ance. Reason and experience say that he who overcomes the disposition for such indulgence'is rewarded by a calm consciousness of having done right. The man that so acts on all occasions may well delight in the conquest. But this is not given to human strength merely: he that resteth entirely upon his own determination and will, resteth upon a broken reed. The exercise of the strength must be our own work: the strength itself is given us of God. Our determination must ever be "With God's help I will not do this great sin;" and then comes His mise-"My strength shall be sufficient for thee." pro There is an inherent desire, it would seem, in all men, to be taught by the most competent to teach. This may be chiefly from the profits resulting, as the pictures painted by the pupils of Michael Angelo would be estimated as inferior only to their master's. The having been taught of Flaxman, of Chantrey, of Canova, would be a special recommendation in any commission of sculpture. He that received the instructions of Mozart or of Handel, might well conceive that he had received gifts in the divine art. Not only the instruction to be obtained, but the honour of being pupils of the several celebrated masters, was specially observable in the schools of ancient philosophy, and formed a chief reason why they were so much desired. In our own day, what writer of fiction will not bow to the genius of that true wizard of the north, Sir Walter Scott? What public speaker does not conceive Burke, Chatham, and Sheridan, models of style and composition? To whom does the student go to learn the order of the human mind, if not to Locke and Bacon; its construction with Combe; its physical powers with Cheyne, Haller, Harvey, and Boerhaave? It is reasonably to be sup posed that the desire thus to learn of those masters in their several walks, is occasioned by a latent idea that in some manner so to learn is to make an approach to that which all desire-happiness. The question is quite as pertinent as of old-"Who will show us any good?" Systems have failed;-nervous self-reliant effort has never failed. Let the mark set up be within the possible-not a flimsy castle in the air; and, health and strength permitting, success shall crown the lawful effort; and henceforth the treasured words of Cardinal Richelieu, "Never say fail," shall be the adopted motto. We have been in picture galleries where the very utmost care has been taken of their contents; cases and curtains have effectually preserved them from dust and decay: but how, so screened, have they served their owner? Instead of their ministering to him, he has ministered to them. He clothes them in wood and drapery, instead of their calling forth in him every latent form of beauty; flashing upon him in all their loveliness when he enters his dwelling; changing his thoughts in the gloomy hour, to buoyancy and hope; and sobering him in his moments of hilarity and mirth. The real business and true conduct of life, is not so much to possess, as to become. Why is the lip curled at the owner of the mansion fitted up with (the most costly appointments? Be cause those fittings are the end of the owner's aspiration not the means to an end. Money, clothes, furniture, house, or land; service, honour, fame, name, or renown;-all are secondary: the primary is the man. He must not live that money may be at his command; that he may wear the most elegant costume, or be lodged in the most comfortable dwelling. He wears clothing that he may be protected from the heat and cold; he desires money that he may pay for the food he eats, and for the house in which he sleeps. He, therefore, is not the richest who has the most, but he who desires the least. The man that will truly understand the philosophy of life, must consider in all faithfulness whence he is, what he is, and whither he tends. His true work is to be-not to seem. No work will so repay, as this work of being. A man, if he is misunderstood-if he is compelled to suffer a wrong—if he yet knows his own truthfulness, may yet live on in the excellent company of his own thoughts. Persecution may rage about him, but he shall be at peace; he shall ever be possessed with the calm consciousness that all shall yet be well. And in the prosecution of this being, a pure child-like love must grow and foster in every action-in every thought. Let the heart be fully possessed with love-love to the sick and the sorrowful, love to the afflicted and the distressed,then be sure that in such a breast no meanness will dwell; in such a heart, no littleness will bear a part. 66 "Oh, if there is one law above the rest Written in wisdom;-if there is a word The ministry of ill-'tis human love!" And surely this love-the highest and best gift of "So live, that when thy summons Lies down to pleasant dreams." DANIEL WEBSTER, THE ORATOR AND STATESMAN. BY THE REV. E. G. HOLLAND, OF NEW YORK.. Ir is but a few years since all the great cities of the United States were clothed in mourning, over the death of their most renowned orator and-in modern time their ablest-statesman; nor has any event of national mourning since the deaths of Washington and Hamilton, been attended by an expression of sorrow, respect, and reverence, so universal and so lasting, as that which followed the death of Daniel Webster, which occurred October 24th, 1852, at his own residence, Marshfield, Massachusetts. The prejudices of parties which always follow the man of decided measures when living, have almost wholly disappeared in his own country; his great abilities, and untiring labours at the bar and in the public services of his country, which extended over a period of more than forty years, being now remembered with feelings of national pride and thankfulness, untinged with those detracting shades which in every country accompany the strong light of eminent fame. Daniel Webster stood at the head of American oratory of constitutional law pleading and statesmanship. No man, it is believed, ever possessed greater natural powers. His whole nature was colossal: his judgment was far-reaching, clear, and strong; his reason disentangled the confused mass of facts, and reached the H principles which underlaid them; it saw subjects and ideas in their relations to each other and to the whole of which they were parts. His understanding was clear and vigorous, and gave to him a strong mastery over the world of facts, a keen penetration into their import and relations. The understanding was predominant, and justified the assertion he sometimes made, when opposed to uncertain theorizers in politics, namely "I am, Sir, a matter-of-fact man.” ́His will was Herculean, though swayed by the intellect, and modified by his affections. His imagination was majestic, and brought into its creations the elements of beauty, sublimity, and loveliness; the last far less than the first, and the first less than the second. His affections were deep, and his heart finely susceptible. His passions were strong as Titan's; his animal nature, which is the basis, and in its quality and form often the index of the man, partook of the same great force in which his mental faculties were rooted. His head and features (the most extraordinary I have seen), his form and movement,—all showed the deep impress of high and vast resources of power; and as Shakspere said of Hamlet's father, united "to give the world assurance of a man." Wherever he moved among men, all eyes were naturally turned to him, and all saw that he was by nature a king of men. These qualities of mind, will, and heart, gave to his speech, whether oral or written, a certain force, clearness, comprehensiveness, and plain, yet at times, sublime majesty, which made his position formidable on whatever subject he chose to employ his talents; and these qualities placed his speeches at the bar, and in the senate, at the head of parliamentary eloquence. Webster was too great to work for display. He put forth just that amount of power required by his theme and the occasion; never falling below the great demand, nor overdoing the ordinary by extra effort which is the fault often of second-rate and imitative orators. |