have the opportunity of pursuing what still they admire. Never could notoriety exist as it does now in any former age of the world; now that the news of the hour from all parts of the world, private news as well as public, is brought day by day to every individual, I may say, of the community, to the poorest artisan and the most secluded peasant, by processes so uniform, so unvarying, so spontaneous, that they almost bear the semblance of natural law. And hence notoriety, or the making a noise in the world, has come to be considered a great good itself, and a ground of veneration. Time was when men could only make a display by means of expenditure, and the world used to gaze with wonder on those who had large establishments, many servants, many horses, richly-furnished houses, gardens, and parks: it does so still, but it has not often the opportunity, for such magnificence is the fortune of the few, and comparatively few are its witnesses. Notoriety, or, as it may be called, newspaper fame, is to the many what style and fashion, to use the language of the world, are to those who happen to be within their influence; it becomes to them a sort of idol, worshipped for its own sake, and without any reference to the shape in which it comes before them. It may be an evil fame, it may be the notoriety of a great statesman, or of a great preacher, or of a great speculator, or of a great experimentalist, or of a great criminal; of one who has labored in the improvement of our schools, or hospitals, or prisons, or workhouses, or of one who has robbed his neighbor of his wife. It matters not, so that a man is talked much of, and read much of, he is thought much of; nay, let him have even died justly under the hands of the law, still he will be made a sort of martyr of.

His clothes, his handwriting, the circumstances of his

guilt, the instruments of his deed of blood, will be shown about, gazed on, treasured up as so many relics; for the question with men is, not whether he is great, or good, or wise, or holy, - not whether he is base, and vile, and odious, but whether he is in the mouths of men, whether he has centred on himself the attention of many, whether he has done something out of the way, whether he has been, as it were, canonized in the publications of the hour. All men cannot be notorious; the multitude who thus honor notoriety, do not seek it themselves; nor am I speaking of what men do, but how they judge; yet instances do occur, from time to time, of wretched men, so smitten with the passion for notoriety, as even to dare in fact some detestable and wanton act, not from love of it, not from liking or dislike of the person against whom it is directed, but simply in order thereby to gratify this impure desire of being talked about and being looked at. "These are thy gods, O Israel!" Alas! alas! this great and noble people, born to aspire, born for reverence, behold them walking to and fro by the torch-light of the cavern, or pursuing the wild-fires of the marsh, not understanding themselves, their destinies, their defilements, their needs, because they have not the glorious luminaries of heaven to see, to consult, and to admire!

COMPOSITION.

Copy first ten lines of third paragraph.

Give the following sentences in your own words:

(a) It matters not so that a man is talked much of, and read much of, he is thought much of; nay, let him have even died justly under the hands of the law, still he will be made a sort of martyr of. (b) Notoriety, or a making a noise in the world, has come to be considered a great good in itself, and a ground of veneration. (c) The question, now-a-days, is not whether a man is great, or good, or wise, or holy, -not whether he is base and vile and odious, but whether he has done

something out of the way, whether he has been, as it were, canonized in the publications of the hour.

ΟΝ

THREE DAYS IN THE LIFE OF COLUMBUS.

N the deck stood Columbus; the ocean's expanse,
Untried and unlimited, swept by his glance.

"Back to Spain!" cry his men: "put the vessel about!
We venture no farther through danger and doubt."
"Three days, and I give you a world!" he replied;
"Bear up, my brave comrades, three days shall decide.”
He sails, but no token of land is in sight;

He sails, but the day shows no more than the night;
On, onward, he sails, while in vain o'er the lee

The lead is sent down through a fathomless sea.

The pilot in silence leans mournfully o'er
The rudder that creaks mid the billowy roar;
He hears the hoarse moan of the spray-driving blast,
And its funeral wail through the shrouds of the mast.
The stars of far Europe have sunk from the skies,
And the great Southern Cross meets his terrified eyes;
But at length the slow dawn, softly streaking the night,
Illumes the blue vault with a faint crimson light.
"Columbus! 'tis day, and the darkness is o'er."
"Day! and what dost thou see?" "Sky and ocean

The second day ends, and Columbus is sleeping,
While Mutiny near him its vigil is keeping.

-no more!"

"Shall he perish?" "Ay, death!" is the barbarous cry; "He must triumph to-morrow, or, perjured, must die!" Ungrateful and blind! shall the world-linking sea He traced for the future his sepulchre be?

Or shall it to-morrow, with pitiless waves,

Fling his corse on that shore which his patient eye craves? The corse of an humble adventurer, then;

One day later-Columbus, the first among men!

But hush! he is dreaming; and sleep to his thought
Reveals what his waking eyes vainly have sought;
Through the distant horizon-oh rapturous sight!
Fresh bursts the New World from the darkness of night;
O vision of glory! ineffable scene!

What richness of verdure! the sky how serene!
How blue the far mountains! how glad the green isles!
And the earth and the ocean, how dimpled with smiles!
"Joy! joy!" cried Columbus, "this region is mine!"
Thine? not e'en its name, wondrous dreamer, is thine.
Again the dream changes. Columbus looks forth,
And a bright constellation illumines the North.
"Tis the herald of empire! A people appear,
Impatient of wrong, and unconscious of fear:
They level the forest, they ransack the seas;
Each zone finds their canvas unfurled to the breeze.
"Hold!" Tyranny cries; but their resolute breath
Sends back the reply, "Independence or death!”
The ploughshare they turn to a weapon of might,
And, defying all odds, hurry forth to the fight.

They have conquered! The people, with grateful acclaim,
Look to Washington's guidance from Washingtons fame;
Behold Cincinnatus and Cato combined

In his patriot heart and republican mind'

O type of true manhood! what sceptre or crown
But fades in the light of thy simple renown!

And, lo! by the side of the hero, a sage,

In freedom's behalf, sets his mark on the age;
Whom Science admiringly hails, while he wrings
The lightning from heaven, the sceptre from kings!

But see! o'er Columbus slow consciousness breaks
“Land! land!” cry the sailors; "land! land!"— he awakes -
He runs - yes! behold it! —it blesses his sight-
The land! O dear spectacle! transport! delight!
O generous sobs, which he cannot restrain!
"What will Ferdinand say? and the Future? and Spain?
I will lay this fair land at the foot of the throne
The king will repay all the ills I have known;

In exchange for a world what are honors and gains,
Or a crown?" But how is he rewarded?

With chains!

Questions:- Explain "the ocean's expanse, untried and unlimited;" "no token of land is in sight;" "The lead is sent down through a fathomless sea; " "spray-driving blast;" "Southern Cross;" "perjured, must die;" "Fling his corse on that shore which his patient eye craves ?” "Thine? not e'en its name, wondrous dreamer, is thine!" "A people appear, impatient of wrong and unconscious of fear;" "defying all odds."

COMPOSITION.

Write the eighth stanza in your own words, and give names of other discoverers or inventors who were ill-treated.

Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803-1876), a distinguished convert to Catholicism, and one of the ablest defenders ever enlisted in the cause of the faith His contributions to literature have been chiefly