In this
article he first takes the part of the moderns as against the ancients,
though he by no means deprecates the genius of the latter, and then
eloquently apostrophizes the object of his youthful hero-worship, the
immortal Canning, whose death he compares to that of the lamented Pitt.
The following are extracts from this production:
"It is for those who revered him in the plenitude of his meridian glory
to mourn over him in the darkness of his premature extinction: to mourn
over the hopes that are buried in his grave, and the evils that arise
from his withdrawing from the scene of life. Surely if eloquence never
excelled and seldom equalled--if an expanded mind and judgment whose
vigor was paralleled only by its soundness--if brilliant wit--if a
glowing imagination--if a warm heart, and an unbending firmness--could
have strengthened the frail tenure, and prolonged the momentary duration
of human existence, that man had been immortal! But nature could endure
no longer. Thus has Providence ordained that inasmuch as the intellect
is more brilliant, it shall be more short-lived; as its sphere is more
expanded, more swiftly is it summoned away. Lest we should give to man
the honor due to God--lest we should exalt the object of our admiration
into a divinity for our worship--He who calls the weary and the mourner
to eternal rest hath been pleased to remove him from our eyes.
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