enthusiasm, too, are the growth of religion; but whoever took it in his head to affirm, that they are the necessary growth of this noble principle? They are, if you will, the sprouts of this heavenly plant; but not its natural 5 and general branches, and may safely enough be lopped off, without doing any harm to the parent stock: nay, perhaps, till once they are lopped off, this goodly tree can never flourish in perfect health and vigor. Is it not very possible that I may love my own country, 10 without hating the natives of other countries? That I may exert the most heroic bravery, the most undaunted resolution, in defending its laws and liberty, without despising all the rest of the world as cowards and poltroons? Most certainly it is and if it were not - but 15 what need I suppose what is absolutely impossible? — but if it were not, I must own I should prefer the title of the ancient philosopher, namely, a citizen of the world, to that of an Englishman, a Frenchman, a European, or to any other appellation whatever. Syc'o phants (fants): flatterers; hangers on. Clĕm'en çǎ : mildness; mercy. Pseu'do: false; pretended. Suffrage: vote; assent. Făl'là ç: mistake. Pol troons': base cowards. Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray. GOLDSMITH Oliver Goldsmith By W. M. THACKERAY William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863): One of the greatest of English novelists. His masterpieces are "Henry Esmond" and "Vanity Fair." This selection is from a lecture on "Sterne and Goldsmith," one of a series of lectures on "English Humorists," delivered first in England and afterward in America. : Who, of the millions whom he has amused, doesn't love him? To be the most beloved of English writers, what a title that is for a man! A wild youth, wayward, but full of tenderness and affection, quits the country village, where his boyhood has been passed in happy musing, in 5 idle shelter, in fond longing to see the great world out of doors and achieve name and fortune and after years of dire struggle and neglect and poverty, his heart turning back as fondly to his native place as it had longed eagerly for change when sheltered there, he writes a book and a 10 poem, full of the recollections and feelings of home he paints the friends and scenes of his youth, and peoples Auburn and Wakefield with remembrances of Lissoy. Wander he must, but he carries away a home relic with him, and dies with it on his breast. 15 His nature is truant; in repose it longs for change; as on the journey it looks back for friends and quiet. He passes to-day in building an air castle for to-morrow, or in writing yesterday's elegy; and he would fly away this hour, but that a cage and necessity keep him. What is 20 the charm of his verse, of his style, and humor? His sweet regrets, his delicate compassion, his soft smile, his tremulous sympathy, the weakness which he owns? Your love for him is half pity. You come hot and tired from the day's battle, and this sweet minstrel sings to you. 5 Who could harm the kind vagrant harper? Whom did he ever hurt? He carries no weapon, save the harp on which he plays to you; and with which he delights great and humble, young and old, the captains in the tents, or the soldiers round the fire, or the women and children in the 10 villages, at whose porches he stops and sings his simple songs of love and beauty. With that sweet story of the "Vicar of Wakefield" he has found entry into every castle and every hamlet in Europe. Not one of us, however busy or hard, but once or twice in our lives has 15 passed an evening with him, and undergone the charm of his delightful music. Lis soy a village in Ireland, Goldsmith's childhood home. It was the original of Auburn, "The Deserted Village," and Goldsmith's father was the good Doctor Primrose of "The Vicar of Wakefield." The kind vagrant harper: after leaving college, Goldsmith made a tour of Europe on foot, and often won a bed and meal from peasants by playing for them on his flute. Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue. Every natural action is graceful. Every heroic action is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine. She was a Phantom of Delight BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH William Wordsworth (1770-1850): An English poet. He found poetry in the simplest scenes and incidents of everyday life, and more than any other poet he has helped other people to love and appreciate nature. He wrote "The Excursion," "Ode on Intimations of Immortality," and many other poems. She was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn A dancing shape, an image gay, I saw her upon nearer view, Her household motions light and free, And steps of virgin liberty; A countenance in which did meet Sweet records, promises as sweet; 5 10 15 For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. 20 And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine; A being breathing thoughtful breath, Some Adventures of Don Quixote BY MIGUEL DE CERVANTES Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616): A Spanish writer. He wrote poems, tales, and dramas, but his fame rests on his romance, "Don Quixote," the masterpiece of Spanish literature. Don Quixote was a country gentleman who read romances until his brain became crazed with ideas of chivalry, and he set forth as a knight-errant to fight in behalf of the innocent and oppressed. Sancho Panza, a shrewd but credulous country fellow, was his squire or servant. After many adventures Don Quixote was, just before his death, restored to his right mind. I At a certain village in La Mancha in Spain, which I 10 shall not name, there lived not long ago one of those oldfashioned gentlemen who are never without a lance upon a rack, an old target, a lean horse, and a greyhound. His diet consisted more of beef than mutton; and with minced meat on most nights, lentils on Friday, eggs and 15 bacon on Saturdays, and a pigeon extraordinary on Sun |