That friendship only is, indeed, genuine when two friends, without
speaking a word to each other, can, nevertheless, find happiness
in being together.
--_George Ebers_.
GEORGE MORITZ EBERS, a famous German Egyptologist and novelist, was born
at Berlin, March 1, 1837, and died August 7, 1898. Among his noted works
are: "The Sisters," "The Emperor," "Serapis," "Joshua," "Cleopatra,"
"Homo Sum," "Uarda," "The Bride of the Nile," and "An Egyptian
Princess," his most celebrated work.
Until after the war we had no real novels in this country, except
"Uncle Tom's Cabin." This is one of the great novels of the world,
and of all time. Even the fact that slavery was done away with
does not matter; the interest in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," never will
pass, because the book is really as well as ideally true to human
nature, and nobly true. It is the only great novel of ours before
the war that I can think of.
"My Favorite Novelist,"--_Munsey's Magazine_, Vol. 17, p. 22,
1897.--_William Dean Howells_.
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, a celebrated American novelist and poet, was born
at Martinsville, O., March 1, 1837, and died in 1921. Among his numerous
works are: "Italian Journeys," "Poets and Poetry of the West," "Poems,"
"A Day's Pleasure," "A Little Girl Among the Old Masters," "Indian
Summer," "Modern Italian Poets," "The Shadow of a Dream," "A Little
Swiss Sojourn," "My Year in a Log Cabin," "My Literary Passions,"
"Impressions and Experiences," "A Previous Engagement," "Certain
Delightful English Towns," "Through the Eye of the Needle,"
"Fennel and Rue," "Imaginary Interviews," "The Seen and Unseen in
Stratford-on-Avon," "Years of My Youth," "A Modern Instance," "The Lady
of the Aristook," "The Rise of Silas Lapham."
Much like a subtle spider which doth sit
In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide;
If aught do touch the utmost thread of it,
She feels it instantly on every side.
"The Immortality of the Soul,"--_Sir John Davies_.
SIR JOHN DAVIES, a noted English poet and judge, was bom in Tisbury,
Wiltshire, March 2, 1570, and died December 7 or 8, 1626. He wrote:
"Know Thyself," "The Orchestra," and "Hymns to Astraea."
Of the generations of American statesmen that followed those of
the Revolutionary period, few will live as long in the memory of
the people, and none as long in the literature of the country, as
Daniel Webster.
"Library of the World's Best Literature," 1897, ed. Warner,
Vol. 38, p. 15725.--_Carl Schurz_.
CARL SCHURZ, a famous German-American journalist and statesman, was born
near Cologne, Prussia, March 2, 1829, and died in 1906. His most
celebrated speeches are: "The Irrepressible Conflict," "The Doom of
Slavery," "The Abolition of Slavery as a War Measure," "Life of Henry
Clay," "Eulogy on Charles Sumner," etc.
Go, lovely rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
"Go, Lovely Rose,"--_Edmund Waller_.
EDMUND WALLER, a renowned English poet and parliamentarian, was born at
Coleshill, March 3, 1605, and died at Beaconsfield, October 21, 1687. He
published a volume of poems in 1645, and another in 1664.
O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
Angels are painted fair, to look like you:
There's in you all that we believe of heaven,--
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love.
"Venice Preserved," Act i, Sc. 1,--_Thomas Otway_.
THOMAS OTWAY, a noted English dramatist, was born at Trotton, near
Midhurst, Sussex, March 3, 1652, and died in April, 1685. His famous
plays include "Don Carlos, Prince of Spain," "The Orphan, or the Unhappy
Marriage," "The History and Fall of Caius Marius," "Venice Preserved, or
a Plot Discover'd," etc.
When money represents many things, not to love it would be to love
nearly nothing. To forget true needs can be only a feeble
moderation; but to know the value of money and to sacrifice it
always, maybe to duty, maybe even to delicacy,--that is real
virtue.
--_De Sénancour_.
ETIENNE PIVERT DE SÉNANCOUR, a distinguished French writer, born at
Paris, March 4 (?), 1770, and died at St. Cloud, January 10, 1846. He
wrote: "Reveries on the Primitive State of Man," "Love According to
Primordial Laws, and According to the Conventions of Society," "Free
Meditations of an Unknown Solitary on Detachment from the World,"
"Isabella," and "Obermann," his most celebrated work.
I have always believed that success would be the inevitable result
if the two services, the army and the navy, had fair play, and if
we sent the right man to fill the right place.
"Speech in Parliament," January 15, 1855,--_Sir Austen Henry
Layard_.
SIR AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD, a celebrated English traveler, was born at
Paris, March 5, 1817, and died July 5, 1894. Among his publications are:
"Nineveh and Babylon," "Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and
Babylonia," "Nineveh and Its Remains."
Deep brown eyes running over with glee;
Blue eyes are pale, and gray eyes are sober;
Bonnie brown eyes are the eyes for me.
"October's Song,"--_Constance F. Woolson_.
CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON, a well-known American poet and novelist, was
born at Claremont, N. H., March 5, 1848, and died at Venice, January,
1894. Her principal works are: "Rodman the Keeper," "For the Major,"
"Anne," "East Angels," "Horace Chase," "Jupiter Lights," and "Castle
Nowhere."
As when, O lady mine!
With chiselled touch
The stone unhewn and cold
Becomes a living mould.
The more the marble wastes,
The more the statue grows.
"Sonnet," Translation by Mrs. Henry Roscoe,--_Michelangelo_.
MICHAELANGELO BUONAROTTI, one of the greatest of Italian sculptors and
poets, was born at Caprese, March 6, 1475, and died at Rome, February
18, 1564. His "Poems" were published in 1863, and a volume of "Letters"
in 1865.
God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers,
And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face,
A gauntlet with a gift in't.
"Aurora Leigh, Book II,"--_Elizabeth Browning_.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, a famous English poetess, was born in
Durham, March 6, 1809, and died in Florence, June 30, 1861. Her
principal poems are: "The Drama of Exile," "A Vision of Poets," "The
Seraphim," "Romance of the Swan's Nest," "Aurora Leigh," "The Cry of the
Children," "Lady Geraldine's Courtship," and "Sonnets from the
Portuguese."
A little work, a little play
To keep us going--and so good day!
A little warmth, a little light
Of love's bestowing--and so, good night.
A little fun, to match the sorrow
Of each day's growing--and so, good morrow!
A little trust that when we die
We reap our sowing--and so, good bye!
"Trilby,"--_George Du Maurier_.
GEORGE DU MAURIER, a celebrated illustrator, cartoonist, and novelist,
was born in Paris, March 6, 1834, and died in London, October 8, 1896.
He wrote and illustrated three noted stories, "Peter Ibbetson,"
"Trilby," and "The Martian."
The people are gaining upon Nathaniel Hawthorne's works. A century
hence, when the most popular authors of to-day are forgotten, he
will probably be more widely read than ever.
--_Edward P. Roe_, 1888.
EDWARD PAYSON ROE, a noted American novelist, was born in Orange County,
N. Y., March 7, 1838, and died at Cornwall, N. Y., July 19, 1888. He
wrote: "Barriers Burned Away," "What Can She Do?" "The Opening of a
Chestnut Burr," "From Jest to Earnest," "Near to Nature's Heart," "A
Knight of the Nineteenth Century," "A Face Illumined," "A Day of Fate,"
"Without a Home," "A Young Girl's Wooing," "Nature's Serial Story,"
"Driven Back to Eden," "He Fell in Love with His Wife," "A Hornet's
Nest," "Miss Lou," "Taken Alive, and Other Stories," etc.
The Roman Epic abounds in moral and poetical defects; nevertheless
it remains the most complete picture of the national mind at its
highest elevation; the most precious document of national history,
if the history of an age is recorded in its ideas, no less than in
its events and incidents.
"History of the Romans under the Empire," Ch.
xli,--_C. Merivale_.
CHARLES MERIVALE, a famous English historian, was born March 8, 1808,
and died December 27, 1893. He wrote: "General History of Rome from the
Foundation of the City to the Fall of Augustulus," and in 1862 he very
successfully translated Keats' "Hyperion" into Latin verse.
O Light divine! we need no fuller test
That all is ordered well;
We know enough to trust that all is best
Where Love and Wisdom dwell.
"Oh, Love Supreme,"--_Christopher P. Cranch_.
CHRISTOPHER P. CRANCH, a noted American poet and artist, was born in
Alexandria, Va., March 8, 1813, and died in Cambridge, Mass., January
20, 1892. His publications include: "Poems," "The Last of the
Huggermuggers," and "Ariel and Caliban, with Other Poems."
Man, being essentially active, must find in activity his joy, as
well as his beauty and glory; and labor, like everything else that
is good, is its own reward.
--_Whipple_.
EDWIN PERCY WHIPPLE, a distinguished American literary critic, was born
at Gloucester, Mass., March 8, 1819, and died in Boston, June 16, 1886.
He published: "Essays and Reviews" (2 vols. 1848-49), "Lectures on
Subjects Connected with Literature and Life," "Character and
Characteristic Men," "The Literature of the Age of Elizabeth," "Success
and Its Conditions." He also wrote: "Recollections of Eminent Men,"
"American Literature and Other Papers," and "Outlooks on Society,
Literature, and Politics." The latter works were published after his
death.
Public credit means the contracting of debts which nations never
can pay.
"Advice to Young Men,"--_William Cobbett_.
WILLIAM COBBETT, a distinguished English essayist and political writer,
was born in Farnham, March 9, 1762, and died at Normandy Farm, near
Farnham, June, 1835. He wrote: "The Political Proteus," "Legacy to
Laborers," "Advice to Young Men," etc.
The historian is a prophet looking backward.
--_Schlegel_.
FRIEDRICH VON SCHLEGEL, a celebrated German critic and philologist, was
born at Hanover, March 10, 1772, and died at Dresden, January 12, 1829.
Among his publications are: "History of Greek and Roman Poetry," "The
Greeks and Romans," "Fragments," "Poems," "Alarcos," "Language and
Wisdom of the Indians," "On the Schools of Grecian Poetry," "Modern
History," "History of Ancient and Modern Literature," "Philosophy of
Life," etc.
Wem Gott will rechte Gunst erweisen,
Den schickt er in die weite Welt.[1]
"Der Frohe Wandersmann,"--_J. V. Eichendorff_.
BARON JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF, a distinguished German poet, was born at
the castle of Lubowitz in Silesia, March 10, 1788, and died at Neisse,
November 26, 1857. His famous works include: "Presage and Presence,"
"War to the Philistines," "The Last Hero of Marienburg," etc.
I do not deem that Castiglione wrote for the men of his own day
only ... the beauty of his writings deserves that in all ages they
should be read and praised; and as long as courts shall endure, as
long as princes, ladies, and noble gentlemen shall meet together,
as long as valor and courtesy shall abide in our hearts, the name
of Castiglione will be valued.
--_Tasso_.
TORQUATO TASSO, a renowned Italian poet, was born at Sorrento, Italy,
March 11, 1544, and died at Rome, April 25, 1595. He published:
"Rinaldo," "Aminta," "Torismondo," and his masterpiece, "Jerusalem
Delivered."
Wealth is not acquired, as many persons suppose, by fortunate
speculations and splendid enterprises, but by the daily practice
of industry, frugality, and economy. He who relies upon these
means will rarely be found destitute, and he who relies upon any
other will generally become bankrupt.
--_Wayland_.
FRANCIS WAYLAND, a distinguished American clergyman, author, and
educator, was born in New York City, March 11, 1796, and died in
Providence, Rhode Island, September 30, 1865. Among his notable works
are: "Elements of Moral Science," "Elements of Political Economy," "The
Limitations of Human Responsibility," "Elements of Intellectual
Philosophy," "Sermons to Churches," etc., etc.
Our youth we can have but to-day,
We may always find time to grow old.
"Can Love be controlled by Advice?"--_Bishop Berkeley_.
BISHOP GEORGE BERKELEY, the eminent Irish clergyman and author, was born
near Kilkenny, March 12, 1685, and died at Oxford, England, January 14,
1753. His writings include: "Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision," "The
Analyst," "The Principles of Human Knowledge," his famous "Commonplace
Book, 1703-6," etc.
The terrible rumble, grumble and roar
Telling the battle was on once more--
And Sheridan twenty miles away!
"Sheridan's Ride,"--_Thomas Buchanan Read_.
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ, a celebrated American portrait-painter and poet,
was born in Pennsylvania, March 12, 1822, and died in 1872. His most
famous works are: "The House by the Sea," "Poems," "Lays and Ballads,"
"Poetical Works," "A Summer Story," "The New Pastoral," "The Pilgrims of
the Great St. Bernard," "The Good Samaritans," "A Voyage to Iceland,"
"Sylvia; or The Lost Shepherd," "Drifting."
"I have heard frequent use," said the late Lord Sandwich, in a
debate on the Test Laws, "of the words 'orthodoxy' and
'heterodoxy'; but I confess myself at a loss to know precisely
what they mean." "Orthodoxy, my Lord," said Bishop Warburton, in a
whisper,--"orthodoxy is my doxy, heterodoxy is another man's
doxy."
"Memoirs," Vol. i, p. 572,--_Priestley_.
JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, an English theologian, physicist, and philosopher of
great fame, was born at Fieldhead, near Leeds, March 13, 1733, and died
near Philadelphia, February 6, 1804. His principal writings are:
"Observations on Different Kinds of Air," "History of Electricity," "The
Doctrine of Phlogiston Established," "History of the Corruptions of
Christianity," "Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit," and "Institutes of
Natural and Revealed Religion."
Nature is mighty. Art is mighty. Artifice is weak. For nature is
the work of a mightier power than man. Art is the work of man
under the guidance and inspiration of a mightier power. Artifice
is the work of mere man, in the imbecility of his mimic
understanding.
--_Hare_.
AUGUSTUS JOHN CUTHBERT HARE, a noted English descriptive writer, was
born in Rome, March 13, 1834, and died in 1903. He wrote: "A Winter at
Mentone," "Walks in Rome," "Wanderings in Spain," "Walks in London,"
"Days near Paris," "Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily," "Memorials of
a Quiet Life," "Story of My Life," etc.
This new page opened in the book of our public expenditures, and
this new departure taken, which leads into the bottomless gulf of
civil pensions and family gratuities.
"Speech in the U. S. Senate against a Grant to President
Harrison's Widow," April, 1841,--_Thomas Hart Benton_.
THOMAS HART BENTON, a distinguished American statesman and author, was
born near Hillsborough, Orange County, N. C., March 14, 1782, and died
in Washington, D. C., April 10, 1858. His chief publications are his
"Abridgment of the Debates of Congress" and his "Thirty Years' View."
His form was of the manliest beauty,
His heart was kind and soft;
Faithful below he did his duty,
But now he's gone aloft.
"Tom Bowling,"--_Charles Dibdin_.
CHARLES DIBDIN, a noted English lyric and dramatic poet, and actor, was
born at Southampton, March 15, 1745, and died July 25, 1814. He wrote:
"History of the Stage," "Sea Songs," and many plays and operettas.
Dulde, gedulde dich fein!
Uber ein Stundlein
Ist deine Kammer voll Sonne![2]
"Gedichte," "Uber ein Stundlein,"--_P. Heyse_.
PAUL LUDWIG HEYSE, a famous German poet and novelist, was born in
Berlin, March 15, 1830, and died in 1914. He has written: "The Sabines,"
"The Brothers," "Ourika," "Rafael," "Children of the World," etc.; also
his celebrated tragedy "Francesca da Rimini."
The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is
that the union of the states be cherished and perpetuated. Let the
open enemy to it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened, and
the disguised one as the serpent creeping with his deadly wiles
into paradise.
--_James Madison_.
JAMES MADISON, the fourth President of the United States, was born at
Port Conway, Va., March 16, 1751, and died at Montpelier, Vt., June 28,
1836. His "Complete Works" have been published in six volumes.
O Liberty! Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name.
--_Madame Roland_.
MADAME ROLAND, a noted French author and Republican politician, was born
in Paris, March 17, 1754, and died November 8, 1793. Her "Letters" and
"Memoirs," published after her death, have made her famous.
Even in the fiercest uproar of our stormy passions, conscience,
though in her softest whispers, gives to the supremacy of
rectitude the voice of an undying testimony.
--_Chalmers_.
THOMAS CHALMERS, a famous Scottish theologian, was born in Anstruther,
Fifeshire, March 17, 1780, and died in Edinburgh, May 30, 1847. His
works were collected (23 vols., 1836-42), "Posthumous Works" (9 vols.,
1847-49), "Select Works" (12 vols., 1854-79).
Man dwells apart, though not alone,
He walks among his peers unread;
The best of thoughts which he hath known
For lack of listeners are not said.
"Afterthought,"--_Jean Ingelow_.
JEAN INGELOW, a celebrated English poet and novelist was born in Boston,
Lincolnshire, March 17, 1830, and died in London, July 19, 1897. Among
her writings are: "A Rhyming Chronicle of Incidents and Feelings," "Home
Thoughts and Home Scenes," "Round of Days," "A Story of Doom and Other
Poems," "Mopsa the Fairy," "Little Wonder Horn," "Studies for Stories,"
"A Sister's Bye Hours," "Quite Another Story," "A Motto Changed," "Songs
of Seven," etc.
We pardon infidelities, but we do not forget them.
--_Madame de Lafayette_.
MADAME DE LAFAYETTE, a noted French novelist, was baptized at Paris,
March 18, 1634, and died there, May 25, 1693. She wrote: "The Princess
de Montpensier," "Zaide," "History of Henrietta of England," "Memoirs of
the Court of France for the Years 1688 and 1689," and "The Princess of
Cleves," her most celebrated work.
The very essence of a free government consists in considering
offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country,
and not for the benefit of an individual or a party.
"Speech," February 13, 1835.--_John C. Calhoun_.
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, an illustrious American statesman, was born in
Abbeville Dist., S. C., March 18, 1782, and died in Washington, March
31, 1850. His works include his famous treatise: "On the Constitution
and Government of the United States," and a "Discourse on Government."
Though the people support the government the government should not
support the people.
"Veto of Texas Seed Bill," February 16, 1887.--_Grover
Cleveland_.
GROVER STEPHEN CLEVELAND, a distinguished American diplomat and
President of the United States from 1885 to 1889, and again from 1893 to
1897, was born at Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, 1837,
and died in 1908. He published: "Presidential Problems," "Fishing and
Hunting Sketches."
Oh, bring again my heart's content,
Thou Spirit of the Summer-time!
"Song,"--_William Allingham_.
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM, a noted Irish poet, was born at Ballyshannon, March
19, 1828, and died at Hampstead, near London, November 18, 1889. His
most celebrated work is: "Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland."
It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigor is in our
immortal soul.
"Metamorphoses," xiii,--_Ovid_.
OVID (PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO), the great Roman poet, was born at Sulmo,
March 20, 43 B.C., and died at Tomi, A.D. 17. He wrote: "Heroids,"
"Metamorphoses," "Fasti," "Art of Love," "Epistles," "Amours," etc.
Only the spirit of rebellion craves for happiness in this life.
What right have we human beings to happiness?
"Ghosts,"--_Henrik Ibsen_.
HENRIK IBSEN, a famous Norwegian dramatist, was born in Skien, March 20,
1828, and died in 1906. His most noted plays are: "The Pillars of
Society," "The Warriors at Helgeland," "Love's Comedy," "The Wild Duck,"
"An Enemy of the People," "Ghosts," "Hedda Gabler," and "A Doll's
House."
Try it for a day, I beseech you, to preserve yourself in an easy
and cheerful frame of mind. Compare the day in which you have
rooted out the weed of dissatisfaction with that on which you have
allowed it to grow up, and you will find your heart open to every
good motive, your life strengthened and your breast armed with a
panoply against every trick of fate, truly you will wonder at your
own improvement.
--_Richter_.
JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER, the celebrated German philosopher and
humorist, was born at Wunsiedel, Bavaria, March 21, 1763, and died at
Bayreuth, November 14, 1825. His noted works were: "The Country Valley,"
"Titan," "Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces," "The Invisible Lodge," "The
Life of Quintus Fixlein," "The Jubilating Senior," "Introduction to
Aesthetics," "Hesperus," "Wild Oats," etc.
This is the charm, by sages often told,
Converting all it touches into gold:
Content can soothe, where 'er by fortune placed,
Can rear a garden in the desert waste.
"Clifton Grove," L. 130,--_Henry Kirke White_.
HENRY KIRKE WHITE, a noted English poet, was born at Nottingham, March
21, 1785, and died October 19, 1806. He published: "Clifton Grove, a
Sketch in Verse with Other Poems," which was dedicated to Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire. He also wrote numerous religious verses.
In George Sand's finest work there is a sweet spontaneity, almost
as if she were an oracle of Nature uttering automatically the
divine message. But, on the other hand, when the inspiration
forsakes her, she drifts along on a windy current of words, the
facility of her pen often beguiling the writer into vague
diffuseness and unsubstantial declamation.
"Life of George Eliot,"--_Mathilde Blind_.
MATHILDE BLIND, a celebrated German-English poet, was born in Mannheim,
March 21, 1847, and died in London, November 26, 1896. Among her
writings are: "Life of George Eliot," "Madame Roland," "The Heather on
Fire," "Ascent of Man," "Dramas in Miniature," "The Prophecy of St.
Oran, and Other Poems," "Songs and Sonnets," and "Birds of Passage."
Time still, as he flies, brings increase to her truth,
And gives to her mind what he steals from her youth.
"The Happy Marriage,"--_Edward Moore_.
EDWARD MOORE, a famous English dramatist and fabulist, was born at
Abingdon, March 22, 1712, and died in London, March 1, 1757. He wrote:
"Fables for the Female Sex," "Gil Blas," "Poems, Fables, and Plays,"
"Dramatic Works," etc.
The Night has a thousand eyes,
And the Day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The Mind has a thousand eyes,
And the Heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When Love is done.
"Light,"--_Francis W. Bourdillon_.
FRANCIS W. BOURDILLON, a noted English poet, was born March 22, 1852. He
has published: "Among the Flowers and Other Poems," "Ailes d'Alouette,"
"A Lost God," "Bedside Readings," "Sursom Corda," "Nephele," "Through
the Gateway," "Aucassin and Nicolette," "Prelude and Romances," etc.
Some shall reap that never sow
And some shall toil and not attain.
"Success,"--_Madison Julius Cawein_.
MADISON JULIUS CAWEIN, a distinguished American poet, was born in
Louisville, Ky., March 23, 1865, and died December 7, 1914. Among his
works are: "Blooms of the Berry," "The Triumph of Music," "Lyrics and
Idyls," "Days and Dreams," "Moods and Memories," "Accolon of Gaul,"
"Intimations of the Beautiful," "Red Leaves and Roses," "Undertones,"
and "Poems of Nature and Love."
I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel,
My morning incense, and my evening meal,
The sweets of Hasty Pudding.
"Hasty Pudding," Canto I,--_Joel Barlow_.
JOEL BARLOW, a famous American poet and statesman, was born in Redding,
Conn., March 24, 1754, and died near Cracow, Poland, December 24, 1812.
He wrote: "The Vision of Columbus," "The Columbiad," "The Conspiracy of
Kings," and his celebrated poem, "Hasty Pudding."
O thrush, your song is passing sweet
But never a song that you have sung,
Is half so sweet as thrushes sang
When my dear Love and I were young.
"Other Days,"--_William Morris_.
WILLIAM MORRIS, a celebrated English poet and writer on socialism, was
born near London, March 24, 1834, and died at Hammersmith, October 3,
1896. His poetical writings include: "Defence of Guenevere and Other
Poems," "Life and Death of Jason," "The Earthly Paradise," "Love Is
Enough," "Poems by the Way," "The Story of Sigurd," etc. He also wrote:
"The House of the Wolfings," "The Roots of the Mountains," "Hopes and
Fears for Art," etc., and translated the "Æneid" in 1876, and the
"Odyssey" in 1887.
Oh, dinna ask me gin I lo'e ye:
Troth, I daurna tell!
Dinna ask me gin I lo'e ye,--
Ask it o' yoursel'.
"Dinna Ask Me,"--_John Dunlop_.
JOHN DUNLOP, a noted Scottish song-writer, was born March 25 (?), 1755,
and died at Port Glasgow, September 4, 1820. His Most famous song is,
"Oh, Dinna Ask Me Gin I Lo'e Ye," which won for him great fame.
The stately ship is seen no more,
The fragile skiff attains the shore;
And while the great and wise decay,
And all their trophies pass away,
Some sudden thought, some careless rhyme,
Still floats above the wrecks of Time.
"On an Old Song,"--_William Edward Hartpole Lecky_.
WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE LECKY, a distinguished English historian, was
born in Dublin, Ireland, March 26, 1838, and died in 1903. Among his
works may be mentioned: "History of the Rise and Influence of the
Spirit of Rationalism in Europe," "The Leaders of Public Opinion in
Ireland," "A History of England in the 18th Century," "A History of
Ireland in the 18th Century," "Democracy and Liberty," "A History of
European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne."
When I was one and twenty
I heard a wise man say:
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away."
"A Shropshire Lad,"--_Alfred Edward Housman_.
ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN, a noted English poet, was born March 26, 1859.
Among his poetical pieces are: "A Shropshire Lad," "The Recruit," "The
Street Sounds to the Soldiers' Tread," "The Day of Battle," "On the Idle
Hill of Summer," "Loveliest of Trees," etc.
The army is a good book to open to study human life. One learns
there to put his hand to everything, to the lowest and highest
things. The most delicate and rich are forced to see living nearly
everywhere poverty, and to live with it, and to measure his morsel
of bread and draught of water.
--_Alfred de Vigny_.
ALFRED VICTOR, COMTE DE VIGNY, a celebrated French writer, was born in
Loches, March 27, 1799, and died in Paris, September 17, 1863. His works
include: "Cinq-Mars," "Consultations of Dr. Noir," etc. He also wrote
several plays, "Chatterton" being the most famous.
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.
"Eternal Justice," Stanza 4,--_Charles Mackay_.
CHARLES MACKAY, a noted Scottish poet, journalist, and miscellaneous
writer, was born at Perth, March 27, 1814, and died in London, December
24, 1889. He wrote: "Voices from the Mountains," "Voices from the
Crowd," "The Salamandrine, or Love and Immortality," etc.
The school is the manufactory of humanity.
--_Comenius_.
JOHANN AMOS COMENIUS, an illustrious theologian and educator, was born
at Nivnitz (?), Moravia, March 28, 1592, and died at Amsterdam, November
15, 1670. He has written: "Gate of Languages Unlocked," "World of Sense
Depicted," "Great Didactics, or the Whole Art of Teaching Everything,"
etc.
We shall be judged, not by what we might have been, but what we
have been.
--_Sewall_.
SAMUEL SEWALL, a distinguished American jurist, was born in Bishopstoke,
England, March 28, 1652, and died in Boston, January 1, 1730. He wrote:
"The Selling of Joseph," "The Accomplishment of Prophecies," "A Memorial
Relating to the Kennebec Indians," "A Description of the New Heaven,"
His "Diary" was published in the "Collections of the Massachusetts
Historical Society."
I have lived long enough to know what I did not at one time
believe--that no society can be upheld in happiness and honor
without the sentiment of religion.
--_La Place_.
PIERRE SIMON, MARQUIS DE LAPLACE, a renowned French mathematician and
physical astronomer, was born at Beaumont-en-Auge, March 28, 1749, and
died at Paris, March 5, 1827. His works include: "Exposition of the
System of the Universe," "Mechanism of the Heavens," "Analytic Theory of
Probabilities," "Philosophical Essay on Probabilities," etc.
The love of truth is the stimulus to all noble conversation. This
is the root of all the charities. The tree which springs from it
may have a thousand branches, but they will all bear a golden and
generous fruitage.
--_Orville Dewey_.
ORVILLE DEWEY, a noted American clergyman and man of letters, was born
in Sheffield, Mass., March 28, 1794, and died there, March 21, 1882.
Among his works are: "Discourses on Human Nature," "Discourses on the
Nature of Religion," "The Problem of Human Destiny," etc.
One thing only in this world is certain--duty.
"Selected Essays,"--_James Darmesteter_.
JAMES DARMESTETER, a distinguished French Orientalist, was born at
Château-Salins, March 28, 1849, and died October 19, 1894. Among his
writings may be mentioned: "Ormazd and Ahriman," "Iranian Studies,"
"Origins of Persian Poetry," and "Selected Essays."
You'd scarce expect one of my age
To speak in public on the stage;
And if I chance to fall below
Demosthenes or Cicero,
Don't view me with a critic's eye,
But pass my imperfections by.
Large streams from little fountains flow,
Tall oaks from little acorns grow.
"Lines written for a School Declamation,"--_David Everett_.
DAVID EVERETT, a noted American journalist and miscellaneous writer, was
born at Princeton, Mass., March 29, 1770, and died at Marietta, Ohio,
December 21, 1813. He wrote: "Common Sense in Deshabille or the Farmer's
Monitor," "The Rights and Duties of Nations," and "Darenzel, or the
Persian Patriot."