Doth walk on the high places and affect The earth-o'erlooking mountains. She had onl To deck the beauty of his bright eyed girl, And bade her wear2 when stranger warriors came Beautifully lay the region of her tribe Below her-waters resting in the embrace 5 Of the wide forest, and maize-planted 'glades 10 She gazed upon it long, and at sight Of her own village, peeping through the tree And her own dwelling, and the cabin roof And came to die for, a warm gush of tears 15 Run from her eyes. But when the sun grew low WHAT IS GLORY? WHAT IS FAME?[MOTHERWELL.] What is Glory? What is Fame? The echo of a long lost name; A stream that hurries on its way, The last drop of a bootless shower, 20 25 30 1 Rule XXII., Rem. 5. 2 Rule XIX. $ Rule X. What is Fame? and what is Glory? A dream,1-a jester's lying story, A joke scrawled on an epitaph; 5 A grin at Death's own ghastly laugh; A visioning that tempts the eye, O'er hill-top to more distant height, A bubble blown by fond conceit, A word of praise, perchance of blame; 10 15 1. Montezuma displayed all the energy and enterprise h the commencement of his reign, which had been anticipated from him. 2. His first expedition against a rebel province in the neighborhood was crowned with success, and he led back in triumph a throng of captives for the bloody sacrifice that was to grace his coronation. This was celebrated with uncommon pomp. 1 Rule II. 2 Rule XXI., Rem. 13. 3. Games and religious ceremonies continued for sev eral days, and among the spectators who flocked from distant quarters, where some noble Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of Mexico. They were in disguise, hoping thus to elude detection. 4. They were recognized, however, and reported to the monarch. But he only availed himself of the information to provide them with honorable entertainment, and a good place for witnessing the games. This was a magnanimous act, considering the long cherished hostility between the nations. 5. In his first years, Montezuma was constantly engaged in war, and frequently led his armies in person. The Aztec banners were seen in the furthest provinces on the Gulf of Mexico, and the distant regions of Nicaragua and Honduras. The expeditions were generally successful; and the limits of the empire were more widely extended than at any preceding period. 6. Meanwhile the monarch was not inattentive to the interior concerns of the kingdom. He made some important changes in the courts of justice; and carefully watched over the execution of the laws, which he enforced with stern severity. 7. He was in the habit of patrolling the streets of his capital in disguise, to make1 himself personally acquainted with the abuses in it. 8. And with more questionable policy, it is said, he would sometimes try the integrity of his judges by tempting them with large bribes to swerve from their duty, and then call the delinquent to strict account for yielding to the temptation. 1 Rule XVIII., Rem. 9. Why can no hymned charm of music heal To hide the sad realities of fate? Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime When wrapt in fire the realms of ether glow, And Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below, 10 Thou, undismayed, shalt o'er the ruins smile, CHAPTER VII. COLLOQUIAL POWERS OF DR. FRANKLIN. →→ [WIRT.] 1. Never have I known such a fire-side companion as Dr. Franklin. Great as he was, both as a3 statesman and a philosopher, he never shone in a light more winning than when he was seen in a domestic circle. 2. It was once my good fortune to pass two or three weeks with him, at the house of a private gentleman, in the back part of Pennsylvania; and we were confined to the house, during the whole of that time, by the uninternitting constancy and depth of the snows. 3. But confinement could never be felt where Franklin was an inmate. His cheerfulness and his colloquial powers spread around him a perpetual spring. When I speak, nowever, of his colloquial powers, I do not mean to awaken any notion analagous to that which Boswell has given us, when he so frequently mentions the colloquial powers of Dr. Johnson. 1 R. XXI. Rem. 10. 2 R. XXIII. Rem. 6. 8R. I., Rem. 3, NorE. 4. The conversation of the latter reminds one of "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war." It was, indeed,1 a perpetual contest for victory, or an arbitrary and des potic exaction of homage to his superior talents. 5. It was strong, acute, prompt, splendid and vocifer ous; as loud, stormy and sublime as those winds which he represents as shaking the Hebrides, and rocking the old castle that frowned upon the dark rolling sea beneath. 6. But one gets tired of storms, however sublime they may be, and longs for the more orderly current of nature. Of Franklin no one ever became tired. There was no ambition of eloquence, no effort to shine, in any thing which came from him. There was nothing which made any demand either upon your allegiance or your admiration. 7. His manner was as unaffected as infancy. It was nature's self. He talked like an old patriarch; and his plainness and simplicity put you at once at your ease, and gave you the full and free possession and use of all your faculties. . 8. His thoughts were of a character to shine by their own light, without any adventitious aid. They required only a medium of vision, like his pure and simple style, to exhibit to the highest advantage, their native radiance and beauty. His cheerfulness was unintermitting. 9. It seemed to be as much the effect of the systematic and salutary exercise of the mind, as of its superior organization. His wit was of the first order; it did not show itself merely in occasional coruscations; but, without any effort or force on his part, it shed a constant stream of the purest light over the whole of his dis courses. 1 Rule XXI., Rem. 13, |