our schools, makes itinexcusable if pupils are allowed to be ignorant of the great literary,ethical, and artistic impulses which have touched and quickened the lifeof the past.
Burke's American Orations present him at his best as a statesman,an orator, and a stylist. When the edition of those speeches was prepared,a selection from Webster's great speeches was contemplated as a companionvolume. The present edition represents Webster in the various and distinctfields in which his genius mani