writing to a friend he said, " But let not his frailties be remembered; he was a very great man." The world has not since questioned this judgment. He wrote a novel that is still universally read in every modern tongue. His two chief poems are as widely quoted as any in the English language and his comedy of " She Stoops to Con"still maintains its place upon the stage. His last poem, the fragment "Retaliation," is one of the most brilliant word portraitures of familiar friends that was ever written. quer A tablet to his memory was placed in Westminster Abbey on which is inscribed the glowing epitaph written by Johnson. The original is in Latin but the following nearly literal translation will give a tolerable idea of the matter of this celebrated epitaph. Of Oliver Goldsmith A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian, Whether smiles were to be moved or tears, In genius, sublime, vivid, versatile, The love of companions, The fidelity of friends, And the veneration of readers, Have by this monument honoured the memory. He was born in Ireland, At a place called Pallas, (In the parish) of Forney, (and county) of Longford, Educated at (the University of) Dublin EDMUND BURKE, ORATOR, STATESMAN, PHILOSOPHER. (1729-1797.) EDMUND BURKE belongs to the literary as well as to the political history of England. He was a great statesman and orator, but he was also master of an English literary style unsurpassed in any period of our literature. For elevation of thought and splendor of diction we must go to Shakespeare and Bacon to find his equal. He was, too, a transcendent orator, as we know he must have been when we read his orations, and yet the traditions of the effect of his oratory are conflicting. We have all heard that he was called "the dinner-bell" of the House of Commons, and that his rising to address the house was the signal for all to leave who could. Goldsmith's epigram is familiar : Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining And thought of convincing while they thought of dining. He was not a popular speaker, like Fox or Sheridan. His manner was awkward, his voice harsh, his accent Irish, and he often spoke over the heads of his audience. Perhaps his greatest oration is that on “Conciliation with America," which we all read now with infinite delight. It is full of political wisdom and would have saved the American colonies to the mother country, and yet Erskine, who heard it, says that it emptied the House of Commons. On the other hand, we have testimony of the highest character to the thrilling power of his oratory over his audience. Macaulay has described in language never to be forgotten that historic scene in parliament when Burke brought his accusations against Warren Hastings. So tremendous was the eloquence and passion of that great speech that women fainted and men held their breath in agony, while the accused himself felt for a moment that he was indeed a monster of crime. So, too, there are other occasions where Burke's power over his hearers is described, and Fox on more than one occasion spoke of him as a consummate master of eloquence. There is a good deal of obscurity about Burke's early life. The date of his birth is not definitely known, though the best opinion is that he was born January 12, 1729. The place of his birth was Dublin, his father being an attorney there. He was educated at Trinity College in his native city. His attendance there was contemporaneous with that of Goldsmith, but there is no evidence that they were acquainted. In truth, there could have been little sympathy at that time between the poor, ballad-mongering, dreaming, unstudious sizar and the ambitious youth who was even then looking out upon the great world and reading profoundly in philosophy, in history, and in general literature. In 1750 he passed over to London and commenced his law studies, but did not take kindly to the practice of law, much to his father's anger, who withdrew the son's allowance, or so reduced it that it was impossible for him to live on it. This drove him to literature, but concerning seven or eight of the years succeeding his arrival in London our information is extremely slight. He led a more or less irregular life; that is to say, he was sometimes in one part of Great Britain, sometimes in another, and sometimes in France. He had serious thoughts of coming to America, and there were rumors afloat during his lifetime that he at one time actually visited this country. A stock anecdote of him is to the effect that he applied for the chair of moral philosophy at the |