doing good, compared to which all the palms of speculative wisdom and science wither on the sight. He did not seek to derive his eminence from the mere profession of letters, which, although laborious, seldom elevates a man to any high rank in the public confidence and esteem ; but he became great by applying his abilities to things useful, and accommodating his instructions to the exigencies of the times, and the necessities of his country. Had we no other proof of this, the great and dignified part which he sustained in the American Revolution, one of the most important events recorded in the annals of mankind, would have been alone sufficient to immortalize his name; but when we take into the account his previous labors for half a century, on purpose to illuminate the minds of his fellow-citizens, to prepare them for the mighty event, to nurse them into greatness by the arts of industry and virtue, to shew them the happiness which lay within their reach, to teach them to dare, and to bear, and to improve success;-this accumulation of services has woven for his head a diadem of such beauty, as scarcely ever adorned the brow of either ancient or modern worthy. In the earliest stages of life he had conceived the mighty idea of American glory and empire ; but, like Hercules in the cradle, he was ignorant of his own strength, and had not conceived the achievements and the labors that awaited him. He had not yet conceived that he was one day to contend with kings and potentates for the rights of his country, to extort from them an acknowledgment of its sovereignty, and to subscribe with his name the sacred instruments which were to give it a pre-eminent rauk among the nations of the earth, and to assure its liberty and independence to the latest ages! The Virtus vera nobilitas, was an adage with which he was well pleased. He considered a descent from any of the virtuous peasantry and venerable yeomanry of America, who first subdued the sturdy oaks of our forests, and assisted to introduce culture and civilization into a once untutored land, as having more true nobility in it, than a pedigree which might be traced through the longest line of those commonly called great and noble in this world. He rose from low beginnings, and advanced not only himself but his country by means of the press. press was the great instrument he made use of in order to draw the attention of Pennsylvania to habits of virtue and industry; to the institution of societies for the promotion of agriculture, commerce, and the mechanic arts; to the founding of schools, libraries, and hospitals, for the diffusion of useful knowledge and the advancement of humanity: When you consider this, you will go and do likewise; you will, with professional joy and pride, observe, that, from the torch which Franklin kindled by means of his press, in the new world, "sparks are already stolen which are lighting up the sacred flame of liberty, virtue, and wisdom, over the entire face of the globe." Be it your part to feed that torch by means of the press, until its divine flame Stemmata quid faciunt, quid prodest, Pontice, longo JUVENAL. t This part was addressed to the printers of Philadelphia, who attended in a body. THE nation grieves, surrounding kingdoms mourn, E'en he who soar'd to heaven, and dar'd to chain How poor the plaudit of the sorrowing Muse, Through time's vast round thy works shall bid thee live. IN VIRGAM FRANKLINIANAM, ODE ALCAICA. AUCTORE ANTONIO MUSSI, PHILOSOPHIE PROFESSORE, MEDIOLANI. DIRIS per urbes relligionibus Camposque latè strata metu gravi, Humana gens horrebat olìm Tartareum tonitru tyrannum Nimbos vocantem: cœlo equitans nigro, Formidolosa insomnia! "Num Pater Naturæ iniquis imperium arbitris Permittat ?" Has dudùm tenebras Dispulit exoriens Sophia. At non timores pectore funditùs Sedesque funestet piorum, Ipse suas jaculatus arces? Fulgur agens quatit astra curru ?" Virtute, quâ terras patentes, Aëraque, oceanumque regnet. Sophis sagaces ille animos dedit Sacrilegâ violare dextrâ. Hâc mente, Franklin, nubibus imperas, Fulmineum inviolatus ignem : Et sociæ freta cæca flammæ ; At tu, corusco in turbine, splendidum Regina signis te Philadelphia Sceptra, Jovi rapuitque fulmen." Nunc ipsa virgam provida sospitam Europa nunc artes doceri Barbaricâ ' stupet Americâ. Urbs alma princeps Insubrum! adhue tremis Sub sole larvas? Suspice Palladis Fastigium ferrata circum Tecta volans fugat ecce curas Fulgore puro libera veritas. At insolenti ne sapientiâ 2 'The reader will easily perceive that this word is used to form a beautiful contrast between what America is now, and what she was hardly a century ago. 2 * Regii gymnasii Braydensis hac in urbe Mediolano, quod anno 1784, munitum est sex virgis Franklinianis, jubente principe. Mortalis æternum labores Fallere consilium, caveto : Franklinianis mille licèt domus Horrescat hastis, certus ahenea Per septa, per fidos recessus, Sontem animam petet ignis ultor. Virtus, quietis pectoribus sacrum Sub pede despiciens procellam. |