Edward Everett, 1794-1865. He was born at Dorchester, Mass., now a part of
Boston, and graduated from Harvard College with the highest honors of his
class, at the age of seventeen. While yet in college, he had quite a
reputation as a brilliant writer. Before he was twenty years of age, he
was settled as pastor over the Brattle Street Church, in Boston, and at
once became famous as an eloquent preacher. In 1814, he was elected
Professor of Greek Literature in his Alma Mater; and, in order to prepare
himself for the duties of his office, he entered on an extended course of
travel in Europe. He edited the "North American Review," in addition to
the labors of his professorship, after he returned to America.
In 1825, Mr. Everett was elected to Congress, and held his seat in the
House for ten years. He was Governor of his native state from 1835 to
1839. In 1841, he was appointed Minister to England. On his return, in
1846, he was chosen President of Harvard University, and held the office
for three years. In 1852, he was appointed Secretary of State. February
22, 1856, he delivered, in Boston, his celebrated lecture on Washington.
This lecture was afterwards delivered in most of the principal cities and
towns in the United States. The proceeds were devoted to the purchase of
Mt. Vernon. In 1860, he was a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the
United States, He is celebrated as an elegant and forcible writer, and a
chaste orator.
This extract, a wonderful piece of word painting, is a portion of an
address on the "Uses of Astronomy," delivered at the inauguration of the
Dudley Observatory, at Albany, N, Y, Note the careful use of words, and
the strong figures in the third and fourth paragraphs.
###
I had occasion, a few weeks since, to take the early train from Providence
to Boston; and for this purpose rose at two o'clock in the morning.
Everything around was wrapped in darkness and hushed in silence, broken
only by what seemed at that hour the unearthly clank and rush of the
train. It was a mild, serene, midsummer's night,--the sky was without a
cloud, the winds were whist. The moon, then in the last quarter, had just
risen, and the stars shone with a spectral luster but little affected by
her presence.
Jupiter, two hours high, was the herald of the day; the Pleiades, just
above the horizon, shed their sweet influence in the east; Lyra sparkled
near the zenith; Andromeda veiled her newly-discovered glories from the
naked eye in the south; the steady Pointers, far beneath the pole, looked
meekly up from the depths of the north to their sovereign.
Such was the glorious spectacle as I entered the train. As we proceeded,
the timid approach of twilight became more perceptible; the intense blue
of the sky began to soften; the smaller stars, like little children, went
first to rest; the sister beams of the Pleiades soon melted together; but
the bright constellations of the west and north remained unchanged.
Steadily the wondrous transfiguration went on. Hands of angels, hidden
from mortal eyes, shifted the scenery of the heavens; the glories of night
dissolved into the glories of the dawn.
The blue sky now turned more softly gray; the great watch stars shut up
their holy eyes; the east began to kindle. Faint streaks of purple soon
blushed along the sky; the whole celestial concave was filled with the
inflowing tides of the morning light, which came pouring down from above
in one great ocean of radiance; till at length, as we reached the Blue
Hills, a flash of purple fire blazed out from above the horizon, and
turned the dewy teardrops of flower and leaf into rubies and diamonds. In
a few seconds, the everlasting gates of the morning were thrown wide open,
and the lord of day, arrayed in glories too severe for the gaze of man,
began his state.
I do not wonder at the superstition of the ancient Magians, who, in the
morning of the world, went up to the hilltops of Central Asia, and,
ignorant of the true God, adored the most glorious work of his hand. But I
am filled with amazement, when I am told, that, in this enlightened age
and in the heart of the Christian world, there are persons who can witness
this daily manifestation of the power and wisdom of the Creator, and yet
say in their hearts, "There is no God."
Notes.--Jupiter, the largest planet of the solar system, and, next to
Venus, the brightest. Pleiades (pro. ple'ya-dez), a group of seven small
stars in the constellation of Taurus.
Lyra, Androm'eda, two brilliant constellations in the northern part of the
heavens. Pointers, two stars of the group called the Dipper, in the Great
Bear. These stars and the Polar Star are nearly in the same straight line.
Blue Hills, hills about seven hundred feet high, southwest of Boston,
Massachusetts.
Magians, Persian worshipers of fire and the sun, as representatives of the
Supreme Being.