The Elements of National Greatness: An Address Before the New England Society of the City of New York, December 22, 1842J.S. Taylor, 1843 - 40 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 7
Page 16
... . It is just as much so in politics and literature as in religion . We have had on this earth a long trial without it , without the preserving elements of a national existence . This world has been the theatre of a mighty experiment 16.
... . It is just as much so in politics and literature as in religion . We have had on this earth a long trial without it , without the preserving elements of a national existence . This world has been the theatre of a mighty experiment 16.
Page 17
... Literature for nations and the world . The materials are among us , but the eye of genius has been heavy with slumber . The film and frost of custom conceal a thousand open truths . Almost the whole secret of discovery in science is the ...
... Literature for nations and the world . The materials are among us , but the eye of genius has been heavy with slumber . The film and frost of custom conceal a thousand open truths . Almost the whole secret of discovery in science is the ...
Page 18
... literature which is yet to be created out of the mate- rials of Divine Truth and the workings of our spiritual be- ing . And I am reminded of Mr. Coleridge's beautiful defini- tion of genius : " To carry the feelings of childhood into ...
... literature which is yet to be created out of the mate- rials of Divine Truth and the workings of our spiritual be- ing . And I am reminded of Mr. Coleridge's beautiful defini- tion of genius : " To carry the feelings of childhood into ...
Page 19
... literature , than all other causes . The operation of this cause is absolutely essential to the perfection of literature . All the forms of literature hitherto known have been deformed and lifeless , in comparison with the beauty and ...
... literature , than all other causes . The operation of this cause is absolutely essential to the perfection of literature . All the forms of literature hitherto known have been deformed and lifeless , in comparison with the beauty and ...
Page 20
... literature , in its life without the Spirit of God , might powerfully remind the thoughtful observer of Plato's cave , and of the thoughts of its darkened inhabitants ; and when , from a higher eleva- tion , the spirit gets a glimpse of ...
... literature , in its life without the Spirit of God , might powerfully remind the thoughtful observer of Plato's cave , and of the thoughts of its darkened inhabitants ; and when , from a higher eleva- tion , the spirit gets a glimpse of ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
afraid amidst baptism beneath Bible blessings breathe Castlereagh causes character CHEEVER CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CHRISTIAN SABBATH church civil Common Schools constitute coun danger discipline divine truth Edmund Burke Egypt element of national emigration Empire Enemy England Society evil fear foreign paupers freedom genius glory God's Spirit grand principle Guizot H. P. PEET heart holy hope Idolatry individuals influence institutions intelligent judgment in matters liberty look manhood mind of nations moral principle national existence native ness never noble old world oppressed parties patriotism phalanx piety Pilgrims political Popery preserved principle of private private judgment private selfishness profanation Puritan ancestors qualities race Radicals of Europe religion Republicans restrictive virtues rheumatic Roman Catholic Romanists sarcasm Scriptures sect seed severe and restrictive shadows slavery Spirit of God stitute suffer thine thing THOMAS FESSENDEN tion true tyranny UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN unprincipled utter voters whole wonder YORK
Popular passages
Page 5 - What constitutes a State? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned; Not bays and broad-armed ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No: MEN, high-minded MEN, With powers as far above dull brutes endued, In forest, brake, or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude: Men who their duties know, But know their rights,...
Page 9 - So absolute indeed was the authority of the crown, that the precious spark of liberty had been kindled, and was preserved by the puritans alone ; and it was to this sect, whose principles appear so frivolous and habits so ridiculous, that the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution.
Page 18 - ... the riddle of the world, and may help to unravel it. To carry on the feelings of childhood into the powers of manhood; to combine the child's sense of wonder and novelty with the appearances, which every day for perhaps forty years had rendered familiar; With sun and moon and stars throughout the year, And man and woman; 6 this is the character and privilege of genius, and one of the marks which distinguish genius from talents.
Page 8 - Had New England been colonized immediately on the discovery of the American continent, the old English institutions would have been planted under the powerful influence of the Roman Catholic religion; had the settlement been made under Elizabeth, it would have been before activity of the popular mind in religion had conducted to a corresponding activity of mind in politics.
Page 38 - ... needful to be breathed. There is nothing of such mighty power among us, no machinery that will exert a more inevitable influence either to bless or to destroy. The influence of our newspapers upon our higher literature is deplorable; but this would be nothing if the public utterances of our newspapers were utterances of truth. They are becoming a school of Sophists worse than ever were bred in the literature of Greece. As to the Sophists in that country, the opinion of Schlegel that the political...
Page 30 - The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown ; No traveller ever reach'd that blest abode, Who found not thorns and briers in his road.
Page 32 - ... of ill-fame ; they never attempt to correct or regulate ; they go to work by the shortest way — they abate the nuisance, they pull down the house. This is my opinion with regard to the true interest of government. But as it is the interest of government that reformation should be early, it is the interest of the people that it should be temperate. It is their interest, because a temperate reform is permanent ; and because it has a principle of...
Page 22 - It is curious to hear the newspapers speaking of incessant application to business ; forgetting that by the weekly admission of a day of rest, which our Maker has enjoined, our faculties would be preserved from the effect of this constant strain.
Page 22 - Poor fellow! He was certainly deranged — the effect, probably, of continued wear of mind. The strong impression on my mind is, that it is the effect of the non-observance of the Sabbath; both as to abstracting from politics, and from the constant recurring of the same reflections, and as correcting the false views of worldly things, and bringing them down to their true diminutiveness.
Page 31 - But there is a time when men will not suffer bad things because their ancestors have suffered worse. There is a time when the hoary head of inveterate abuse will neither draw reverence nor obtain protection. If the noble lord in the blue ribbon pleads,