LESSON CLXXIV. EULOGY ON NOAH WEBSTER. CHANCELLOR KENT. 1. FOR nearly half a century, amidst obstacles and toils, disappointments and infirmities, this eminent Philologist has nobly sustained his courage; and, by means of his extraordinary skill and industry in the investigation of languages, he will transmit his name to the latest posterity. It will dwell on the tongues of infants, as soon as they have learned to lisp their earliest lessons. It will be stamped on our American literature, and be carried with it over every part of this mighty continent. It will be honored by three hundred millions of people,-for that is the number which, it is computed, will, in some future age, occupy the wide space of territory stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, and from the torrid to the arctic regions. 2. THE AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE is a work of profound investigation, and does infinite honor to the philological learning and general literature of this country. Happy the man who can thus honorably identify his name with the existence of our vernacular tongue. There is no other way in which mortal man could more effectually secure immortality beneath the skies. Obelisks, arches, and triumphal monuments, seem to be as transient as the bubble of military reputation. 3. No work of art can withstand the incessant strokes of Time. The unrivaled Parthenon,* glowing in polished marble, and which, for more than two thousand years, continued, from the summit of the citadel of Athens, to cast its broad splendors across the plains below, and along the coasts and headlands of Attica, is now crumbling to ruins, after being despoiled of its most exquisite materials by savage war and heartless man. 4. Even the Pyramids of Egypt, whose origin is hidden in the deepest recesses of antiquity, and which have always stood *See Note 1, page 140. in awe-inspiring solitude and grandeur, are now annoyed by the depredations of curiosity, and greatly corroded by the elements, and gradually sinking under the encroaching sands of the desert. This Dictionary, and the language which it embodies, will, also, perish; but it will not be with the gorgeous palaces. It will go with the solemn temples and the GREAT GLOBE ITSELF. LESSON CLXXV. THE USES OF HISTORY. W. IRVING. 1. How vain, how fleeting, how uncertain are all those gaudy bubbles, after which we are panting and toiling in this world of fair delusion! The wealth that the miser has amassed with so many weary days, so many sleepless nights, a spendthrift heir may squander in joyless prodigality. The noblest monuments which pride has ever reared to perpetuate a name, the hand of time will shortly tumble into ruins; and even the brightest laurels, gained by feats of arms, may wither and be forever blighted by the chilling neglect of mankind. 2. "How many illustrious heroes who were once the pride and glory of the age, hath the silence of historians buried in eternal oblivion !" And this it was, that induced the Spartans, when they went to battle, solemnly to sacrifice to the muses, supplicating that their achievements should be worthily recorded. Had not Homer tuned his lofty lyre, observes the elegant Cicero, the valor of Achilles* had remained unsung. 3. The historian is the sovereign censor to decide upon the renown or infamy of his fellowmen, he is the patron of kings and conquerors, on whom it depends whether they shall live in after ages, or be forgotten as were their ancestors before them. The tyrant may oppress while the object of his tyranny exists; but the historian possesses superior might; for his power extends even beyond the grave. 4. The shades of departed and long-forgotten heroes may be imagined anxiously to bend down from above, while he * A CHIL' LES was the bravest of all the Greeks in the Trojan war. writes, watching each movement of his pen, whether it shall pass by their names with neglect, or inscribe them on the deathless pages of renown. Even the drop of ink that hangs trembling on his pen, which he may either dash upon the floor, or waste in idle scrawlings,-that very drop, which to him is not worth the twentieth part of a farthing, may be of incalculable value to some departed worthy, may elevate half a score in one moment to immortality, who would have given worlds, had they possessed them, to insure the glorious meed. 5. Why, let me ask, are so many illustrious men daily tearing themselves away from the embraces of their families, slighting the smiles of beauty, despising the allurements of fortune, and exposing themselves to the miseries of war? Why are kings desolating empires, and depopulating whole countries? In short, what induces all great men, of all ages and countries, to commit so many victories and misdeeds, and inflict so many miseries upon mankind and themselves, but the mere hope that some historian will kindly take them into notice, and admit them into a corner of his volume? For, the mighty object of all their toils, their hardships, and privations, is nothing but immortal fame. TRUE FAME. JAY. 1. How many are there who thirst for military glory; and what sacrifices would they not make to obtain it! We have long been spectators of the great tragedy which has been acted on the theater of Europe, and our imaginations have become inflamed. We have beheld mighty hosts encountering each other, desperate battles fought, and victories won. We think of the triumphant march, the blood-stained banner, the captured artillery, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war, till many of us would willingly face danger and death itself, to acquire a renown equal to that of some favorite hero. 2. Yet the laurel of the conqueror grows only in a soil which is moistened with blood. It is stained with the tears of the widow, and it thrives in the midst of desolation. Nor is it durable. Amid all the annals of destruction, how few are the names which we remember and pronounce! 3. But is there glory which is pure and enduring, and which deserves to be sought? Yes; the love of fame is a noble passion, given us not to be extinguished, but to be used aright. There is a glory which a wise man will covet, which a good man will aspire to, which will follow him from this world to the next; and there, in the presence of an assembled universe of angels, and of just men made perfect, place a crown upon his brow, that fadeth not away. LESSON CLXXVI. MANIFEST PRESENCE OF THE DEITY. ROBERT MONTGOMERY. 1. THOU UNCREATE, UNSEEN, UNDEFINED, Source of all life, and Fountain of the mind; Around, above, beneath, where Thou art not! 2. Before the glad stars hymned to new-born Earth, Thy Spirit moved upon the pregnant deep, Unchained the waveless waters from their sleep, 3. Ere matter formed at Thy creative tone, Thou saidst, and lo! a universe was born, And light flashed from Thee, for its birth-day morn! 4. A thunder-storm!-the eloquence of heaven! 5. Oh! now to be alone on some still hight, Where heaven's black curtains hang before the sight, And watch the swollen clouds their bosoms clash, While fleet and far the lightning-daggers flash, Like rocks in battle, on the ocean's bed, While the dashed billows foam around their head! To mark the caverns of the sky disclose In dizzy chase along the rattling skies! How stirs the spirit while the thunders roll, And some vast PRESENCE rocks from pole to pole ! 6. List! now the cradled winds have hushed their roar, And infant waves curl pouting to the shore, While drenched Earth seems to wake up fresh and clear, And mark, 'tween storm and calm, the lovely change! 7. First comes the sun, unvailing half his face, Like a coy virgin, with reluctant grace, While dark clouds, skirted with his slanting ray, |