some of the most important cases on record. He was United States senator for twenty years, and during President Harrison's administration was Secretary of State. His speeches are masterpieces of oratory. He was imposing in form, being tall and commanding, with a head of great size, and large deep-set, lustrous black eyes, like those of the poet Whittier, a relative of his. His manner was impressive, yet easy; his voice was powerful, sonorous, and flexible, and his conversational power has seldom been equalled. He died in 1852. [See pages 157, 178.] 13. JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. There is no other land like thee, Thou art the shelter of the free; Thou hast been, and shalt ever be NEW ENGLAND. Mr. Percival, born in Connecticut in 1795, was a noted scholar and poet, a friend of William Cullen Bryant, who was born just one year earlier. Like Bryant, too, he wrote some of his poems when but fourteen years old. When twenty, he graduated from Yale. A play which he wrote then was a part of the commencement exercises. He became a physician, and at one time was surgeon at the military school of West Point. He was a surveyor and geologist also, and surveyed the lead mining region of Wisconsin, where he became state geologist. He died in that state in 1856. He is well known to school children through a beautiful poem called "The Coral Grove." [See page 196.] 14. THOMAS B. MACAULAY. How sweet it is at that enchanting hour, - EVENING. Mr. Macaulay was a brilliant English historian and essayist. He made a careful and extensive study of the history both of his own and of early times. His father, who was an East India merchant, and a great worker for the good of his fellow men, imparted his own feelings to his son. The latter lived for a considerable time in India, made close studies of the people, and tried to improve the condition of the natives. He exposed the wrong-doings of the English governors of India. He was a member of the English Parliament and made eloquent speeches, always for the purpose of bettering the condition of abused classes. Two especially were very noted: one on the duty of allowing Jews equal rights in government, the other on abolishing slavery in the West Indies. He wrote a fine history of England, which you will read some day. Besides this, he has some stirring historical poems, in which he seemed to catch the very spirit of his subject. You will enjoy some of these, especially "Horatius" and Virginia." 66 He lived from 1800 to 1859. [See page 162.] 15. GEORGE BANCROFT. Institutions may crumble and governments fall, but it is only that they may renew a better youth. The petals of the flower wither that fruit may form. Each people that has disappeared, every institution that has passed away, has been a step in the ladder by which humanity ascends toward the perfecting of its nature. -HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. George Bancroft, a son of Rev. Aaron Bancroft, was born in 1800. He graduated from Harvard, and afterwards from the German University of Göttingen. He traveled and studied much in Europe, mastering its languages, examining its literature and art, and becoming acquainted with the scholars of Germany and France. Returning he chose history as his special study, and in the course of his long life prepared a most elaborate history of the United States, in two volumes. It is a masterpiece of scholarship and learning, and has been translated into several languages, and is very popular in Germany. Mr. Bancroft was Secretary of the Navy for President Polk. While in this office, in 1845, he established the navy school at Annapolis, which corresponds to the military school at West Point. Before this there was no school for training sailors. He did a great deal to improve the American navy. He was minister to Great Britain and afterwards to Germany, and was welcomed with great enthusiasm in these countries. He died January 17, 1891. [See page 143.] 16. AARON BANCROFT. Rev. Aaron Bancroft, born in Massachusetts in 1755, was a noted scholar and writer. He served in the Revolutionary War while yet a student. He afterward graduated at Harvard, and became a professor there. He was the father of the illustrious historian of our own time, George Bancroft. Mr. Bancroft imbued his son, who fell readily into his father's easy and simple style, with much of his own patriotism and love for his country. His "Life of Washington" is a highly prized work. He died in 1839. [See page 146.] 17. HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN. Hans Christian Andersen, born in 1805, is a famous Danish writer of stories and fairy tales. He was poor, and met great discouragements when a boy, but kind friends finally helped him so that he graduated from the Royal College at Copenhagen. Mr. Andersen was tall and angular, with a long, narrow face; high, receding forehead; thick, bushy, curly hair; small, piercing eyes; a feminine mouth; receding chin and large, prominent jaws. His expression was careworn and pinched, but one would hardly think that he was anything but joyful on reading his works. Have you ever read his charming stories about "The Conceited Apple Branch," "A Leaf from Heaven," or "The Angel"? In a pretty little story, entitled "Children's Prattle," Mr. Andersen proves conclusively, by using Thorwaldsen's name, that the ending sen is no hinderance to a person with a name of that ending attaining fame. Have we not still nother proof of this? [See page 184.] |