[1] "In Latin and French hath many soueraine wittes had great delyte to
endite, and have many noble thinges fulfilde, but certes there ben some
that speaken their poisye in French, of which speche the Frenchmen have
as good a fantasye as we have in hearying of Frenchmen's
Englishe."--_Chaucer's Testament of Love._
[2] "Holinshed, in his Chronicle, observes, 'afterwards, also, by
deligent travell of Geffry Chaucer and of John Gowre, in the time of
Richard the Second, and after them of John Scogan and John Lydgate,
monke of Berrie, our said toong was brought to an excellent passe,
notwithstanding that it never came unto the type of perfection until the
time of Queen Elizabeth, wherein John Jewell, Bishop of Sarum, John Fox,
and sundrie learned and excellent writers, have fully accomplished the
ornature of the same, to their great praise and immortal commendation.'"
[3] "Live ever sweete booke; the simple image of his gentle witt, and
the golden-pillar of his noble courage; and ever notify unto the world
that thy writer was the secretary of eloquence, the breath of the muses,
the honey-bee of the daintyest flowers of witt and arte, the pith of
morale and intellectual virtues, the arme of Bellona in the field, the
tonge of Suada in the chamber, the sprite of Practise in esse, and the
paragon of excellency in print."--_Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation._
[4]
"Thorow earth and waters deepe,
The pen by skill doth passe:
And featly nyps the worldes abuse,
And shoes us in a glasse,
The vertu and the vice
Of every wight alyve;
The honey comb that bee doth make
Is not so sweet in hyve,
As are the golden leves
That drop from poet's head!
Which doth surmount our common talke
As farre as dross doth lead."
--_Churchyard._
[5] From the _Atlantic Monthly_, January, 1869.
[6] One of Mr. Lincoln's neatest strokes of humor was his treatment of
this gentleman when a laudable curiosity induced him to be presented to
the President of the Broken Bubble. Mr. Lincoln persisted in calling him
Mr. Partington. Surely the refinement of good-breeding could go no
further. Giving the young man his real name (already notorious in the
newspapers) would have made his visit an insult. Had Henri IV. done
this, it would have been famous.
[7] June 30, 1895.
[8] 1876.
[9] This essay appeared originally in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for May,
1883. During the thirty years which have elapsed since it was written
the manifestations of the colonial spirit then apparent in the United
States have not only altered in character but, I am glad to say, have
weakened, diminished, and become less noticeable. Since 1883, also,
there has been much achieved by Americans in Art and Literature, in
painting, in sculpture, in music, and particularly in architecture.
Success in all these fields has, with few exceptions, been won by men
working in the spirit which is not colonial, but which it was the
purpose of this essay to inculcate as the true one to which alone we
could look for fine and enduring achievement. I have called attention to
the date at which the essay was written in order that those who read it
may remember that it applies in certain points to the conditions of
thirty years ago and not to those of the present day.
[10] Just as I am revising these comments, the two volumes of the Earl
of Lytton's admirable biography of his grandfather find themselves on my
table. As was to be expected, they contain several interesting
references to Horace. "He is the model for popular lyrics, and certainly
the greatest lyrist extant." Again--"Observe how wonderfully he
compresses and studies terseness, as if afraid to bore an impatient,
idle audience; secondly, when he selects his picture, how it stands
out--Cleopatra's flight, the speech of Regulus, the vision of Hades in
the ode on his escape from the tree, &c."