25. 26. Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash against the unseen rock, and in an instant hear the billows roar above a sunken ship. For whether in mid-sea or 'mong the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck at last must mark the end of each and all. And every life, no matter if its every hour is rich with love and every moment jeweled with a joy, will, at its close, become a tragedy as sad and deep and dark as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death. Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word; but in the night of death hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of the wing. Ingersoll: Address at his Brother's Funeral.1 God of our fathers, known of old, Lord of our far-flung battle-line, The tumult and the shouting dies; An humble and a contrite heart. Far-called, our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! From vol. XII of the Collected Works of Robert G. Ingersoll. Used with the kind permission of the publisher, C. P. Farrell. 27. If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Or lesser breeds without the Law - Every one must have observed the strange language current during the late discussions as to the possible failure of our supplies of coal. Our coal, thousands of people were saying, is the real basis of our national greatness; if our coal runs short, there is the end of the greatness of England. But what is greatness? culture makes us ask. Greatness is a spiritual condition worthy to excite love, interest, and admiration. If England were swallowed up by the sea tomorrow, which of the two, a hundred years hence, would most excite the love, interest, and admiration of mankind, would most, therefore, show the evidences of having possessed greatness, the England of the last twenty years, or the England of Elizabeth, of a time of splendid spiritual effort, but when our coal, and our industrial operations depending on coal, were very little developed? Matthew Arnold: Sweetness and Light. 28. 'T was June on the face of the earth, June with the rose's breath, When life is a gladsome thing, and a distant dream is death; 29. There was gossip of birds in the air, and the lowing of herds by the wood, And a sunset gleam in the sky that the heart of a man holds Then the nun-like Twilight came, violet-vestured and still, Clinton Scollard: On the Eve of Bunker Hill.1 General Lee was never known to betray on any battlefield a sign, either of exultation or disappointment. As he witnessed the last grand effort of his men, and saw it fail, he was seen for a moment to place his finger thoughtfully between his lips. Presently he rode quietly in front of the woods, rallying and encouraging the broken troops, uttering words of cheer and encouragment. To a foreign military officer of rank, who had come to witness the battle, he said very simply: "This has been a sad day for us, Colonel, day; but we can't expect always to gain victories." a sad Pollard: The Lost Cause (The Battle of Gettysburg). 30. Talking of locks reminds me of an accident George and I very nearly had one summer's morning at Hampton Court. It was a glorious day, and the lock was crowded; and, as is a common practice up the river, a speculative photographer was taking a picture of us all as we lay upon the rising waters. I did not catch what was going on at first, and was, therefore, extremely surprised at noticing George hurriedly smooth out his trousers, ruffle up his hair, and stick his cap on in a rakish manner at the back of his head, and then, assuming an expression of mingled affability and sadness, sit down in a graceful attitude, and try to hide his feet. My first idea was that he had suddenly caught sight of some girl he knew, and I looked about to see who it was. 1 From Ballads of Valor and Victory, Fleming H. Revell and Company. Used with the kind permission of the author. 2 Used with the kind permission of the publishers, E. B. Treat and Com pany. Everybody in the lock seemed to have been suddenly struck wooden. They were all standing or sitting about in the most quaint and curious attitudes I have ever seen off a Japanese fan. All the girls were smiling. Oh, they did look so sweet! And all the fellows were frowning, and looking stern and noble. And then, at last, the truth flashed across me, and I wondered if I should be in time. Ours was the first boat, and it would be unkind of me to spoil the man's picture, I thought. So I faced round quickly, and took up a position in the prow, where I leant with careless grace upon the hitcher, in an attitude suggestive of agility and strength. I arranged my hair with a curl over the forehead, and threw an air of tender wistfulness into my expression, mingled with a touch of cynicism, which I am told suits me. As we stood waiting for the eventful moment, I heard some one behind call out: "Hi! look at your nose." I could not turn round to see what was the matter, and whose nose it was that was to be looked at. I stole a side glance at George's nose! It was all right—at all events, there was nothing wrong with it that could be altered. I squinted down at my own, and that seemed all that could be expected also. "Look at your nose, you stupid ass!" came the same voice again, louder. And then another voice cried : "Push your nose out, can't you dog!" -you two with the Neither George nor I dared to turn round. The man's hand was on the cap, and the picture might be taken any moment. Was it us they were calling to? What was the matter with our noses? Why were they to be pushed out! But now the whole lock started yelling, and a stentorian voice from the back shouted: "Look at your boat, sir: you in the red and black caps. It's your two corpses that will get taken in that photo, if you ain't quick." We looked then, and saw that the nose of our boat had got fixed under the woodwork of the lock, while the incoming water was rising all round it, and tilting it up. In another moment we should be over. Quick as thought, we each seized an oar, and a vigorous blow against the side of the lock with the butt-ends released the boat, and sent uf sprawling on our backs. We did not come out well in that photograph, George and I. Of course, as was to be expected, our luck ordained it that the man should set his wretched machine in motion at the precise moment that we were both lying on our backs with a wild expression of "Where am I? and what is it?" on our faces, and our four feet waving madly in the air. Our feet were undoubtedly the leading article in that photograph. Indeed, very little else was to be seen. They filled up the foreground entirely. Behind them, you caught glimpses of the other boats, and bits of the surrounding scenery; but everything and everybody else in the lock looked so utterly insignificant and paltry compared with our feet, that all the other people felt quite ashamed of themselves, and refused to subscribe to the picture. The owner of one steam launch, who had bespoke six copies, rescinded the order on seeing the negative. He said he would take them if anybody could show him his launch, but nobody could. It was somewhere behind George's right foot. There was a good deal of unpleasantness over the business. The photographer thought we ought to take a dozen copies each, seeing that the photo was about nine-tenths us, but we declined. We said we had no objection to being photo'd full-length, but we preferred being taken the right way up. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat.1 31. A fire-mist and a planet,— A crystal and a cell,— A jelly-fish and a saurian, And caves where the cave-men dwell; 1 Used with the kind permission of the publishers, Henry Holt and Company. |
