rco Bozzaris;" Drake's "American
Flag;" and Mrs. Thrale's "Three Warnings." As an introduction to the
thought, imagery and diction of Shakespeare, there were "Hamlet's
Soliloquy," "Speech of Henry Fifth to his Troops," "Othello's Apology,"
"The Fall of Cardinal Wolsey" and his death, the "Quarrel of Brutus and
Cassius" (often committed to memory and spoken) and Antony's Oration
over dead Caesar. The extracts from orations were chosen largely for
their relation to great events in history. There were Patrick Henry's
"Speech before the Virginia Convention," Walpole's "Reproof of Mr.
Pitt," and Pitt's reply. Who cannot remember "The atrocious crime of
being a young man," and go on with the context? There were extracts
from Hayne's "Speech on South Carolina," and Webster's reply defending
Massachusetts; a part of Burke's long speech on the Trial of Warren
Hastings prefaced by Macaulay's description of the scene; Webster's
"Speech on the Trial of a Murderer," ending with "It must be confessed,
it will be confessed; there is no refuge from confession but suicide,
and suicide is confession;" Webster's speech on the Importance of the
Union with its concluding sentiment, "Liberty and Union, now and
forever; one and inseparable." There was also Fox's "Political Pause"
with its wonderful requirements of inflection to express irony;
Sprague's "American Indians," "Not many generations ago, where you now
sit, encircled with all that exalts and embellishes civilized life,
the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole
unscared." Did you not commit it to memory and speak it? Then there was
Webster's Speech in which he supplied John Adams from his own fervid
imagination that favorite of all patriotic boys, "Sink or swim, live
or die, survive or perish; I give my hand and my heart to this vote."
At its close, "it is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God,
it shall be my dying sentiment; independence now, and independence
forever."

[Literary Selections]

From the essayists there was Lamb's "Eulogy on Candle Light;" that
delightful "Eulogy on Debt" from an unknown author; Addison's "Allegory
on Discontent," and "Westminster Abbey;" and Jane Taylor's "Discontented
Pendulum." Only seven selections were taken from the Bible; but one of
these was Paul's Defense before Agrippa. There were, however, quite a
number of articles of strongly religious tendency, like Dr. Spring's
"Observance of the Sabbath."

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