MARCH

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MARCH

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.

I am but a gatherer and disposer of other men’s stuff.

“Preface to the Elements of Architecture,”—Sir Henry Wotton.

Sir Henry Wotton, a famous English diplomatist, poet, and miscellaneous writer, was born at Boughton, Malherbe, Kent, March 30, 1568, and died at Eton, December, 1639. He wrote: “State of Christendom,” “Poems,” “Elements of Architecture,” etc.

From the very beginning Freeman’s historical studies were characterized on the one hand by philosophical breadth of view, and on the other hand by extreme accuracy of statement, and such loving minuteness of detail as is apt to mark the local antiquary whose life has been spent in studying only one thing. It was to the combination of these two characteristics that the pre-eminent greatness of his historical work was due.

“A Century of Science and other Essays,”—John Fiske.

John Fiske, a renowned American historian, was born at Hartford, Conn., March 30, 1842, and died at Gloucester, Mass., July 4, 1901. He has written: “Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy,” “The Unseen World,” “Darwinism,” “American Political Ideas,” “The Critical Period of American History,” “The Idea of God,” “The American Revolution,” “The Beginnings of New England,” “The Discovery of America,” “Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America” (1899), “Civil Government of the United States,” “The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War,” “Old Virginia and her Neighbors,” 2 vols., etc.

(Et) le malheur est bien un trÉsor qu’on dÉterre.[3]

“Amour,”—Paul Verlaine.

Paul Verlaine, a celebrated French poet and story writer was born at Metz, March 30, 1844, and died at Paris, January 8, 1896. He wrote: “Saturnine Poems,” “Gay Festivals,” “Memoirs of a Widower,” “Stories Without Words,” “Love,” “Dedications,” “Good Luck,” “My Hospitals,” etc.

When anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offence cannot reach it.

Descartes.

RenÉ Descartes, the illustrious French philosopher, was born at La Haye, Touraine, March 31, 1596, and died at Stockholm, February 11, 1650. His works include: “Discourse on Method,” “Meditations in Elementary Philosophy,” “Philosophical Beginnings,” “Dioptrique,” “Meteors,” “Geometry,” “Treatise on the Passions,” and “Letters to the Princess Elizabeth.”

The world in all doth but two nations bear—
The good, the bad, and these mixed everywhere.

“The Loyal Scot,”—Andrew Marvell.

Andrew Marvell, a famous English poet and satirist, was born at Winstead, Yorkshire, March 31, 1621, and died in London, August 18, 1678. He wrote: “The Nymph Complaining,” “The Rehearsal Transposed,” “Horatian Ode on Cromwell’s Return from Ireland,” and his well-known “Poems on Affairs of State.”

Whether we wake or we sleep,
Whether we carol or weep,
The Sun with his Planets in chime,
Marketh the going of Time.

“Chronomoros,”—Edward Fitzgerald.

Edward Fitzgerald, a renowned English poet, was born at Bredfield House, near Suffolk, March 31, 1809, and died June 14, 1883. Among his writings are: “The Mighty Magician,” “Six Dramas from Calderon,” and “The RubÁiyÁt of Omar KhayyÁm.” These are all translations of foreign poems.

There’s a joy without canker or cark,
There’s a pleasure eternally new,
’Tis to gloat on the glaze and the mark
Of China that’s ancient and blue.

“Ballades in Blue China,”—Andrew Lang.

Andrew Lang, a noted English poet, story-teller and literary critic, was born at Selkirk, Scotland, March 31, 1844, and died in 1912. Among his works are: “Letters to Dead Authors,” “Helen of Troy,” “Ballads and Lyrics of Old France,” “Custom and Myth,” “Myth, Ritual, and Religion,” “Ballades in Blue China,” etc.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]

God sends His highly favored ones
Into the wide, wide world to roam.

[2]

Bear ye! Bravely endure;
Just one short hour—
And thy dark room with sunshine glows.

[3] Misfortune is in truth a treasure we unearth.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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