Her loud', uncircumcised', tempestuous crew', Was changed', and the rough captain', while he mouthed Or steering from the port with many a cheer', The dangerous main', and plagues of foreign climes- Wherever slept one grain of human dust', No atom of his spoils remained to death'. Beyond his reach', stood all the sons of men', SECTION XXII. Address to the Ocean.-BYRON. OH! that the desert were my dwelling place', There is a pleasure in the pathless woods', His steps are not upon thy paths';-thy fields' And shake him from thee';-the vile strength he wields' The armaments which thunderstrike the walls' Thy shores are empires', changed in all save thee'- Thou glorious mirror', where the Almighty's form' »Nå'tshåre. Nåre. Důth. Mo'ment. Důst. fLie. «Tráf-ál-går'. hå'zhůre. Calm or convulsed-in breeze', or gale', or storm', Of the Invisible'; even from out thy slime' My task is done'-my song hath ceased'-my theme' The spell should break of this protracted dream'. That which I have been'-and my visions flit' Which'.. in my spirit dwelt', is fluttering',... faint',.... and low'. aWêr. Written. PROMISCUOUS PIECES. SECTION I. Colloquial Powers of Dr. Franklin.-WIRT. NEVER have I known such a fireside companion'. Great as he was', both as a statesman and a philosopher', he never shone in a light more winning than when he was seen in a domestick circle'. It was once my good fortune to pass two or three weeks with him', at the house of a private gentleman',” in the back part of Pennsylvania'; and we were confined to the house during the whole of that time', by the unintermitting constancy and depth of the snows'. But confinement could never be felt where Franklin was an inmate'. His cheerfulness and his colloquial powers spread around him a perpetual spring'. When I speak', however', of his colloquial powers', I do not mean to awaken any notion analogous to that which Boswell has given us when he so frequently mentions the colloquial powers of Dr. Johnson'. The conversation of the latter continually reminds one of "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war'." It was', indeed', a perpetual contest for victory', or an arbitrary and despotick exaction of homage to his superior talents'. It was strong', acute', prompt', splendid', and vociferous'; as loud', stormy', and sublime' as those winds which he represents as shaking the Hebrides', and rocking the old castles that frowned upon the dark-rolling sea beneath'. But one gets tired of storms', however sublime they may be', and longs for the more orderly current of nature'.-Of Franklin', no one ever became tired'. There was no ambition of eloquence'," no effort to shine', in any thing which came from him'. There was nothing which made any demand either upon your allegiance' or your admiration'. His manner was as unaffected as infancy'. It was nature's self'. He talked like an old patriarch'; and his plainness and simplicity put you', at once', at your ease', and gave you the full and free possession and use of all your faculties'. His thoughts were of a character to shine by their own light', "States'mån-not, states'mun. Jên'tl'mân. cHôm'aje. El'o'kwense -not, el'o'kwunse, Pa'tre årk, without any adventitious aid'. They required only a medium of vision like his pure and simple style', to exhibit', to the highest advantage', their native radiance and beauty'. His cheerfulness was unremitting'. It seemed to be as much the effect of a systematick and salutary exercise of the mind', as of its superiour organization'. His wit was of the first order'. It did not show itself merely in occasional coruscations'; but', without any effort or force on his part', it shed a constante stream of the purest light over the whole of his discourse'. Whether in the company of commons or nobles', he was always the same', plain man'; always most perfectly at his ease', with his faculties in full play', and the full orbit of his genius forever clear and unclouded'. And then', the stores of his mind were inexhaustible'. He had commenced life with an attention so vigilant', that nothing had escaped his observation', and a judgment so solid', that every incident was turned to advantage'. His youth had not been wasted in idleness', nor overcast by intemperance'. He had been all his life a close and deep reader', as well as thinker'; and', by the force of his own powers', had wrought up the raw materials which he had gathered from books', with such exquisite skill and felicity', that he had added a hundred fold to their original value', and justly made them his own'. SECTION II. Intellectual Qualities of Milton.-CHANNING. IN speaking of the intellectual qualities of Milton, we may begin by observing that the very splendour of his poetick fame, has tended to obscure or conceal the extent of his mind, and the variety of its energies and attainments. To many, he seems only a poet, when, in truth, he was a profound scholar, a man of vast compass of thought, imbued thoroughly with all ancienta and modern learning, and able to master, to mould, to impreg nate with his own intellectual power, his great and various acquisitions. He had not learned the superficial doctrine of a later day, that poetry flourishes most in an uncultivated soil, and that imagination shapes its brightest visions from the mists of a superstitious age; and he had no dread of accumulating knowledge lest he should oppress and smother his genius. He Egz-hib'it-not, eg-zib'it, Ra'de 'ânse, Kôn'stant-not, kon'stunt. dane tshênt. |