Do I
not, indeed, see around me now, all the stars of the intellectual
firmament? Are not SIRIUS and ARCTURUS here, in their glory, as well as
ORION and the rest? As my old friend CRISPIN would say, their name is
legion! _I_ would blaze, gentlemen, too, if possible, in honor of the
occasion; but, as I can't Comet, meteors fall in lamentation of my poor
ability.
"The day we celebrate is truly a great one. Since the time of OLAF, the
Northman, our Anglo-Saxon-Celtic race has loved its jesting
philosophers. No fools are they, in fact, even when to that name they
'stoop to conquer.'
'The wise man's folly is anatomized
Even by the squand'ring glances of the fool.'
"The sundry contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination
wraps me, is a most humorous sadness.
"But, gentlemen, your walls have, if not ears, tongues, to recall the
glorious humor and wit of our race. HOGARTH looks down upon us. ADDISON
tells us of dear old Sir ROGER de COVERLEY; I am sure he must have been
the grandfather of Mr. PICKWICK. STERNE makes us weep on one side and
smile on the other, at the mention of my UNCLE TOBY; GOLDSMITH, at the
remembrance of himself.
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