Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

368

WASHINGTON.-ADAMS. — DICKINSON.

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1732-1799.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.1

Speech to both Houses of Congress, January 8, 1790.

JOHN ADAMS. 1735-1826.

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776.

JOHN DICKINSON. 1732-1808.

Then join in hand, brave Americans all;
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.

The Liberty Song (1768).

Vegetius, Rei Mil. 3. Prolog.

1 Qui desiderat pacem præparet bellum. In pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello.

Horace, Book ii. Sat. ii.

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 God 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.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.1

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. Inaugural Address.

[ocr errors]

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 govern ments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest

1 All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights.- Constitution of Massachusetts.

370

JEFFERSON. - PAINE.

....

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 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. Inaugural Address.

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.1

Letter to a Committee of the Merchants of New Haven, 1801.

THOMAS PAINE. 1737-1809.

And the final event to himself (Mr. Burke) has been, that, as he rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick.

Letter to the Addressers.

These are the times that try men's souls.

The American Crisis. No. 1.

The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.2 Age of Reason. Part ii. ad fin. note.

1 Usually quoted, "Few die, and none resign."

2 Probably the original of Napoleon's celebrated mot, "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas."

HENRY.-TOPLADY.-THRALE.

371

PATRICK HENRY. 1736-1799.

Cæsar had his Brutus,

well,

[ocr errors][merged small]

and George the Third

[ocr errors]

("Treason!" cried the Speaker) may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.

[ocr errors]

Speech, 1765.

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but, as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! Speech, March, 1775.

[blocks in formation]

The tree of deepest root is found
Least willing still to quit the ground;
"T was therefore said, by ancient sages,
That love of life increased with years
So much, that in our latter stages,
When pains grow sharp, and sickness rages,
The greatest love of life appears.

Three Warnings.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Cold on Canadian hills or Minden's plain,
Perhaps that parent mourned her soldier slain;
Bent o'er her babe, her eye dissolved in dew;
The big drops, mingling with the milk he drew,
Gave the sad presage of his future years,
The child of misery, baptized in tears.1

The Country Justice. Part i.

ERASMUS DARWIN. 1731-1802.

Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;
Or on wide waving wings expanded bear
The flying chariot through the field of air.

The Botanic Garden. Part i. Canto i. Line 289.

No radiant pearl, which crested Fortune wears,
No gem, that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears,
Not the bright stars, which Night's blue arch adorn,
Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn,
Shine with such lustre as the tear that flows

Down Virtue's manly cheek for other's woes.

Part ii. Canto iii. Line 459.

1 This allusion to the dead soldier and his widow, on the field of battle, was made the subject of a print by Bunbury, under which were engraved the pathetic lines of Langhorne. Sir Walter Scott has mentioned that the only time he saw Burns this picture was in the room. Burns shed tears over it; and Scott, then a lad of fifteen, was the only person present who could tell him where the lines were to be found. Lockhart's Life of Scott, Vol. i. Ch. iv.

« PoprzedniaDalej »