THE NEW YEAR. J. G. WHITTIER. The wave is breaking on the shore,- O, seer-seen Angel! waiting now Once more across thy sleepless eye O, in that dying year hath been The sum of all since time began,The birth and death, the joy and pain, Of Nature and of Man. seer'-seen, prophet-seen. sem' blance, appearance; form. Example sheds a genial ray Of light that men are apt to borrow; So first improve yourself to-day, And then improve your friends to-morrow. -VALENTINE VOUSDEN. CONCILIATION OF AMERICA. EDMUND BURKE. From six capital sources-of descent, of form of government, of religion in the northern provinces, of manners in the southern, of education, of the remoteness of situation from the first mover of government from all these causes a fierce spirit of liberty has grown up. It looks to me to be narrow and pedantic to prosecute that spirit as criminal; to apply the ordinary doctrines of criminal justice to this great public contest. I do not know the right method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people. My idea is to admit our colonies into an interest in the constitution. A revenue from America! You can never receive it; no, not a shilling. For all service, whether of revenue, trade, or empire, my trust is in her interest in the British constitution. My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges and equal protection. These are ties which, though light as air, are as strong as links of iron. Let the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with our government - they will cling and grapple to you; and no force under heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it once be understood that your government may be one thing and their privileges another; that these two things may exist without any mutual relation-the cement is gone; the cohe sion is loosened and everything hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England worship freedom they will turn their faces toward you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience. Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows in every soil. But until you become lost to all feeling of your true interest and your natural dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the commodity of price, of which you have the monopoly. This is the true act of navigation, which binds to you the commerce of the colonies, and through them secures to you the wealth of the world. Deny them this participation of freedom, and you break the unity of the empire. It is the spirit of the English constitution which, infused through the mighty mass, pervades, feeds, unites, invigorates, vivifies every part of the empire, even down to the minutest member. Is it not the same virtue which does everything for us here in England? All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the profane herd of those vulgar and mechanical politicians who think that nothing exists but what is gross and material; and who, therefore, far from being qualified to be directors of the great movement of empire, are not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and master principles which, in the opinion of such men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in truth everything, and all in all. Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. If we are conscious of our situation, and glow with zeal to fill our places as becomes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate all our public proceedings on America with the old warning of the church, LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS! We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order of Providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire, and have made the most extensive and the only honorable conquests, not by destroying, but by promoting the wealth, the number, the happiness of the human race. al le' giance (jans), loyalty. aus' pi cate, inaugurate favorably. chi mer' i cal, merely imaginary. co he'sion (zhun), close union. in dict' ment (dīt), a formal accusation. par' tic i pa' tion, sharing. sov' er eign (sŭv′ ĕr în), kingly; highest. viv'i fies, gives life to. We are firm believers in the maxim that for all right judgment of any man or thing it is useful, nay, essential, to see his good qualities before pronouncing on his bad. -CARLYLE. HYMN. (BEFORE SUNRISE IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI.) SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. Hast thou a charm to stay the morning star Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form, How silently! Around these and above O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer Awake, my soul, not only passive praise Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake! Thou dread ambassador, from Earth to Heaven, |