THOMAS MOSS. 1740-1808. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door, Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span; Oh give relief, and Heaven will bless your store. A pampered menial drove me from the door.1 The Beggar. Ibid. MRS. BARBAULD. 1743-1825. Man is the nobler growth our realms supply, The Invitation. This dead of midnight is the noon of thought, A Summer's Evening Meditation. It is to hope, though hope were lost." Life! we've been long together Come here, Fond Youth. Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; "T is hard to part when friends are dear, Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time; Say not "Good night," but in some brighter clime Bid me "Good morning." Life. This line stood originally, "A liveried servant," etc., and was altered as above by Goldsmith. - FORSTER: Life of Goldsmith, vol. i. p. 215 (fifth edition, 1871). 2 Who against hope believed in hope. - Romans iv. 18. Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive. MONTGOMERY: The World before the Flood. So fades a summer cloud away; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er; 1 So dies a wave along the shore. The Death of the Virtuous. Child of mortality, whence comest thou? Why is thy countenance sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping? Hymns in Prose. xiii. THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1743-1826. The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. Summary View of the Rights of British America. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God2 entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Declaration of Independence. that all men We hold these truths to be self-evident, are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Ibid. We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour. Ibid. Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801. 1 See Chaucer, page 6. 2 See Bolingbroke, page 304. 3 All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights. — Constitution of Massachusetts. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; ... freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected, these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801. - In the full tide of successful experiment. Ibid. Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations. No duty is at the same time more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of character possessed by a single individual is of necessity limited. To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect. Letter to Elias Shipman and others of New Haven, July 12, 1801. If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few; by resignation, none.2 Ibid. 1 This passage is thus paraphrased by John B. McMaster in his "History of the People of the United States" (ii. 586): "One sentence will undoubtedly be remembered till our republic ceases to exist. 'No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying,' he observed, as to put the right man in the right place.' 2 Usually quoted, "Few die and none resign." When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.1 Life of Jefferson (Rayner), p. 356. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. Notes on Virginia. Query xviii. Manners. JOSIAH QUINCY, SR. 1744-1775. Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a "halter" intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will die free men. Observations on the Boston Port Bill, 1774. CHARLES DIBDIN. 1745–1814. There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, Poor Jack. Captain Wattle and Miss Roe. His form was of the manliest beauty, His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, For though his body 's under hatches, His soul has gone aloft. Tom Bowling. Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly, Ibid. Though winds blew great guns, still he 'd whistle and sing; Jack loved his friend, and was true to his Molly, And if honour gives greatness, was great as a king. 1 See Appendix, page 859. The Sailor's Consolation.2 2 A song with this title, beginning, "One night came on a hurricane," was written by William Pitt, of Malta, who died in 1840. HANNAH MORE. 1745–1833. To those who know thee not, no words can paint! Since trifles make the sum of human things, In men this blunder still you find, Small habits well pursued betimes Sensibility. Ibid. Florio. Part i. Ibid. LORD STOWELL. 1745-1836. A dinner lubricates business. Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. viii. p. 67, note. The elegant simplicity of the three per cents.1 Lives of the Lord Chancellors (Campbell). Vol. x. Chap. 212. SIR WILLIAM JONES. 1746-1794. Than all Bocara's vaunted gold, Than all the gems of Samarcand. A Persian Song of Hafiz. Go boldly forth, my simple lay, 1 The sweet simplicity of the three per cents. field): Endymion. Ibid. - DISRAELI (Earl Beacons 2 "T was he that ranged the words at random flung, Pierced the fair pearls and them together strung. EASTWICK: Anvari Suhaili. (Translated from Firdousi.) |