LORD THURLOW. 1732-1806. The accident of an accident. Speech in Reply to the Duke of Grafton. Butler's When I forget my sovereign, may my God forget me.1 JOHN DICKINSON. 1732-1808. Then join in hand, brave Americans all! Our cause is just, our union is perfect. The Liberty Song (1768). Declaration on taking up Arms in 1775.2 W. J. MICKLE. 1734-1788. The dews of summer nights did fall, For there's nae luck about the house, Cumnor Hall. 1 Whereupon Wilkes is reported to have said, somewhat coarsely, but not unhappily it must be allowed, "Forget you! He'll see you d-d first." Burke also exclaimed, "The best thing that could happen to you!"- BROUGHAM: Statesmen of the Time of George III. (Thurlow.) 2 From the original manuscript draft in Dickinson's handwriting, which has given rise to the belief that he, not Jefferson (as formerly claimed), is the real author of this sentence. 3 Jove, thou regent of the skies. - POPE: The Odyssey, book ii. line 42. Now Cynthia, named fair regent of the night. — GAY: Trivia, book iii. And hail their queen, fair regent of the night. - DARWIN: The Botanic Garden, part i. canto ii. line 90. JOHN LANGHORNE. 1735-1779. Cold on Canadian hills or Minden's plain, The Country Justice. Parti ISAAC BICKERSTAFF. Hope thou nurse of young desire. 1735-1787. Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 1 There was a jolly miller once, Lived on the river Dee; He worked and sung from morn till night: No lark more blithe than he. And this the burden of his song Forever used to be, I care for nobody, no, not I, If no one cares for me.3 Sc. 2. Ibid. 1 "The Mariner's Wife" is now given" by common consent," says Sarah Tytler, to Jean Adam (1710-1765). 2 This allusion to the dead soldier and his widow on the field of battle was made the subject of a print by Bunbury, under which were engraved the pathetic lines of Langhorne. Sir Walter Scott has mentioned that the only time he saw Burns this picture was in the room. Burns shed tears over it; and Scott, then a lad of fifteen, was the only person present who could tell him where the lines were to be found. - LOCKHART: Life of Scott, vol. i. chap. iv. 3 If naebody care for me, Young fellows will be young fellows. Love in a Village. Act ii. Sc. 2. Ay, do despise me! I'm the prouder for it; I like to be despised. The Hypocrite. Act v. Sc. 1. JAMES BEATTIE. 1735-1803. Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb The Minstrel. Book i. Stanza 1. Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free; Stanza 11. Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime. Stanza 25. Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down, With here and there a violet bestrewn, Fast by a brook or fountain's murmuring wave; Book ii. Stanza 17. At the close of the day when the hamlet is still, The Hermit. He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man. By the glare of false science betray'd, Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. JOHN ADAMS. 1735-1826. Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for ever more. Ibid. PATRICK HENRY. 1736-1799. Cæsar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third ["Treason!" cried the Speaker] may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it. Speech in the Virginia Convention, 1765. I am not a Virginian, but an American.1 I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judg ing of the future but by the past.2 Ibid. March, 1775. 1 I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American! WEBSTER: Speech, July 17, 1850. 2 See Burke, page 411. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! Speech in the Virginia Convention, March, 1775. EDWARD GIBBON. 1737-1794. The reign of Antoninus is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history, which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.1 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776). Chap. iii. Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive. Amiable weaknesses of human nature.2 Chap. xi. Chap. xiv. In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.3 Chap. xlviii. Chap. xlix. Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery. The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.* Chap. lxviii. Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave. Chap. lxxi. All that is human must retrograde if it do not advance. I saw and loved.5 Ibid. Memoirs. Vol. i. p. 106. 1 L'histoire n'est que le tableau des crimes et des malheurs (History is but the record of crimes and misfortunes). - VOLTAIRE: L'Ingénu, chap. x. 2 See Fielding, page 364. 8 See Clarendon, page 255. On dit que Dieu est toujours pour les gros bataillons (It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions). - VOLTAIRE: Letter to M. le Riche. 1770. J'ai toujours vu Dieu du coté des gros bataillons (I have always noticed that God is on the side of the heaviest battalions). De la Ferté to Anne of Austria. 5 See Chapman, page 35. |