JOHN ADAMS. 1735-1826. Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776. 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 ever. more. Ibid. PATRICK HENRY. 1736-1799. Cæsar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third ["Treason!" cried the Speaker] may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it. Speech in the Virginia Convention, 1765. I am not a Virginian, but an American.1 Ibid. September, 1774. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judg ing of the future but by the past.2 Ibid. March, 1775. I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American!-WEBSTER: Speech, July 17, 1850. * See Burke, page 411. 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 in the Virginia Convention, March, 1775. The reign of Antoninus is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history, which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. iii. Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive. Amiable weaknesses of human nature.2 Chap. zi. Chap. xiv. In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.3 Chap. xlviii. Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery. Chap. xlix. The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.* Chap. lxviii. Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave. Chap. Izzi. All that is human must retrograde if it do not advance. I saw and loved." Ibid. Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 106. 1 L'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et des malheurs (History is but the record of crimes and misfortunes). — VOLTAIRE: L'Ingénu, chap. z. 2 See Fielding, page 364. 8 See Clarendon, page 255. On dit que Dieu est toujours pour les gros bataillons (It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions). - VOLTAIRE: Letter to M. le Riche. 1770. J'ai toujours vu Dieu du coté des gros bataillons (I have always noticed that God is on the side of the heaviest battalions). De la Ferté to Anne of Austria. 5 See Chapman, page 35. On the approach of spring I withdraw without reluc tance from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure. Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 116. I was never less alone than when by myself.1 P. 117 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. note. What rage for fame attends both great and small! To the Royal Academicians. No, let the monarch's bags and others hold To Kien Long. Ode iv. Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt. Expostulatory Odes. Ode xv. 1 Never less alone than when alone.- ROGERS: Human Life. 2 Probably this is the original of Napoleon's celebrated mot, "Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas" (From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step). 3 See Jonson, page 178. A fellow in a market town, Most musical, cried razors up and down. Farewell Odes. Ode tii. MRS. THRALE. 1739-1821. The tree of deepest root is found Three Warnings. CHARLES MORRIS. 1739-1832. Solid men of Boston, banish long potations! Pitt and Dundas's Return to London from Wimbledon. O give me the sweet shady side of Pall Mall! Town and Country. A. M. TOPLADY. 1740–1778. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee. Salvation through Christ. 1 Solid men of Boston, make no long orations! Solid men of Boston, banish strong potations! Billy Pitt and the Farmer. From Debrett's Asylum for 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.2 Life! we've been long together Come here, Fond Youth. Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'Tis 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. |