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tion, to beneficent labor. They were all philanthropists; for the labors of all promoted the welfare and happiness of mankind.

In the contemplation of their generous, unselfish lives, 5 we feel the insignificance of office and wealth, which men so hotly pursue. What is office? and what is wealth? They are the expressions and representatives of what is present and fleeting only, investing their possessor, perhaps, with a brief and local regard. But let this not be 10 exaggerated; let it not be confounded with the serene fame which is the reflection of important labors in great causes. The street lights, within the circle of their nightly scintillation, seem to outshine the distant stars, observed of men in all lands and times; but gas-lamps are 15 not to be mistaken for the celestial luminaries.

They, who live only for wealth and the things of this world, follow shadows, neglecting the great realities which are eternal on earth and in heaven. After the perturbations of life, all its accumulated possessions must be re20 signed, except those alone which have been devoted to God and mankind. What we do for ourselves, perishes with this mortal dust; what we do for others, lives in the grateful hearts of all who feel or know the benefaction. Worms may destroy the body; but they cannot consume 25 such a fame. It is fondly cherished on earth, and never forgotten in heaven.

The selfish struggles of the crowd, the clamors of a false patriotism, the suggestions of a sordid ambition, cannot obscure that great commanding duty which enjoins 30 perpetual labor, without distinction of country, of color, or of race, for the welfare of the whole Human Family. In this mighty Christian cause, Knowledge, Jurisprudence, Art, Philanthropy, all are blessed ministers. More puissant than the Sword, they shall lead mankind from the 35 bondage of error into that service which is perfect freedom. Our departed brothers join in summoning you to this glad

some obedience. Their examples speak for them. Go forth into the many mansions of the house of life: scholars! store them with learning; jurists! build them with justice; artists! adorn them with beauty; philanthropists! 5 let them resound with love. Be servants of truth, each in his vocation; doers of the word and not hearers only. Be sincere, pure in heart, earnest, enthusiastic. A virtuous enthusiasm is always self-forgetful and noble. It is the only inspiration now vouchsafed to man. Like Pickering, 10 blend humility with learning. Like Story, ascend above the Present, in place and time. Like Allston, regard fame only as the eternal shadow of excellence. Like Channing, bend in adoration before the right. Cultivate alike the wisdom of experience and the wisdom of hope. Mindful 15 of the Future, do not neglect the Past: awed by the majesty of Antiquity, turn not with indifference from the Future. True wisdom looks to the ages before us, as well as behind us. Like the Janus of the Capitol, one front thoughtfully regards the Past, rich with experience, with 20 memories, with the priceless traditions of virtue; the other is earnestly directed to the All Hail Hereafter, richer still with its transcendent hopes and unfulfilled prophecies.

We stand on the threshold of a new age, which is pre25 paring to recognize new influences. The ancient divinities of Violence and Wrong are retreating to their kindred darkness.

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Aid it, paper; aid it, type;

come.

Aid it, for the hour is ripe,

And our earnest must not slacken
Into play;

Men of thought, and men of action,
Clear the way.

The age of Chivalry has gone. An age of Humanity has The Horse, whose importance more than human, gave the name to that early period of gallantry and war, 10 now yields his foremost place to Man. In serving him, in promoting his elevation, in contributing to his welfare, in doing him good, there are fields of bloodless triumph, nobler far than any in which the bravest knight ever conquered. Here are spaces of labor, wide as the world, lofty 15 as heaven. Let me say, then, in the benison once bestowed upon the youthful knight, Scholars! jurists! artists! philanthropists! heroes of a Christian age, companions of a celestial knighthood, "Go forth, be brave, loyal, and successful!"

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And may it be our office to-day to light a fresh beaconfire on the venerable walls of Harvard, sacred to Truth, to Christ, and the Church, to Truth Immortal, to Christ the Comforter, to the Holy Church Universal. Let the flame spread from steeple to steeple, from hill to hill, from 25 island to island, from continent to continent, till the long lineage of fires shall illumine all the nations of the earth; animating them to the holy contests of KNOWLEDGE, JusTICE, BEAUTY, LOVE.

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O THOU that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers! Whence are thy beams, O sun! thy everlasting

*Chivalry is derived from cheval, the French word for a horse.

light? Thou comest forth, in thy awful beauty, and the stars hide themselves in the sky; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave. But thou thyself movest alone: who can be a companion of thy course? The oaks of the 5 mountains fall; the mountains themselves decay with years; the ocean shrinks and grows again; the moon her. self is lost in heaven; but thou art forever the same, re, joicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world is dark with tempests; when thunder rolls, and lightning 10 flies; thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm. But to Ossian, thou lookest in vain; for he beholds thy beams no more, whether thy yellow hair flows on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art, perhaps, like me, for 15 a season, and thy years will have an end. Thou shalt sleep in thy clouds, careless of the voice of the morning. Exult then O sun, in the strength of thy youth! Age is dark and unlovely; it is like the glimmering light of the moon, when it shines through broken clouds, and the mist 20 is on the hills; the blast of the north is on the plain, the traveller shrinks in the midst of his journey.

- THE BURIAL OF ARNOLD.*

LXVII.

N. P. WILLIS.

He is a grad

[MR. WILLIS is a living American writer in prose and verse. uate of Yale College, of the class of 1827. His prose writings fill many volumes, comprising travels, tales, essays, sketches of life and manners, and descriptions of natural scenery. His style is airy and graceful, his perception of beauty keen and discriminating, and his descriptive powers of a high order. Few men can present a visible scene, a landscape, or a natural object more distinctly to the eye. His poetry has the same general characteristics. It is sweet, flowing, and musical, and, in its best specimens, marked by truth of sentiment and delicacy of feeling. He has been for many years one of the editors of the "Home Journal," a weekly newspaper published in New York, and has resided upon the Hudson River. The fine sketches of the scenery in

* A member of the senior class in Yale College,

his neighborhood which have from time to time appeared in his paper have thrown a new interest over that noble river, already graced with so many historical and literary associations.

Mr. Willis, of late years, has written less poetry than could be wished by those who remember and admire the grace and sweetness of so many of his early productions.]

1

YE'VE gathered to your place of prayer,

With slow and measured tread:

Your ranks are full, your mates all there—
But the soul of one has fled.

He was the proudest in his strength,
The manliest of ye all;

Why lies he at that fearful length,
And ye around his pall?

2 Ye reckon it in days, since he
Strode up that foot-worn aisle,
With his dark eye flashing gloriously,
And his lip wreathed with a smile.
O, had it been but told you then,
To mark whose lamp was dim,
From out yon rank of fresh-lipped men,
Would ye have singled him?

3 Whose was the sinewy arm, which flung
Defiance to the ring?

Whose laugh of victory loudest rung,

Yet not for glorying?

Whose heart, in generous deed and thought,
No rivalry might brook,

And yet distinction claiming not?

There lies he-go and look!

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