They are full of
recondite
information,
overloaded indeed with learning; elegant, nervous, and elaborate,
rather than easy-flowing, simple, and warm, like a genuine product
of the muse.
overloaded indeed with learning; elegant, nervous, and elaborate,
rather than easy-flowing, simple, and warm, like a genuine product
of the muse.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v06 to v10 - Cal to Fro
How little
applicable, then, is this boasted right of petition, under our
system, to political questions? Who ever heard of the principal
petitioning his agent-of the master, his servant-or of the
sovereign, his subject? The very essence of a petition implies a
request from an inferior to a superior. It is not in fact a natural
growth of our system. It was copied from the British Bill of
Rights, and grew up among a people whose representation was
very imperfect, and where the sovereignty of the people was not
recognized at all. And yet even there, this right so much
insisted on here as being boundless as space, was restricted
from the beginning by the very men who adopted it in the
British system, in the very manner which has been done in the
other branch, this session; and to an extent far beyond. The
two Houses of Parliament have again and again passed resolu-
tions against receiving petitions even to repeal taxes; and this,
those who formed our Constitution well knew, and yet adopted
## p. 3092 (#54) ############################################
3092
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
the provision almost identically contained in the British Bill of
Rights, without guarding against the practice under it. Is not
the conclusion irresistible, that they did not deem it inconsistent
with the right of "the citizens peaceably to assemble and peti-
tion for a redress of grievance," as secured in the Constitution?
The thing is clear. It is time that the truth should be known,
and this cant about petition, not to redress the grievances of
the petitioners, but to create a grievance elsewhere, be put
down.
I know this question to the bottom. I have viewed it under
every possible aspect. There is no safety but in prompt, deter-
mined, and uncompromising defense of our rights-to meet the
danger on the frontier. There all rights are strongest, and
more especially this. The moral is like the physical world.
Nature has incrusted the exterior of all organic life, for its
safety. Let that be broken through, and it is all weakness
within. So in the moral and political world. It is on the
extreme limits of right that all wrong and encroachments are
the most sensibly felt and easily resisted. I have acted on this
principle throughout in this great contest. I took my lessons
from the patriots of the Revolution. They met wrong promptly,
and defended right against the first encroachment. To sit here
and hear ourselves and constituents, and their rights and insti-
tutions (essential to their safety), assailed from day to day-
denounced by every epithet calculated to degrade and render us
odious; and to meet all this in silence, or still worse, to reason
with the foul slanderers,- would eventually destroy every feeling.
of pride and dignity, and sink us in feelings to the condition of
the slaves they would emancipate. And this the Senator advises
us to do. Adopt it, and the two houses would be converted
into halls to debate our rights to our property, and whether, in
holding it, we were not thieves, robbers, and kidnappers; and
we are to submit to this in order to quiet the North! I tell the
Senator that our Union, and our high moral tone of feeling on
this subject at the South, are infinitely more important to us
than any possible effect that his course could have at the North;
and that if we could have the weakness to adopt his advice, it
would even fail to effect the object intended.
It is proper to speak out. If this question is left to itself,
unresisted by us, it cannot but terminate fatally to us. Our
safety and honor are in the opposite direction to take the
## p. 3093 (#55) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3093
highest ground, and maintain it resolutely. The North will
always take position below us, be ours high or low. They
will yield all that we will and something more. If we go for
rejection, they will at first insist on receiving, on the ground of
respect for petition. If we yield that point and receive peti-
tions, they will go for reference, on the ground that it is absurd
to receive and not to act—as it truly is. If we go for that,
they will insist on reporting and discussing; and if that, the
next step will be to make concession-to yield the point of
abolition in this District; and so on till the whole process is
consummated, each succeeding step proving more easy than its
predecessor. The reason is obvious. The abolitionists under-
stand their game. They throw their votes to the party most
disposed to favor them. Now, sir, in the hot contest of party
in the Northern section, on which the ascendency in their
several States and the general government may depend, all the
passions are roused to the greatest height in the violent strug-
gle, and aid sought in every quarter. They would forget us in
the heat of battle; yes, the success of the election, for the time,
would be more important than our safety; unless we by our
determined stand on our rights cause our weight to be felt, and
satisfy both parties that they have nothing to gain by courting
those who aim at our destruction. As far as this government is
concerned, that is our only remedy. If we yield that, if we lower
our stand to permit partisans to woo the aid of those who are
striking at our interests, we shall commence a descent in which
there is no stopping-place short of total abolition, and with it
our destruction.
A word in answer to the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr.
Webster]. He attempted to show that the right of petition was
peculiar to free governments. So far is the assertion from being
true, that it is more appropriately the right of despotic govern-
ments; and the more so, the more absolute and austere. So far
from being peculiar or congenial to free popular States, it
degenerates under them, necessarily, into an instrument, not of
redress for the grievances of the petitioners, but as has been
remarked, of assault on the rights of others, as in this case.
That I am right in making the assertion, I put it to the Senator
Have we not a right under the Constitution to our property in
our slaves? Would it not be a violation of the Constitution to
divest us of that right? Have we not a right to enjoy, under
## p. 3094 (#56) ############################################
3094
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
the Constitution, peaceably and quietly, our acknowledged rights
guaranteed by it, without annoyance? The Senator assents. He
does but justice to his candor and intelligence. Now I ask him,
how can he assent to receive petitions whose object is to annoy
and disturb our right, and of course in direct infraction of the
Constitution?
The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Tappan], in refusing to present
these incendiary and unconstitutional petitions, has adopted a
course truly constitutional and patriotic, and in my opinion, the
only one that is so. I deeply regret that it has not been fol-
lowed by the Senator from Kentucky in the present instance.
Nothing short of it can put a stop to the mischief, and do jus-
tice to one-half of the States of the Union. If adopted by
others, we shall soon hear no more of abolition. The responsi-
bility of keeping alive this agitation must rest on those who may
refuse to follow so noble an example.
STATE RIGHTS
From the Speech on the Admission of Michigan,' 1837
IT
T HAS perhaps been too much my habit to look more to the
future and less to the present than is wise; but such is the
constitution of my mind that when I see before me the indi-
cations of causes calculated to effect important changes in our
political condition, I am led irresistibly to trace them to their
sources and follow them out in their consequences. Language
has been held in this discussion which is clearly revolutionary in
its character and tendency, and which warns us of the approach of
the period when the struggle will be between the conservatives and
the destructives. I understood the Senator from Pennsylvania
[Mr. Buchanan] as holding language countenancing the principle
that the will of a mere numerical majority is paramount to the
authority of law and constitution. He did not indeed announce
distinctly this principle, but it might fairly be inferred from
what he said; for he told us the people of a State where the
constitution gives the same weight to a smaller as to a greater
number, might take the remedy into their own hands; meaning,
as I understood him, that a mere majority might at their pleasure
subvert the constitution and government of a State,-which he
seemed to think was the essence of democracy. Our little State
## p. 3095 (#57) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3095
has a constitution that could not stand a day against such doc-
trines, and yet we glory in it as the best in the Union. It is a
constitution which respects all the great interests of the State,
giving to each a separate and distinct voice in the management
of its political affairs, by means of which the feebler interests are
protected against the preponderance of the stronger. We call our
State a Republic-a Commonwealth, not a Democracy; and let
me tell the Senator, it is a far more popular government than if
it had been based on the simple principle of the numerical
majority. It takes more voices to put the machine of govern-
ment in motion than in those that the Senator would consider
more popular. It represents all the interests of the State,- and
is in fact the government of the people in the true sense of the
term, and not that of the mere majority, or the dominant
interests.
I am not familiar with the constitution of Maryland, to which
the Senator alluded, and cannot therefore speak of its structure
with confidence; but I believe it to be somewhat similar in its
character to our own. That it is a government not without its
excellence, we need no better proof than the fact that though
within the shadow of Executive influence, it has nobly and suc-
cessfully resisted all the seductions by which a corrupt and artful
Administration, with almost boundless patronage, has attempted.
to seduce her into its ranks.
Looking then to the approaching struggle, I take my stand
immovably. I am a conservative in its broadest and fullest sense,
and such I shall ever remain, unless indeed the government shall
become so corrupt and disordered that nothing short of revolution
can reform it. I solemnly believe that our political system is, in
its purity, not only the best that ever was formed, but the best
possible that can be devised for us. It is the only one by
which free States, so populous and wealthy, and occupying so
vast an extent of territory, can preserve their liberty. Thus
thinking, I cannot hope for a better. Having no hope of a bet-
ter, I am a conservative; and because I am a conservative, I am a
State Rights man. I believe that in the rights of the States are
to be found the only effectual means of checking the overaction.
of this government; to resist its tendency to concentrate all
power here, and to prevent a departure from the Constitution;
or in case of one, to restore the government to its original sim-
plicity and purity. State interposition, or to express it more
## p. 3096 (#58) ############################################
3096
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
fully, the right of a State to interpose her sovereign voice, as
one of the parties to our constitutional compact, against the en-
croachments of this government, is the only means of sufficient
potency to effect all this; and I am therefore its advocate. I
rejoiced to hear the Senators from North Carolina [Mr. Brown],
and from Pennsylvania [Mr. Buchanan], do us the justice to dis-
tinguish between nullification and the anarchical and revolution-
ary movements in Maryland and Pennsylvania. I know they did.
not intend it as a compliment; but I regard it as the highest.
They are right. Day and night are not more different — more
unlike in everything. They are unlike in their principles, their
objects, and their consequences.
I shall not stop to make good this assertion, as I might
easily do. The occasion does not call for it. As a conservative
and a State Rights man, or if you will have it, a nullifier, I
have resisted and shall resist all encroachments on the Constitu-
tion whether of this Government on the rights of the States,
or the opposite: -whether of the Executive on Congress, or
Congress on the Executive. My creed is to hold both govern-
ments, and all the departments of each, to their proper sphere,
and to maintain the authority of the laws and the Constitution
against all revolutionary movements. I believe the means which
our system furnishes to preserve itself are ample, if fairly
understood and applied; and I shall resort to them, however
corrupt and disordered the times, so long as there is hope of
reforming the government. The result is in the hands of the
Disposer of events. It is my part to do my duty. Yet while I
thus openly avow myself a conservative, God forbid I should
ever deny the glorious right of rebellion and revolution. Should
corruption and oppression become intolerable, and not otherwise
be thrown off-if liberty must perish or the government be
overthrown, I would not hesitate, at the hazard of life, to resort
to revolution, and to tear down a corrupt government that could
neither be reformed nor borne by freemen. But I trust in God
things will never come to that pass. I trust never to see such
fearful times; for fearful indeed they would be, if they should
ever befall us. It is the last remedy, and not to be thought of
till common-sense and the voice of mankind would justify the
resort.
Before I resume my seat, I feel called on to make a few brief
remarks on a doctrine of fearful import which has been broached
## p. 3097 (#59) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3097
in the course of this debate: the right to repeal laws granting
bank charters, and of course of railroads, turnpikes, and joint-
rick companies. It is a doctrine of fearful import, and calcu-
lated to do infinite mischief. There are countless millions vested
in such stocks, and it is a description of property of the most
delicate character. To touch it is almost to destroy it. But
while I enter my protest against all such doctrines, I have been
greatly alarmed with the thoughtless precipitancy (not to use a
stronger phrase) with which the most extensive and dangerous
privileges have been granted of late. It can end in no good, and
I fear may be the cause of convulsions hereafter.
We already
feel the effects on the currency, which no one competent of judg-
ing can fail to see is in an unsound condition. I must say (for
truth compels me) I have ever distrusted the banking system, at
least in its present form, both in this country and Great Britain.
It will not stand the test of time; but I trust that all shocks or
sudden revolutions may be avoided, and that it may gradually
give way before some sounder and better regulated system of
credit which the growing intelligence of the age may devise.
That a better may be substituted I cannot doubt; but of what it
shall consist, and how it shall finally supersede the present uncer-
tain and fluctuating currency, time alone can determine. All
that I can
see is, that the present must, one day or another,
come to an end or be greatly modified if that indeed can save
it from an entire overthrow. It has within itself the seeds of its
own destruction.
-
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF POLAND
From A Disquisition on Government >
IT
T is then a great error to suppose that the government of the
concurrent majority is impracticable; or that it rests on a
feeble foundation. History furnishes many examples of such
governments; and among them one in which the principle was
carried to an extreme that would be thought impracticable, had
it never existed. I refer to that of Poland. In this it was
carried to such an extreme that in the election of her kings, the
concurrence or acquiescence of every individual of the nobles
and gentry present, in an assembly numbering usually from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand, was required to
## p. 3098 (#60) ############################################
3098
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
make a choice; thus giving to each individual a veto on his
election. So likewise every member of her Diet (the supreme
legislative body), consisting of the King, the Senate, bishops
and deputies of the nobility and gentry of the palatinates, pos-
sessed a veto on all its proceedings; thus making a unanimous
vote necessary to enact a law or to adopt any measure what-
ever. And as if to carry the principle to the utmost extent,
the veto of a single member not only defeated the particular
bill or measure in question, but prevented all others passed
during the session from taking effect. Further the principle
could not be carried. It in fact made every individual of the
nobility and gentry a distinct element in the organism; or to
vary the expression, made him an estate of the kingdom.
And yet this government lasted in this form more than two
centuries, embracing the period of Poland's greatest power and
renown. Twice during its existence she protected Christendom,
when in great danger, by defeating the Turks under the walls
of Vienna, and permanently arresting thereby the tide of their
conquests westward.
It is true her government was finally subverted, and the
people subjugated, in consequence of the extreme to which the
principle was carried; not however because of its tendency to
dissolution from weakness, but from the facility it afforded to
powerful and unscrupulous neighbors to control by their in-
trigues the election of her kings. But the fact that a govern-
ment in which the principle was carried to the utmost extreme
not only existed, but existed for so long a period in great power
and splendor, is proof conclusive both of its practicability and
its compatibility with the power and permanency of government.
URGING REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE
From Speech in the Senate, March 4th, 1850
H
AVING now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to
the question with which I commenced, How can the Union
be saved? There is but one way by which it can with
any certainty; and that is by a full and final settlement, on the
principle of justice, of all the questions at issue between the two
sections. The South asks for justice, simple justice, and less
she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer but the
## p. 3099 (#61) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3099
Constitution; and no concession or surrender to make. She has
already surrendered so much that she has little left to surren-
der. Such a settlement would go to the root of the evil and
remove all cause of discontent; by satisfying the South, she
could remain honorably and safely in the Union, and thereby
restore the harmony and fraternal feelings between the sections.
which existed anterior to the Missouri agitation. Nothing else
can with any certainty finally and forever settle the questions.
at issue, terminate agitation, and save the Union.
-
But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the weaker
party — for it can of itself do nothing, not even protect itself —
but by the stronger.
The North has only to will it to accom-
plish it; to do justice by conceding to the South an equal right
in the acquired territory, and to do her duty by causing the
stipulations relative to fugitive slaves to be faithfully fulfilled;
to cease the agitation of the slave question, and to provide for
the insertion of a provision in the Constitution by an amend-
ment which will restore to the South in substance the power
she possessed of protecting herself, before the equilibrium be-
tween the sections was destroyed by the action of this govern-
There will be no difficulty in devising such a provision,
one that will protect the South, and which at the same time
will improve and strengthen the government instead of impair-
ing and weakening it.
ment.
But will the North agree to this? It is for her to answer the
question. But I will say she cannot refuse, if she has half the
love of the Union which she professes to have; or without justly
exposing herself to the charge that her love of power and
aggrandizement is far greater than her love of the Union. At
all events, the responsibility of saving the Union rests on the
North, and not on the South. The South cannot save it by any
act of hers, and the North may save it without any sacrifice
whatever; unless to do justice, and to perform her duties under
the Constitution, should be regarded by her as a sacrifice.
It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly
avowal on all sides as to what is intended to be done. If the
question is not now settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can
hereafter be; and we as the representatives of the States of this
Union, regarded as governments, should come to a distinct un-
derstanding as to our respective views in order to ascertain
whether the great questions at issue can be settled or not. If
## p. 3100 (#62) ############################################
3100
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
you who represent the stronger portion cannot agree to settle
them on the broad principle of justice and duty, say so; and let
the States we both represent agree to separate and part in
peace. If you are unwilling we should part in peace, tell us so,
and we shall know what to do when you reduce the question to
submission or resistance. If you remain silent you will compel
us to infer by your acts what you intend. In that case Califor-
nia will become the test question. If you admit her, under all
the difficulties that oppose her admission, you compel us to infer
that you intend to exclude us from the whole of the acquired
territories, with the intention of destroying irretrievably the
equilibrium between the two sections. We would be blind not
to perceive in that case that your real objects are power and
aggrandizement; and infatuated not to act accordingly.
I have now, Senators, done my duty in expressing my opin-
ions fully, freely, and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In
doing so I have been governed by the motives which have gov-
erned me in all the stages of the agitation of the slavery ques-
tion since its commencement. I have exerted myself during
the whole period to arrest it, with the intention of saving the
Union if it could be done; and if it could not, to save the sec-
tion where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which
I sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side.
Having faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both
to the Union and my section, throughout this agitation, I shall
have the consolation, let what will come, that I am free from
all responsibility.
## p. 3101 (#63) ############################################
3101
CALLIMACHUS
(THIRD CENTURY B. C. )
<
ALLIMACHUS, the most learned of poets, was the son of Battus
and Mesatme of Cyrene, and a disciple of Hermocrates, who
like his more celebrated pupil was a grammarian, or a fol-
lower of belles-lettres, says Suidas. It is in this calling that we first
hear of Callimachus, when he was a teacher at Alexandria. Here he
counted among his pupils Apollonius Rhodius, author of the Argo-
nautica, and Eratosthenes, famous for his wisdom in science, who
knew geography and geometry so well that he measured the circum-
ference of the earth. Callimachus was in fact one of those erudite
poets and wise men of letters whom the gay Alexandrians who
thronged the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus called "The Pleiades. "
Apollonius Rhodius, Aratus, Theocritus, Lycophron, Nicander, and
Homer son of Macro, were the other six. From his circle of clever
people, the king, with whom he had become a prime favorite, called
him to be chief custodian over the stores of precious books at Alex-
andria. These libraries, we may recall, were the ones Julius Cæsar
partially burned by accident a century later, and Bishop Theophilus
and his mob of Christian zealots finished destroying as repositories
of paganism some three centuries later still. The collections said to
have been destroyed by Caliph Omar when Amru took Alexandria in
640 A. D. , on the ground that if they agreed with the Koran they
were superfluous and if they contradicted it they were blasphemous,
were later ones; but the whole story is discredited by modern schol-
arship. The world has not ceased mourning for this untold and
irreparable loss of the choicest fruits of the human spirit.
Of all these precious manuscripts and parchments, then, Calli-
machus was made curator about the year B. C. 260. Aulus Gellius
computes the time in this wise:- "Four-hundred-ninety years after
the founding of Rome, the first Punic war was begun, and not long
after, Callimachus, the poet of Cyrene in Alexandria, flourished at the
court of King Ptolemy. " At this time he must have been already
married to the wife of whom Suidas speaks in his 'Lexicon,' a
daughter of a Syracusan gentleman.
The number of Callimachus's works, which are reported to have
reached eight hundred, testifies to his popularity in the Alexandrian
period of Greek literature. It contradicts also the maxim ascribed to
him, that "a great book is a great evil. " Among the prose works
## p. 3102 (#64) ############################################
3102
CALLIMACHUS
which would have enriched our knowledge of literature and history
was his history of Greek literature in one hundred and twenty books,
classifying the Greek writers and naming them chronologically. These
were the results of his long labors in the libraries. Among them
was a book on the Museum and the schools connected with it, with
records of illustrious educators and of the books they had written.
It is his poetry that has in the main survived, and yet as Ovid
says-calling him Battiades, either from his father's name or from
the illustrious founder of his native Cyrene-
"Battiades semper toto cantabitur orbe:
Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet. ”
(Even throughout all lands Battiades's name will be famous;
Though not in genius supreme, yet by his art he excels. )
Quintilian, however, says he was the prince of Greek elegiac
poets. Of his elegies we have a few fragments, and also the Latin
translation by Catullus of the 'Lock of Berenice. ' Berenice, the sis-
ter and wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, who succeeded his father Phila-
delphus in B. C. 245, had sacrificed some of her hair, laying it on
the altar of a temple, from which it was subsequently stolen. In his
poem, Callimachus as the court poet sang how the gods had taken
the tresses and placed them among the stars. The delicate and
humorous Rape of the Lock' of Alexander Pope is a rather remote
repetition of the same fancy.
We have also from Callimachus's hand six hymns to the gods and
many epigrams, the latter of which, as will be seen by the quotations
given below, are models of their kind. His lyric hymns are, in real-
ity, rather epics in little.
They are full of recondite information,
overloaded indeed with learning; elegant, nervous, and elaborate,
rather than easy-flowing, simple, and warm, like a genuine product
of the muse. Many of his epigrams grace the 'Greek Anthology. '
Among the best editions of Callimachus is that of Ernesti (1761).
The extant poems and fragments have been in part translated by
William Dodd (1755) and H. W. Tytler (1856). His scattered epigrams
have incited many to attempt their perfect phrasing.
## p. 3103 (#65) ############################################
CALLIMACHUS
3103
HYMN TO JUPITER
Α
T JOVE's high festival, what song of praise
Shall we his suppliant adorers sing?
To whom may we our pæans rather raise
Than to himself, the great Eternal King,
Who by his nod subdues each earth-born thing;
Whose mighty laws the gods themselves obey?
But whether Crete first saw the Father spring,
Or on Lycæus's mount he burst on day,
My soul is much in doubt, for both that praise essay.
Some say that thou, O Jove, first saw the morn
On Cretan Ida's sacred mountain-side;
Others that thou in Arcady wert born:
Declare, Almighty Father -- which have lied?
Cretans were liars ever: in their pride
Have they built up a sepulchre for thee;
As if the King of Gods and men had died,
And borne the lot of frail mortality.
No! thou hast ever been, and art, and aye shalt be.
Thy mother bore thee on Arcadian ground,
Old Goddess Rhea, on a mountain's height;
With bristling bramble-thickets all around
ht,
The hallowed spot was curiously dight;
And now no creature under heaven's
From lovely woman down to things that creep,
In need of Ilithyia's holy rite,
May dare approach that consecrated steep,
Whose name of Rhea's birth-bed still Arcadians keep.
Fair was the promise of thy childhood's prime,
Almighty Jove! and fairly wert thou reared:
Swift was thy march to manhood: ere thy time
Thy chin was covered by the manly beard;
Though young in age, yet wert thou so revered
For deeds of prowess prematurely done,
That of thy peers or elders none appeared
To claim his birthright;-heaven was all thine own,
Nor dared fell Envy point her arrows at thy throne.
Poets of old do sometimes lack of truth;
For Saturn's ancient kingdom, as they tell,
## p. 3104 (#66) ############################################
3104
CALLIMACHUS
Into three parts was split, as if forsooth
There were a doubtful choice 'twixt Heaven and Hell
To one not fairly mad;--- we know right well
That lots are cast for more equality;
But these against proportion so rebel
That naught can equal her discrepancy;
If one must lie at all- a lie like truth for me!
No chance gave thee the sovranty of heaven;
But to the deeds thy good right hand had done,
And thine own strength and courage, was it given;
These placed thee first, still keep thee on thy throne.
Thou took'st the goodly eagle for thine own,
Through whom to men thy wonders are declared;
To me and mine propitious be they shown!
Through thee by youth's best flower is heaven shared-
Seamen and warriors heed'st thou not, nor e'en the bard:
These be the lesser gods' divided care-
But kings, great Jove, are thine especial dow'r;
They rule the land and sea; they guide the war
What is too mighty for a monarch's pow'r?
By Vulcan's aid the stalwart armorers show'r
Their sturdy blows-warriors to Mars belong-
And gentle Dian ever loves to pour
-
New blessings on her favored hunter throng-
While Phoebus aye directs the true-born poet's song.
But monarchs spring from Jove-nor is there aught
So near approaching Jove's celestial height,
As deeds by heav'n-elected monarchs wrought.
Therefore, O Father, kings are thine of right,
And thou hast set them on a noble height
Above their subject cities; and thine eye
Is ever on them, whether they delight
To rule their people in iniquity,
Or by sound government to raise their name on high.
Thou hast bestowed on all kings wealth and power,
But not in equal measure - this we know,
From knowledge of our own great Governor,
Who stands supreme of kings on earth below.
His morning thoughts his nights in actions show;
His less achievements when designed are done
While others squander years in counsels slow;
## p. 3105 (#67) ############################################
CALLIMACHUS
3105
Not rarely when the mighty seeds are sown,
Are all their air-built hopes by thee, great Jove, o'erthrown.
All hail, Almighty Jove! who givest to men
All good, and wardest off each evil thing.
Oh, who can hymn thy praise? he hath not been,
Nor shall he be, that poet who may sing
In fitting strain thy praises-Father, King,
All hail thrice hail! we pray to thee, dispense
Virtue and wealth to us, wealth varying—
For virtue's naught, mere virtue's no defense;
Then send us virtue hand in hand with competence.
TH
Translation of Fitzjames T. Price.
EPITAPH
H
Is little son of twelve years old Philippus here has laid,
Nicoteles, on whom so much his father's hopes were stayed.
EPIGRAM
(Admired and Paraphrased by Horace)
HE hunter in the mountains every roe
And every hare pursues through frost and snow,
Tracking their footsteps. But if some one say,
"See, here's a beast struck down," he turns away.
Such is my love: I chase the flying game,
And pass with coldness the self-offering dame.
EPITAPH ON HERACLEITUS
TH
HEY told me, Heracleitus, they told me you were dead;
They brought me bitter news to hear, and bitter tears I
shed.
I wept, as I remembered how often you and I
Had tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky.
And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest,
A handful of gray ashes, long, long ago at rest,
Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake;
For Death he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.
Translation of William Johnson.
VI-195
## p. 3106 (#68) ############################################
3106
CALLIMACHUS
EPITAPH
WOU
ULD that swift ships had never been; for so
We ne'er had wept for Sopolis: but he
Dead on the waves now drifts; whilst we must go
Past a void tomb, a mere name's mockery.
Translation of J. A. Symonds.
THE MISANTHROPE
AY, honest Timon, now escaped from light,
SAY Which do you most abhor, or that or night?
«< Man, I most hate the gloomy shades below,
And that because in them are more of you. "
EPITAPH UPON HIMSELF
C
ALLIMACHUS takes up this part of earth,
A man much famed for poesy and mirth.
Translation of William Dodd.
EPITAPH UPON CLEOMBROTUS
OUD cried Cleombrotus, "Farewell, O Sun! "
L
Ere, leaping from a wall, he joined the dead.
No act death-meriting had th' Ambraciote done,
But Plato's volume on the soul had read.
## p. 3107 (#69) ############################################
3107
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
(1831-1884)
O ONE ever attained greater fame with few, slight, and unserl-
ous books than this English author. His name rests upon four
volumes only:-'Verses and Translations' (1862); Transla-
tions into English and Latin' (1866); Theocritus Translated into
English Verse' (1869); and Fly-Leaves' (1872). Fly-Leaves' holds
a unique place in English literature. It is made up chiefly of paro-
dies, which combine the mocking spirit with clever imitations of the
style and affectations of familiar poets. They are witty; they are
humorous; they are good-natured; and they are artistic and extraor-
dinarily clever. His satirical banter shown in these verses-most
of which are real poems as well as parodies-has been classed as
"refined common-sense," and "the exuberant playfulness of a powerful
mind and tender and manly nature. " It contains also independent
literary skits and comiques which are quite equal in merit to the
parodies.
Calverley was born at Martley, Worcestershire, December 22d,
1831, the son of the Rev. Henry Blayds, a descendant of an old
Yorkshire family named Calverley. In 1852 Mr. Blayds resumed the
name of Calverley, which had been dropped at the beginning of the
century. Calverley was more famous at Harrow for his marvelous
jumping and other athletic feats than for his studies, but even at
this period he showed great talent for translating from the classics,
and astonished every one by his gifts of memory. A few Latin
verses won for him the Balliol scholarship in 1850, and in the next
year he received at Oxford the Chancellor's prize for a Latin poem.
In 1852 he went to Cambridge, and shortly after won the Craven
scholarship, as well as numerous medals and prizes for his attain-
ments in Greek and Latin. This was the more remarkable inasmuch
as he was extremely indolent and very fond of society, preferring to
entertain his friends by his witty songs, his charming voice, his
clever caricatures—for he had talent with his pencil-and his
brilliant conversation, rather than to apply himself to routine work.
His comrades used to lock him into a room to make him work, and
even then he would outwit them by dashing off a witty parody or a
bit of impromptu verse. Among his literary jeux d'esprit was an
examination paper on 'Pickwick,' prepared as a Christmas joke in
exact imitation of a genuine "exam. " The prizes, two first editions
## p. 3108 (#70) ############################################
3108
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
of Pickwick, were won by W. W. Skeat, now famous as a philolo-
gist, and Walter Besant, known to the public as a novelist.
Calverley remained in Cambridge as tutor and lecturer, and was
presently called to the bar. It seemed the irony of fate that the
famous athlete should receive an injury while skating which com-
pelled him to abandon his profession, and for seventeen years
practically abandon work. He died at Folkestone, on February 17th,
1884.
That he was adored by his friends, and possessed unusual quali-
ties of character as well as mind, may be seen in the memoir pub-
lished by Walter T. Sendall with the 'Literary Remains' (1885).
Apart from his wit, Calverley has a distinct claim to remembrance
on account of his remarkable scholarship. His translations from
Greek and Latin have won the enthusiastic admiration of specialists
and students of the classics. Dr. Gunson, tutor of his college, an
accomplished Latinist, declared that he thought Calverley's Horatian
verse better than Horace's, being equally poetical, and more dis-
tinguished in style. These works not only attest his mastery of
ancient languages, but also his acquaintance with the beauty and
capacity of English verse, into which he has put a grace of his own.
His numerous renderings of Latin into English and English into
Latin show his ease and dexterity of both thought and touch, and
his translation of Theocritus is considered by authorities to be a
masterpiece of literary workmanship.
I.
From James Payn's Some Literary Recollections' and 'Temple Bar, 1887
Mention any occasion on which it is specified that the Fat
Boy was not asleep; and that (1) Mr. Pickwick and (2)
Mr. Weller, senr. , ran. Deduce from expressions used
on one occasion Mr. Pickwick's maximum of speed.
Who were Mr. Staple, Goodwin, Mr. Brooks, Villam, Mrs.
Bunkin, "old Nobs," "cast-iron head," young Bantam ?
What operation was performed on Tom Smart's chair? Who
little thinks that in which pocket, of what garment, in
where, he has left what, entreating him to return to
whom, with how many what, and all how big?
3.
4.
FROM AN EXAMINATION PAPER'
(THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB'
6. "Mr. Weller's knowledge of London was extensive and
peculiar. " Illustrate this by a reference to facts.
## p. 3109 (#71) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3109
20.
12.
18.
21.
23-
9. Describe the common Profeel-machine.
10.
II.
8. Give in full Samuel Weller's first compliment to Mary, and
his father's critique upon the same young lady. What
church was on the valentine that first attracted Mr.
Samuel's eye in the shop?
25.
24.
28.
State the component parts of dog's-nose; and simplify the
expression "taking a grinder. "
On finding his principal in the Pound, Mr. Weller and the
town-beadle varied directly. Show that the latter was
ultimately eliminated, and state the number of rounds in
the square which is not described.
"Anythink for air and exercise, as the werry old donkey
observed ven they voke him up from his death-bed to
carry ten gen'lmen to Greenwich in a tax-cart! " Illus-
trate this by stating any remark recorded in the 'Pick-
wick Papers' to have been made by a (previously) dumb
animal, with the circumstances under which he made it.
How did the old lady make a memorandum, and of what, at
whist? Show that there were at least three times as
many fiddles as harps in Muggleton at the time of the
ball at Manor Farm.
Write down the chorus to each line of Mr. S. Weller's song,
and a sketch of the mottled-faced man's excursus on it.
Is there any ground for conjecturing that he (Sam) had
more brothers than one?
How many lumps of sugar went into the Shepherd's liquor
as a rule? and is any exception recorded?
"She's a-swelling wisibly. " When did this same phenome-
non occur again, and what fluid caused the pressure on
the body in the latter case?
How did Mr. Weller, senr. , define the Funds; and what
view did he take of Reduced Consols? In what terms is
his elastic force described when he assaulted Mr. Stiggins
at the meeting? Write down the name of the meeting.
роßаtоrópш: a good judge of cattle; hence, a good judge.
of character! Note on Esch. Ag. -Illustrate the theory
involved by a remark of the parent Weller.
Deduce from a remark of Mr. Weller, junr. , the price per
mile of cabs at the period.
29. What do you know of the hotel next the Ball at Rochester?
Who beside Mr. Pickwick is recorded to have worn gaiters?
30.
## p. 3110 (#72) ############################################
3110
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
BALLAD
Imitation of Jean Ingelow
THE
HE auld wife sat at her ivied door,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
A thing she had frequently done before;
And her spectacles lay on her aproned knees.
The piper he piped on the hill-top high,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
Till the cow said "I die," and the goose asked "Why? "
And the dog said nothing, but searched for fleas.
The farmer he strode through the square farmyard;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
His last brew of ale was a trifle hard-
The connection of which with the plot one sees.
The farmer's daughter hath frank blue eyes;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She hears the rooks caw in the windy skies,
As she sits at her lattice and shells her peas.
The farmer's daughter hath ripe red lips;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
If you try to approach her, away she skips
Over tables and chairs with apparent ease.
The farmer's daughter hath soft brown hair;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And I've met with a ballad, I can't say where,
Which wholly consisted of lines like these.
She sat with her hands 'neath her dimpled cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And spake not a word. While a lady speaks
There is hope, but she didn't even sneeze.
She sat with her hands 'neath her crimson cheeks;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She gave up mending her father's breeks,
And let the cat roll on her best chemise.
She sat with her hands 'neath her burning cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And gazed at the piper for thirteen weeks;
Then she followed him out o'er the misty leas.
## p. 3111 (#73) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3111
Her sheep followed her, as their tails did them.
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And this song is considered a perfect gem,
And as to the meaning, it's what you please.
LOVERS, AND A REFLECTION
Imitation of Jean Ingelow
N MOSS-PRANKT dells which the sunbeams flatter,
(And heaven it knoweth what that may mean;
Meaning, however, is no great matter)
When woods are a-tremble, with rifts atween;
Thro' God's own heather we wonned together,
I and my Willie (O love my love):
I need hardly remark it was glorious weather,
And flitterbats wavered alow, above;
Boats were curtseying, rising, bowing,
(Boats in that climate are so polite,)
And sands were a ribbon of green endowing,
And O the sun-dazzle on bark and bight!
Thro' the rare red heather we danced together,
(O love my Willie! ) and smelt for flowers:
I must mention again it was gorgeous weather,
Rhymes are so scarce in this world of ours:-
By rises that flushed with their purple favors,
Thro' becks that brattled o'er grasses sheen,
We walked or waded, we two young shavers,
Thanking our stars we were both so green.
We journeyed in parallels, I and Willie,
In fortunate parallels! Butterflies,
Hid in weltering shadows of daffodilly
Or marjoram, kept making peacock eyes:
Song-birds darted about, some inky
As coal, some snowy, I ween, as curds;
(Or rosy as pinks, or as roses pinky —)
They reck of no eerie To-come, those birds!
But they skim over bents which the mill-stream washes,
Or hang in the lift 'neath a white cloud's hem;
## p. 3112 (#74) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3112
They need no parasols, no goloshes;
And good Mrs. Trimmer she feedeth them.
Then we thrid God's cowslips (as erst his heather)
That endowed the wan grass with their golden blooms;
And snapt (it was perfectly charming weather) —
Our fingers at Fate and her goddess-glooms:
And Willie 'gan sing (O his notes were fluty;
Wafts fluttered them out to the white-winged sea) –
Something made up of rhymes that have done much duty,
Rhymes (better to put it) of "ancientry":
Bowers of flowers encountered showers
In William's carol-(O love my Willie! )
When he bade sorrow borrow from blithe to-morrow
I quite forget what-say a daffodilly.
A nest in a hollow, "with buds to follow,"
I think occurred next in his nimble strain;
And clay that was "kneaden," of course in Eden,-
A rhyme most novel, I do maintain:
Mists, bones, the singer himself, love-stories,
And all at least furlable things got "furled ";
Not with any design to conceal their glories,
But simply and solely to rhyme with "world. "
*
*
Oh, if billows and pillows and hours and flowers,
And all the brave rhymes of an elder day,
Could be furled together, this genial weather,
And carted or carried in wafts away,
Nor ever again trotted out - ay me!
How much fewer volumes of verse there'd be!
VISIONS
From Fly-Leaves'
"She was a phantom-" etc.
IN
N LONE Glenartney's thickets lies couched the lordly stag,
The dreaming terrier's tail forgets its customary wag;
And plodding plowmen's weary steps insensibly grow quicker,
As broadening casements light them on toward home, or home-
brewed liquor.
## p. 3113 (#75) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3113
It is—in brief — the evening: that pure and pleasant time,
When stars break into splendor, and poets into rhyme;
When in the glass of Memory the forms of loved ones shine—
And when, of course, Miss Goodchild is prominent in mine.
Miss Goodchild - Julia Goodchild! —how graciously you smiled
Upon my childish passion once, yourself a fair-haired child:
When I was (no doubt) profiting by Dr. Crabb's instruction,
And sent those streaky lollipops home for your fairy suction.
"She wore her natural "roses, the night when first we met,".
Her golden hair was gleaming neath the coercive net:
"Her brow was like the snawdrift," her step was like Queen
Mab's,
And gone was instantly the heart of every boy at Crabb's.
The parlor-boarder chasséed tow'rds her on graceful limb;
The onyx decked his bosom-but her smiles were not for him:
With me she danced-till drowsily her eyes "began to blink,"
And I brought raisin wine, and said, "Drink, pretty creature,
drink! "
And evermore, when winter coines in his garb of snows,
And the returning schoolboy is told how fast he grows;
Shall I with that soft hand in mine-enact ideal Lancers,
And dream I hear demure remarks, and make impassioned
answers.
I know that never, never may her love for me return
At night I muse upon the fact with undisguised concern
But ever shall I bless that day! -I don't bless, as a rule,
The days I spent at "Dr. Crabb's Preparatory School.
applicable, then, is this boasted right of petition, under our
system, to political questions? Who ever heard of the principal
petitioning his agent-of the master, his servant-or of the
sovereign, his subject? The very essence of a petition implies a
request from an inferior to a superior. It is not in fact a natural
growth of our system. It was copied from the British Bill of
Rights, and grew up among a people whose representation was
very imperfect, and where the sovereignty of the people was not
recognized at all. And yet even there, this right so much
insisted on here as being boundless as space, was restricted
from the beginning by the very men who adopted it in the
British system, in the very manner which has been done in the
other branch, this session; and to an extent far beyond. The
two Houses of Parliament have again and again passed resolu-
tions against receiving petitions even to repeal taxes; and this,
those who formed our Constitution well knew, and yet adopted
## p. 3092 (#54) ############################################
3092
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
the provision almost identically contained in the British Bill of
Rights, without guarding against the practice under it. Is not
the conclusion irresistible, that they did not deem it inconsistent
with the right of "the citizens peaceably to assemble and peti-
tion for a redress of grievance," as secured in the Constitution?
The thing is clear. It is time that the truth should be known,
and this cant about petition, not to redress the grievances of
the petitioners, but to create a grievance elsewhere, be put
down.
I know this question to the bottom. I have viewed it under
every possible aspect. There is no safety but in prompt, deter-
mined, and uncompromising defense of our rights-to meet the
danger on the frontier. There all rights are strongest, and
more especially this. The moral is like the physical world.
Nature has incrusted the exterior of all organic life, for its
safety. Let that be broken through, and it is all weakness
within. So in the moral and political world. It is on the
extreme limits of right that all wrong and encroachments are
the most sensibly felt and easily resisted. I have acted on this
principle throughout in this great contest. I took my lessons
from the patriots of the Revolution. They met wrong promptly,
and defended right against the first encroachment. To sit here
and hear ourselves and constituents, and their rights and insti-
tutions (essential to their safety), assailed from day to day-
denounced by every epithet calculated to degrade and render us
odious; and to meet all this in silence, or still worse, to reason
with the foul slanderers,- would eventually destroy every feeling.
of pride and dignity, and sink us in feelings to the condition of
the slaves they would emancipate. And this the Senator advises
us to do. Adopt it, and the two houses would be converted
into halls to debate our rights to our property, and whether, in
holding it, we were not thieves, robbers, and kidnappers; and
we are to submit to this in order to quiet the North! I tell the
Senator that our Union, and our high moral tone of feeling on
this subject at the South, are infinitely more important to us
than any possible effect that his course could have at the North;
and that if we could have the weakness to adopt his advice, it
would even fail to effect the object intended.
It is proper to speak out. If this question is left to itself,
unresisted by us, it cannot but terminate fatally to us. Our
safety and honor are in the opposite direction to take the
## p. 3093 (#55) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3093
highest ground, and maintain it resolutely. The North will
always take position below us, be ours high or low. They
will yield all that we will and something more. If we go for
rejection, they will at first insist on receiving, on the ground of
respect for petition. If we yield that point and receive peti-
tions, they will go for reference, on the ground that it is absurd
to receive and not to act—as it truly is. If we go for that,
they will insist on reporting and discussing; and if that, the
next step will be to make concession-to yield the point of
abolition in this District; and so on till the whole process is
consummated, each succeeding step proving more easy than its
predecessor. The reason is obvious. The abolitionists under-
stand their game. They throw their votes to the party most
disposed to favor them. Now, sir, in the hot contest of party
in the Northern section, on which the ascendency in their
several States and the general government may depend, all the
passions are roused to the greatest height in the violent strug-
gle, and aid sought in every quarter. They would forget us in
the heat of battle; yes, the success of the election, for the time,
would be more important than our safety; unless we by our
determined stand on our rights cause our weight to be felt, and
satisfy both parties that they have nothing to gain by courting
those who aim at our destruction. As far as this government is
concerned, that is our only remedy. If we yield that, if we lower
our stand to permit partisans to woo the aid of those who are
striking at our interests, we shall commence a descent in which
there is no stopping-place short of total abolition, and with it
our destruction.
A word in answer to the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr.
Webster]. He attempted to show that the right of petition was
peculiar to free governments. So far is the assertion from being
true, that it is more appropriately the right of despotic govern-
ments; and the more so, the more absolute and austere. So far
from being peculiar or congenial to free popular States, it
degenerates under them, necessarily, into an instrument, not of
redress for the grievances of the petitioners, but as has been
remarked, of assault on the rights of others, as in this case.
That I am right in making the assertion, I put it to the Senator
Have we not a right under the Constitution to our property in
our slaves? Would it not be a violation of the Constitution to
divest us of that right? Have we not a right to enjoy, under
## p. 3094 (#56) ############################################
3094
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
the Constitution, peaceably and quietly, our acknowledged rights
guaranteed by it, without annoyance? The Senator assents. He
does but justice to his candor and intelligence. Now I ask him,
how can he assent to receive petitions whose object is to annoy
and disturb our right, and of course in direct infraction of the
Constitution?
The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Tappan], in refusing to present
these incendiary and unconstitutional petitions, has adopted a
course truly constitutional and patriotic, and in my opinion, the
only one that is so. I deeply regret that it has not been fol-
lowed by the Senator from Kentucky in the present instance.
Nothing short of it can put a stop to the mischief, and do jus-
tice to one-half of the States of the Union. If adopted by
others, we shall soon hear no more of abolition. The responsi-
bility of keeping alive this agitation must rest on those who may
refuse to follow so noble an example.
STATE RIGHTS
From the Speech on the Admission of Michigan,' 1837
IT
T HAS perhaps been too much my habit to look more to the
future and less to the present than is wise; but such is the
constitution of my mind that when I see before me the indi-
cations of causes calculated to effect important changes in our
political condition, I am led irresistibly to trace them to their
sources and follow them out in their consequences. Language
has been held in this discussion which is clearly revolutionary in
its character and tendency, and which warns us of the approach of
the period when the struggle will be between the conservatives and
the destructives. I understood the Senator from Pennsylvania
[Mr. Buchanan] as holding language countenancing the principle
that the will of a mere numerical majority is paramount to the
authority of law and constitution. He did not indeed announce
distinctly this principle, but it might fairly be inferred from
what he said; for he told us the people of a State where the
constitution gives the same weight to a smaller as to a greater
number, might take the remedy into their own hands; meaning,
as I understood him, that a mere majority might at their pleasure
subvert the constitution and government of a State,-which he
seemed to think was the essence of democracy. Our little State
## p. 3095 (#57) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3095
has a constitution that could not stand a day against such doc-
trines, and yet we glory in it as the best in the Union. It is a
constitution which respects all the great interests of the State,
giving to each a separate and distinct voice in the management
of its political affairs, by means of which the feebler interests are
protected against the preponderance of the stronger. We call our
State a Republic-a Commonwealth, not a Democracy; and let
me tell the Senator, it is a far more popular government than if
it had been based on the simple principle of the numerical
majority. It takes more voices to put the machine of govern-
ment in motion than in those that the Senator would consider
more popular. It represents all the interests of the State,- and
is in fact the government of the people in the true sense of the
term, and not that of the mere majority, or the dominant
interests.
I am not familiar with the constitution of Maryland, to which
the Senator alluded, and cannot therefore speak of its structure
with confidence; but I believe it to be somewhat similar in its
character to our own. That it is a government not without its
excellence, we need no better proof than the fact that though
within the shadow of Executive influence, it has nobly and suc-
cessfully resisted all the seductions by which a corrupt and artful
Administration, with almost boundless patronage, has attempted.
to seduce her into its ranks.
Looking then to the approaching struggle, I take my stand
immovably. I am a conservative in its broadest and fullest sense,
and such I shall ever remain, unless indeed the government shall
become so corrupt and disordered that nothing short of revolution
can reform it. I solemnly believe that our political system is, in
its purity, not only the best that ever was formed, but the best
possible that can be devised for us. It is the only one by
which free States, so populous and wealthy, and occupying so
vast an extent of territory, can preserve their liberty. Thus
thinking, I cannot hope for a better. Having no hope of a bet-
ter, I am a conservative; and because I am a conservative, I am a
State Rights man. I believe that in the rights of the States are
to be found the only effectual means of checking the overaction.
of this government; to resist its tendency to concentrate all
power here, and to prevent a departure from the Constitution;
or in case of one, to restore the government to its original sim-
plicity and purity. State interposition, or to express it more
## p. 3096 (#58) ############################################
3096
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
fully, the right of a State to interpose her sovereign voice, as
one of the parties to our constitutional compact, against the en-
croachments of this government, is the only means of sufficient
potency to effect all this; and I am therefore its advocate. I
rejoiced to hear the Senators from North Carolina [Mr. Brown],
and from Pennsylvania [Mr. Buchanan], do us the justice to dis-
tinguish between nullification and the anarchical and revolution-
ary movements in Maryland and Pennsylvania. I know they did.
not intend it as a compliment; but I regard it as the highest.
They are right. Day and night are not more different — more
unlike in everything. They are unlike in their principles, their
objects, and their consequences.
I shall not stop to make good this assertion, as I might
easily do. The occasion does not call for it. As a conservative
and a State Rights man, or if you will have it, a nullifier, I
have resisted and shall resist all encroachments on the Constitu-
tion whether of this Government on the rights of the States,
or the opposite: -whether of the Executive on Congress, or
Congress on the Executive. My creed is to hold both govern-
ments, and all the departments of each, to their proper sphere,
and to maintain the authority of the laws and the Constitution
against all revolutionary movements. I believe the means which
our system furnishes to preserve itself are ample, if fairly
understood and applied; and I shall resort to them, however
corrupt and disordered the times, so long as there is hope of
reforming the government. The result is in the hands of the
Disposer of events. It is my part to do my duty. Yet while I
thus openly avow myself a conservative, God forbid I should
ever deny the glorious right of rebellion and revolution. Should
corruption and oppression become intolerable, and not otherwise
be thrown off-if liberty must perish or the government be
overthrown, I would not hesitate, at the hazard of life, to resort
to revolution, and to tear down a corrupt government that could
neither be reformed nor borne by freemen. But I trust in God
things will never come to that pass. I trust never to see such
fearful times; for fearful indeed they would be, if they should
ever befall us. It is the last remedy, and not to be thought of
till common-sense and the voice of mankind would justify the
resort.
Before I resume my seat, I feel called on to make a few brief
remarks on a doctrine of fearful import which has been broached
## p. 3097 (#59) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3097
in the course of this debate: the right to repeal laws granting
bank charters, and of course of railroads, turnpikes, and joint-
rick companies. It is a doctrine of fearful import, and calcu-
lated to do infinite mischief. There are countless millions vested
in such stocks, and it is a description of property of the most
delicate character. To touch it is almost to destroy it. But
while I enter my protest against all such doctrines, I have been
greatly alarmed with the thoughtless precipitancy (not to use a
stronger phrase) with which the most extensive and dangerous
privileges have been granted of late. It can end in no good, and
I fear may be the cause of convulsions hereafter.
We already
feel the effects on the currency, which no one competent of judg-
ing can fail to see is in an unsound condition. I must say (for
truth compels me) I have ever distrusted the banking system, at
least in its present form, both in this country and Great Britain.
It will not stand the test of time; but I trust that all shocks or
sudden revolutions may be avoided, and that it may gradually
give way before some sounder and better regulated system of
credit which the growing intelligence of the age may devise.
That a better may be substituted I cannot doubt; but of what it
shall consist, and how it shall finally supersede the present uncer-
tain and fluctuating currency, time alone can determine. All
that I can
see is, that the present must, one day or another,
come to an end or be greatly modified if that indeed can save
it from an entire overthrow. It has within itself the seeds of its
own destruction.
-
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF POLAND
From A Disquisition on Government >
IT
T is then a great error to suppose that the government of the
concurrent majority is impracticable; or that it rests on a
feeble foundation. History furnishes many examples of such
governments; and among them one in which the principle was
carried to an extreme that would be thought impracticable, had
it never existed. I refer to that of Poland. In this it was
carried to such an extreme that in the election of her kings, the
concurrence or acquiescence of every individual of the nobles
and gentry present, in an assembly numbering usually from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand, was required to
## p. 3098 (#60) ############################################
3098
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
make a choice; thus giving to each individual a veto on his
election. So likewise every member of her Diet (the supreme
legislative body), consisting of the King, the Senate, bishops
and deputies of the nobility and gentry of the palatinates, pos-
sessed a veto on all its proceedings; thus making a unanimous
vote necessary to enact a law or to adopt any measure what-
ever. And as if to carry the principle to the utmost extent,
the veto of a single member not only defeated the particular
bill or measure in question, but prevented all others passed
during the session from taking effect. Further the principle
could not be carried. It in fact made every individual of the
nobility and gentry a distinct element in the organism; or to
vary the expression, made him an estate of the kingdom.
And yet this government lasted in this form more than two
centuries, embracing the period of Poland's greatest power and
renown. Twice during its existence she protected Christendom,
when in great danger, by defeating the Turks under the walls
of Vienna, and permanently arresting thereby the tide of their
conquests westward.
It is true her government was finally subverted, and the
people subjugated, in consequence of the extreme to which the
principle was carried; not however because of its tendency to
dissolution from weakness, but from the facility it afforded to
powerful and unscrupulous neighbors to control by their in-
trigues the election of her kings. But the fact that a govern-
ment in which the principle was carried to the utmost extreme
not only existed, but existed for so long a period in great power
and splendor, is proof conclusive both of its practicability and
its compatibility with the power and permanency of government.
URGING REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE
From Speech in the Senate, March 4th, 1850
H
AVING now shown what cannot save the Union, I return to
the question with which I commenced, How can the Union
be saved? There is but one way by which it can with
any certainty; and that is by a full and final settlement, on the
principle of justice, of all the questions at issue between the two
sections. The South asks for justice, simple justice, and less
she ought not to take. She has no compromise to offer but the
## p. 3099 (#61) ############################################
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
3099
Constitution; and no concession or surrender to make. She has
already surrendered so much that she has little left to surren-
der. Such a settlement would go to the root of the evil and
remove all cause of discontent; by satisfying the South, she
could remain honorably and safely in the Union, and thereby
restore the harmony and fraternal feelings between the sections.
which existed anterior to the Missouri agitation. Nothing else
can with any certainty finally and forever settle the questions.
at issue, terminate agitation, and save the Union.
-
But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the weaker
party — for it can of itself do nothing, not even protect itself —
but by the stronger.
The North has only to will it to accom-
plish it; to do justice by conceding to the South an equal right
in the acquired territory, and to do her duty by causing the
stipulations relative to fugitive slaves to be faithfully fulfilled;
to cease the agitation of the slave question, and to provide for
the insertion of a provision in the Constitution by an amend-
ment which will restore to the South in substance the power
she possessed of protecting herself, before the equilibrium be-
tween the sections was destroyed by the action of this govern-
There will be no difficulty in devising such a provision,
one that will protect the South, and which at the same time
will improve and strengthen the government instead of impair-
ing and weakening it.
ment.
But will the North agree to this? It is for her to answer the
question. But I will say she cannot refuse, if she has half the
love of the Union which she professes to have; or without justly
exposing herself to the charge that her love of power and
aggrandizement is far greater than her love of the Union. At
all events, the responsibility of saving the Union rests on the
North, and not on the South. The South cannot save it by any
act of hers, and the North may save it without any sacrifice
whatever; unless to do justice, and to perform her duties under
the Constitution, should be regarded by her as a sacrifice.
It is time, Senators, that there should be an open and manly
avowal on all sides as to what is intended to be done. If the
question is not now settled, it is uncertain whether it ever can
hereafter be; and we as the representatives of the States of this
Union, regarded as governments, should come to a distinct un-
derstanding as to our respective views in order to ascertain
whether the great questions at issue can be settled or not. If
## p. 3100 (#62) ############################################
3100
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN
you who represent the stronger portion cannot agree to settle
them on the broad principle of justice and duty, say so; and let
the States we both represent agree to separate and part in
peace. If you are unwilling we should part in peace, tell us so,
and we shall know what to do when you reduce the question to
submission or resistance. If you remain silent you will compel
us to infer by your acts what you intend. In that case Califor-
nia will become the test question. If you admit her, under all
the difficulties that oppose her admission, you compel us to infer
that you intend to exclude us from the whole of the acquired
territories, with the intention of destroying irretrievably the
equilibrium between the two sections. We would be blind not
to perceive in that case that your real objects are power and
aggrandizement; and infatuated not to act accordingly.
I have now, Senators, done my duty in expressing my opin-
ions fully, freely, and candidly, on this solemn occasion. In
doing so I have been governed by the motives which have gov-
erned me in all the stages of the agitation of the slavery ques-
tion since its commencement. I have exerted myself during
the whole period to arrest it, with the intention of saving the
Union if it could be done; and if it could not, to save the sec-
tion where it has pleased Providence to cast my lot, and which
I sincerely believe has justice and the Constitution on its side.
Having faithfully done my duty to the best of my ability, both
to the Union and my section, throughout this agitation, I shall
have the consolation, let what will come, that I am free from
all responsibility.
## p. 3101 (#63) ############################################
3101
CALLIMACHUS
(THIRD CENTURY B. C. )
<
ALLIMACHUS, the most learned of poets, was the son of Battus
and Mesatme of Cyrene, and a disciple of Hermocrates, who
like his more celebrated pupil was a grammarian, or a fol-
lower of belles-lettres, says Suidas. It is in this calling that we first
hear of Callimachus, when he was a teacher at Alexandria. Here he
counted among his pupils Apollonius Rhodius, author of the Argo-
nautica, and Eratosthenes, famous for his wisdom in science, who
knew geography and geometry so well that he measured the circum-
ference of the earth. Callimachus was in fact one of those erudite
poets and wise men of letters whom the gay Alexandrians who
thronged the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus called "The Pleiades. "
Apollonius Rhodius, Aratus, Theocritus, Lycophron, Nicander, and
Homer son of Macro, were the other six. From his circle of clever
people, the king, with whom he had become a prime favorite, called
him to be chief custodian over the stores of precious books at Alex-
andria. These libraries, we may recall, were the ones Julius Cæsar
partially burned by accident a century later, and Bishop Theophilus
and his mob of Christian zealots finished destroying as repositories
of paganism some three centuries later still. The collections said to
have been destroyed by Caliph Omar when Amru took Alexandria in
640 A. D. , on the ground that if they agreed with the Koran they
were superfluous and if they contradicted it they were blasphemous,
were later ones; but the whole story is discredited by modern schol-
arship. The world has not ceased mourning for this untold and
irreparable loss of the choicest fruits of the human spirit.
Of all these precious manuscripts and parchments, then, Calli-
machus was made curator about the year B. C. 260. Aulus Gellius
computes the time in this wise:- "Four-hundred-ninety years after
the founding of Rome, the first Punic war was begun, and not long
after, Callimachus, the poet of Cyrene in Alexandria, flourished at the
court of King Ptolemy. " At this time he must have been already
married to the wife of whom Suidas speaks in his 'Lexicon,' a
daughter of a Syracusan gentleman.
The number of Callimachus's works, which are reported to have
reached eight hundred, testifies to his popularity in the Alexandrian
period of Greek literature. It contradicts also the maxim ascribed to
him, that "a great book is a great evil. " Among the prose works
## p. 3102 (#64) ############################################
3102
CALLIMACHUS
which would have enriched our knowledge of literature and history
was his history of Greek literature in one hundred and twenty books,
classifying the Greek writers and naming them chronologically. These
were the results of his long labors in the libraries. Among them
was a book on the Museum and the schools connected with it, with
records of illustrious educators and of the books they had written.
It is his poetry that has in the main survived, and yet as Ovid
says-calling him Battiades, either from his father's name or from
the illustrious founder of his native Cyrene-
"Battiades semper toto cantabitur orbe:
Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet. ”
(Even throughout all lands Battiades's name will be famous;
Though not in genius supreme, yet by his art he excels. )
Quintilian, however, says he was the prince of Greek elegiac
poets. Of his elegies we have a few fragments, and also the Latin
translation by Catullus of the 'Lock of Berenice. ' Berenice, the sis-
ter and wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, who succeeded his father Phila-
delphus in B. C. 245, had sacrificed some of her hair, laying it on
the altar of a temple, from which it was subsequently stolen. In his
poem, Callimachus as the court poet sang how the gods had taken
the tresses and placed them among the stars. The delicate and
humorous Rape of the Lock' of Alexander Pope is a rather remote
repetition of the same fancy.
We have also from Callimachus's hand six hymns to the gods and
many epigrams, the latter of which, as will be seen by the quotations
given below, are models of their kind. His lyric hymns are, in real-
ity, rather epics in little.
They are full of recondite information,
overloaded indeed with learning; elegant, nervous, and elaborate,
rather than easy-flowing, simple, and warm, like a genuine product
of the muse. Many of his epigrams grace the 'Greek Anthology. '
Among the best editions of Callimachus is that of Ernesti (1761).
The extant poems and fragments have been in part translated by
William Dodd (1755) and H. W. Tytler (1856). His scattered epigrams
have incited many to attempt their perfect phrasing.
## p. 3103 (#65) ############################################
CALLIMACHUS
3103
HYMN TO JUPITER
Α
T JOVE's high festival, what song of praise
Shall we his suppliant adorers sing?
To whom may we our pæans rather raise
Than to himself, the great Eternal King,
Who by his nod subdues each earth-born thing;
Whose mighty laws the gods themselves obey?
But whether Crete first saw the Father spring,
Or on Lycæus's mount he burst on day,
My soul is much in doubt, for both that praise essay.
Some say that thou, O Jove, first saw the morn
On Cretan Ida's sacred mountain-side;
Others that thou in Arcady wert born:
Declare, Almighty Father -- which have lied?
Cretans were liars ever: in their pride
Have they built up a sepulchre for thee;
As if the King of Gods and men had died,
And borne the lot of frail mortality.
No! thou hast ever been, and art, and aye shalt be.
Thy mother bore thee on Arcadian ground,
Old Goddess Rhea, on a mountain's height;
With bristling bramble-thickets all around
ht,
The hallowed spot was curiously dight;
And now no creature under heaven's
From lovely woman down to things that creep,
In need of Ilithyia's holy rite,
May dare approach that consecrated steep,
Whose name of Rhea's birth-bed still Arcadians keep.
Fair was the promise of thy childhood's prime,
Almighty Jove! and fairly wert thou reared:
Swift was thy march to manhood: ere thy time
Thy chin was covered by the manly beard;
Though young in age, yet wert thou so revered
For deeds of prowess prematurely done,
That of thy peers or elders none appeared
To claim his birthright;-heaven was all thine own,
Nor dared fell Envy point her arrows at thy throne.
Poets of old do sometimes lack of truth;
For Saturn's ancient kingdom, as they tell,
## p. 3104 (#66) ############################################
3104
CALLIMACHUS
Into three parts was split, as if forsooth
There were a doubtful choice 'twixt Heaven and Hell
To one not fairly mad;--- we know right well
That lots are cast for more equality;
But these against proportion so rebel
That naught can equal her discrepancy;
If one must lie at all- a lie like truth for me!
No chance gave thee the sovranty of heaven;
But to the deeds thy good right hand had done,
And thine own strength and courage, was it given;
These placed thee first, still keep thee on thy throne.
Thou took'st the goodly eagle for thine own,
Through whom to men thy wonders are declared;
To me and mine propitious be they shown!
Through thee by youth's best flower is heaven shared-
Seamen and warriors heed'st thou not, nor e'en the bard:
These be the lesser gods' divided care-
But kings, great Jove, are thine especial dow'r;
They rule the land and sea; they guide the war
What is too mighty for a monarch's pow'r?
By Vulcan's aid the stalwart armorers show'r
Their sturdy blows-warriors to Mars belong-
And gentle Dian ever loves to pour
-
New blessings on her favored hunter throng-
While Phoebus aye directs the true-born poet's song.
But monarchs spring from Jove-nor is there aught
So near approaching Jove's celestial height,
As deeds by heav'n-elected monarchs wrought.
Therefore, O Father, kings are thine of right,
And thou hast set them on a noble height
Above their subject cities; and thine eye
Is ever on them, whether they delight
To rule their people in iniquity,
Or by sound government to raise their name on high.
Thou hast bestowed on all kings wealth and power,
But not in equal measure - this we know,
From knowledge of our own great Governor,
Who stands supreme of kings on earth below.
His morning thoughts his nights in actions show;
His less achievements when designed are done
While others squander years in counsels slow;
## p. 3105 (#67) ############################################
CALLIMACHUS
3105
Not rarely when the mighty seeds are sown,
Are all their air-built hopes by thee, great Jove, o'erthrown.
All hail, Almighty Jove! who givest to men
All good, and wardest off each evil thing.
Oh, who can hymn thy praise? he hath not been,
Nor shall he be, that poet who may sing
In fitting strain thy praises-Father, King,
All hail thrice hail! we pray to thee, dispense
Virtue and wealth to us, wealth varying—
For virtue's naught, mere virtue's no defense;
Then send us virtue hand in hand with competence.
TH
Translation of Fitzjames T. Price.
EPITAPH
H
Is little son of twelve years old Philippus here has laid,
Nicoteles, on whom so much his father's hopes were stayed.
EPIGRAM
(Admired and Paraphrased by Horace)
HE hunter in the mountains every roe
And every hare pursues through frost and snow,
Tracking their footsteps. But if some one say,
"See, here's a beast struck down," he turns away.
Such is my love: I chase the flying game,
And pass with coldness the self-offering dame.
EPITAPH ON HERACLEITUS
TH
HEY told me, Heracleitus, they told me you were dead;
They brought me bitter news to hear, and bitter tears I
shed.
I wept, as I remembered how often you and I
Had tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky.
And now that thou art lying, my dear old Carian guest,
A handful of gray ashes, long, long ago at rest,
Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales, awake;
For Death he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.
Translation of William Johnson.
VI-195
## p. 3106 (#68) ############################################
3106
CALLIMACHUS
EPITAPH
WOU
ULD that swift ships had never been; for so
We ne'er had wept for Sopolis: but he
Dead on the waves now drifts; whilst we must go
Past a void tomb, a mere name's mockery.
Translation of J. A. Symonds.
THE MISANTHROPE
AY, honest Timon, now escaped from light,
SAY Which do you most abhor, or that or night?
«< Man, I most hate the gloomy shades below,
And that because in them are more of you. "
EPITAPH UPON HIMSELF
C
ALLIMACHUS takes up this part of earth,
A man much famed for poesy and mirth.
Translation of William Dodd.
EPITAPH UPON CLEOMBROTUS
OUD cried Cleombrotus, "Farewell, O Sun! "
L
Ere, leaping from a wall, he joined the dead.
No act death-meriting had th' Ambraciote done,
But Plato's volume on the soul had read.
## p. 3107 (#69) ############################################
3107
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
(1831-1884)
O ONE ever attained greater fame with few, slight, and unserl-
ous books than this English author. His name rests upon four
volumes only:-'Verses and Translations' (1862); Transla-
tions into English and Latin' (1866); Theocritus Translated into
English Verse' (1869); and Fly-Leaves' (1872). Fly-Leaves' holds
a unique place in English literature. It is made up chiefly of paro-
dies, which combine the mocking spirit with clever imitations of the
style and affectations of familiar poets. They are witty; they are
humorous; they are good-natured; and they are artistic and extraor-
dinarily clever. His satirical banter shown in these verses-most
of which are real poems as well as parodies-has been classed as
"refined common-sense," and "the exuberant playfulness of a powerful
mind and tender and manly nature. " It contains also independent
literary skits and comiques which are quite equal in merit to the
parodies.
Calverley was born at Martley, Worcestershire, December 22d,
1831, the son of the Rev. Henry Blayds, a descendant of an old
Yorkshire family named Calverley. In 1852 Mr. Blayds resumed the
name of Calverley, which had been dropped at the beginning of the
century. Calverley was more famous at Harrow for his marvelous
jumping and other athletic feats than for his studies, but even at
this period he showed great talent for translating from the classics,
and astonished every one by his gifts of memory. A few Latin
verses won for him the Balliol scholarship in 1850, and in the next
year he received at Oxford the Chancellor's prize for a Latin poem.
In 1852 he went to Cambridge, and shortly after won the Craven
scholarship, as well as numerous medals and prizes for his attain-
ments in Greek and Latin. This was the more remarkable inasmuch
as he was extremely indolent and very fond of society, preferring to
entertain his friends by his witty songs, his charming voice, his
clever caricatures—for he had talent with his pencil-and his
brilliant conversation, rather than to apply himself to routine work.
His comrades used to lock him into a room to make him work, and
even then he would outwit them by dashing off a witty parody or a
bit of impromptu verse. Among his literary jeux d'esprit was an
examination paper on 'Pickwick,' prepared as a Christmas joke in
exact imitation of a genuine "exam. " The prizes, two first editions
## p. 3108 (#70) ############################################
3108
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
of Pickwick, were won by W. W. Skeat, now famous as a philolo-
gist, and Walter Besant, known to the public as a novelist.
Calverley remained in Cambridge as tutor and lecturer, and was
presently called to the bar. It seemed the irony of fate that the
famous athlete should receive an injury while skating which com-
pelled him to abandon his profession, and for seventeen years
practically abandon work. He died at Folkestone, on February 17th,
1884.
That he was adored by his friends, and possessed unusual quali-
ties of character as well as mind, may be seen in the memoir pub-
lished by Walter T. Sendall with the 'Literary Remains' (1885).
Apart from his wit, Calverley has a distinct claim to remembrance
on account of his remarkable scholarship. His translations from
Greek and Latin have won the enthusiastic admiration of specialists
and students of the classics. Dr. Gunson, tutor of his college, an
accomplished Latinist, declared that he thought Calverley's Horatian
verse better than Horace's, being equally poetical, and more dis-
tinguished in style. These works not only attest his mastery of
ancient languages, but also his acquaintance with the beauty and
capacity of English verse, into which he has put a grace of his own.
His numerous renderings of Latin into English and English into
Latin show his ease and dexterity of both thought and touch, and
his translation of Theocritus is considered by authorities to be a
masterpiece of literary workmanship.
I.
From James Payn's Some Literary Recollections' and 'Temple Bar, 1887
Mention any occasion on which it is specified that the Fat
Boy was not asleep; and that (1) Mr. Pickwick and (2)
Mr. Weller, senr. , ran. Deduce from expressions used
on one occasion Mr. Pickwick's maximum of speed.
Who were Mr. Staple, Goodwin, Mr. Brooks, Villam, Mrs.
Bunkin, "old Nobs," "cast-iron head," young Bantam ?
What operation was performed on Tom Smart's chair? Who
little thinks that in which pocket, of what garment, in
where, he has left what, entreating him to return to
whom, with how many what, and all how big?
3.
4.
FROM AN EXAMINATION PAPER'
(THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB'
6. "Mr. Weller's knowledge of London was extensive and
peculiar. " Illustrate this by a reference to facts.
## p. 3109 (#71) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3109
20.
12.
18.
21.
23-
9. Describe the common Profeel-machine.
10.
II.
8. Give in full Samuel Weller's first compliment to Mary, and
his father's critique upon the same young lady. What
church was on the valentine that first attracted Mr.
Samuel's eye in the shop?
25.
24.
28.
State the component parts of dog's-nose; and simplify the
expression "taking a grinder. "
On finding his principal in the Pound, Mr. Weller and the
town-beadle varied directly. Show that the latter was
ultimately eliminated, and state the number of rounds in
the square which is not described.
"Anythink for air and exercise, as the werry old donkey
observed ven they voke him up from his death-bed to
carry ten gen'lmen to Greenwich in a tax-cart! " Illus-
trate this by stating any remark recorded in the 'Pick-
wick Papers' to have been made by a (previously) dumb
animal, with the circumstances under which he made it.
How did the old lady make a memorandum, and of what, at
whist? Show that there were at least three times as
many fiddles as harps in Muggleton at the time of the
ball at Manor Farm.
Write down the chorus to each line of Mr. S. Weller's song,
and a sketch of the mottled-faced man's excursus on it.
Is there any ground for conjecturing that he (Sam) had
more brothers than one?
How many lumps of sugar went into the Shepherd's liquor
as a rule? and is any exception recorded?
"She's a-swelling wisibly. " When did this same phenome-
non occur again, and what fluid caused the pressure on
the body in the latter case?
How did Mr. Weller, senr. , define the Funds; and what
view did he take of Reduced Consols? In what terms is
his elastic force described when he assaulted Mr. Stiggins
at the meeting? Write down the name of the meeting.
роßаtоrópш: a good judge of cattle; hence, a good judge.
of character! Note on Esch. Ag. -Illustrate the theory
involved by a remark of the parent Weller.
Deduce from a remark of Mr. Weller, junr. , the price per
mile of cabs at the period.
29. What do you know of the hotel next the Ball at Rochester?
Who beside Mr. Pickwick is recorded to have worn gaiters?
30.
## p. 3110 (#72) ############################################
3110
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
BALLAD
Imitation of Jean Ingelow
THE
HE auld wife sat at her ivied door,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
A thing she had frequently done before;
And her spectacles lay on her aproned knees.
The piper he piped on the hill-top high,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
Till the cow said "I die," and the goose asked "Why? "
And the dog said nothing, but searched for fleas.
The farmer he strode through the square farmyard;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
His last brew of ale was a trifle hard-
The connection of which with the plot one sees.
The farmer's daughter hath frank blue eyes;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She hears the rooks caw in the windy skies,
As she sits at her lattice and shells her peas.
The farmer's daughter hath ripe red lips;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
If you try to approach her, away she skips
Over tables and chairs with apparent ease.
The farmer's daughter hath soft brown hair;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And I've met with a ballad, I can't say where,
Which wholly consisted of lines like these.
She sat with her hands 'neath her dimpled cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And spake not a word. While a lady speaks
There is hope, but she didn't even sneeze.
She sat with her hands 'neath her crimson cheeks;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She gave up mending her father's breeks,
And let the cat roll on her best chemise.
She sat with her hands 'neath her burning cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And gazed at the piper for thirteen weeks;
Then she followed him out o'er the misty leas.
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CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3111
Her sheep followed her, as their tails did them.
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And this song is considered a perfect gem,
And as to the meaning, it's what you please.
LOVERS, AND A REFLECTION
Imitation of Jean Ingelow
N MOSS-PRANKT dells which the sunbeams flatter,
(And heaven it knoweth what that may mean;
Meaning, however, is no great matter)
When woods are a-tremble, with rifts atween;
Thro' God's own heather we wonned together,
I and my Willie (O love my love):
I need hardly remark it was glorious weather,
And flitterbats wavered alow, above;
Boats were curtseying, rising, bowing,
(Boats in that climate are so polite,)
And sands were a ribbon of green endowing,
And O the sun-dazzle on bark and bight!
Thro' the rare red heather we danced together,
(O love my Willie! ) and smelt for flowers:
I must mention again it was gorgeous weather,
Rhymes are so scarce in this world of ours:-
By rises that flushed with their purple favors,
Thro' becks that brattled o'er grasses sheen,
We walked or waded, we two young shavers,
Thanking our stars we were both so green.
We journeyed in parallels, I and Willie,
In fortunate parallels! Butterflies,
Hid in weltering shadows of daffodilly
Or marjoram, kept making peacock eyes:
Song-birds darted about, some inky
As coal, some snowy, I ween, as curds;
(Or rosy as pinks, or as roses pinky —)
They reck of no eerie To-come, those birds!
But they skim over bents which the mill-stream washes,
Or hang in the lift 'neath a white cloud's hem;
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CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3112
They need no parasols, no goloshes;
And good Mrs. Trimmer she feedeth them.
Then we thrid God's cowslips (as erst his heather)
That endowed the wan grass with their golden blooms;
And snapt (it was perfectly charming weather) —
Our fingers at Fate and her goddess-glooms:
And Willie 'gan sing (O his notes were fluty;
Wafts fluttered them out to the white-winged sea) –
Something made up of rhymes that have done much duty,
Rhymes (better to put it) of "ancientry":
Bowers of flowers encountered showers
In William's carol-(O love my Willie! )
When he bade sorrow borrow from blithe to-morrow
I quite forget what-say a daffodilly.
A nest in a hollow, "with buds to follow,"
I think occurred next in his nimble strain;
And clay that was "kneaden," of course in Eden,-
A rhyme most novel, I do maintain:
Mists, bones, the singer himself, love-stories,
And all at least furlable things got "furled ";
Not with any design to conceal their glories,
But simply and solely to rhyme with "world. "
*
*
Oh, if billows and pillows and hours and flowers,
And all the brave rhymes of an elder day,
Could be furled together, this genial weather,
And carted or carried in wafts away,
Nor ever again trotted out - ay me!
How much fewer volumes of verse there'd be!
VISIONS
From Fly-Leaves'
"She was a phantom-" etc.
IN
N LONE Glenartney's thickets lies couched the lordly stag,
The dreaming terrier's tail forgets its customary wag;
And plodding plowmen's weary steps insensibly grow quicker,
As broadening casements light them on toward home, or home-
brewed liquor.
## p. 3113 (#75) ############################################
CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY
3113
It is—in brief — the evening: that pure and pleasant time,
When stars break into splendor, and poets into rhyme;
When in the glass of Memory the forms of loved ones shine—
And when, of course, Miss Goodchild is prominent in mine.
Miss Goodchild - Julia Goodchild! —how graciously you smiled
Upon my childish passion once, yourself a fair-haired child:
When I was (no doubt) profiting by Dr. Crabb's instruction,
And sent those streaky lollipops home for your fairy suction.
"She wore her natural "roses, the night when first we met,".
Her golden hair was gleaming neath the coercive net:
"Her brow was like the snawdrift," her step was like Queen
Mab's,
And gone was instantly the heart of every boy at Crabb's.
The parlor-boarder chasséed tow'rds her on graceful limb;
The onyx decked his bosom-but her smiles were not for him:
With me she danced-till drowsily her eyes "began to blink,"
And I brought raisin wine, and said, "Drink, pretty creature,
drink! "
And evermore, when winter coines in his garb of snows,
And the returning schoolboy is told how fast he grows;
Shall I with that soft hand in mine-enact ideal Lancers,
And dream I hear demure remarks, and make impassioned
answers.
I know that never, never may her love for me return
At night I muse upon the fact with undisguised concern
But ever shall I bless that day! -I don't bless, as a rule,
The days I spent at "Dr. Crabb's Preparatory School.
