ON A BUST OF GENERAL GRANT. STRONG, simple, silent are the [stead- | A face all prose where Time's [benigfast] laws nant] haze sway this universe, of none with- Softens no raw edge yet, nor makes stood. all fair That Unconscious of man's outcries or ap- With the beguiling light of vanished plause, Or what man deems his evil or his This is relentless granite, bleak and good; days; bare, phrase; And when the Fates ally them with a Roughhewn, and scornful of æsthetic cause That wallows in the sea-trough and Nothing is here for fancy, naught for seems lost, dreams, Drifting in danger of the reefs and The Present's hard uncompromising sands light Of shallow counsels, this way, that Accents all vulgar outlines, flaws, and means, way, tost, Strength, silence, simpleness, of these Yet vindicates some pristine natural three strands right They twist the cable shall the world O'ertopping that hereditary grace hold fast To where its anchors clutch the bedrock of the Past. Strong, simple, silent, therefore such was he Who helped us in our need; the eter- That who can saddle Opportunity Which marks the gain or loss of some time-fondled race. So Marius looked, methinks, and Not in the purple born, to those they Nearer for that and costlier to the foe, Now moulders of old forms by nature bred May minish him in eyes that closely The exhaustless life of manhood's see, Was verified in him: what need we say seeds to show, Let but the ploughshare of portentous times Of one who made success where others Strike deep enough to reach them failed, where they lie : Who, with no light save that of com- Despair and danger are their fostering climes, mon day, Struck hard, and still struck on till And their best sun bursts from a stormy sky: Fortune quailed, But that (so sift the Norns) a desper- He was our man of men, nor would Ne'er fell at last to one who was not The utmost due manhood could claim Nothing ideal, a plain-people's man At the first glance, a more deliberate ken Finds type primeval, theirs in whose veins ran Such blood as quelled the dragon in his den, Made harmless fields, and better worlds began: He came grim-silent, saw and did the deed That was to do; in his master grip Yet did this man, war-tempered, stern as steel Where steel opposed, prove soft in civil sway; The hand hilt-hardened had lost tact to feel The world's base coin, and glozing knaves made prey Of him and of the entrusted Commonweal; So Truth insists and will not be denied. Our sword flashed joy; no skill of We turn our eyes away, and so will Such sure conviction as that close- As if in his last battle he had died Victor for us and spotless of all blame, He slew our dragon, nor, so seemed it, Doer of hopeless tasks which praters clamped lip; He had done more than any simplest One of those still plain men that do the world's rough work. man might do. 99 SELECTED PASSAGES. "It is a high inspiration to be the | Slave is no word of deathless lineage neighbor of great events.” - Milton. sprung; many noble souls have thought and died, many mighty poets lived and sung, And our good Saxon, from lips purified TRUTH only needs to be for once spoke With martyr-fire, throughout the world hath rung out, And there's such music in her, such Too long to have God's holy cause strange rhythm, As makes men's memories her joyous slaves, denied. And clings around the soul, as the sky SOLDIER and statesman, rarest unison; High-poised example of great duties clings GREAT Truths are portions of the soul Save by the men his nobler temper of man ; Great souls are portions of Eternity ; Each drop of blood that e'er through true heart ran shamed; Never seduced through show of pres ent good By other than unsetting lights to steer With lofty message, ran for thee and New-trimmed in Heaven, nor than his me; steadfast mood For God's law, since the starry song More steadfast, far from rashness as began, from fear; Hath been, and still forevermore must Rigid, but with himself first, grasping The popular voice, but that he still We stride the river daily at its spring, Nor, in our childish thoughtlessness, withstood; Broad-minded, higher-souled, there is "THREE roots bear up Dominion : Knowledge, Will, — These twain are strong, but stronger yet the third, Obedience, foresee, What myriad vassal streams shall tribute bring, How like an equal it shall greet the sea. O small beginnings, ye are great and strong, Based on a faithful heart and weariless brain! 't is the great tap-root Ye build the future fair, ye conquer that still, Knit round the rock of Duty, is not stirred Though Heaven-loosed tempests spend their utmost skill. The Washers of the Shroud. WENDELL PHILLIPS. WHO is it will not dare himself to HE stood upon the world's broad trust? threshold; wide Who is it hath not strength to stand The din of battle and of slaughter alone? rose; Who is it thwarts and bilks the inward He saw God stand upon the weaker side That sank in seeming loss before its MUST? He and his works, like sand, from earth are blown. foes: Many there were who made great haste and sold Men of a thousand shifts and wiles, Unto the cunning enemy their swords, He scorned their gifts of fame, and Shall we not heed the lesson taught of Fanatic named, and fool, yet well con And by the Present's lips repeated So he could be the nearer to God's still, heart, blood In our own single manhood to be And feel its solemn pulses sending bold, Fortressed in conscience and im- Through all the wide-spread veins of endless good. pregnable will ? Sonnets. NEW Occasions teach new duties; Time Let it stand out of doors till a soul it makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth; Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! receives From the warm lazy sun loitering down through green leaves, And you'll find a choice nature, not wholly deserving we ourselves must Pilgrims be, A name either English or Yankee, Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea, Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key. The Present Crisis. "WHAT! Irving? thrice welcome, warm heart and fine brain, You bring back the happiest spirit from Spain, And the gravest sweet humor, that ever were there Since Cervantes met death in his gentle despair; Nay, don't be embarrassed, nor look so beseeching, I sha'n't run directly against my own preaching, just Irving. A Fable for Critics. And, having just laughed at their feeling and susceptibility to generous Raphaels and Dantes, Go to setting you up beside matchless emotions are accidents of temperament, goodness is an achievement of the will and a quality of the life.". But allow me to speak what I honestly Rousseau and the Sentimentalists. feel, To a true poet-heart add the fun of Dick Steele, "THE only conclusive evidence of a man's sincerity is that he gives himself Throw in all of Addison, minus the for a principle." —Rousseau and the Sentimentalists. chill, With the whole of that partnership's stock and good-will, "It is manifest that universal peace Mix well, and while stirring, hum o'er, is the best of those things which are as a spell, ordained for our beatitude. Hence it The fine old English Gentleman, sim- is that not riches, not pleasures, not mer it well, honors, not length of life, not health, Sweeten just to your own private lik- not strength, not comeliness, was sung to the shepherds from on high, but ing, then strain, That only the finest and clearest re- peace." - Dante. main, |
