MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE

BY

GRENVILLE KLEISER

_Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity School, Yale University. Author of "How to Speak in Public, " "Great Speeches and How to Make Them, " "Complete Guide to Public Speaking, " "How to Build Mental Power, " "Talks on Talking, " etc. , etc. _

[Illustration: Publisher's logo]

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANYNEW YORK AND LONDON1920

COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY

GRENVILLE KLEISER

[_Printed in the United States of America_]

Published, February, 1920

Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of thePan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910

PREFACE

This book contains a varied representation of successful speeches byeminently successful speakers. They furnish, in convenient form, usefulmaterial for study and practise. 

The student is earnestly recommended to select one speech at a time, analyze it carefully, note its special features, practise it aloud, andthen proceed to another. In this way he will cover the principal formsof public speaking, and enable himself to apply his knowledge to anyoccasion. 

The cardinal rule is that a speaker learns to speak by speaking, hence acareful reading and study of these speeches will do much to develop thestudent's taste for correct literary and oratorical form. 

 GRENVILLE KLEISER. New York City, August, 1919. 

CONTENTS

 PAGEINTRODUCTION--Aims and Purposes of Speaking--_Grenville Kleiser_ 11

After-Dinner Speaking--_James Russell Lowell_ 29

England, Mother of Nations--_Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 37

The Age of Research--_William Ewart Gladstone_ 44

Address of Welcome--_Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 52

Good-Will to America--_Sir William Harcourt_ 65

The Qualities That Win--_Charles Sumner_ 71

The English-Speaking Race--_George William Curtis_ 88

Woman--_Horace Porter_ 100

Tribute to Herbert Spencer--_William M. Evarts_ 113

The Empire State--_Chauncey M. Depew_ 120

Men of Letters--_James Anthony Froude_ 133

Literature and Politics--_John Morley_ 139

General Sherman--_Carl Schurz_ 147

Oration Over Alexander Hamilton--_Gouverneur Morris_ 154

Eulogy of McKinley--_Grover Cleveland_ 164

Decoration Day--_Thomas W. Higginson_ 170

Faith in Mankind--_Arthur T. Hadley_ 177

Washington and Lincoln--_Martin W. Littleton_ 181

Characteristics of Washington--_William McKinley_ 187

Let France Be Free--_George Jacques Danton_ 193

Sons of Harvard--_Charles Devens_ 199

Wake Up, England!--_King George_ 208

INTRODUCTION

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF SPEAKING

It is obvious that the style of your public speaking will depend uponthe specific purpose you have in view. If you have important truthswhich you wish to make known, or a great and definite cause to serve, you are likely to speak about it with earnestness and probably witheloquence. 

If, however, your purpose in speaking is a selfish one--if your objectis self-exploitation, or to serve some special interest of your own--ifyou regard your speaking as an irksome task, or are unduly anxious as towhat your hearers will think of you and your effort--then you are almostsure to fail. 

On the other hand, if you have the interests of your hearers sincerelyat heart--if you really wish to render a worthy public service--if youlose all thought of self in your heartfelt desire to serve others--thenyou will have the most essential requirements of true and enduringoratory. 

THE NECESSITY OF A DEFINITE OBJECT

It is of the highest importance for you to have in mind a clearconception of the end you wish to achieve by your speaking. This purposeshould characterize all you say, so that at each step in your speech youwill feel sure of making steady progress toward the desired object. 

As a public speaker you assume serious responsibility. You are toinfluence men for weal or woe. The words you speak are like so manyseeds, planted in the minds of your hearers, there to grow and multiplyaccording to their kind. What you say may have far-reaching effects, hence the importance of careful forethought in the planning andpreparation of your speeches. 

_The highest aim of your public speaking is not merely to instruct orentertain, but to influence the wills of men, to make men think as youthink, and to persuade them to act in the manner you desire. _ This is alofty aim, when supported by a good cause, and worthy of your greatesttalents and efforts. 

THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN SPEAKING

The key to greatness of speech is sincerity. You must yourself be sothoroughly imbued with the truth and desirability of what you are urgingupon others that they will be imprest by your integrity of purpose. Tohave their confidence and good will is almost to win your cause. 

But you must have deep and well-grounded convictions before you can hopeto convince and influence other men. Duty, necessity, magnanimity, innate conviction, and sincere interest in the welfare of others, --thesebeget true fervor and are essential to passionate and persuasivespeaking. 

Lord Lytton emphasized the vital importance of earnest purpose in thespeaker. Referring to speech in the British Parliament he said, "Havebut fair sense and a competent knowledge of your subject, and then bethoroughly in earnest to impress your own honest conviction upon others, and no matter what your delivery, tho your gestures shock every rule inQuintilian, you will command the ear and influence the debates of themost accomplished, the most fastidious, and, take it altogether, thenoblest assembly of freemen in the world. "

Keep in mind that the purpose of your public speaking is not only toconvince but also to persuade your hearers. It is not sufficient thatthey merely agree with what you say; you must persuade them also to actas you desire. 

Hence you should aim to reach both their minds and hearts. Solidargument, clear method, and indisputable facts are necessary for thefirst purpose; vivid imagination, concrete illustration, and animatedfeeling are necessary for the second. 

THE NEED OF A KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE

It will be of great practical value to you to have a knowledge of theaverage man comprising your audience, his tastes, preferences, prejudices, and proclivities. The more you adapt your speech to such anaverage man, the more successful are you likely to be in influencing theentire audience. 

Aim, therefore, to use words, phrases, illustrations, and arguments suchas you think the average man will readily understand. Avoid anythingwhich would cause confusion, distraction, or prejudice in his mind. Useevery reasonable means to win his good will and approval. 

Your speech is not a monolog, but a dialog, in which you are thespeaker, and the auditor a silent tho questioning listener. His mind isin a constant attitude of interrogation toward you. And upon the degreeof your success in answering such silent but insistent questions willdepend the ultimate success of your speaking. 

The process of persuading the hearer depends chiefly upon first beingpersuaded yourself. You may be devoid of feeling, and yet convince yourhearers; but to reach their hearts and to move them surely toward thedesired purpose, you must yourself be moved. 

Your work as a public speaker is radically different from that of theactor or reciter. You are not impersonating some one else, norinterpreting the thought of another. You must above all things benatural, real, sincere and earnest. Your work is creative andconstructive. 

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A SPEAKER

However much you may study, plan, or premeditate, there must be noindication of conscious or studied attempt in the act of speaking to anaudience. At that time everything must be merged into your personality. 

Your earnestness in speaking arises principally from having a distinctconception of the object aimed at and a strong desire to accomplish it. Under these circumstances you summon to your aid all your availablepower of thought and feeling. Your mental faculties are stimulated intotheir fullest activity, and you bend every effort toward the purposebefore you. 

But however zealous you may feel about the truth or righteousness of thecause you espouse, you will do well always to keep within the bounds ofmoderation. You can be vigorous without violence, and enthusiasticwithout extravagance. 

You must not only thoroughly know yourself and your subject, but alsoyour audience. You should carefully consider the best way to bring themand yourself into unity. You may do this by making an appeal to someprinciple commonly recognized and approved by men, such as patriotism, justice, humanity, courage, duty, or righteousness. 

What Phillips Brooks said about the preacher, applies with equal truthto other forms of public speaking:

 "_Whatever is in the sermon must be in the preacher first; clearness, logicalness, vivacity, earnestness, sweetness, and light, must be personal qualities in him before they are qualities of thought and language in what he utters to his people. _"

After you have earnestly studied the principles of public speaking youshould plan to have regular and frequent practise in addressing actualaudiences. There are associations and societies everywhere, constantlyin quest of good speakers. There will be ample opportunities for you ifyou have properly developed your speaking abilities. 

_And now to sum up some of the most essential things for you:_

1. READ ALOUD EVERY DAY

This is indispensable to your greatest progress in speech culture. Reading aloud, properly done, compels you to pronounce the words, instead of skimming over them as in silent reading. It gives you theadditional benefit of receiving a vocal impression of the rhythm andstructure of the composition. 

_Keep in mind the following purposes of your reading aloud:_

1. To improve your speaking voice. 

2. To acquire distinct enunciation. 

3. To cultivate correct pronunciation. 

4. To develop English style. 

5. To increase your stock of words. 

6. To store your memory with facts. 

7. To analyze an author's thoughts. 

8. To broaden your general knowledge. 

2. FORM THE NOTE-BOOK HABIT

Keep separate note-books for the subjects in which you are deeplyinterested and on which you intend some time to speak in public. Writein them promptly any valuable ideas which come to you from the fourprincipal sources--observation, conversation, reading, and meditation. 

You will be surprized to find how rapidly you can acquire useful data inthis way. In an emergency you can turn to the speech-material you haveaccumulated and quickly solve the problem of "what to say. "

Keep the contents of your note-books in systematic order. Classify ideasunder distinct headings. When possible write the ideas down in regularspeech form. Once a week read aloud the contents of your note-books. 

3. DAILY STUDY YOUR DICTIONARY

Read aloud each day from your dictionary for at least five minutes, andgive special attention to the pronunciation and meaning of words. Thisis one of the most useful exercises for building a large vocabulary. 

Develop the dictionary habit. Be interested in words. Study them intheir contexts. Make special lists of your own. Select special words forspecial uses. Note significant words in your general reading. 

Think of words as important tools for public speaking. Choose them withdiscrimination in your daily conversation. Consult your dictionary forthe meanings of words about which you are in doubt. Be an earneststudent of words. 

4. SYSTEMATICALLY DEVELOP YOUR MENTAL POWERS

Give some time each day to the development of a judicial mind. Learn tothink deliberately and carefully. Study causes and principles. Lookdeeply into things. 

Be impartial in your examination of a subject. Study all sides of aquestion or problem. Weigh the evidence with the purpose of ascertainingthe truth. 

Beware the peril of prejudice. Keep your mind wide open to receive thefacts. Look at a subject from the other man's viewpoint. Cultivatebreadth of mind. Do not let your personal interests or desires misleadyou. Insist upon securing the truth at all costs. 

5. DAILY PRACTISE COMPOSITION

Frequent use of the pen is essential to proficiency in speaking. Write alittle every day to form your English style. Daily exercise in writingwill rapidly develop felicity and fluency of speech. 

Test your important ideas by putting them into writing. Constantlycultivate clearness of expression. Examine, criticize, and improve yourown compositions. 

Copy in your handwriting at least a page daily from one of the greatEnglish stylists. Continue this exercise for a month and note theimprovement in your speech and writing. 

6. PRACTISE IMPROMPTU SPEAKING

At least once a day stand up, in the privacy of your room, and make animpromptu speech of two or three minutes. Select any subject whichinterests you. Aim at fluency of style rather than depth of thought. 

In these daily efforts, use the best chest voice at your command, enunciate clearly, open your mouth well, and imagine yourself addressingan actual audience. A month's regular practise of this exercise willconvince you of its great value. 

7. STUDY SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC SPEAKERS

Hear the best public speakers available to you. Observe them critically. Ask yourself such questions as these:

1. How does this speaker impress me?

2. Does he proceed in the most effective manner possible?

3. Does he convince me of the truth of his statements?

4. Does he persuade me to act as he wishes?

5. What are the elements of success in this speaker?

As you faithfully apply these various suggestions, you will constantlyimprove in the art of public speaking, and so learn to wield this mightypower not simply for your personal gratification but for the inspirationand betterment of your fellow men. 

MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE

AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING

BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

My Lord Coleridge, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--I confess that mymind was a little relieved when I found that the toast to which I am torespond rolled three gentlemen, Cerberus-like into one, and when I sawScience pulling impatiently at the leash on my left, and Art on myright, and that therefore the responsibility of only a third part of theacknowledgment has fallen to me. You, my lord, have alluded to thedifficulties of after-dinner oratory. I must say that I am one of thosewho feel them more keenly the more after-dinner speeches I make. Thereare a great many difficulties in the way, and there are three principalones, I think. The first is having too much to say, so that the words, hurrying to escape, bear down and trample out the life of each other. The second is when, having nothing to say, we are expected to fill avoid in the minds of our hearers. And I think the third, and mostformidable, is the necessity of following a speaker who is sure to sayall the things you meant to say, and better than you, so that we aretempted to exclaim, with the old grammarian, "Hang these fellows, whohave said all our good things before us!"

Now the Fourth of July has several times been alluded to, and I believeit is generally thought that on that anniversary the spirit of a certainbird known to heraldic ornithologists--and I believe to them alone--asthe spread eagle, enters into every American's breast, and compels him, whether he will or no, to pour forth a flood of nationalself-laudation. This, I say, is the general superstition, and I hopethat a few words of mine may serve in some sort to correct it. I askyou, if there is any other people who have confined their nationalself-laudation to one day in the year. I may be allowed to make oneremark as a personal experience. Fortune had willed it that I should seeas many--perhaps more--cities and manners of men as Ulysses; and I haveobserved one general fact, and that is, that the adjectival epithetwhich is prefixt to all the virtues is invariably the epithet whichgeographically describes the country that I am in. For instance, not totake any real name, if I am in the kingdom of Lilliput, I hear of theLilliputian virtues. I hear courage, I hear common sense, and I hearpolitical wisdom called by that name. If I cross to the neighboringRepublic Blefusca--for since Swift's time it has become a Republic--Ihear all these virtues suddenly qualified as Blefuscan. 

I am very glad to be able to thank Lord Coleridge for having, I believefor the first time, coupled the name of the President of the UnitedStates with that of her Majesty on an occasion like this. I was struck, both in what he said, and in what our distinguished guest of the eveningsaid, with the frequent recurrence of an adjective which iscomparatively new--I mean the word "English-speaking. " We continuallyhear nowadays of the "English-speaking race, " of the "English-speakingpopulation. " I think this implies, not that we are to forget, not thatit would be well for us to forget, that national emulation and thatnational pride which is implied in the words "Englishman" and "American, "but the word implies that there are certain perennial and abidingsympathies between all men of a common descent and a common language. Iam sure, my lord, that all you said with regard to the welcome which ourdistinguished guest will receive in America is true. His eminent talentsas an orator, the dignified--I may say the illustrious--manner in whichhe has sustained the traditions of that succession of great actors who, from the time of Burbage to his own, have illustrated the English stage, will be as highly appreciated there as here. 

And I am sure that I may also say that the chief magistrate of Englandwill be welcomed by the bar of the United States, of which I am anunworthy member, and perhaps will be all the more warmly welcomed thathe does not come among them to practise. He will find American lawadministered--and I think he will agree with me in saying ablyadministered--by judges who, I am sorry to say, sit without thetraditional wig of England. I have heard since I came here friends ofmine gravely lament this as something prophetic of the decay which wassure to follow so serious an innovation. I answered with a little storywhich I remember having heard from my father. He remembered the lastclergyman in New England who still continued to wear the wig. At firstit became a singularity and at last a monstrosity; and the good doctorconcluded to leave it off. But there was one poor woman among hisparishioners who lamented this sadly, and waylaying the clergyman as hecame out of church she said, "Oh, dear doctor, I have always listened toyour sermon with the greatest edification and comfort, but now that thewig is gone all is gone. " I have thought I have seen some signs ofencouragement in the faces of my English friends after I have consoledthem with this little story. 

But I must not allow myself to indulge in any further remarks. There isone virtue, I am sure, in after-dinner oratory, and that is brevity; andas to that I am reminded of a story. The Lord Chief Justice has told youwhat are the ingredients of after-dinner oratory. They are the joke, thequotation, and the platitude; and the successful platitude, in myjudgment, requires a very high order of genius. I believe that I havenot given you a quotation, but I am reminded of something which I heardwhen very young--the story of a Methodist clergyman in America. He waspreaching at a camp meeting, and he was preaching upon the miracle ofJoshua, and he began his sermon with this sentence: "My hearers, thereare three motions of the sun. The first is the straightforward or directmotion of the sun; the second is the retrograde or backward motion ofthe sun; and the third is the motion mentioned in our text--'the sunstood still. '"

Now, gentlemen, I don't know whether you see the application of thestory--I hope you do. The after-dinner orator at first begins and goesstraight forward--that is the straightforward motion of the sun. Next hegoes back and begins to repeat himself--that is the backward motion ofthe sun. At last he has the good sense to bring himself to the end, andthat is the motion mentioned in our text, as the sun stood still. 

ENGLAND, MOTHER OF NATIONS

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:--It is pleasant to me to meet this great andbrilliant company, and doubly pleasant to see the faces of so manydistinguished persons on this platform. But I have known all thesepersons already. When I was at home, they were as near to me as they areto you. The arguments of the League and its leader are known to allfriends of free trade. The gaieties and genius, the political, thesocial, the parietal wit of "Punch" go duly every fortnight to every boyand girl in Boston and New York. Sir, when I came to sea, I found the"History of Europe" on the ship's cabin table, the property of thecaptain;--a sort of program or play-bill to tell the seafaring NewEnglander what he shall find on landing here. And as for Dombey, sir, there is no land where paper exists to print on, where it is not found;no man who can read, that does not read it, and, if he can not, he findssome charitable pair of eyes that can, and hears it. 

But these things are not for me to say; these compliments tho true, would better come from one who felt and understood these merits more. Iam not here to exchange civilities with you, but rather to speak on thatwhich I am sure interests these gentlemen more than their own praises;of that which is good in holidays and working-days, the same in onecentury and in another century. That which lures a solitary American inthe woods with the wish to see England, is the moral peculiarity of theSaxon race, --its commanding sense of right and wrong, --the love anddevotion to that, --this is the imperial trait, which arms them with thescepter of the globe. It is this which lies at the foundation of thataristocratic character, which certainly wanders into strange vagaries, so that its origin is often lost sight of, but which, if it should losethis, would find itself paralyzed; and in trade, and in the mechanic'sshop, gives that honesty in performance, that thoroughness and solidityof work, which is a national characteristic. This conscience is oneelement, and the other is that loyal adhesion, that habit of friendship, that homage of man to man, running through all classes, --the electing ofworthy persons to a certain fraternity, to acts of kindness and warm andstaunch support, from year to year, from youth to age, --which is alikelovely and honorable to those who render and those who receiveit;--which stands in strong contrast with the superficial attachments ofother races, their excessive courtesy, and short-lived connection. 

You will think me very pedantic, gentlemen, but holiday tho it be, Ihave not the smallest interest in any holiday, except as it celebratesreal and not pretended joys; and I think it just, in this time of gloomand commercial disaster, of affliction and beggary in these districts, that on these very accounts I speak of, you should not fail to keep yourliterary anniversary. I seem to hear you say that, for all that is comeand gone, yet we will not reduce by one chaplet or one oak-leaf thebraveries of our annual feast. For I must tell you, I was given tounderstand in my childhood that the British island, from which myforefathers came, was no lotus-garden, no paradise of serene sky androses and music and merriment all the year round, no, but a cold, foggy, mournful country, where nothing grew well in the open air, but robustmen and virtuous women and these of a wonderful fiber and endurance;that their best parts were slowly revealed; their virtues did not comeout until they quarrelled; they did not strike twelve the first time;good lovers, good haters, and you could know little about them till youhad seen them long, and little good of them till you had seen them inaction; that in prosperity they were moody and dumpish, but in adversitythey were grand. 

Is it not true, sir, that the wise ancients did not praise the shipparting with flying colors from the port, but only that brave sailorwhich came back with torn sheets and battered sides, stript of herbanners, but having ridden out the storm? And so, gentlemen, I feel inregard to this aged England, with the possessions, honors and trophies, and also with the infirmities of a thousand years gathering around her, irretrievably committed as she now is to many old customs which can notbe suddenly changed; pressed upon by the transitions of trade, and newand all incalculable modes, fabrics, arts, machines and competingpopulations, --I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well rememberingthat she has seen dark days before; indeed with a kind of instinct thatshe sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battleand calamity, she has a secret vigor and a pulse like a cannon. I seeher in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believein her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail!mother of nations, mother of heroes, with strength still equal to thetime; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which themind and heart of mankind require in the present hour, and thus onlyhospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful andgenerous who are born in the soil. So be it! so be it! If it be not so, if the courage of England goes with the chances of a commercial crisis, I will go back to the capes of Massachusetts, and my own Indian stream, and say to my countrymen, the old race are all gone and the elasticityand hope of mankind must henceforth remain on the Alleghany ranges, ornowhere. 

THE AGE OF RESEARCH

BY WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highness, My Lords and Gentlemen:--I think noquestion can be raised as to the just claims of literature to stand uponthe list of toasts at the Royal Academy, and the sentiment is one towhich, upon any one of the numerous occasions of my attendance at yourhospitable board, I have always listened with the greatest satisfactionuntil the present day arrived, when I am bound to say that thatsatisfaction is extremely qualified by the arrangement less felicitous, I think, than any which preceded it that refers to me the duty ofreturning thanks for Literature. However, obedience is the principleupon which we must proceed, and I have at least the qualification fordischarging the duty you have been pleased to place in my hands--that noone has a deeper or more profound sense of the vital importance of theactive and constant cultivation of letters as an essential condition ofreal progress and of the happiness of mankind, and here every one atonce perceives that that sisterhood of which the poet spoke, whom youhave quoted, is a real sisterhood, for literature and art are alike thevotaries of beauty. Of these votaries I may thankfully say that asregards art I trace around me no signs of decay, and none in thatestimation in which the Academy is held, unless to be sure, in thecircumstance of your poverty of choice of one to reply to this toast. 

During the present century the artists of this country have gallantlyand nobly endeavored to maintain and to elevate their standard, andhave not perhaps in that great task always received that assistancewhich could be desired from the public taste which prevails around them. But no one can examine even superficially the works which adorn thesewalls without perceiving that British art retains all its fertility ofinvention, and this year as much as in any year that I can remember, exhibits in the department of landscape, that fundamental condition ofall excellence, intimate and profound sympathy with nature. 

As regards literature one who is now beginning at any rate to descendthe hill of life naturally looks backward as well as forward, and wemust be becoming conscious that the early part of this century haswitnessed in this and other countries what will be remembered in futuretimes as a splendid literary age. The elder among us have lived in thelifetime of many great men who have passed to their rest--the youngerhave heard them familiarly spoken of and still have their works in theirhands as I trust they will continue to be in the hands of allgenerations. I am afraid we can not hope for literature--it would becontrary to all the experience of former times were we to hope that itshould be equally sustained at that extraordinarily high level whichbelongs, speaking roughly, to the first fifty years after the peace of1815. That was a great period--a great period in England, a great periodin Germany, a great period in France, and a great period, too, in Italy. 

As I have said, I think we can hardly hope that it should continue on aperfect level at so high an elevation. Undoubtedly the cultivation ofliterature will ever be dear to the people of this country; but we mustremember what is literature and what is not. In the first place weshould be all agreed that bookmaking is not literature. The business ofbookmaking I have no doubt may thrive and will be continued upon aconstantly extending scale from year to year. But that we may put aside. For my own part if I am to look a little forward, what I anticipate forthe remainder of the century is an age not so much of literatureproper--not so much of great, permanent and splendid additions to thoseworks in which beauty is embodied as an essential condition ofproduction, but rather look forward to an age of research. This is anage of great research--of great research in science, great research inhistory--an age of research in all the branches of inquiry that throwlight upon the former condition whether of our race, or of the worldwhich it inhabits; and it may be hoped that, even if the remaining yearsof the century be not so brilliant as some of its former periods, in theproduction of works great in themselves, and immortal, --still they mayadd largely to the knowledge of mankind; and if they make such additionsto the knowledge of mankind, they will be preparing the materials of anew tone and of new splendors in the realm of literature. There is asunrise and sunset. There is a transition from the light of the sun tothe gentler light of the moon. There is a rest in nature which seemsnecessary in all her great operations. And so with all the greatoperations of the human mind. But do not let us despond if we seem tosee a diminished efficacy in the production of what is essentially andimmortally great. Our sun is hidden only for a moment. It is like theday-star of Milton:--

 "Which anon repairs his drooping head, And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore, Flames in the forehead of the morning sky. "

I rejoice in an occasion like this which draws the attention of theworld to topics which illustrate the union of art with literature and ofliterature with science, because you have a hard race to run, you have asevere competition against the attraction of external pursuits, whetherthose pursuits take the form of business or pleasure. It is given to youto teach lessons of the utmost importance to mankind, in maintaining theprinciple that no progress can be real which is not equable, which isnot proportionate, which does not develop all the faculties belongingto our nature. If a great increase of wealth in a country takes place, and with that increase of wealth a powerful stimulus to the invention ofmere luxury, that, if it stands alone, is not, never can be, progress. It is only that one-sided development which is but one side ofdeformity. I hope we shall have no one-sided development. One mode ofavoiding it is to teach the doctrine of that sisterhood you haveasserted to-day, and confident I am that the good wishes you haveexprest on behalf of literature will be re-echoed in behalf of artwherever men of letters are found. 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME[1]

BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Brothers of the Association of the Alumni:--It is your misfortune andmine that you must accept my services as your presiding officer of theday in the place of your retiring president. I shall not be believed ifI say how unwillingly it is that for the second time I find myself inthis trying position; called upon to fill, as I best may, the place ofone whose presence and bearing, whose courtesy, whose dignity, whosescholarship, whose standing among the distinguished children of theuniversity, fit him alike to guide your councils and to grace yourfestivals. The name of Winthrop has been so long associated with theState and with the college that to sit under his mild empire is likeresting beneath one of these wide-branching elms the breadth of whoseshade is only a measure of the hold its roots have taken in the soil. Inthe midst of civil strife we, the children of this our common mother, have come together in peace. And surely there never was a time when wemore needed a brief respite in some chosen place of refuge, someunviolated sanctuary, from the cares and anxieties of our dailyexistence than at this very hour. Our life has grown haggard withexcitement. The rattle of drums, the march of regiments, the gallop ofsquadrons, the roar of artillery, seem to have been continually soundingin our ears day and night, sleeping and waking, for two long years andmore. How few of us have not trembled and shuddered with fear over andover again for those whom we love. Alas! how many that hear me havemourned over the lost--lost to earthly sight, but immortal in our loveand their country's honor! We need a little breathing-space to rest fromour anxious thoughts, and, as we look back to the tranquil days wepassed in this still retreat, to dream of that future when in God's goodtime, and after his wise purpose is fulfilled, the fair angel who has solong left us shall lay her hand upon the leaping heart of this embattlednation and whisper, "Peace! be still!"

Here of all places in the world we may best hope to find the peace weseek for. It seems as if nothing were left undisturbed in New Englandexcept here and there an old graveyard, and these dear old Collegebuildings, with the trees in which they are embowered. The old StateHouse is filled with those that sell oxen and sheep and doves, and thechangers of money. The Hancock house, the umbilical scar of the cordthat held our city to the past, is vanishing like a dimple from thewater. 

But Massachusetts, venerable old Massachusetts, stands as firm as ever;Hollis, this very year a centenarian, is waiting with its honest redface in a glow of cordiality to welcome its hundredth set of inmates;Holden Chapel, with the skulls of its Doric frieze and the unpunishablecherub over its portals, looks serenely to the sunsets; Harvard, withinwhose ancient walls we are gathered, and whose morning bell has murderedsleep for so many generations of drowsy adolescents, is at its post, ready to startle the new-fledged freshmen from their first uneasyslumbers. All these venerable edifices stand as they did when we wereboys, --when our grandfathers were boys. Let not the rash hand ofinnovation violate their sanctities, for the cement that knits thesewalls is no vulgar mortar, but is tempered with associations andmemories which are stronger than the parts they bind together!

We meet on this auspicious morning forgetting all our lesserdifferences. As we enter these consecrated precincts, the livery of ourspecial tribe in creed and in politics is taken from us at the door, andwe put on the court dress of our gracious Queen's own ordering, theacademic robe, such as we wore in those bygone years scattered along theseven last decades. We are not forgetful of the honors which our fellowstudents have won since they received their college "parts, "--theirorations, dissertations, disquisitions, colloquies, and Greek dialogs. But to-day we have no rank; we are all first scholars. The hero in hislaurels sits next to the divine rustling in the dry garlands of hisdoctorate. The poet in his crown of bays, the critic, in his wreath ofivy, clasp each other's hands, members of the same happy family. This isthe birthday feast for every one of us whose forehead has been sprinkledfrom the font inscribed "_Christo et Ecclesioe_. " We have no badges butour diplomas, no distinctions but our years of graduation. This is therepublic carried into the university; all of us are born equal into thisgreat fraternity. 

Welcome, then, welcome, all of you, dear brothers, to this our joyousmeeting! We must, we will call it joyous, tho it comes with manysaddening thoughts. Our last triennial meeting was a festival in adouble sense, for the same day that brought us together at our familygathering gave a new head to our ancient household of the university. AsI look to-day in vain for his stately presence and kindly smile, I amreminded of the touching words spoken by an early president of theuniversity in the remembrance of a loss not unlike our own. It was atthe commencement exercises of the year 1678 that the Reverend PresidentUrian Oakes thus mourned for his friend Thomas Shepard, the minister ofCharlestown, an overseer of the college: "_Dici non potest quam meperorantem, in comitiis, conspectus ejus, multo jucundissimus, recrearitet refecerit. At non comparet hodie Shepardus in his comitiis; oculoshuc illuc torqueo; quocumque tamen inciderint, Platonem meum intantavirorum illustrium frequentia requirunt; nusquam amicum etpernecessarium meum in hac solenni panegyric, inter nosce ReverendosTheologos, Academiae Curatores, reperire aut oculis vestigare possum_. "Almost two hundred years have gone by since these words were uttered bythe fourth president of the college, which I repeat as no unfittingtribute to the memory of the twentieth, the rare and fully ripenedscholar who was suddenly ravished from us as some richly freightedargosy that just reaches her harbor and sinks under a cloudless sky withall her precious treasures. 

But the great conflict through which we are passing has made sorrow toofrequent a guest for us to linger on an occasion like this over everybeloved name which the day recalls to our memory. Many of the childrenwhom our mother had trained to arts have given the freshness of theiryouth or the strength of their manhood to arms. How strangely frequentin our recent record is the sign interpreted by the words "_E viviscesserunt stelligeri!_" It seems as if the red war-planet had replacedthe peaceful star, and these pages blushed like a rubric with the longlist of the martyr-children of our university. I can not speak theireulogy, for there are no phrases in my vocabulary fit to enshrine thememory of the Christian warrior, --of him--

 "Who, doomed to go in company with Pain And Fear and Bloodshed, miserable train, Turns his necessity to glorious gain--"

 "Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth Forever, and to noble deeds give birth, Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame, And leave a dead, unprofitable name, Finds comfort in himself and in his cause; And while the mortal mist is gathering, draws His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause. "

Yet again, O brothers! this is not the hour for sorrow. Month aftermonth until the months became years we have cried to those who stoodupon our walls: "Watchmen, what of the night?" They have answered againand again, "The dawn is breaking, --it will soon be day. " But the nighthas gathered round us darker than before. At last--glory be to God inthe highest!--at last we ask no more tidings of the watchmen, for overboth horizons east and west bursts forth in one overflowing tide ofradiance the ruddy light of victory!

We have no parties here to-day, but is there one breast that does notthrob with joy as the banners of the conquering Republic follow herretreating foes to the banks of the angry Potomac? Is there one heartthat does not thrill in answer to the drum-beat that rings all over theworld as the army of the west, on the morning of the nation's birth, swarms over the silent, sullen earthworks of captured Vicksburg, --to thereveille that calls up our Northern regiments this morning inside thefatal abatis of Port Hudson? We are scholars, we are graduates, we arealumni, we are a band of brothers, but beside all, above all, we areAmerican citizens. And now that hope dawns upon our land--nay, burstsupon it in a flood of glory, --shall we not feel its splendors reflectedupon our peaceful gathering, peaceful in spite of those disturbanceswhich the strong hand of our citizen-soldiery has already strangled?

Welcome then, thrice welcome, scholarly soldiers who have fought foryour and our rights and honor! Welcome, soldierly scholars who are readyto fight whenever your country calls for your services! Welcome, ye whopreach courage as well as meekness, remembering that the Prince of Peacecame also bringing a sword! Welcome, ye who make and who interpret thestatutes which are meant to guard our liberties in peace, but not to aidour foes in war! Welcome, ye whose healing ministry soothes the anguishof the suffering and the dying with every aid of art and the tenderaccents of compassion! Welcome, ye who are training the generous youthsto whom our country looks as its future guardians! Welcome, ye quietscholars who in your lonely studies are unconsciously shaping thethought which law shall forge into its shield and war shall wield asits thunder-bolt!

And to you, Mr. President, called from one place of trust and honor torule over the concerns of this our ancient and venerated institution, toyou we offer our most cordial welcome with all our hopes and prayers foryour long and happy administration. 

I give you, brothers, "The association of the Alumni"; the children ofour common mother recognize the man of her choice as their new father, and would like to hear him address a few words to his numerous family. 

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Delivered at an Alumni Dinner, Cambridge, July 16, 1863. 

GOOD WILL TO AMERICA[2]

BY SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT

Gentlemen:--Small as are the pretensions which, on any account, I canhave to present myself to the attention of this remarkable assemblage, Ihave had no hesitation in answering the call which is just been madeupon me by discharging a duty which is no less gratifying to me than Iknow it will be agreeable to you--that of proposing that the thanks ofthis meeting be offered to the chairman for his presidence over usto-day. Every one who admires Mr. Garrison for the qualities on accountof which we have met to do him honor on this occasion, must feel thatthere is a singular appropriateness in the selection of the person whohas presided here to-day. No one can fail to perceive a strikingsimilarity--I might almost say a real parallelism of greatness--in thecareers of these two eminent persons. Both are men who, by the greatqualities of their minds, and the uncompromising spirit of justice whichhas animated them, have signally advanced the cause of truth andvindicated the rights of humanity. Both have been fortunate enough inthe span of their own lifetime to have seen their efforts in thepromotion of great ends crowned by triumphs as great as they could havedesired, and far greater than they could have hoped. There is no causewith which the name of Mr. Bright has been associated which has notsooner or later won its way to victory. 

I shall not go over the ground which has been so well dealt with bythose who have preceded me. But tho there have been many ablerinterpreters of your wishes and aspirations to-day than I can hope tobe, may I be permitted to join my voice to those which have been raisedup in favor of the perpetual amity of England and America. It seems tome that with nations, as well as with individuals, greatness ofcharacter depends chiefly on the degree in which they are capable ofrising above thee low, narrow, paltry interests of the present, and oflooking forward with hope and with faith into the distance of a greatfuturity. And where, I will ask, is the future of our race to be found?I may extend the question--where is to be found the future of mankind?Who that can forecast the fortunes of the ages to come will notanswer--it is in that great nation which has sprung from our loins, which is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. The stratifications ofhistory are full of the skeletons of ruined kingdoms and of races thatare no more. Where are Assyria and Egypt, the civilization of Greece, the universal dominion of Rome? They founded empires of conquest, whichhave perished by the sword by which they rose. Is it to be with us aswith them? I hope not--I think not. But if the day of our decline shouldarise, we shall at least have the consolation of knowing that we haveleft behind us a race which shall perpetuate our name and reproduce ourgreatness. Was there ever parent who had juster reason to be proud ofits offspring? Was there ever child that had more cause for gratitude toits progenitor? From whom but us did America derive those institutionsof liberty, those instincts of government, that capacity of greatness, which have made her what she is, and which will yet make her that whichshe is destined to become? These are things which it becomes us both toremember and to think upon. And, therefore, it is that, as ourdistinguished guest, with innate modesty, has already said, this is nota mere personal festivity--this is no occasional compliment. We see init a deeper and wider significance. We celebrate in it the union of twonations. While I ask you to return your thanks to our chairman I think Imay venture also to ask of our guest a boon which he will not refuse us. We have a great message to send, and we have here a messenger worthy tobear it. I will ask Mr. Garrison to carry back to his home the prayer ofthis assembly and of this nation that there may be forever and foreverpeace and good will between England and America. For the good will ofAmerica and England is nothing less than the evangel of liberty and ofpeace. And who more worthy to preside over such a gospel than thechairman to whom I ask you to return your thanks to-day? I beg topropose that the thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Bright. 

FOOTNOTE:

[2] Speech at breakfast held in London in honor of Mr. Garrison, June29, 1867. 

THE QUALITIES THAT WIN

BY CHARLES SUMNER

Mr. President and Brothers of New England:--For the first time in mylife I have the good fortune to enjoy this famous anniversary festival. Tho often honored by your most tempting invitation, and longing tocelebrate the day in this goodly company of which all have heard somuch, I could never excuse myself from duties in another place. If now Iyield to well-known attractions, and journey from Washington for myfirst holiday during a protracted public service, it is because all wasenhanced by the appeal of your excellent president, to whom I am boundby the friendship of many years in Boston, in New York, and in a foreignland. It is much to be a brother of New England, but it is more to be afriend, and this tie I have pleasure in confessing to-night. 

It is with much doubt and humility that I venture to answer for theSenate of the United States, and I believe the least I say on this headwill be the most prudent. But I shall be entirely safe in expressing mydoubt if there is a single Senator who would not be glad of a seat atthis generous banquet. What is the Senate? It is a component part of theNational Government. But we celebrate to-day more than any componentpart of any government. We celebrate an epoch in the history ofmankind--not only never to be forgotten, but to grow in grandeur asthe world appreciates the elements of true greatness. Of mankind Isay--for the landing on Plymouth Rock, on December 22, 1620, marks theorigin of a new order of ages, which the whole human family will beelevated. Then and there was the great beginning. 

Throughout all time, from the dawn of history, men have swarmed to foundnew homes in distant lands. The Tyrians, skirting Northern Africa, stoptat Carthage; Carthaginians dotted Spain and even the distant coasts ofBritain and Ireland; Greeks gemmed Italy and Sicily with art-lovingsettlements; Rome carried multitudinous colonies with her conqueringeagles. Saxons, Danes, and Normans violently mingled with the originalBritons. And in modern times, Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Spain, France, and England, all sent forth emigrants to people foreign shores. But inthese various expeditions, trade or war was the impelling motive. Toooften commerce and conquest moved hand in hand, and the colony wasincarnadined with blood. 

On the day we celebrate, the sun for the first time in his course lookeddown upon a different scene, begun and continued under a differentinspiration. A few conscientious Englishmen, in obedience to the monitorwithin, and that they might be free to worship God according to theirown sense of duty, set sail for the unknown wilds of the North Americancontinent. After a voyage of sixty-four days in the ship _Mayflower_, with Liberty at the prow and Conscience at the helm, they sighted thewhite sandbanks of Cape Cod, and soon thereafter in the small cabinframed that brief compact, forever memorable, which is the first writtenconstitution of government in human history, and the very corner-stoneof the American Republic; and then these Pilgrims landed. 

This compact was not only foremost in time, it was also august incharacter, and worthy of perpetual example. Never before had the objectof the "civil body public" been announced as "to enact, constitute, andframe such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, andoffices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenientfor the general good of the colony. " How lofty! how true! Undoubtedly, these were the grandest words of government with the largest promise ofany at that time uttered. 

If more were needed to illustrate the new epoch, it would be found inthe parting words of the venerable pastor, John Robinson, addrest to thePilgrims, as they were about to sail from Delfshaven--words oftenquoted, yet never enough. How sweetly and beautifully he says: "And ifGod should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of his, be asready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by myministry; but I am confident that the Lord hath more light and truth yetto break forth out of his holy word. " And then how justly the goodpreacher rebukes those who close their souls to truth! "The Lutherans, for example, can not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw, and whateverpart of God's will he hath further imparted to Calvin, they will ratherdie than embrace, and so the Calvinists stick where he left them. Thisis a misery much to be lamented, for tho they were precious, shininglights in their times, God hath not revealed his whole will to them. "Beyond the merited rebuke, here is a plain recognition of the law ofhuman progress little discerned at the time, which teaches the sureadvance of the human family, and opens the vista of theever-broadening, never-ending future on earth. 

Our Pilgrims were few and poor. The whole outfit of this historicvoyage, including £1, 700 of trading stock, was only £2, 400, and howlittle was required for their succor appears in the experience of thesoldier Captain Miles Standish, who, being sent to England forassistance--not military, but financial--(God save the mark!) succeededin borrowing--how much do you suppose?--£150 sterling. Something in theway of help; and the historian adds, "tho at fifty per cent. Interest. "So much for a valiant soldier on a financial expedition. A later agent, Allerton, was able to borrow for the colony £200 at a reduced interestof thirty per cent. Plainly, the money-sharks of our day may trace anundoubted pedigree to these London merchants. But I know not if any sonof New England, opprest by exorbitant interest, will be consoled by thethought that the Pilgrims paid the same. 

And yet this small people--so obscure and outcast in condition--soslender in numbers and in means--so entirely unknown to the proud andgreat--so absolutely without name in contemporary records--whosedeparture from the Old World took little more than the breath of theirbodies--are now illustrious beyond the lot of men; and the _Mayflower_is immortal beyond the Grecian _Argo_, or the stately ship of anyvictorious admiral. Tho this was little foreseen in their day, it isplain now how it has come to pass. The highest greatness surviving timeand storm is that which proceeds from the soul of man. Monarchs andcabinets, generals and admirals, with the pomp of courts and thecircumstance of war, in the gradual lapse of time disappear from sight;but the pioneers of truth, tho poor and lowly, especially those whoseexample elevates human nature and teaches the rights of man, so thatgovernment of the people, by the people, and for the people shall notperish from the earth, such harbingers can never be forgotten, and theirrenown spreads co-extensive with the cause they served. 

I know not if any whom I now have the honor of addressing have thoughtto recall the great in rank and power filling the gaze of the world asthe _Mayflower_ with her company fared forth on their adventurousvoyage. The foolish James was yet on the English throne, glorying thathe had "peppered the Puritans. " The morose Louis XIII, through whomRichelieu ruled, was King of France. The imbecile Philip III swayedSpain and the Indies. The persecuting Ferdinand the Second, tormentor ofProtestants, was Emperor of Germany. Paul V, of the House of Borghese, was Pope of Rome. In the same princely company and all contemporarieswere Christian IV, King of Denmark, and his son Christian, Prince ofNorway; Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Sigmund the Third, King ofPoland; Frederick, King of Bohemia, with his wife, the unhappy Elizabethof England, progenitor of the House of Hanover; George William, Margraveof Brandenburg, and ancestor of the Prussian house that has given anemperor to Germany; Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; Maurice, landgrave ofHesse; Christian, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg; John Frederick, Dukeof Würtemberg and Teck; John, Count of Nassau; Henry, Duke of Lorraine;Isabella, Infanta of Spain and ruler of the Low Countries; Maurice, fourth Prince of Orange; Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy and ancestor ofthe King of United Italy; Cosmo dé Medici, third Grand Duke of Florence;Antonio Priuli, ninety-third Doge of Venice, just after the terribletragedy commemorated on the English stage as "Venice Preserved";Bethlehem Gabor, Prince of Unitarian Transylvania, and elected King ofHungary, with the countenance of an African; and the Sultan Mustapha, ofConstantinople, twentieth ruler of the Turks. 

Such at that time were the crowned sovereigns of Europe, whose nameswere mentioned always with awe, and whose countenances are handed downby art, so that at this day they are visible to the curious as if theywalked these streets. Mark now the contrast. There was no artist forour forefathers, nor are their countenances now known to men; but morethan any powerful contemporaries at whose tread the earth trembled istheir memory sacred. Pope, emperor, king, sultan, grand-duke, duke, doge, margrave, landgrave, count--what are they all by the side of thehumble company that landed on Plymouth Rock? Theirs indeed, were theensigns of worldly power, but our Pilgrims had in themselves that inbornvirtue which was more than all else besides, and their landing was anepoch. 

Who in the imposing troop of worldly grandeur is now remembered but withindifference or contempt? If I except Gustavus Adolphus, it is becausehe revealed a superior character. Confront the _Mayflower_ and thePilgrims with the potentates who occupied such space in the world. Theformer are ascending into the firmament, there to shine forever, whilethe latter have been long dropping into the darkness of oblivion, to bebrought forth only to point a moral or illustrate the fame ofcontemporaries whom they regarded not. Do I err in supposing this anillustration of the supremacy which belongs to the triumphs of the moralnature? At first impeded or postponed, they at last prevail. Theirs is abrightness which, breaking through all clouds, will shine forth withever-increasing splendor. I have often thought that if I were apreacher, if I had the honor to occupy the pulpit so grandly filled bymy friend near me, one of my sermons should be from the text, "A littleleaven shall leaven the whole lump. " Nor do I know a better illustrationof these words than the influence exerted by our Pilgrims. That smallband, with the lesson of self-sacrifice, of just and equal laws, of thegovernment of a majority, of unshrinking loyalty to principle, is nowleavening this whole continent, and in the fulness of time will leaventhe world. By their example, republican institutions have beencommended, and in proportion as we imitate them will these institutionsbe assured. 

Liberty, which we so much covet, is not a solitary plant. Always by itsside is justice. But Justice is nothing but right applied to humanaffairs. Do not forget, I entreat you, that with the highest morality isthe highest liberty. A great poet, in one of his inspired sonnets, speaking of his priceless possession, has said, "But who loves that mustfirst be wise and good. " Therefore do Pilgrims in their beautifulexample teach liberty, teach republican institutions, as at an earlierday, Socrates and Plato, in their lessons of wisdom, taught liberty andhelped the idea of the republic. If republican government has thus farfailed in any experiment, as, perhaps, somewhere in Spanish America, itis because these lessons have been wanting. There have been no Pilgrimsto teach the moral law. 

Mr. President, with these thoughts, which I imperfectly express, Iconfess my obligations to the forefathers of New England, and offer tothem the homage of a grateful heart. But not in thanksgiving only wouldI celebrate their memory. I would if I could make their example auniversal lesson, and stamp it upon the land. The conscience whichdirected them should be the guide for our public councils. The just andequal laws which they required should be ordained by us, and thehospitality to truth which was their rule should be ours. Nor would Iforget their courage and stedfastness. Had they turned back or wavered, I know not what would have been the record of this continent, but I seeclearly that a great example would have been lost. Had Columbus yieldedto his mutinous crew and returned to Spain without his great discovery;had Washington shrunk away disheartened by British power and the snowsof New Jersey, these great instances would have been wanting for theencouragement of men. But our Pilgrims belong to the same heroiccompany, and their example is not less precious. 

Only a short time after the landing on Plymouth Rock, the greatrepublican poet, John Milton, wrote his "Comus, " so wonderful for beautyand truth. His nature was more refined than that of the Pilgrims, andyet it requires little effort of imagination to catch from one of them, or at least from their beloved pastor, the exquisite, almost angelicwords at the close--

 "Mortals, who would follow me, Love Virtue; she alone is free; She can teach ye how to climb Higher than the sphery chime. Or if Virtue feeble were, Heaven itself would stoop to her. "

THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING RACE

BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce:--I rise with sometrepidation to respond to this toast, because we have been assured uponhigh authority, altho after what we have heard this evening we can notbelieve it, that the English-speaking race speaks altogether too much. Our eloquent Minister in England recently congratulated the Mechanics'Institute at Nottingham that it had abolished its debating club, andsaid that he gladly anticipated the establishment in all greatinstitutions of education of a professorship of Silence. I confess thatthe proposal never seemed to me so timely and wise as at this moment. If I had only taken a high degree in silence, Mr. Chairman, howcordially you would congratulate me and this cheerful company!

When Mr. Phelps proceeded to say that Americans are not allowed to talkall the time, and that our orators are turned loose upon the public onlyonce in four years, I was lost in admiration of the boundless sweep ofhis imagination. But when he said that the result of this quadrennialoutburst was to make the country grateful that it did not come oftener, I saw that his case required heroic treatment, and must be turned overto Dr. Depew. 

I am sure, at least, that when our distinguished friends from Englandreturn to their native land they will hasten to besiege His Excellencyto tell them where the Americans are kept who speak only once in fouryears. And if they will but remain through the winter, they willdiscover that if our orators are turned loose upon the public only oncein four years, they are turned loose in private all the rest of thetime; and if the experience and observation of our guests are asfortunate as mine, they will learn that there are certain orators ofboth branches of the English-speaking race--not one hundred miles fromme at this moment--whom the public would gladly hear, if they wereturned loose upon it every four hours. 

Wendell Phillips used to say that as soon as a Yankee baby could sit upin his cradle, he called the nursery to order and proceeded to addressthe house. If this Parliamentary instinct is irrepressible, if all theyear round we are listening to orations, speeches, lectures, sermons, and the incessant, if not always soothing, oratory of the press, towhich His Honor the Mayor is understood to be a closely attentivelistener, we have at least the consolation of knowing that the talkingcountries are the free countries, and that the English-speaking racesare the invincible legions of liberty. 

The sentiment which you have read, Mr. Chairman, describes in a fewcomprehensive words the historic characteristics of the English-speakingrace. That it is the founder of commonwealths, let the miracle of empirewhich we have wrought upon the Western Continent attest:--its advancefrom the seaboard with the rifle and the ax, the plow and the shuttle, the teapot and the Bible, the rocking-chair and the spelling-book, thebath-tub and a free constitution, sweeping across the Alleghanies, over-spreading the prairies and pushing on until the dash of theAtlantic in their ears dies in the murmur of the Pacific; and as thewonderful Goddess of the old mythology touched earth, flowers and fruitsanswered her footfall, so in the long trail of this advancing race, ithas left clusters of happy States, teeming with a population, man byman, more intelligent and prosperous than ever before the sun shoneupon, and each remoter camp of that triumphal march is but a furtheroutpost of English-speaking civilization. 

That it is the pioneer of progress, is written all over the globe to theutmost islands of the sea, and upon every page of the history of civiland religious and commercial freedom. Every factory that hums withmarvelous machinery, every railway and steamer, every telegraph andtelephone, the changed systems of agriculture, the endless anduniversal throb and heat of magical invention, are, in their largerpart, but the expression of the genius of the race that with Watts drewfrom the airiest vapor the mightiest of motive powers, with Franklinleashed the lightning, and with Morse outfabled fairy lore. The racethat extorted from kings the charter of its political rights has won, from the princes and powers of the air, the earth and the water, thesecret of supreme dominion, the illimitable franchise of beneficentprogress. 

That it is the stubborn defender of liberty, let our own annals answer, for America sprang from the defense of English liberty in Englishcolonies, by men of English blood, who still proudly speak the Englishlanguage, cherish English traditions, and share of right, and as theirown, the ancient glory of England. 

No English-speaking people could, if it would, escape its distinctivename, and, since Greece and Judea, no name has the same worth and honoramong men. We Americans may flout England a hundred times. We may opposeher opinions with reason, we may think her views unsound, her policyunwise; but from what country would the most American of Americansprefer to have derived the characteristic impulse of Americandevelopment and civilization rather than England? What language would werather speak than the tongue of Shakespeare and Hampden, of the Pilgrimsand King James's version? What yachts, as a tribute to ourselves upontheir own element, would we rather outsail than English yachts? In whatnational life, modes of thought, standards and estimates of characterand achievement do we find our own so perfectly reflected as in theEnglish House of Commons, in English counting-rooms and workshops, andin English homes?

No doubt the original stock has been essentially modified in the youngerbranch. The American, as he looks across the sea, to what Hawthornehappily called "Our old home, " and contemplates himself, is disposed tomurmur: "Out of the eater shall come forth meat and out of the strengthshall come forth sweetness. " He left England a Puritan iconoclast; hehas developed in Church and State into a constitutional reformer. Hecame hither a knotted club; he has been transformed into a Damascusblade. He seized and tamed a continent with a hand of iron; he civilizesand controls it with a touch of velvet. No music is so sweet to his earas the sound of the common-school bell; no principle so dear to hisheart as the equal rights of all men; no vision so entrancing to hishope as those rights universally secured. 

This is the Yankee; this is the younger branch; but a branch of no baseor brittle fiber, but of the tough old English oak, which has weatheredtriumphantly the tempest of a thousand years. It is a noble contentionwhether the younger or the elder branch has further advanced thefrontiers of liberty, but it is unquestionable that liberty, as weunderstand it on both sides of the sea, is an English tradition; weinherit it, we possess it, we transmit it, under forms peculiar to theEnglish race. It is as Mr. Chamberlain has said, liberty under law. Itis liberty, not license; civilization, not barbarism; it is liberty cladin the celestial robe of law, because law is the only authoritativeexpression of the will of the people, representative government, trialby jury, habeas corpus, freedom of speech and of the press--why, Mr. Chairman, they are the family heirlooms, the family diamonds, and theygo wherever in the wide world go the family name and language andtradition. 

Sir, with all my heart, and, I am sure, with the hearty assent of thisgreat and representative company, I respond to the final aspiration ofyour toast: "May this great family in all its branches ever worktogether for the world's welfare. " Certainly its division and alienationwould be the world's misfortune. That England and America have had sharpand angry quarrels is undeniable. Party spirit in this country, recalling old animosity, has always stigmatized with the English namewhatever it opposed. Every difference, every misunderstanding withEngland has been ignobly turned to party account; but the two greatbranches of this common race have come of age, and wherever they mayencounter a serious difficulty which must be accommodated they have butto thrust demagogues aside, to recall the sublime words of AbrahamLincoln, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, " and in thatspirit, and in the spirit and the emotion represented in this country bythe gentlemen upon my right and my left, I make bold to say to Mr. Chamberlain, in your name, there can be no misunderstanding which maynot be honorably and happily adjusted. For to our race, gentlemen ofboth countries, is committed not only the defense, but the illustrationof constitutional liberty. 

The question is not what we did a century ago, or in the beginning ofthis century, with the lights that shone around us, but what is our dutyto-day, in the light which is given to us of popular government underthe republican form in this country, and the parliamentary form inEngland. 

If a sensitive public conscience, if general intelligence should notfail to secure us from unnatural conflict, then liberty will not bejustified of her children, and the glory of the English-speaking racewill decline. I do not believe it. I believe that it is constantlyincreasing, and that the colossal power which slumbers in the arms of akindred people will henceforth be invoked, not to drive them furtherasunder, but to weld them more indissolubly together in the defense ofliberty under law. 

WOMAN

BY HORACE PORTER

Mr. President and Gentlemen:--When this toast was proposed to me, Iinsisted that it ought to be responded to by a bachelor, by some one whois known as a ladies' man; but in these days of female proprietorship itis supposed that a married person is more essentially a ladies' man thananybody else, and it was thought that only one who had the courage toaddress a lady could have the courage, under these circumstances, toaddress the New England Society. 

The toast, I see, is not in its usual order to-night. At public dinnersthis toast is habitually placed last on the list. It seems to be abenevolent provision of the Committee on Toasts in order to give man inreplying to Woman one chance at least in life of having the last word. At the New England dinners, unfortunately the most fruitful subject ofremark regarding woman is not so much her appearance as herdisappearance. I know that this was remedied a few years ago, when thisgrand annual gastronomic high carnival was held in the MetropolitanConcert Hall. There, ladies were introduced into the galleries to gracethe scene by their presence; and I am sure the experiment wassufficiently encouraging to warrant repetition, for it was beautiful tosee the descendants of the Pilgrims sitting with eyes upturned in truePuritanic sanctity it was encouraging to see the sons of those pioussires devoting themselves, at least for one night, to setting theiraffections upon "things above. "

Woman's first home was in the Garden of Eden. There man first marriedwoman. Strange that the incident should have suggested to Milton the"Paradise Lost. " Man was placed in a profound sleep, a rib was takenfrom his side, a woman was created from it, and she became his wife. Evil-minded persons constantly tell us that thus man's first sleepbecame his last repose. But if woman be given at times to thatcontrariety of thought and perversity of mind which sometimes passethour understanding, it must be recollected in her favor that she wascreated out of the crookedest part of man. 

The Rabbins have a different theory regarding creation. They go back tothe time when we were all monkeys. They insist that man was originallycreated with a kind of Darwinian tail, and that in the process ofevolution this caudal appendage was removed and created into woman. This might better account for those Caudle lectures which woman is inthe habit of delivering, and some color is given to this theory, fromthe fact that husbands even down to the present day seem to inherit ageneral disposition to leave their wives behind. 

The first woman, finding no other man in that garden except her ownhusband, took to flirting even with the Devil. The race might have beensaved much tribulation if Eden had been located in some calm andtranquil land--like Ireland. There would at least have been no snakesthere to get into the garden. Now woman in her thirst after knowledge, showed her true female inquisitiveness in her cross-examination of theserpent, and, in commemoration of that circumstance the serpent seems tohave been curled up and used in nearly all languages as a sign ofinterrogation. Soon the domestic troubles of our first parents began. The first woman's favorite son was killed with a club, and married womeneven to this day seem to have an instinctive horror of clubs. The firstwoman learned that it was Cain that raised a club. The modern woman haslearned that it is a club that raises cain. Yet, I think, I recognizefaces here to-night that I see behind the windows of Fifth Avenue clubsof an afternoon, with their noses pressed flat against the broad plateglass, and as woman trips along the sidewalk, I have observed that thesegentlemen appear to be more assiduously engaged than ever was agovernment scientific commission, in taking observations upon thetransit of Venus. 

Before those windows passes many a face fairer than that of theLudovician Juno or the Venus of Medici. There is the Saxon blonde withthe deep blue eye, whose glances return love for love, whose silkentresses rest upon her shoulders like a wealth of golden fleece, eachthread of which looks like a ray of the morning sunbeam. There is theLatin brunette with the deep, black, piercing eye, whose jetty lashesrest like a silken fringe upon the pearly texture of her dainty cheek, looking like raven's wings spread out upon new-fallen snow. 

And yet the club man is not happy. As the ages roll on woman hasmaterially elevated herself in the scale of being. Now she stops atnothing. She soars. She demands the co-education of sexes. She thinksnothing of delving into the most abstruse problems of the higherbranches of analytical science. She can cipher out the exact hour of thenight when her husband ought to be home, either according to the old orthe recently adopted method of calculating time. I never knew of butone married man who gained any decided domestic advantage by this changein our time. He was a _habitué_ of a club situated next door to hishouse. His wife was always upbraiding him for coming home too late atnight. Fortunately, when they made this change of time, they placed oneof those meridians from which our time is calculated right between theclub and his house. Every time he stept across that imaginary line itset him back a whole hour in time. He found that he could then leave hisclub at one o'clock and get home to his wife at twelve; and for thefirst time in twenty years peace reigned around the hearthstone. 

Woman now revels even in the more complicated problems of mathematicalastronomy. Give a woman ten minutes and she will describe aheliocentric parallax of the heavens. Give her twenty minutes and shewill find astronomically the longitude of a place by means of lunarculminations. Give that same woman an hour and a half with the presentfashions, and she can not find the pocket in her dress. 

And yet man's admiration for woman never flags. He will give her halfhis fortune; he will give her his whole heart; he seems always willingto give her everything that he possesses, except his seat in ahorse-car. 

Every nation has had its heroines as well as its heroes. England, in herwars, had a Florence Nightingale; and the soldiers in the expression oftheir adoration, used to stoop and kiss the hem of her garment as shepassed. America, in her war, had a Dr. Mary Walker. Nobody ever stoopedto kiss the hem of her garment--because that was not exactly the kindof a garment she wore. But why should man stand here and attempt tospeak for woman, when she is so abundantly equipped to speak forherself. I know that is the case in New England; and I am reminded, byseeing General Grant here to-night, of an incident in proof of it whichoccurred when he was making that marvelous tour through New England, just after the war. The train stopt at a station in the State of Maine. The General was standing on the rear platform of the last car. At thattime, as you know, he had a great reputation for silence--for it wasbefore he had made his series of brilliant speeches before the NewEngland Society. They spoke of his reticence--a quality which NewEnglanders admire so much--in others. Suddenly there was a commotion inthe crowd, and as it opened a large, tall, gaunt-looking woman camerushing toward the car, out of breath. Taking her spectacles off fromthe top of her head and putting them on her nose, she put her armsakimbo, and looking up, said: "Well, I've just come down here a runnin'nigh onto two mile, right on the clean jump, just to get a look at theman that lets the women do all the talkin'. "

The first regular speaker of the evening (William M. Evarts) touchedupon woman, but only incidentally, only in reference to Mormonism andthat sad land of Utah, where a single death may make a dozen widows. 

A speaker at the New England dinner in Brooklyn last night (Henry WardBeecher) tried to prove that the Mormons came originally from NewHampshire and Vermont. I know that a New Englander sometimes in thecourse of his life marries several times; but he takes the precautionto take his wives in their proper order of legal succession. Thedifference is that he drives his team of wives tandem, while the Mormoninsists upon driving his abreast. 

But even the least serious of us, Mr. President, have some seriousmoments in which to contemplate the true nobility of woman's character. If she were created from a rib, she was made from that part which liesnearest a man's heart. 

It has been beautifully said that man was fashioned out of the dust ofthe earth while woman was created from God's own image. It is our pridein this land that woman's honor is her own best defense; that herefemale virtue is not measured by the vigilance of detective nurses; thathere woman may walk throughout the length and the breadth of this land, through its highways and byways, uninsulted, unmolested, clothed in theinvulnerable panoply of her own woman's virtue; that even in placeswhere crime lurks and vice prevails in the haunts of our great cities, and in the rude mining gulches of the West, owing to the noble effortsof our women, and the influence of their example, there are raised, eventhere, girls who are good daughters, loyal wives, and faithful mothers. They seem to rise in those rude surroundings as grows the pond lily, which is entangled by every species of rank growth, environed by poison, miasma and corruption, and yet which rises in the beauty of its purityand lifts its fair face unblushing to the sun. 

No one who has witnessed the heroism of America's daughters in the fieldshould fail to pay a passing tribute to their worth. I do not speakalone of those trained Sisters of Charity, who in scenes of misery andwoe seem Heaven's chosen messengers on earth; but I would speak also ofthose fair daughters who come forth from the comfortable firesides ofNew England and other States, little trained to scenes of suffering, little used to the rudeness of a life in camp, who gave their all, theirtime, their health, and even life itself as a willing sacrifice in thatcause which then moved the nation's soul. As one of these, with hergraceful form, was seen moving silently through the darkened aisles ofan army hospital, as the motion of her passing dress wafted a breezeacross the face of the wounded, they felt that their parched brows hadbeen fanned by the wings of the angel of mercy. 

Ah! Mr. President, woman is after all a mystery. It has been well said, that woman is the great conundrum of the nineteenth century; but if wecan not guess her, we will never give her up. 

TRIBUTE TO HERBERT SPENCER

BY WILLIAM M. EVARTS

Gentlemen:--We are here to-night, to show the feeling of Americanstoward our distinguished guest. As no room and no city can hold all hisfriends and admirers, it was necessary that a company should be made upby some method out of the mass, and what so good a method as that ofnatural selection and the inclusion, within these walls, of the ladies?It is a little hard upon the rational instincts and experiences of manthat we should take up the abstruse subjects of philosophy and ofevolution, of all the great topics that make up Mr. Spencer'scontribution to the learning and the wisdom of his time, at this end ofthe dinner. 

The most ancient nations, even in their primitive condition, saw thefolly of this, and when one wished either to be inspired with thethoughts of others or to be himself a diviner of the thoughts of others, fasting was necessary, and a people from whom I think a great manythings might be learned for the good of the people of the present time, have a maxim that will commend itself to your common-sense. They say thecontinually stuffed body can not see secret things. Now, from mypersonal knowledge of the men I see at these tables, they are owners ofcontinually stuffed bodies. I have addrest them at public dinners, onall topics and for all purposes, and whatever sympathy they may haveshown with the divers occasions which brought them together, they comeup to this notion of continually stuffed bodies. In primitive timesthey had a custom which we only under the system of differentiationpractise now at this dinner. When men wished to possess themselves ofthe learning, the wisdom, the philosophy, the courage, the great traitsof any person, they immediately proceeded to eat him up as soon as hewas dead, having only this diversity in that early time that he shouldbe either roasted or boiled according as he was fat or thin. Now out ofthat narrow compass, see how by the process of differentiation and ofmultiplication of effects we have come to a dinner of a dozen coursesand wines of as many varieties; and that simple process of appropriatingthe virtue and the wisdom of the great man that was brought before thefeast is now diversified into an analysis of all the men here under thecunning management of many speakers. No doubt, preserving as we do theidentity of all these institutions it is often considered a great art, or at least a great delight, to roast our friends and put in hot waterthose against whom we have a grudge. 

Now, Mr. Spencer, we are glad to meet you here. We are glad to see youand we are glad to have you see us. We are glad to see you, for werecognize in the breadth of your knowledge, such knowledge as is usefulto your race, a greater comprehension than any living man has presentedto our generation. We are glad to see you, because in our judgment youhave brought to the analysis and distribution of this vast knowledge amore penetrating intelligence and a more thorough insight than anyliving man has brought even to the minor topics of his specialknowledge. In theology, in psychology, in natural science, in theknowledge of individual man and his exposition and in the knowledge ofthe world in the proper sense of society, which makes up the world, theworld worth knowing, the world worth speaking of, the world worthplanning for, the world worth working for, we acknowledge your labors assurpassing those of any of our kind. You seem to us to carry away andmaintain in the future the same measure of fame among others that we aretold was given in the Middle Ages to Albertus Magnus, the most learnedman of those times, whose comprehension of theology, of psychology, ofnatural history, of politics, of history, and of learning, comprehendedmore than any man since the classic time certainly; and yet it was foundof him that his knowledge was rather an accumulation, and that he hadadded no new processes and no new wealth to the learning which he hadachieved. 

Now, I have said that we are glad to have you see us. You have alreadytreated us to a very unique piece of work in this reception, and we areexpecting perhaps that the world may be instructed after you are safelyon the other side of the Atlantic in a more intimate and thorough mannerconcerning our merits and our few faults. This faculty of laying on adissecting board an entire nation or an entire age and finding out allthe arteries and veins and pulsations of their life is an extensionbeyond any that our own medical schools afford. You give us thatknowledge of man which is practical and useful, and whatever the claimsor the debates may be about your system or the system of those who agreewith you, and however it may be compared with other competing systemsthat have preceded it, we must all agree that it is practical, that itis benevolent, that it is serious and that it is reverent; that it aimsat the highest results in virtue; that it treats evil, not as eternal, but as evanescent, and that it expects to arrive at what is soughtthrough the aid of the millennium--that condition of affairs in whichthere is the highest morality and the greatest happiness. And if we cancome to that by these processes and these instructions, it matterslittle to the race whether it be called scientific morality andmathematical freedom or by another less pretentious name. You willplease fill your glasses while we propose the health of our guest, Herbert Spencer. 

THE EMPIRE STATE[3]

MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW

Mr. President and Gentlemen:--It has been my lot from a time whence Ican not remember to respond each year to this toast. When I received theinvitation from the committee, its originality and ingenuity astonishedand overwhelmed me. But there is one thing the committee took intoconsideration when they invited me to this platform. This is aPresidential year, and it becomes men not to trust themselves talking ondangerous topics. The State of New York is eminently safe. Ever sincethe present able and distinguished Governor has held his place I havebeen called upon by the New England Society to respond for him. It isprobably due to that element in the New Englander that he delights inprovoking controversy. The Governor is a Democrat, and I am aRepublican. Whatever he believes in I detest; whatever he admires Ihate. The manner in which this toast is received leads me to believethat in the New England Society his administration is unanimouslyapproved. Governor Robinson, if I understand correctly his views, wouldrather that any other man should have been elected as Chief Magistratethan Mr. John Kelly. Mr. Kelly, if I interpret aright his publicutterances, would prefer any other man for the Governor of New York thanLucius Robinson, and therefore, in one of the most heated controversieswe have ever had, we elected a Governor by unanimous consent or assentin Alonzo B. Cornell. Horace Greeley once said to me, as we werereturning from a State convention where he had been a candidate, but thedelegates had failed to nominate the fittest man for the place: "I don'tsee why any man wants to be Governor of the State of New York, for thereis no one living who can name the last ten Governors on a moment'snotice. " But tho there have been Governors and Governors, there is, whenthe gubernatorial office is mentioned, one figure that strides down thecenturies before all the rest; that is the old Dutch Governor of NewYork, with his wooden leg--Peter Stuyvesant. There have been heroines, too, who have aroused the poetry and eloquence of all times, but nonewho have about them the substantial aroma of the Dutch heroine, AnnekeJans. 

It is within the memory of men now living when the whole of Americanliterature was dismissed with the sneer of the _Edinburgh Review_, "Whoreads an American book?" But out of the American wilderness a broadavenue to the highway which has been trod by the genius of all times inits march to fame was opened by Washington Irving, and in his footstepshave followed the men who are read of all the world, and who willreceive the highest tributes in all times--Longfellow, and Whittier, andHawthorne and Prescott. 

New York is not only imperial in all those material results whichconstitute and form the greatest commonwealth in this constellation ofcommonwealths, but in our political system she has become the arbiter ofour national destiny. As goes New York so goes the Union, and her voiceindicates that the next President will be a man with New England bloodin his veins or a representative of New England ideas. 

And for the gentleman who will not be elected I have a Yankee story. Inthe Berkshire hills there was a funeral, and as they gathered in thelittle parlor there came the typical New England female, who minglescuriosity with her sympathy, and as she glanced around the darkened roomshe said to the bereaved widow, "When did you get that new eight-dayclock?" "We ain't got no new eight-day clock, " was the reply. "Youain't? What's that in the corner there?" "Why no, that's not aneight-day clock, that's the deceased; we stood him on end, to make roomfor the mourners. "

Up to within fifty years ago all roads in New England led to Boston; butwithin the last fifty years every byway and highway in New England leadsto New York. New York has become the capital of New England, and withinher limits are more Yankees than in any three New England Statescombined. The boy who is to-day ploughing the stony hillside in NewEngland, who is boarding around and teaching school, and who is to bethe future merchant-prince or great lawyer, or wise statesman, looks notnow to Boston, but to New York, as the El Dorado of his hopes. And howgenerously, sons of New England, have we treated you? We have put you inthe best offices; we have made you our merchant-princes. Where is thecity or village in our State where you do not own the best houses, runthe largest manufactories, and control the principal industries? We haveseveral times made one of your number Governor of the State, and we haveplaced you in positions where you honor us while we honor you. NewYork's choice in the National Cabinet is the distinguished Secretary ofState, whose pure Yankee blood renders him none the less a most fit andmost eminent representative of the Empire State. 

But while we have done our best to satisfy the Yankee, there is onething we have never been able to do. We can meet his ambition and fillhis purse, but we never can satisfy his stomach. When the Presidentstated to-night that Plymouth Rock celebrated this anniversary on the21st, whilst we here did so on the 22d, he did not state the truereason. It is not as he said, a dispute about dates. The pork and beansof Plymouth are insufficient for the cravings of the Yankee appetite, and they chose the 21st, in order that, by the night train, they may getto New York on the 22d, to have once a year a square meal. From 1620down to the opening of New York to their settlement, a constantlyincreasing void was growing inside the Yankee diaphragm, and even nowthe native and imported Yankee finds the best-appointed restaurant inthe world sufficient for his wants; and he has migrated to this house, that he may annually have the sensation of sufficiency in the largesthotel in the United States. 

My friend, Mr. Curtis, has eloquently stated, in the beginning of hisaddress, the Dutchman's idea of the old Puritan. He has stated, at theclose of his address, the modern opinion of the old Puritan. He was anuncomfortable man to live with, but two hundred years off a grandhistoric figure. If any one of you, gentlemen, was compelled to leavethis festive board, and go back two hundred years and live with yourancestor of that day, eat his fare, drink his drink, and listen to histalk, what a time would be there, my countrymen! Before the Puritan wasfitted to accomplish the work he did, with all the great opportunitiesthat were in him, it was necessary that he should spend two years inLeyden and learn from the Dutch the important lesson of religioustoleration, and the other fundamental lesson, that a common schooleducation lies at the foundation of all civil and religious liberty. Ifthe Dutchman had conquered Boston, it would have been a misfortune tothis land, and to the world. It would have been like DiedrichKnickerbocker wrestling with an electric battery. 

But when the Yankee conquered New York, his union with the Dutch formedthose sterling elements which have made the Republic what it is. Yankeeideas prevailed in this land in the grandest contest in the Senate ofthe United States which has ever taken place, or ever will, in thevictory of Nationalism over Sectionalism by the ponderous eloquence ofthat great defender of the Constitution, Daniel Webster. And whenfailing in the forum, Sectionalism took the field, Yankee ideasconquered again in that historic meeting when Lee gave up his sword toGrant. And when, in the disturbance of credit and industry whichfollowed, the twin heresies Expansion and Repudiation stalked abroad, Yankee ideas conquered again in the policy of our distinguished guest, the Secretary of the Treasury. So great a triumph has never been won byany financial officer of the government before, as in the funding of ournational debt at four per cent. , and the restoration of the nationalcredit, giving an impulse to our prosperity and industry that canneither be stayed nor stopt. 

When Henry Hudson sailed up the great harbor of New York, and saw withprophetic vision its magnificent opportunities, he could only emphasizehis thought, with true Dutch significance, in one sentence--"See here!"When the Yankee came and settled in New York, he emphasized his comingwith another sentence--"Sit here!"--and he sat down upon the Dutchmanwith such force that he squeezed him out of his cabbage-patch, and uponit he built his warehouse and his residence. He found this city laid outin a beautiful labyrinth of cow-patches, with the inhabitants and thehouses all standing with their gable-ends to the street, and he turnedthem all to the avenue, and made New York a parallelogram of palaces;and he has multiplied to such an extent that now he fills every nook ofour great State, and we recognize here to-night that, with no tariff, and free trade between New England and New York, the native specimen isan improvement upon the imported article. Gentlemen, I beg leave to say, as a native New Yorker of many generations, that by the influence, thehospitality, the liberal spirit, and the cosmopolitan influences of thisgreat State, from the unlovable Puritan of two hundred years ago youhave become the most agreeable and companionable of men. 

New York to-day, the Empire State of all the great States of theCommonwealth, brings in through her grand avenue to the sea eighty percent. Of all the imports, and sends forth a majority of all the exports, of the Republic. She collects and pays four-fifths of the taxes whichcarry on the government of the country. In the close competition tosecure the great Western commerce which is to-day feeding the world andseeking an outlet along three thousand miles of coast, she holds by hercommercial prestige and enterprise more than all the ports from NewOrleans to Portland combined. Let us, whether native or adopted NewYorkers, be true to the past, to the present, to the future, of thiscommercial and financial metropolis. Let us enlarge our terminalfacilities and bring the rail and the steamship close together. Let usdo away with the burdens that make New York the dearest, and make herthe cheapest, port on the continent; and let us impress our commercialideas upon the national legislature, so that the navigation laws, whichhave driven the merchant marine of the Republic from the seas, shall berepealed, and the breezes of every clime shall unfurl, and the waves ofevery sea reflect, the flag of the Republic. 

FOOTNOTE:

[3] Speech of Chauncey M. Depew at the seventy-fourth anniversarybanquet of the New England Society in the City of New York, December 22, 1879. 

MEN OF LETTERS

BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE

Sir Francis Grant, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, and Gentlemen:--WhileI feel most keenly the honor which you confer upon me in connecting myname with the interests of literature, I am embarrassed, in responding, by the nature of my subject. What is literature, and who are men ofletters? From one point of view we are the most unprofitable ofmankind--engaged mostly in blowing soap-bubbles. From another point ofview we are the most practical and energetic portion of the community. If literature be the art of employing words skilfully in representingfacts, or thoughts, or emotions, you may see excellent specimens of itevery day in the advertisements in our newspapers. Every man who uses apen to convey his meaning to others--the man of science, the man ofbusiness, the member of a learned profession--belongs to the communityof letters. Nay, he need not use his pen at all. The speeches of greatorators are among the most treasured features of any nationalliterature. The orations of Mr. Grattan are the text-books in theschools of rhetoric in the United States. Mr. Bright, under this aspectof him, holds a foremost place among the men of letters of England. 

Again, sir, every eminent man, be he what he will, be he as unbookish ashe pleases, so he is only eminent enough, so he holds a conspicuousplace in the eyes of his countrymen, potentially belongs to us, and ifnot in life, then after he is gone, will be enrolled among us. Thepublic insist on being admitted to his history, and their curiosity willnot go unsatisfied. His letters are hunted up, his journals are sifted;his sayings in conversation, the doggerel which he writes to hisbrothers and sisters are collected, and stereotyped in print. His fateovertakes him. He can not escape from it. We cry out, but it does notappear that men sincerely resist the liberty which is taken with them. We never hear of them instructing their executors to burn their papers. They have enjoyed so much the exhibition that has been made of theircontemporaries that they consent to be sacrificed themselves. 

Again, sir, when we look for those who have been most distinguished asmen of letters, in the usual sense of the word, where do we find them?The famous lawyer is found in his chambers, the famous artist is foundin his studio. Our foremost representatives we do not find always intheir libraries; we find them, in the first place, in the service oftheir country. ("Hear! Hear!") Owen Meredith is Viceroy of India, andall England has applauded the judgment that selected and sent him there. The right honorable gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) who three years ago wasconducting the administration of this country with such brilliantsuccess was first generally known to his countrymen as a remarkablewriter. During forty years of arduous service he never wholly desertedhis original calling. He is employing an interval of temporaryretirement to become the interpreter of Homer to the English race, or tobreak a lance with the most renowned theologians in defense of spiritualliberty. 

A great author, whose life we have been all lately reading withdelight, contemplates the year 3000 as a period at which his works maystill be studied. If any man might be led reasonably to form such ananticipation for himself by the admiration of his contemporaries, LordMacaulay may be acquitted of vanity. The year 3000 is far away, muchwill happen between now and then; all that we can say with certainty ofthe year 3000 is that it will be something extremely different from whatany one expects. I will not predict that men will then be reading LordMacaulay's "History of England. " I will not predict that they will thenbe reading "Lothair. " But this I will say, that if any statesman of theage of Augustus or the Antonines had left us a picture of patriciansociety at Rome, drawn with the same skill, and with the same delicateirony with which Mr. Disraeli has described a part of English societyin "Lothair, " no relic of antiquity would now be devoured with moreavidity and interest. Thus, sir, we are an anomalous body, with veryill-defined limits. But, such as we are, we are heartily obliged to youfor wishing us well, and I give you our most sincere thanks. 

LITERATURE AND POLITICS

BY JOHN MORLEY

Mr. President, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--Ifeel that I am more unworthy now than I was eight years ago to figure asthe representative of literature before this brilliant gathering of allthe most important intellectual and social interests of our time. I havenot yet been able like the Prime Minister, to go round this exhibitionand see the works of art that glorify your walls; but I am led by him toexpect that I shall see the pictures of Liberal leaders, including M. Rochefort. I am not sure whether M. Rochefort will figure as a man ofletters or as a Liberal leader, but I can understand that his portraitwould attract the Prime Minister because M. Rochefort is a politicianwho was once a Liberal leader, and who has now seen occasion to lose hisfaith in Parliamentary government. Nor have I seen the picture of "TheFlowing Tide, " but I shall expect to find in that picture when I do seeit a number of bathing-machines in which, not the younger generation, but the elder generation, as I understand are waiting confidently--forthe arrival of the "Flowing Tide, " and when it arrives, the elderlygentlemen who are incarcerated in those machines will be only tooanxious for a man and a horse to come and deliver them from theirimminent peril. 

I thought that I detected in the last words of your speech, in proposingthis toast, Mr. President, an accent of gentle reproach that any oneshould desert the high and pleasant ways of literature for the turmoiland the everlasting contention of public life. I do not suppose thatthere has ever been a time in which there was less of divorce betweenliterature and public life than the present time. There have been in thereign of the Queen two eminent statesmen who have thrice had thedistinction of being Prime Minister, and oddly enough, one of thosestatesman (Lord Derby) has left behind him a most spirited version ofHomer, while the other eminent statesman (William E. Gladstone)--happilystill among us, still examines the legends and the significance ofHomer. Then when we come to a period nearer to ourselves, and look atthose gentlemen who have in the last six years filled the office ofMinister for Ireland, we find that no fewer than three (George OttoTrevelyan, John Morley, and Arthur Balfour) were authors of booksbefore they engaged in the very ticklish business of the government ofmen. And one of these three Ministers for Ireland embarked upon hisliterary career--which promised ample distinction--under the editorialauspices of another of the three. We possess in one branch of theLegislature the author of the most fascinating literary biography in ourlanguage. We possess also another writer whose range of knowledge and ofintellectual interest is so great that he has written the most importantbook upon the American Commonwealth (James Bryce). 

The first canon in literature was announced one hundred years ago by aneminent Frenchman who said that in literature it is your business tohave preferences but no exclusions. In politics it appears to be ourbusiness to have very stiff and unchangeable preferences, and exclusionis one of the systematic objects of our life. In literature, accordingto another canon, you must have a free and open mind and it has beensaid: "Never be the prisoner of your own opinions. " In politics you arevery lucky if you do not have the still harder fate--(and I think thatthe gentlemen on the President's right hand will assent to that asreadily as the gentlemen who sit on his left) of being the prisoner ofother people's opinions. Of course no one can doubt for a moment thatthe great achievements of literature--those permanent and vital workswhich we will never let die--require a devotion as unceasing, aspatient, as inexhaustible, as the devotion that is required for theworks that adorn your walls; and we have luckily in our age--tho it maynot be a literary age--masters of prose and masters of verse. No prosemore winning has ever been written than that of Cardinal Newman; noverse finer, more polished, more melodious has ever been written thanthat of Lord Tennyson and Mr. Swinburne. 

It seems to me that one of the greatest functions of literature at thismoment is not merely to produce great works, but also to protect theEnglish language--that noble, that most glorious instrument--againstthose hosts of invaders which I observe have in these days sprung up. Isuppose that every one here has noticed the extraordinary list of namessuggested lately in order to designate motion by electricity; that listof names only revealed what many of us had been observing for a longtime--namely, the appalling forces that are ready at a moment's noticeto deface and deform our English tongue. These strange, fantastic, grotesque, and weird titles open up to my prophetic vision a mostunwelcome prospect. I tremble to see the day approach--and I am not surethat it is not approaching--when the humorists of the headlines ofAmerican journalism shall pass current as models of conciseness, energy, and color of style. 

Even in our social speech this invasion seems to be taking place in analarming degree, and I wonder what the Pilgrim Fathers of theseventeenth century would say if they could hear their pilgrim childrenof the nineteenth century who come over here, on various missions, andamong others, "On the make. " This is only one of the thousand such-likeexpressions which are invading the Puritan simplicity of our tongue. Iwill only say that I should like, for my own part, to see in everylibrary and in every newspaper office that admirable passage in whichMilton--who knew so well how to handle both the great instrument ofprose and the nobler instrument of verse--declared that next to the manwho furnished courage and intrepid counsels against an enemy he placedthe man who should enlist small bands of good authors to resist thatbarbarism which invades the minds and the speech of men in methods andhabits of speaking and writing. 

I thank you for having allowed me the honor of saying a word as to thehappiest of all callings and the most imperishable of all arts. 

GENERAL SHERMAN

BY CARL SCHURZ

Gentlemen:--The adoption by the Chamber of Commerce of these resolutionswhich I have the honor to second, is no mere perfunctory proceeding. Wehave been called here by a genuine impulse of the heart. To us GeneralSherman was not a great man like other great men, honored and revered ata distance. We had the proud and happy privilege of calling him one ofus. Only a few months ago, at the annual meeting of this Chamber, we sawthe familiar face of our honorary member on this platform by the side ofour President. Only a few weeks ago he sat at our banquet table, as hehad often before, in the happiest mood of conviviality, and contributedto the enjoyment of the night with his always unassuming and alwayscharming speech. And as he moved among us without the slightest pomp ofself-conscious historic dignity, only with the warm and simple genialityof his nature, it would cost us sometimes an effort of the memory torecollect that he was the renowned captain who had marshaled mightyarmies victoriously on many a battlefield, and whose name stood, andwill forever stand, in the very foremost rank of the saviors of thisRepublic, and of the great soldiers of the world's history. Indeed, noAmerican could have forgotten this for a moment; but the affection ofthose who were so happy as to come near to him, would sometimes struggleto outrun their veneration and gratitude. 

Death has at last conquered the hero of so many campaigns; our citiesand towns and villages are decked with flags at half-mast; the muffleddrum and the funeral cannon boom will resound over the land as his deadbody passes to the final resting-place; and the American people standmournfully gazing into the void left by the sudden disappearance of thelast of the greatest men brought forth by our war of regeneration--andthis last also finally become, save Abraham Lincoln alone, the mostwidely beloved. He is gone; but as we of the present generation rememberit, history will tell all coming centuries the romantic story of thefamous "March to the Sea"--how, in the dark days of 1864, Sherman, having worked his bloody way to Atlanta, then cast off all his lines ofsupply and communication, and, like a bold diver into the dark unknown, seemed to vanish with all his hosts from the eyes of the world, untilhis triumphant reappearance on the shores of the ocean proclaimed to theanxiously expecting millions, that now the final victory was no longerdoubtful, and that the Republic would surely be saved. 

Nor will history fail to record that this great general was, as avictorious soldier, a model of republican citizenship. When he had donehis illustrious deeds, he rose step by step to the highest rank in thearmy, and then, grown old, he retired. The Republic made provision forhim in modest republican style. He was satisfied. He asked for no higherreward. Altho the splendor of his achievements, and the personalaffection for him, which every one of his soldiers carried home, madehim the most popular American of his day, and altho the most glitteringprizes were not seldom held up before his eyes, he remained untroubledby ulterior ambition. No thought that the Republic owed him more everdarkened his mind. No man could have spoken to him of the "ingratitudeof Republics, " without meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, contentwith the consciousness of a great duty nobly done, he was happy in thelove of his fellow citizens. 

Indeed, he may truly be said to have been in his old age, not only themost beloved, but also the happiest of Americans. Many years he lived inthe midst of posterity. His task was finished, and this he wiselyunderstood. His deeds had been passed upon by the judgment of history, and irrevocably registered among the glories of his country and his age. His generous heart envied no one, and wished every one well; andill-will had long ceased to pursue him. Beyond cavil his fame wassecure, and he enjoyed it as that which he had honestly earned, with agenuine and ever fresh delight, openly avowed by the charming franknessof his nature. He dearly loved to be esteemed and cherished by hisfellow men, and what he valued most, his waning years brought him inever increasing abundance. Thus he was in truth a most happy man, andhis days went down like an evening sun in a cloudless autumn sky. Andwhen now the American people, with that peculiar tenderness of affectionwhich they have long borne him, lay him in his grave, the happy endingof his great life may soothe the pang of bereavement they feel in theirhearts at the loss of the old hero who was so dear to them, and of whomthey were and always will be so proud. His memory will ever be bright tous all; his truest monument will be the greatness of the Republic heserved so well; and his fame will never cease to be prized by a gratefulcountry, as one of its most precious possessions. 

ORATION OVER ALEXANDER HAMILTON[4]

BY GOUVERNEUR MORRIS

My Friends:--If on this sad, this solemn occasion, I should endeavor tomove your commiseration, it would be doing injustice to that sensibilitywhich has been so generally and so justly manifested. Far fromattempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own; andyet, I fear, that instead of the language of a public speaker, you willhear only the lamentations of a wailing friend. But I will struggle withmy bursting heart, to portray that heroic spirit, which has flown tothe mansions of bliss. 

Students of Columbia--he was in the ardent pursuit of knowledge in youracademic shades when the first sound of the American war called him tothe field. A young and unprotected volunteer, such was his zeal, and sobrilliant his service, that we heard his name before we knew his person. It seemed as if God had called him suddenly into existence, that hemight assist to save a world! The penetrating eye of Washington soonperceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom. By thatexcellent judge of men he was selected as an aid, and thus he becameearly acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more importantscenes of our revolution. At the siege of York he pertinaciouslyinsisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope. He stormedthe redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemyperished. His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chiefchecked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting. Hereclosed his military career. 

Shortly after the war, your favor--no, your discernment, called him topublic office. You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he thereassisted in forming the constitution which is now the bond of our union, the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity. In signingthe compact, he exprest his apprehension that it did not containsufficient means of strength for its own preservation; and that inconsequence we should share the fate of many other republics, and passthrough anarchy to despotism. We hoped better things. We confided in thegood sense of the American people; and, above all, we trusted in theprotecting providence of the Almighty. On this important subject henever concealed his opinion. He disdained concealment. Knowing thepurity of his heart, he bore it as it were in his hand, exposing toevery passenger its inmost recesses. This generous indiscretionsubjected him to censure from misrepresentation. His speculativeopinions were treated as deliberate designs; and yet you all know howstrenuous, how unremitting were his efforts to establish and to preservethe constitution. If, then, his opinion was wrong, pardon, O pardon, that single error, in a life devoted to your service. 

At the time when our Government was organized, we were without funds, tho not without resources. To call them into action, and establish orderin the finances, Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensiveinformation, and above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptibleintegrity. All these he found in Hamilton. The system then adopted, hasbeen the subject of much animadversion. If it be not without a fault, let it be remembered that nothing human is perfect. Recollect thecircumstances of the moment--recollect the conflict of opinion--and, above all, remember that a minister of a republic must bend to the willof the people. The administration which Washington formed was one of themost efficient, one of the best that any country was ever blessed with. And the result was a rapid advance in power and prosperity of whichthere is no example in any other age or nation. The part which Hamiltonbore is universally known. 

His unsuspecting confidence in professions, which he believed to besincere, led him to trust too much to the undeserving. This exposed himto misrepresentation. He felt himself obliged to resign. The care of arising family, and the narrowness of his fortune, made it a duty toreturn to his profession for their support. But tho he was compelled toabandon public life, never, no, never for a moment did he abandon thepublic service. He never lost sight of your interests. I declare to you, before that God in whose presence we are now especially assembled, thatin his most private and confidential conversations, the single objectsof discussion and consideration were your freedom and happiness. Youwell remember the state of things which again called forth Washingtonfrom his retreat to lead your armies. You know that he asked forHamilton to be his second in command. That venerable sage knew well thedangerous incidents of a military profession, and he felt the hand oftime pinching life at its source. It was probable that he would soon beremoved from the scene, and that his second would succeed to thecommand. He knew by experience the importance of that place--and hethought the sword of America might safely be confided to the hand whichnow lies cold in that coffin. Oh! my fellow citizens, remember thissolemn testimonial that he was not ambitious. Yet he was charged withambition, and, wounded by the imputation, when he laid down his commandhe declared in the proud independence of his soul, that he never wouldaccept any office, unless in a foreign war he should be called on toexpose his life in defense of his country. This determination wasimmovable. It was his fault that his opinions and his resolutions couldnot be changed. Knowing his own firm purpose, he was indignant at thecharge that he sought for place or power. He was ambitious only forglory, but he was deeply solicitous for you. For himself he fearednothing; but he feared that bad men might, by false professions, acquireyour confidence, and abuse it to your ruin. 

Brethren of the Cincinnati--there lies our chief! Let him still be ourmodel. Like him, after long and faithful public services, let uscheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! he was mildand gentle. In him there was no offense; no guile. His generous hand andheart were open to all. 

Gentlemen of the bar--you have lost your brightest ornament. Cherish andimitate his example. While, like him, with justifiable and laudablezeal, you pursue the interests of your clients, remember, like him, theeternal principle of justice. 

Fellow citizens--you have long witnessed his professional conduct, andfelt his unrivaled eloquence. You know how well he performed the dutiesof a citizen--you know that he never courted your favor by adulation orthe sacrifice of his own judgment. You have seen him contending againstyou, and saving your dearest interests, as it were, in spite ofyourselves. And you now feel and enjoy the benefits resulting from thefirm energy of his conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of mydeparted friend. I charge you to protect his fame. It is all he hasleft--all that these poor orphan children will inherit from theirfather. But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to youalso. Let it be the test by which to examine those who solicit yourfavor. Disregarding professions, view their conduct, and on a doubtfuloccasion ask, "Would Hamilton have done this thing?"

You all know how he perished. On this last scene I can not, I must notdwell. It might excite emotions too strong for your better judgment. Suffer not your indignation to lead to any act which might again offendthe insulted majesty of the laws. On his part, as from his lips, thowith my voice--for his voice you will hear no more--let me entreat youto respect yourselves. 

And now, ye ministers of the everlasting God, perform your holy office, and commit these ashes of our departed brother to the bosom of thegrave. 

FOOTNOTE:

[4] Funeral oration by Gouverneur Morris, statesman and man of affairs, pronounced before the porch of Trinity Church, New York City, over thebody of Alexander Hamilton, just prior to the interment, July 14, 1804. 

EULOGY OF McKINLEY

BY GROVER CLEVELAND

To-day the grave closes over the dead body of the man but lately chosenby the people of the United States from among their number to representtheir nationality, preserve, protect and defend their Constitution, tofaithfully execute the laws ordained for their welfare, and safely tohold and keep the honor and integrity of the Republic. His time ofservice is ended, not by the expiration of time, but by the tragedy ofassassination. He has passed from public sight, not joyously bearing thegarlands and wreaths of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid thesobs and tears of a mourning nation. He has gone to his home, not thehabitation of earthly peace and quiet, bright with domestic comfort andjoy, but to the dark and narrow house appointed for all the sons of men, there to rest until the morning light of the resurrection shall gleam inthe East. 

All our people loved their dead president. His kindly nature and lovabletraits of character and his amiable consideration for all about him willlong be in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them inreturn with such patriotism and unselfishness that in the hour of theirgrief and humiliation he would say to them: "It is God's will; I amcontent. If there is a lesson in my life or death, let it be taught tothose who still live and have the destiny of their country in theirkeeping. "

Let us, then, as our dead is buried out of our sight, seek for thelessons and the admonitions that may be suggested by the life and deathwhich constitute our theme. 

First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career ofWilliam McKinley by the young men who make up the student body of ouruniversity. These lessons are not obscure or difficult. They teach thevalue of study and mental training, but they teach more impressivelythat the road to usefulness and to the only success worth having, willbe missed or lost except it is sought and kept by the light of thosequalities of heart, which it is sometimes supposed may safely beneglected or subordinated in university surroundings. This is a greatmistake. Study and study hard, but never let the thought enter your mindthat study alone or the greatest possible accumulation of learning alonewill lead you to the heights of usefulness and success. 

The man who is universally mourned to-day achieved the highestdistinction which his great country can confer on any man, and he liveda useful life. He was not deficient in education, but with all you willhear of his grand career, and of his services to his country and hisfellow citizens, you will not hear that either the high place he reachedor what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. You willinstead constantly hear as accounting for his great success that he wasobedient and affectionate as a son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier, honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, andtruthful, generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation oflife. He never thought any of these things too weak for manliness. Makeno mistake. Here was a most distinguished man, a great man, a usefulman--who became distinguished, great and useful, because he had, andretained unimpaired, the qualities of heart which I fear universitystudents sometimes feel like keeping in the background or abandoning. 

There is a most serious lesson for all of us in the tragedy of our latepresident's death. The shock of it is so great that it is hard at thistime to read this lesson calmly. We can hardly fail to see, however, behind the bloody deed of the assassin, horrible figures and faces fromwhich it will not do to turn away. If we are to escape further attackupon our peace and security, we must boldly and resolutely grapple withthe monster of anarchy. It is not a thing that we can safely leave to bedealt with by party or partizanship. Nothing can guarantee us againstits menace except the teaching and the practise of the bestcitizenship, the exposure of the ends and aims of the gospel ofdiscontent and hatred of social order, and the brave enactment andexecution of repressive laws. 

Our universities and colleges can not refuse to join in the battleagainst the tendencies of anarchy. Their help in discovering and warningagainst the relationship between the vicious councils and deeds ofblood, and their unsteadying influence upon the elements of unrest, cannot fail to be of inestimable value. 

By the memory of our murdered president, let us resolve to cultivate andpreserve the qualities that made him great and useful; and let usdetermine to meet the call of patriotic duty in every time of ourcountry's danger or need. 

DECORATION DAY[5]

BY THOMAS W. HIGGINSON

Friends:--We meet to-day for a purpose that has the dignity and thetenderness of funeral rites without their sadness. It is not a newbereavement, but one which has softened, that brings us here. We meetnot around a newly opened grave, but among those which Nature hasalready decorated with the memorials of her love. Above every tomb herdaily sunshine has smiled, her tears have wept; over the humblest shehas bidden some grasses nestle, some vines creep, and thebutterfly, --ancient emblem of immortality--waves his little wings aboveevery sod. To Nature's signs of tenderness we add our own. Not "ashesto ashes, dust to dust, " but blossoms to blossoms, laurels to thelaureled. 

The great Civil War has passed by--its great armies were disbanded, their tents struck, their camp-fires put out, their muster-rolls laidaway. But there is another army whose numbers no Presidentialproclamation could reduce, no general orders disband. This is theircamping-ground--these white stones are their tents--this list of nameswe bear is their muster-roll--their camp-fires yet burn in our hearts. 

I remember this "Sweet Auburn" when no sacred associations made itsweeter, and when its trees looked down on no funerals but those of thebird and the bee. Time has enriched its memories since those days. Andespecially during our great war, as the Nation seemed to growimpoverished in men, these hills grow richer in associations, untiltheir multiplying wealth took in that heroic boy who fell in almost thelast battle of the war. Now that roll of honor has closed, and the workof commemoration begun. 

Without distinction of nationality, of race, of religion, they gavetheir lives to their country. Without distinction of religion, of race, of nationality, we garland their graves to-day. The young Roman Catholicconvert who died exclaiming "Mary! pardon!" and the young Protestanttheological student, whose favorite place of study was this cemetery, and who asked only that no words of praise might be engraven on hisstone--these bore alike the cross in their lifetime, and shall bear italike in flowers to-day. They gave their lives that we might remain oneNation, and the Nation holds their memory alike in its arms. 

And so the little distinctions of rank that separated us in the serviceare nothing here. Death has given the same brevet to all. The brilliantyoung cavalry general who rode into his last action, with stars on hisshoulders and his death-wound on his breast, is to us no more preciousthan that sergeant of sharpshooters who followed the line unarmed atAntietam, waiting to take the rifle of some one who should die, becausehis own had been stolen; or that private who did the same thing in thesame battle, leaving the hospital service to which he had been assigned. Nature has been equally tender to the graves of all, and our love knowsno distinction. 

What a wonderful embalmer is death! We who survive grow daily older. Since the war closed the youngest has gained some new wrinkle, theoldest some added gray hair. A few years more and only a few tatteringfigures shall represent the marching files of the Grand Army; a year ortwo beyond that, and there shall flutter by the window the last emptysleeve. But these who are here are embalmed forever in our imaginations;they will not change; they never will seem to us less young, less fresh, less daring, than when they sallied to their last battle. They willalways have the dew of their youth; it is we alone who shall grow old. 

And, again, what a wonderful purifier is death! These who fell beside usvaried in character; like other men, they had their strength and theirweaknesses, their merits and their faults. Yet now all stains seemwashed away; their life ceased at its climax, and the ending sanctionedall that went before. They died for their country; that is theirrecord. They found their way to heaven equally short, it seems to us, from every battle-field, and with equal readiness our love seeks themto-day. 

"What is a victory like?" said a lady to the Duke of Wellington. "Thegreatest tragedy in the world, madam, except a defeat. " Even our greatwar would be but a tragedy were it not for the warm feeling ofbrotherhood it has left behind it, based on the hidden emotions of dayslike these. The war has given peace to the nation; it has given union, freedom, equal rights; and in addition to that, it has given to you andme the sacred sympathy of these graves. No matter what it has cost usindividually--health or worldly fortunes--it is our reward that we canstand to-day among these graves and yet not blush that we survive. 

The great French soldier, de Latour d'Auvergne, was the hero of manybattles, but remained by his own choice in the ranks. Napoleon gave hima sword and the official title "The First Grenadier of France. " When hewas killed, the Emperor ordered that his heart should be intrusted tothe keeping of his regiment--that his name should be called at everyroll-call, and that his next comrade should make answer, "Dead upon thefield of honor. " In our memories are the names of many heroes; wetreasure all their hearts in this consecrated ground, and when the nameof each is called, we answer in flowers, "Dead upon the field of honor. "

FOOTNOTE:

[5] Delivered at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. , DecorationDay, May 30, 1870. 

FAITH IN MANKIND[6]

BY ARTHUR T. HADLEY

In order to accomplish anything great, a man must have two sides to hisgreatness: a personal side and a social side. He must be uprighthimself, and he must believe in the good intentions and possibilities ofothers about him. 

The scholars and scientific men of the country have sometimes beenreproached with a certain indifference to the feelings and sentiments oftheir fellow men. It has been said that their critical faculty isdeveloped more strongly than their constructive instinct; that theirbrain has been nourished at the expense of their heart; that what theyhave gained in breadth of vision has been outweighed by a loss of humansympathy. 

It is for you to prove the falseness of this charge. It is for you toshow by your life and utterances that you believe in the men who areworking with you and about you. There will probably be times when thisis a hard task. If you have studied history or literature or sciencearight, some things which look large to other people will look small toyou. You will frequently be called upon to give the unwelcome advicethat a desired end can not be reached by a short cut; and this may causesome of your enthusiastic friends to lose confidence in your leadership. There are always times when a man who is clear-headed is reproached withbeing hard-hearted. But if you yourselves keep your faith in your fellowmen, these things, tho they be momentary hindrances, will in the longrun make for your power of Christian leadership. 

There was a time, not so very long ago, when the people distrusted theguidance of scientific men in things material. They believed that theycould do their business best without advice of the theorists. When itcame to the conduct of business, scientific men and practical men eyedeach other with mutual distrust. As long as the scientific men remainedmere critics this distrust remained. When they came to take up thepractical problems of applied mechanics and physics and solve thempositively in a large way, they became the trusted leaders of modernmaterial development. 

It is for you to deal with the profounder problems of human life in thesame way. It is for you to prove your right to take the lead in thepolitical and social and spiritual development of the country, as wellas in its mechanical and material development. To do this you must takehold of these social problems with the same positive faith with whichyour fathers took hold of the problems of applied science. To the manwho believes in his fellow men, who has faith in his country, and inwhom the love of God whom he hath not seen is but an outgrowth of a lovefor his fellow men whom he hath seen, the opening years of the twentiethcentury are years of unrivaled promise. We already know that a man canlearn to love God by loving his fellow men. Equally true we shall findit that a man learns to believe in God by believing in his fellow men. 

FOOTNOTE:

[6] The concluding part of a baccalaureate address to the graduatingclass of Yale University, June 27, 1909. 

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN[7]

BY MARTIN W. LITTLETON

The strongest thing about the character of the two greatest men inAmerican history is the fact that they did not surrender to the passionof the time. Washington withstood the French radicalism of Jefferson andthe British conservatism of Hamilton. He invited each of them into hiscabinet; he refused to allow either of them to dictate his policy. Hisenemies could not terrify him by assault; his friends could not deceivehim with flattery. In this respect he resembled in marked degree thesplendid character of Lincoln. 

The single light that led Lincoln's feet along the hard highway of lifewas justice; the single thought that throbbed his brain to sleep atnight was justice; the single prayer that put in whispered words themight and meaning of his soul was justice; the single impulse thatlingered in a heart already wrung by a nation's grief was justice; inevery word that fell from him in touching speech there was the sad andsober spirit of justice. He sat upon the storm when the nation shookwith passion. Treason, wrong, injustice, crime, graft, a thousand wrongsin system and in single added to the burden of this melancholy spirit. Silently, as the soul of the just makes war on sin; silently, as thespirit of the mighty withstands the spite of wrong; silently, as theheart of the truly brave resists the assault of the coward, this princeof patience and peace endured the calumny of the country he died tosave. 

Lincoln blazed the way from the cabin to the crown; working away in thesilence of the woods, he heard the murmur of a storm; toiling in theforest of flashing leaf and armored oak, he heard Lexington calling untoSumter, Valley Forge crying unto Gettysburg, and Yorktown shouting untoAppomattox. Lingering before the dying fires in a humble hut, he sawwith sorrowful heart the blazing camps of Virginia, and felt the awfulstillness of slumbering armies. Beneath it all he saw the strainedmuscles of the slave, the broken spirit of the serf, the bondage ofimmortal souls; and beyond it all, looking through the tears that brokefrom a breaking heart, he saw the widow by the empty chair, the agedfather's fruitless vigil at the gate, the daughter's dreary watchbeside the door, and the son's solemn step from boyhood to old age. Andbehind this picture he saw the lonely family altar upon which wasoffered the incense of tears coming from millions of broken hearts; andlooking still beyond he saw the battle-fields where silent slabs told ofthe death of those who died in deathless valor. He saw the desolatedearth, where golden grain no more broke from the rich, resourceful soil, where the bannered wheat no longer rose from the productive earth; hesaw the South with its smoking chimneys, its deserted hearthstones, itsmaimed and wounded trudging with bowed heads and bent forms back totheir homes, there to want and to waste and to struggle and to build upagain; he saw the North recover itself from the awful shock of arms andstart anew to unite the arteries of commerce that had been cut by thecruel sword of war. And with this gentle hand, and as a last act of hissacrificial life, he dashed the awful cup of brother's blood from thelustful lip of war and shattered the cannons' roar into nameless notesof song. 

Then turn to the vision of Washington leaving a plantation of peace andplenty to suffer on the blood-stained battle-field, surrendering thedominion over the princely domain of a Virginia gentleman to accept theprivations of an unequal war--the vision of patriotism over against thevision of greed. 

Oh, my friends, we must live so that the spirit of these men shallsettle all about our lives and deeds; so that the patriotism of theirservice shall burn as a fire in the hearts of all who shall follow them. The Constitution which came from one, the universal liberty which camefrom the other, must be set in our hearts as institutions in the bloodof our race, so that this Government shall not perish until every dropof that blood has been shed in its defense; and we shall behold the flagof our country as the beautiful emblem of their unselfish lives, whosered ran out of a soldier's heart, whose white was bleached by a nation'stears, whose stars were hung there to sing together until the eternalmorning when all the world shall be free. 

FOOTNOTE:

[7] Extract from an address on the occasion of the celebration ofWashington's Birthday by the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, New York, February 22, 1906. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON[8]

BY WILLIAM McKINLEY

Fellow Citizens:--There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connectedwith this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude and reverence ofthe living, but is a testimonial of affection and homage from the dead. 

The comrades of Washington projected this monument. Their love inspiredit. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and present share inits completion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. Toparticipate in the dedication of such a monument is a rare and preciousprivilege. Every monument to Washington is a tribute to patriotism. Every shaft and statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of country, encourage loyalty and establish a better citizenship. God bless everyundertaking which revives patriotism and rebukes the indifferent andlawless! A critical study of Washington's career only enhances ourestimation of his vast and varied abilities. 

As Commander-in-chief of the Colonial armies from the beginning of thewar to the proclamation of peace, as president of the convention whichframed the Constitution of the United States, and as the first Presidentof the United States under that Constitution, Washington has adistinction differing from that of all other illustrious Americans. Noother name bears or can bear such a relation to the Government. Notonly by his military genius--his patience, his sagacity, his courage, and his skill--was our national independence won, but he helped inlargest measure to draft the chart by which the Nation was guided; andhe was the first chosen by the people to put in motion the newGovernment. His was not the boldness of martial display or the charm ofcaptivating oratory, but his calm and steady judgment won men's supportand commanded their confidence by appealing to their best and noblestaspirations. And withal Washington was ever so modest that at no time inhis career did his personality seem in the least intrusive. He was abovethe temptation of power. He spurned any suggested crown. He would haveno honor which the people did not bestow. 

An interesting fact--and one which I love to recall--is that the onlytime Washington formally addrest the Constitutional Convention duringall its sessions over which he presided in this city, he appealed for alarger representation of the people in the National House ofRepresentatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded. Thus was he everkeenly watchful of the rights of the people in whose hands was thedestiny of our Government then as now. 

Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil administrationcommands equal admiration. His foresight was marvelous; his conceptionof the philosophy of government, his insistence upon the necessity ofeducation, morality, and enlightened citizenship to the progress andpermanence of the Republic, can not be contemplated even at this periodwithout filling us with astonishment at the breadth of his comprehensionand the sweep of his vision. His was no narrow view of government. Theimmediate present was not his sole concern, but our future good hisconstant theme of study. He blazed the path of liberty. He laid thefoundation upon which we have grown from weak and scattered Colonialgovernments to a united Republic whose domains and power as well aswhose liberty and freedom have become the admiration of the world. Distance and time have not detracted from the fame and force of hisachievements or diminished the grandeur of his life and work. Greatdeeds do not stop in their growth, and those of Washington will expandin influence in all the centuries to follow. 

The bequest Washington has made to civilization is rich beyondcomputation. The obligations under which he has placed mankind aresacred and commanding. The responsibility he has left for the Americanpeople to preserve and perfect what he accomplished is exacting andsolemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that the people realizewhat they enjoy and cherish with affection the illustrious heroes ofRevolutionary story whose valor and sacrifices made us a nation. Theylive in us, and their memory will help us keep the covenant entered intofor the maintenance of the freest Government of the earth. 

The Nation and the name of Washington are inseparable. One is linkedindissolubly with the other. Both are glorious, both triumphant. Washington lives and will live because what he did was for theexaltation of man, the enthronement of conscience, and the establishmentof a Government which recognizes all the governed. And so, too, will theNation live victorious over all obstacles, adhering to the immortalprinciples which Washington taught and Lincoln sustained. 

FOOTNOTE:

[8] Address by William McKinley, twenty-fourth President of the UnitedStates, delivered at the unveiling of the Washington Statue, by theSociety of Cincinnati, in Philadelphia, May 15, 1897. 

"LET FRANCE BE FREE!"[9]

BY GEORGE JACQUES DANTON

The general considerations that have been presented to you are true; butat this moment it is less necessary to examine the causes of thedisasters that have struck us than to apply their remedy rapidly. Whenthe edifice is on fire, I do not join the rascals who would steal thefurniture, I extinguish the flames. I tell you therefore you should beconvinced by the despatches of Dumouriez that you have not a moment tospare in saving the Republic. 

Dumouriez conceived a plan which did honor to his genius. I would renderhim greater justice and praise than I did recently. But three monthsago he announced to the executive power, your General Committee ofDefense, that if we were not audacious enough to invade Holland in themiddle of winter, to declare instantly against England the war whichactually we had long been making, that we would double the difficultiesof our campaign, in giving our enemies the time to deploy their forces. Since we failed to recognize this stroke of his genius we must nowrepair our faults. 

Dumouriez is not discouraged; he is in the middle of Holland, where hewill find munitions of war; to overthrow all our enemies, he wants butFrenchmen, and France is filled with citizens. Would we be free? If weno longer desire it, let us perish, for we have all sworn it. If we wishit, let all march to defend our independence. Your enemies are makingtheir last efforts. Pitt, recognizing he has all to lose, dares sparenothing. Take Holland, and Carthage is destroyed and England can nolonger exist but for Liberty! Let Holland be conquered to Liberty; andeven the commercial aristocracy itself, which at the moment dominatesthe English people, would rise against the government which had draggedit into this despotic war against a free people. They would overthrowthis ministry of stupidity who thought the methods of the _ancienrégime_ could smother the genius of Liberty breathing in France. Thisministry once overthrown in the interests of commerce the party ofLiberty would show itself; for it is not dead! And if you know yourduties, if your commissioners leave at once, if you extend the hand tothe strangers aspiring to destroy all forms of tyranny, France is savedand the world is free. 

Expedite, then, your commissioners; sustain them with your energy; letthem leave this very night, this very evening. 

Let them say to the opulent classes, the aristocracy of Europe mustsuccumb to our efforts, and pay our debt, or you will have to pay it!The people have nothing but blood--they lavish it! Go, then, ingrates, and lavish your wealth! See, citizens, the fair destinies that awaityou. What! you have a whole nation as a lever, its reason as yourfulcrum, and you have not yet upturned the world! To do this we needfirmness and character, and of a truth we lack it. I put to one side allpassions. They are all strangers to me save a passion for the publicgood. 

In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the gates ofParis, I said to those governing: "Your discussions are shameful, I cansee but the enemy. You tire me by squabbling in place of occupyingyourselves with the safety of the Republic! I repudiate you all astraitors to our country! I place you all in the same line!" I said tothem: "What care I for my reputation! Let France be free, tho my namewere accurst! What care I that I am called 'a blood-drinker!'" Well, letus drink the blood of the enemies of humanity, if needful; but let usstruggle, let us achieve freedom. Some fear the departure of thecommissioners may weaken one or the other section of this Convention. Vain fears! Carry your energy everywhere. The pleasantest declarationwill be to announce to the people that the terrible debt weighing uponthem will be wrested from their enemies or that the rich will shortlyhave to pay it. The national situation is cruel. The representatives ofvalue are no longer in equilibrium in the circulation. The day of theworkingman is lengthened beyond necessity. A great corrective measure isnecessary! Conquerors of Holland reanimate in England the Republicanparty; let us advance, France, and we shall go glorified to posterity. Achieve these grand destinies; no more debates, no more quarrels, andthe fatherland is saved. 

FOOTNOTE:

[9] On the disasters on the frontier--delivered in convention, March 10, 1793. 

SONS OF HARVARD[10]

BY CHARLES DEVENS

The sons of Harvard who have served their country on field and flood, indeep thankfulness to Almighty God, who has covered their heads in theday of battle and permitted them to stand again in these ancient hallsand under these leafy groves, sacred to so many memories of youth andlearning, and in yet deeper thankfulness for the crowning mercy whichhas been vouchsafed in the complete triumph of our arms over rebellion, return home to-day. Educated only in the arts of peace, unlearned in allthat pertained especially to the science of war, the emergency of thehour threw upon them the necessity of grasping the sword. 

Claiming only that they have striven to do their duty they come only toask their share in the common joy and happiness which our victory hasdiffused and meet this imposing reception. When they remember in whosepresence they stand; that of all the great crowd of the sons of Harvardwho are here to-day there is not one who has not contributed his utmostto the glorious consummation; that those who have been blessed withopulence have expended with the largest and most lavish hand insupplying the government with the sinews of war and sustainingeverywhere the distrest upon whom the woes of war fell; that those lesslarge in means altho not in heart have not failed to pour out mosttenderly of time and care, of affection and love, in the thousandchannels that have been opened; that the statesmen and legislatorswhose wise counsels and determined spirit have brought us thus far insafety and honor are here, --would that their task were as completelydone as ours!--yet sure I am that in their hands "the pen will not loseby writing what the sword has won by fighting;" that the poets whosefiery lyrics roused us as when

 "Tyrtæus called aloud to arms, "

and who have animated the living and celebrated the dead in the nobleststrains are here; that our orators whose burning words have so cheeredthe gloom of the long controversy are here, altho withal we lament thatone voice so often heard through the long night of gloom was notpermitted to greet with us the morning. Surrounded by memories such ashis, surrounded by men such as these, we may well feel at receiving thisnoble testimonial of your regard that it is rather you who are generousin bestowing than we who are rich in deserving. Nor do we forget theguests who honor us by their presence to-day, chief among whom werecognize his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, who altho hewears the civilian's coat bears as stout a heart as beats under anysoldier's jacket, and who has sent his men by the thousands and tens ofthousands to fight in this great battle; and the late commanding generalof the Army of the Potomac under whom so many of us have fought. If thewhole and comprehensive plans of our great lieutenant-general havemarked him as the Ulysses of a holier and mightier epic than Homer everdreamed, in the presence of the great captain who fairly turned the tideof the rebellion on the hills above Gettysburg, we shall not have tolook far for its Achilles. 

Yet, sir, speaking always of others as you have called on me to speakfor them, it seems to me that the record of the sons of the universitywho have served in the war is not unworthy of her. In any capacity whereservice was honorable or useful they have rendered it. In thedepartments of science they have been conspicuous and the skill of theengineer upon whom we so often depended was not seldom derived from theschools of this university. In surgery they have by learning andjudgment alleviated the woes of thousands. And in the ministration ofthat religion in whose name this university was founded they have notbeen less devoted; not only have cheering words gone forth from theirpulpits, but they have sought the hospitals where the wounded weredying, or like Fuller at Fredericksburg, have laid down their lives onthe field where armed hosts were contending. All these were applying theprinciples of their former education to new sets of circumstances; but, as you will remember, by far the larger portion of our number were ofthe combatants of the army, and the facility they displayed in adoptingthe profession of arms affords an admirable addition to the argument bywhich it has been heretofore maintained that the general education ofour college was best for all who could obtain it, as affording a basisupon which any superstructure of usefulness might be raised. Readilymastering the tactics and detail of the profession, proving themselvesable to grapple with its highest problems, their courage and gallantrywere proverbial. 

It would be a great mistake to suppose that all that was added to ourarmy by such men as these was merely what it gained in physical forceand manly prowess. Our neighbors on the other side of the water, whoseattachment to monarchy is so strong that it sometimes makes them unjustto republics, have sometimes attacked the character and discipline ofour army. Nothing could be more unjust. The federal army was noble, self-sacrificing, devoted always, and to the discipline of that army nomen contributed more than the members of this university and men such asthey. They bore always with them the loftiest principle in the contestand the highest honor in all their personal relations. Disorder in camp, pillage and plunder, found in them stern and unrelenting foes. Theyfought in a cause too sacred, they wore a robe too white, to be willingto stain or sully it with such corruption. 

Mr. President I should ill do the duty you have called on me to performif I forgot that this ceremonial is not only a reception of those whoreturn, but a commemoration of those who have laid down their lives forthe service of the country. He who should have properly spoken for us, the oldest of our graduates, altho not of our members who have fought inthis war, --Webster of the class of 1833, sealed his faith with his lifeon the bloody field of the second Manassas, dying for the constitutionof which his great father was the noblest expounder. For those of us whoreturn to-day, whatever our perils and dangers may have been, we can notfeel that we have done enough to merit what you so generously bestow;but for those with whom the work of this life is finished and yet wholive forever inseparably linked with the great names of the founders ofthe Republic, and not them alone, but the heroes and martyrs of libertyeverywhere, we know that no honor can be too much. The voices which rangout so loud and clear upon the charging cheer that heralded the finalassault in the hour of victory, that in the hour of disaster were socalm and resolute as they sternly struggled to stay the slow retreat arenot silent yet. To us and to those who will come after us, they willspeak of comfort and home relinquished, of toil nobly borne, of dangermanfully encountered, of life generously surrendered and this not forpelf or ambition, but in the spirit of the noblest self-devotion and themost exalted patriotism. Proud as we who are here to-day have a right tobe that we are the sons of this university, and not deemed unworthy ofher when these are remembered, we may well say, "Sparta had many aworthier son than we. "

FOOTNOTE:

[10] Speech at Commemoration Exercises held at Cambridge, July 21, 1865. 

WAKE UP, ENGLAND![11]

BY KING GEORGE

In the name of the Queen and the other members of my family, on behalfof the Princess and for myself, I thank you most sincerely for yourenthusiastic reception of this toast, proposed by you, my Lord Mayor, insuch kind and generous terms. Your feeling allusion to our recent longabsence from our happy family circle gives expression to that sympathywhich has been so universally extended to my dear parents, whether intimes of joy or sorrow, by the people of this country, and upon which mydear mother felt she could ever reckon from the first days of her lifehere amongst them. As to ourselves, we are deeply sensible of the greathonor done us on this occasion, and our hearts are moved by the splendidreception which to-day has been accorded us by the authorities andinhabitants of the City of London. And I desire to take this opportunityto express our deepest gratitude for the sympathetic interest with whichour journey was followed by our fellow countrymen at home, and for thewarm welcome with which we were greeted on our return. You were goodenough, my Lord Mayor, to refer to his Majesty having marked ourhome-coming by creating me Prince of Wales. I only hope that I may beworthy to hold that ancient and historic title, which was borne by mydear father for upward of fifty-nine years. 

My Lord Mayor, you have attributed to us more credit than I think wedeserve. For I feel that the debt of gratitude is not the nation's tous, but ours to the King and Government for having made it possible forus to carry out, with every consideration for our comfort andconvenience, a voyage unique in its character, rich in the experiencegained and in memories of warm and affectionate greetings from the manyraces of his Majesty's subjects in his great dominions beyond the seas. And here in the capital of our great Empire I would repeat howprofoundly touched and gratified we have been by the loyalty, affectionand enthusiasm which invariably characterized the welcome extended to usthroughout our long and memorable tour. It may interest you to knowthat we travelled over 45, 000 miles, of which 33, 000 were by sea, and Ithink it is a matter of which all may feel proud that, with theexception of Port Said, we never set foot on any land where the UnionJack did not fly. Leaving England in the middle of March, we firsttouched at Gibraltar and Malta, where, as a sailor, I was proud to meetthe two great fleets of the Channel and Mediterranean. Passing throughthe Suez Canal--a monument of the genius and courage of a gifted son ofthe great friendly nation across the Channel--we entered at Aden thegateway of the East. We stayed for a short time to enjoy the unrivaledscenery of Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, the gorgeous displays oftheir native races, and to see in what happy contentment these variouspeoples live and prosper under British rule. Perhaps there was somethingstill more striking in the fact that the Government, the commerce, andevery form of enterprise in these countries are under the leadership anddirection of but a handful of our countrymen, and to realize the highqualities of the men who have won and kept for us that splendidcondition. Australia saw the consummation of the great mission which wasthe more immediate object of our journey, and you can imagine thefeelings of pride with which I presided over the inauguration of thefirst representative Assembly of the new-born Australian Commonwealth, in whose hands are placed the destinies of the great island continent. During a happy stay of many weeks in the different States, we were ableto gain an insight into the working of the commercial, social andpolitical institutions of which the country justly boasts, and to seesomething of the great progress which it has already made, and of itsgreat capabilities, while making the acquaintance of the warm-heartedand large-minded men to whose personality and energy so much of thatprogress is due. New Zealand afforded us a striking example of avigorous, independent and prosperous people, living in the fullenjoyment of free and liberal institutions, and where many interestingsocial experiments are being put to the test of experience. Here we hadthe satisfaction of meeting large gatherings of the Maori people--once abrave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King. Tasmania, which in natural characteristics and climate reminded us ofthe old country, was visited when our faces were at length turnedhomeward. Mauritius, with its beautiful tropical scenery, its classical, literary and naval historical associations, and its population giftedwith all the charming characteristics of old France, was our firsthalting-place, on our way to receive, in Natal and Cape Colony, awelcome remarkable in its warmth and enthusiasm, which appeared to beaccentuated by the heavy trial of the long and grievous war under whichthey have suffered. To Canada was borne the message--already conveyed toAustralia and New Zealand--of the Motherland's loving appreciation ofthe services rendered by her gallant sons. In a journey from ocean toocean, marvelous in its comfort and organization, we were enabled to seesomething of its matchless scenery, the richness of its soil, theboundless possibilities of that vast and but partly explored territory. We saw, too, the success which has crowned the efforts to weld into onecommunity the peoples of its two great races. Our final halting-placewas, by the express desire of the King, Newfoundland, the oldest of ourcolonies and the first visited by his Majesty in 1860. The heartyseafaring population of this island gave us a reception the cordialityof which is still fresh in our memories. 

If I were asked to specify any particular impressions derived from ourjourney, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of loyaltyto the Crown and of attachment to the country; and it was touching tohear the invariable reference to home, even from the lips of those whonever had been or were never likely to be in these islands. And withthis loyalty were unmistakable evidences of the consciousness ofstrength; of a true and living membership in the Empire, and of powerand readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that membership. And were I to seek for the causes which have created and fostered thisspirit, I should venture to attribute them, in a very large degree, tothe light and example of our late beloved Sovereign. It would bedifficult to exaggerate the signs of genuine sorrow for her loss and oflove for her memory which we found among all races, even in the mostremote districts which we visited. Besides this, may we not find anothercause--the wise and just policy which in the last half century has beencontinuously maintained toward our colonies? As a result of the happyrelations thus created between the mother country and her colonies wehave seen their spontaneous rally round the old flag in defense of thenation's honor in South Africa. I had ample opportunities to form someestimate of the military strength of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, having reviewed upward of 60, 000 troops. Abundant and excellentmaterial is available, requiring only that molding into shape which canbe readily effected by the hands of capable and experienced officers. Iam anxious to refer to an admirable movement which has taken strong rootin both Australia and New Zealand--and that is the cadet corps. Onseveral occasions I had the gratification of seeing march past severalthousand cadets, armed and equipped, and who at the expense of theirrespective Governments are able to go through a military course, and insome cases with an annual grant of practise ammunition. I will notpresume, in these days of army reform, to do more than call theattention of my friend, the Secretary of State for War, to thisinteresting fact. 

To the distinguished representatives of the commercial interests of theEmpire, whom I have the pleasure of seeing here to-day, I venture toallude to the impression which seemed generally to prevail among theirbrethren across the seas, that _the old country must wake up_ if sheintends to maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her colonialtrade against foreign competitors. No one who had the privilege ofenjoying the experiences which we have had during our tour could fail tobe struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand: the want ofpopulation. Even in the oldest of our colonies there were abundant signsof this need. Boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineralwealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready toyield profitable crops to the settlers. And these can be enjoyed underconditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, inexchange for the over-crowded cities and the almost hopeless strugglefor existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the oldcountry. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonialbrethren, and that is, "Send us suitable emigrants. " I would go further, and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of theattachment of the motherland to her children by sending to them only ofher best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at allevents pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentimentand purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which knittogether and alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire. 

FOOTNOTE:

[11] A speech delivered by His Majesty King George when Prince of Wales, at the Guildhall, London, December 5, 1901, on his return from his tourof the Empire. With the permission of the proprietors of _The Times_ thereport which appeared in that paper has been followed. 

ADVERTISEMENTS

-----------------------------------------------------| _By Grenville Kleiser_ |-----------------------------------------------------|Inspiration and Ideals || ||How to Build Mental Power || ||How to Develop Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner|| ||How to Read and Declaim || ||How to Speak in Public || ||How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking || ||Great Speeches and How to Make Them || ||How to Argue and Win || ||Humorous Hits and How to Hold an Audience || ||Complete Guide to Public Speaking || ||Talks on Talking || ||Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases || ||The World's Great Sermons || ||Mail Course in Public Speaking || ||Mail Course in Practical English || ||How to Speak Without Notes || ||Something to Say: How to Say It || ||Successful Methods of Public Speaking || ||Model Speeches for Practise || ||The Training of a Public Speaker || ||How to Sell Through Speech || ||Impromptu Speeches: How to Make Them || ||Word-Power: How to Develop It || ||Christ: The Master Speaker || ||Vital English for Speakers and Writers |-----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN

By GRENVILLE KLEISER

_Author of "How to Speak in Public. "_

Ninety-nine men in a hundred can argue to one who can argue and win. Yetupon this faculty more than any other depends the power of the lawyer, business man, preacher, politician, salesman, and teacher. The desire towin is characteristic of all men. "Almost to win a case, " "Almost toclose a sale, " "Almost to make a convert, " or "Almost to gain a vote, "brings neither satisfaction nor success. 

In this book will be found definite suggestions for training the mind inaccurate thinking and the power of clear and effective statement. It isthe outcome of many years of experience in teaching men "to think ontheir feet. " The aim throughout is practical, and the ultimate object aknowledge of successful argumentation. 

CONTENTS

 Introductory--Truth and Facts--Clearness and Conciseness--The Use of Words--The Syllogism--Faults--Personality--The Lawyer--The Business Man--The Preacher--The Salesman--The Public Speaker--Brief-Drawing--The Discipline of Debate--Tact--Cause and Effect--Reading Habits--Questions for Solution--Specimens of Argumentation--Golden Rules in Argumentation. 

Note for Law Lecture _Abraham Lincoln_Of Truth _Francis Bacon_Of Practise and Habits _John Locke_Improving the Memory _Isaac Watts_

_12mo, Cloth. $1. 50, Net; by mail, $1. 65_

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers

NEW YORK AND LONDON

 * * * * *

How to Develop

Self-Confidence

in Speech and Manner

By GRENVILLE KLEISER

_Author of "How to Speak in Public"; "How to Develop Power andPersonality in Speaking, " etc. _

The purpose of this book is to inspire in men lofty ideals. It isparticularly for those who daily defraud themselves because of doubt, fearthought, and foolish timidity. 

Thousands of persons are held in physical and mental bondage, owing tolack of self-confidence. Distrusting themselves, they live a life oflimited effort, and at last pass on without having realized more than asmall part of their rich possessions. It is believed that this book willbe of substantial service to those who wish to rise above mediocrity, and who feel within them something of their divine inheritance. It iscommended with confidence to every ambitious man. 

_CONTENTS_

 Preliminary Steps--Building the Will--The Cure of Self-Consciousness--The Power of Right Thinking--Sources of Inspiration--Concentration--Physical Basis--Finding Yourself--General Habits--The Man and the Manner--The Discouraged Man--Daily Steps in Self-Culture--Imagination and Initiative--Positive and Negative Thought--The Speaking Voice--Confidence in Business--Confidence in Society--Confidence in Public Speaking--Toward the Heights--Memory Passages that Build Confidence. 

_12mo, Cloth. $1. 50, Net; by mail, $1. 65_

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers

NEW YORK AND LONDON