ELOQUENCE. THAT I may not stand alone in my views on the subject of genuine eloquence, I will give those of that able statesman, John Adams, and those of one of his cotemporaries, whose name I do not find with the extract. Mr. Adams remarked, "Oratory, as it consists in the expression of the countenance, graces of attitude and motion, and intonation of voice, although it is altogether superficial and ornamental, will always command admiration, yet it deserves little veneration. Flashes of wit, corruscations of imagination, and gay pictures; what are they? Strict truth, rapid reason, and pure integrity, are the only essential ingredients in oratory. I flatter myself, that Demosthenes, by his 'action! action! action!' meant to express the same opinion." The other writer observes, "Clearness, force and earnestness, are qualities that produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it; but they toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshalled in every way; but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire after it, but they cannot reach it. It comes, if it comes at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in schools, the courtly ornaments and studied contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and the lives of their wives and children, and their country, hang on the decision of an hour. Then, words have lost their power; rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. Then, even genius feels rebuked and subdued, as if in the presence of higher qualities. Then, patriotism is eloquent ; then, self devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of logic; the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward-right onward to his object-this, this is eloquence, or rather, it is something greater than eloquence-it is action, noble, sublime, and god-like action.” Rhetoric, as taught in our seminaries, and by itinerant elocutionists, is one thing; genuine, heart-thrilling, soul-stirring eloquence, is a very different thing. The one is like the rose in wax, without odor; the other, like the rose on its native bush, perfuming the atmosphere with the rich odors, distilled from the dew of heaven. The one is the finely finished statue of a Cicero or Demosthenes, more perfect in its lineaments than the original; pleasing the eye and enrapturing the imagination; the other is the living man, animated by intellectual power, rousing the deepest feelings of every heart, and electrifying every soul, as with vivid lightning. The one is a picture of the passions all on fire; the other is the real conflagration; pouring out a volume of words, that burn, like liquid flames, bursting from the crater of a volcano. The one attracts the admiring gaze, and tickles the fancy of an audience; the other sounds an alarum, that vibrates through the tingling ears to the soul, and drives back the rush F ing blood upon the aching heart. The one falls upon the multitude like April showers, glittering in the sunbeams, animating and bringing nature into mellow life; the other rouses the same mass to deeds of noble daring, and imparts to it the terrific force of an avalanche. The one moves the cerebral foliage in waves of recumbent beauty, like a gentle wind passing over a prairie of tall grass and flowers; the other strikes a blow, that resounds through the wilderness of mind, like rolling thunder through a forest of oaks. The one fails, when strong commotions and angry elements agitate the public peace; the other can ride upon the whirlwind, direct the tornado, and rule the storm. EMINENCE. MEN who anticipate the enjoyment of happiness from great eminence in any thing this world can bestow, are doomed to disappointment when they attain the desideratum of their wishes. Ask our ex-presidents, who are still on the stage of life, if they enjoyed as much happiness when the responsibilities of our national interest rested upon them, as when in private life? No, will be the prompt reply. Put the same interrogatory to those who have reached the highest pinnacle of eminence in the different professions, and the answer will uniformly be the same. Visit the abodes of royalty, and you will find a keener pungency of disquietude there, than in our country. Queen Mary, in a letter to William III., when he was in Ireland, discoursed as follows: "I must see company on set days-I must laugh and talk, though never so much against my will-I must grin, when my heart is ready to break, and talk, when my heart is so oppressed that I can scarce breathe. All my motions are watched, and all I do so observed, that if I eat less, or speak less, or look more grave, all is lost in the opinion of the world." Washington frequently observed, towards the close of life, that he would not repass it, were it in his power to do so. The happiness of a contented hod carrier, far surpasses that of the king or queen on a throne, or that of those in high stations in our own republican, but increasing aristocratic land. Public life is a bore. Our public men are bored constantly by a horde of boor borers. Happiness is not an inmate of the confused arena of public life. In peaceful retirement, amidst the domestic and social circle, she delights to take up her abode. With competence, she best associates, but smiles more propitiously on virtuous poverty, than on the pomp and show of wealth and high life. But no earthly happiness is complete until religion throws its sacred halo around it. Here is firm footing; here is solid rock! And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl.-Young. Let those who are in full flight after eminence, remember they are not in pursuit of HAPPINESS, but are seeking EMINENCE; don't mistake the name, by so doing, you might be put on the wrong track. ENVY. Envy, like the sun, does beat With scorching rays, on all that's high or great.-Wall. Of all the ills that issued from the box of that ugly jade, Pandora, the production of Jupiter, envy inflicts the most misery upon the unfortunate subject over whom it reigns triumphant. Like Milton's fiend in Paradise, he sees, undelighted, all delight. The brightness of prosperity that surrounds others, pains the eyes of the envious man, more than the meridian rays of the sun. It starts the involuntary tear, and casts a gloom over his mind. It brings into action, jealousy, revenge, falsehood, and the basest passions of the fallen nature of man. It goads him onward with a fearful impetus, like a locomotive; and often runs his car off the track, dashes it in pieces, and he is left, bruised and bleeding. Like the cuttle fish, he emits his black venom for the purpose of darkening the clear waters that surround his prosperous neighbors; and, like that phenomenon of the sea, the inky substance is confined to a narrow circumference, and only tends to hide himself. The success of those around him throws him into convulsions, and, like a man with the delirium tremens, he imagines all who approach him, demons, seeking to devour him. Like Haman, he often erects his own gallows in his zeal to hang others. His mind is like the troubled sea, casting up the mire of revenge, and the dirt of slander. His brain is enveloped in the fiery clouds of anger; his blood foams like alkali and acid combined; his heart is in constant commotion; his |