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LVIII.

THE IMPRISONMENT OF BONNIVARD.

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1. FAILING in his enterprise for the liberation of Genēva," Bonnivard was transported to the castle of Chillon, where a dreadful captivity awaited him. Bound by the middle of his body to a chain, the other end of which was attached to an iron ring in a pillar, he remained in this condition six years, free to move the length only of his chain, and able to recline only where it allowed him to extend himself.

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2. The pavement was hollowed by his measured tread; but the thought that his captivity would perhaps avail nothing for the enfranchisement of his country, and that Geneva and he were doomed to perpetual fetters, must have been more wearing to his mind121 than his steps to the stone.

"Chillon thy prison is a holy place,

And thy sad floor an altar; for 't was trod,

Until his very steps have left a trace,

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Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,
By Bonnivard! - May none those marks efface!
For they appeal from tyranny to God."

3. How happened it, in this long night, which no day broke in upon, and where the silence was disturbed by no sound save that of the waves of the lake dashing against the walls of his dungeon, how happened it that the mind did not overpower the body, or the body the mind? Why was it that the jailer, on going his rounds some morning, did not find his prisoner either dead or mad? One besetting-one cternal ideä, it not enough to break the heart, or paralyze the brain?

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4. And, during this time, during these six years, during this eternity, not a cry, not a murmur, as his jailers testified, escaped from the prisoner; although, without doubt, when the tempest was unloosed, when the gale tore up the waves, when the rain and the blast lashed the walls, - he too had his utterance; for then his voice might be lost in the great voice of nature; for then God only could distinguish his cries and sobs, and, the next day, his jailers, who had not feasted on his despair, would find him calm and resigned, -the tempest in his heart subdued and hushed, like that in the sky.

5. Ah! without that without that- would he not have dashed his brains out against the pillar to which he was chained? Could he have awaited that day when his countrymen simulta. neously burst into his prison to rescue and to honor him? A hundred voices then exclaimed, "Bonnivard, thou art free!". 'And Geneva?".

"Is also free!" ORIGINAL TRANSLATION.

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ercises of the body succeeded to those of the mind; and Alexander, who was tall, active, and robust, surpassed most of his equals in the gymnastic arts. Refreshed by the use of his bath, and a slight dinner, he resumed, with new vigor, the business of the day; and till the hour of supper, the principal meal of the Romans, he was attended by his secretaries, with whom he read and answered the multitude of letters, memorials, and petitions, that must have been addressed to the master of the greatest part of the world.

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His table was served with the most frugal simplicity; and whenever he was at liberty to consult his own inclination, the company consisted of a few select friends, men of learning and virtue. His dress was plain and modest; his demeanor, courteous 39 and affable. At the proper hours, his palace was open to all his subjects; but the voice of a crier was heard, as in the Eleusinian mysteries, pronouncing the same salutary admonition,"Let none enter these holy walls, unless he is conscious of a pure and innocent mind."

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There are few great personages in history who have been more exposed to the calumny of enemies, and the adulation of friends, than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there scarcely is any whose great names, shining without twinklin or of

steady, beneficent light. It is associated and ber
our reflections on those things which are mor
If we think of the independence of ou

try.

whose efforts were so prominent in achieving
the constitution which is over us, we
much to establish it, and whose ad
acknowledged to be a model for his

1. AND yet, after all, it is man
spirit, that gives to this grand the
all its substantial use and worth, a
men and angels, without Mind to
honor and glorify its Author, it w
costly panorama without spectato

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active, the most enterprising, the least scrupulous,—she was able, by her vigor, to make deep impressions on their states. Her own greatness, meanwhile, remained unimpaired.

The wise ministers and brave warriors101 who flourished under her reign share the praise of her success; but, instead of lessen

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ing the applause due to her, they make great addition to it. They owed, all of them, their advancement to her choice; they were supported by her constancy; and, with all their abilities they were never able to acquire any undue ascendant over her. In her family, in her court, in her kingdom, she remained equally mistress; the force of the tender passions was great over her, but the force of her mind was still superior; and the combat which her victory visibly cost her serves only to display the firmness of her resolution, and the loftiness of her ambitious sentiments.

The fame of this princess, though it has surmounted the prějudices both of faction and bigotry, yet lies still exposed to another prejudice, which is more durable, because more natural, and which, according to the different views in which we survey her, is capable either of exalting beyond measure, or diminishing the lustre of her character. This prejudice is founded on the consideration of her sex.

When we contemplates her as a woman, we are apt to be struck with the highest admiration of her great qualities and extensive capacity; but we are also apt to require some more softness of disposition, some greater lenity of temper, some of those amiable weakneses by which her sex is distinguished. But the true method of pati sideration and ce

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her merit is, to lay aside all these coner merely as a rational being, placed in ith the government of mankind.

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nind? Why was it that the jailer, morning, did not find his prisoner > besetting one eternal ideä, heart, or paralyze the brain? ,- during these six years, during this t a murmur, as his jailers testified, r; although, without doubt, when the then the gale tore up the waves, when hed the walls, he too had his uttermight be lost in the great voice of y could distinguish his cries and sobs; ers, who had not feasted on his despair, resigned, the tempest in his heart a that in the sky.

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4. MILTON.

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Ahl without that - without that-would he not have 1'1 ha was chained?

Quarterly Review.

It is impossible to refuse to Milton the honor due to a life of the sincerest piety and the most dignified virtue. lived under a more abiding sense of responsibility.

No man ever
No man ever

strove more faithfully to use time and talent" as ever in the great Taskmaster's eye." No man so richly endowed was ever less ready to trust in his own powers, or more prompt to own his dependence on "that eternal and propitial throne, where nothing is readier than grace and refuge to the distresses of mortal suppliants." His morality was of the loftiest order. He possessed a self-control which, in one susceptible of such vehement emotions, was marvellous. No one ever saw him indulging in those pro pensities which overcloud the mind and pollute the heart.

No youthful excesses treasured up for him a suffering and remorseful old age. From his youth up he was temperate in all things, as became one who had consecrated himself to a lifestruggle against vice, and error, and darkness, in all their forms. He had started with the conviction "that he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well, hereafter in laudable things, ought himself to be a true poem; that is, a composition and pattern of the best and honorablest things;" and from this he never swerved. His life was indeed a true poem; or it might be compared to an anthem on his own favorite organ-high-toned, solemn, and majestic.

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The character of Washington is among the most cherished contemplations of my life. It is a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent light. It is associated and blended with all our reflections on those things which are near and dear to us If we think of the independence of our country, we think of him whose efforts were so prominent in achieving if we think of the constitution which is over us, we of him who did so much to establish it, and whose admisation of its powers is acknowledged to be a model for his

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ΕΙ

1. AND yet, after all, it is mar spirit, that gives to this grand the all its substantial use and worth, men and angels, without Mind to honor and glorify its Author, it w costly panorama without spectato

and, it is intelligent of the material universe its real glory! Wo

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1. I HAVE endeavored to show that the intrinsic value of genius is a secondary consideration, compared to the use to which it is applied; that genius ought to be estimated chiefly by the

character of the subject upon which it is employed, or of the cause which it advocates; that it should be considered, in fact as a mere instrument, a weapon, a sword, which may be used in a good cause, or in a bad one; may be wielded by a patriot, or a highwayman; may give protection to the dearest interests of society, or may threaten those interests with the irruption of pride, and profligacy, and folly, of all the vices which compose the curse and degradation of our species.

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2. I am the more disposed to dwell a little upon this subject, because I am persuaded that it is not sufficiently attended to,' - nay, that in ninety-nine instances out of a hundred it is not attended to at all;140-that works of imagination are perused for the sake of the wit which they display; which wit not only reconciles us to, but endears to us, opinions, and feelings, and habits, at war with wisdom and morality, to say nothing of religion; in short, that we admire the polish, the temper, and shape of the sword, and the dexterity with which it is wielded, though it is the property of a lunătic, or of a bravo; though it is brandished in the face of wisdom and virtue; and, at every wheel,103 threatens to inflict a wound that will disfigure some feature, or lop some member; or, with masterly adroitness, aims a death-thrust at the heart!

3. I would deprive genius of the worship that is paid to it for its own sake. Instead of allowing it to dictate to the world, I would have the world dictate to it, dictate to it so far as the vital interests of society are affected. I know it is the opinion of many that the moral of mere poëtry is of little avail; that we are charmed by its melody and wit, and uninjured by its levity and profaneness; and hence many a thing has been allowed in poetry, which would have been scouted, deprecated, rejected, had it appeared in prose; as if vice and folly were for being introduced to us with an elegant and

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theea of the species forces itself upon him. The species is not perfect; but it retains too much of the image of its Maker, preserves too many evidences of the modelling of the Hand that fashioned it, is too near to the hovering providence of its disre garded but still cherishing Author, to excuse, far less to call for

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