English Essay. Lives of Great Men all remind us Longfellow. Not fortune's slave is Man: our state That strenuous Action follow both Wordsworth. WHAT noble and spirit-stirring sentiments are embodied in the mottos before us? The first calls upon us in a language at once beautiful and energetic to study the lives of the great and noble spirits that have in different ages blessed our planet, to mark every important feature in their character and to take them as the models of our imitation that "we may mike our lives sublime" and that we may at our departure from this great scene leave behind us examples for the imitation of others-examples that may guide and support them in their passage through life, and may arm them with courage to encounter, and perseverance to overcome the greatest difficulties chance and accident may throw in their way. The other motto emphatically tells us that however great the empire of fortune may be supposed by some, Man the image of his glorious Creator can, if he like, place himself far above the reach of her influence, and that good and benevolent wishes on his part when supported by firm resolutions to put them into execution can make his life, in spite of every fortuitous accident, a continual tissue of great and noble deeds and a perpetual preparation for his restoration "to the blissful seat." Although both of these mottos breathe the same spirit of moral advice let us for the sake of clearness consider them separately. 66 There is no branch of knowledge which directly produces a more powerful influence in improving our conduct and in exalting us in the scale of excellence than the Biography of eminent and great men. By great men we do not refer to princes and lords for these are but the breaths of kings" and to speak in the language of Young a fool that wears a title lies." On the other hand the man who has so succeeded in preserving the rectitude of his heart amidst the incessant temptations of vice, who has preserved one even tenor of virtuous conduct in the most trying situatious "flesh is heir to," who has opened new fields of moral and intellectual inquiry for human pursuit; or has thrown light on subjects that tend to enlighten the human mind, is truly deserving of the title great. Persons like him are among the noblest works of God and worthy of every body's imitation. They are like beacons in "life's solemn main," and our frail barks tossed by the merciless waves of fortune can only be saved by following their "foot prints." They are "the salt of the earth that seasons human kind.” When we think upon the perils they encountered and the glory they obtained by surmounting them we are not only lost in silent admiration but forgetting for some time the limited scope of our abilities, and as if" inspired by a fortitude from heaven," we strain every nerve to follow their noble example and to vindicate our importance in the Creation. Whether we see them dying like Socrates or reigning like Aurelius, employed like Newton in exploring the ever-extending realms of science or bravely fighting like the noble Washington for the liberties of his country, instinctive feelings of reverence arise in and fill our minds and remembering our kindred nature to them we are excited to tell steps in those noble paths that they struck out. The present advanced state of the world is in a great measure the work of such inspiration. It is a fact admitted on all sides that generally speaking the condition of mankind is in both social and moral respects continually improving. Continual progress is the law of human nature. But to what cause is this superiority of the present over the past to be attributed. Is it because modern times have produced greater intellects than ancient times? This is very doubtful. Ancient Greece and Rome produced men who (as far as greatness and originality of genius is concerned) can stand in fair competition with the mightiest minds of modern times. The progress of human nature is therefore in a great measure to be attributed to that spirit which while it teaches us to imitate, enables us at the same time to surpass our predecessors. The great genius of Newton was led by the light of Bacon's philosophy and the successors of Newton among whom were men like Laplace and Lagrange followed the path he struck out and found ample work for their great minds to be engaged in, exploring the inexhaustible field of knowledge he had opened to their view. But it is always to be carefully borne in mind that it is incumbent upon us to imitate the excellencies of great men and to avoid as far as we can their failings. No reverence for their virtues must be allowed to consecrate faults and errors. For the further elucidation of this subject let us take the example of Bacon. That Bacon was in many respects far in the van of mankind, no one can possibly deny; and it must be the constant care of every one to imitate him as far as it lies in his power in those respects. But that he was in many other respects far behind his fellow-creatures is equally undeniable and while imitating his excellencies we must not forget ourselves so far as to imitate his faults and errors. While we must do all we can to follow Bacon as he is characterized by Pope by the first two epithets in the last line of his well-known antithesis it must be our constant duty to avoid the last trait of character ascribed to him by the poet in the same line. We must reject the idols Bacon has warned us against but we must not fall flat at the shrine of those other idols he himself worshipped. Compared with the revolutions which great men have brought forward in the moral and intellectual condition of mankind every other change utterly loses its importance. While the great contest about the classification of the animal kingdom was doubtfully going on between Geoffroy and Cuvier, the poet Goethe happened one day to meet one of his friends newly come from Paris and asked him how was the "great explosion" going on. His friend mistaking what he meant answered that the revolution (the French Revolution) had come to that pass that there was a great probability of the royal family being banished. The old poet cried "pooh" to this reply and said that he asked about the other revolution, the true revolution of the mind, the revolution that will affect the whole world. Napoleon on one occasion in Egypt could not refrain from saying that instead of treading in the footsteps of Alexander he would have better liked to tread in those of Newton; such are the charms of moral and intellectual excellence, charms which while they dazzle us by their splendour excite us to try our best for possessing them. Thus emboldened and thus benefited by noble examples, it may happen that others following us may tread in our foot-steps and imitate our glory. Our unflinching perseverance in moral rectitude may strike succeeding generations with admiration and our meekness in prosperity and patience in adversity may perhaps raise the drooping spirits of many "a forlorn and ship-wrecked brother." Let us now return to our other motto. Human life as the Stoics said is a game of mixed chance and skill. But it depends in a great measure on our own selves whether we are above or below "chance." If to "wishes just and wise" we combine "firm resolves" and if" strenuous action follow both," we can, even when crossed by fortune, maintain our proper dignity and can smile at the greatest injuries she may inflict upon us. To entertain such wishes as are really worthy of being entertained, to adhere with unflinching resolution to their execution, are duties imperative upon human nature and if strictly obeyed can never fail to make man inaccessible to all the freaks of fortune. To a man of this character wherever he is placed and to whatever difficulties exposed, the whole world is an inexhaustible source of delight and we can justly say with Thompson "I care not fortune what you me deny." His mind is at all extremities supported by thoughts like those which "dignified the of Turgot and brightened the declining years of Franklin." Such a course of life is the proper end of man's existence and his deficiency in any of those three points "wishes wise and just," "firm resolves," and "Strenuous Action," renders him proportionally subject to the influence of fortune, and an utter neglect of them makes him her "slave." Mere good wishes, to speak in the language of Bacon though" God accept them are little better than good dreams." If we intend a noble object and make no effort to carry it out, we leave out a capital part of our duty-a part upon which great stress ought to be laid and for which chiefly, as it appears from the consideration of many circumstances in our moral and intellectual constitution, we have been made by our Great and Wise Creator. If we allow "the native hue of resolution" to be "sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought" we subject ourselves to every evil which irresolution entail upon mankind. A man who merely entertains good wishes, and rests contented without trying as far as he is able to convert these wishes into solid acts, can be very easily dispensed with in society; nor can he meet with our moral approbation. How poignant yet how true is the following remark on Sterne. It is very cuttingly observed by a critic that Sterne had "too much sentiment to have feeling" and how painful is it to reflect that a man, who could write such pathetic lines upon the misery of a bird confined in a cage, could suffer his own mother to rot in jail for debt when he himself was in affluent plenty. The greatest depths of sentimental feelings like those of Sterne cannot be offered as an excuse for the least neglect of active duty, on the other hand the man who gains noble ends by noble means or failing smiles in banishment or captivity is truly great and his life alone is one perpetual growth of heavenward enterprise." DWARKA NAUTH MITTER, Hooghly College, First Class, Senior Scholar. can 66 WHEREVER we turn our view, either to ancient or to modern history, we find abundant examples of the sublime truth echoed by two of the greatest modern bards of England. They all inspire us with hope and they all seem to demand of us to do the same. They all call upon us, not to waste our lives in strenuous idleness," not to cast away without any use this precious portion of our existence, not to fill our lives with empty gauds and baubles. They all incite us, on the contrary, to set our hearts on "wishes just and wise;" and that we might not be daunted in our pursuits, they all seem to whisper to us "whatever man has done, man may do." This is the sublime truth which "all the past of time reveals" to us. The knowledge of it makes us ten-fold more hearty and brave. It cheers the gloom which overspreads the wide waste of life. Our journey is performed with less toil and trouble; even if we are round beset with dangers and are surrounded by them like a labyrinth, the voice of that truth still rings in our ears, and seems to say "Do not for this, forego your firm resolves. There have been men placed in the same situation as you are; nay there have been others who were far more unfortunate than you. Look at the success which have attended their pursuits. Their names are now written in golden letters in the calendar of time. They had not for one repulse' given themselves up to despair; and abandoned all their schemes and projects. They had buffeted with the waves of fortune; even when those adverse waves rose high against them, lashing them with utmost fury, they had contrived to ride triumphantly on them." Great men of all ages, "the chosen and select of God," have acted in accordance to this precept. They have displayed wonderful powers and abilities in all that they had to perform. In all their actions, they had shown an utter independency of fortune. They had not idly waited for fortunate circumstances. They had not waited for that "tide in their affairs which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." They have despised all such aids, and the mould of their fortune was created out of them by their own hands. Whilst their lives bustled with firm resolves, they united Thought with Act. They had not been mere men of speculation, neither had they been rash enterprisers. They had not been mere Hamlets "Resolving, re-resolving, and then dying the same." To all their plans they had united such a degree of action, that their lives were a continued series of successes and triumphs. The character of their lives was progressive. Activity was the |