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LESSON 3
Edward Everett, 1794-1865. He was born at Dorchester, Mass., now a part of Boston, and graduated from Harvard College with the highest honors of his class, at the age of seventeen. While yet in college, he had quite a reputation as a brilliant writer. Before he was twenty years of age, he was settled as pastor over the Brattle Street Church, in Boston, and at once became famous as an eloquent preacher. In 1814, he was elected Professor of Greek Literature in his Alma Mater; and, in order to prepare himself for the duties of his office, he entered on an extended course of travel in Europe. He edited the “North American Review,” in addition to the labors of his professorship, after he returned to America.
In 1825, Mr. Everett was elected to Congress, and held his seat in the House for ten years. He was Governor of his native state from 1835 to 1839. In 1841, he was appointed Minister to England. On his return, in 1846, he was chosen President of Harvard University, and held the office for three years. In 1852, he was appointed Secretary of State. February 22, 1856, he delivered, in Boston, his celebrated lecture on Washington. This lecture was afterwards delivered in most of the principal cities and towns in the United States. The proceeds were devoted to the purchase of Mt. Vernon. In 1860, he was a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States, He is celebrated as an elegant and forcible writer, and a chaste orator.
This extract, a wonderful piece of word painting, is a portion of an address on the “Uses of Astronomy,” delivered at the inauguration of the Dudley Observatory, at Albany, N, Y, Note the careful use of words, and the strong figures in the third and fourth paragraphs.
I had occasion, a few weeks since, to take the early train from Providence to Boston; and for this purpose rose at two o’clock in the morning. Everything around was wrapped in darkness and hushed in silence, broken only by what seemed at that hour the unearthly clank and rush of the train. It was a mild, serene, midsummer’s night,—the sky was without a cloud, the winds were whist. The moon, then in the last quarter, had just risen, and the stars shone with a spectral luster but little affected by her presence.
Jupiter, two hours high, was the herald of the day; the Pleiades, just above the horizon, shed their sweet influence in the east; Lyra sparkled near the zenith; Andromeda veiled hernewly-discovered glories from the naked eye in the south; the steady Pointers, far beneath the pole, looked meekly up from the depths of the north to their sovereign.
Such was the glorious spectacle as I entered the train. As we proceeded, the timid approach of twilight became more perceptible; the intense blue of the sky began to soften; the smaller stars, like little children, went first to rest; the sister beams of the Pleiades soonmelted together; but the bright constellations of the west and north remained unchanged. Steadily the wondrous transfiguration went on. Hands of angels, hidden from mortal eyes,shifted the scenery of the heavens; the glories of night dissolved into the glories of the dawn.
The blue sky now turned more softly gray; the great watch stars shut up their holy eyes; the east began to kindle. Faint streaks of purple soon blushed along the sky; the whole celestial concave was filled with the inflowing tides of the morning light, which came pouring down from above in one great ocean of radiance; till at length, as we reached the Blue Hills, a flash of purple fire blazed out from above the horizon, and turned the dewy teardrops of flower and leaf into rubies and diamonds. In a few seconds, the everlasting gatesof the morning were thrown wide open, and the lord of day, arrayed in glories too severe for the gaze of man, began his state.
I do not wonder at the superstition of the ancient Magians, who, in the morning of the world, went up to the hilltops of Central Asia, and, ignorant of the true God, adored the most glorious work of his hand. But I am filled with amazement, when I am told, that, in this enlightened age and in the heart of the Christian world, there are persons who can witness this daily manifestation of the power and wisdom of the Creator, and yet say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
【中文阅读】
几个星期前，我有幸乘坐早班火车从普罗维登斯来到波士顿，为此我特地凌晨两点就起床已毕。万物陷于黑暗之中悄无声息，只是在列车发出隆隆轰鸣突然启动的那一刻，这种平静才骤然打破。这是一个温暖宁静的仲夏之夜——天空没有一丝云彩，微风和煦。在最后四分之一路程，月亮才爬上天际。星星散发出幽灵一般的光栅，丝毫无法影响月亮的光辉。
木星悬于天际已经两个钟头了，预示着拂晓将至。在地平线上，昴宿星已经露出脸来，东方泛出鱼肚白。天琴星座在天顶附近闪闪发光，仙女星座遮盖住从南方裸露的眼睛绽放出的刚发现的光芒。在地极之下，一成不变的指针温顺地从北极深处向上窥探着它们的王国。
我登上列车时，眼前出现的就是这幅壮丽景象。随着列车行进，黎明前的曙光羞怯地展露出来，越发容易察觉。天际一线的蓝色开始变得轻柔可亲。那些很小的星星就像嗷嗷待哺的孩子似的，首先停止了啼哭。昴宿星系星团的光栅很快便一同隐去，不过西方和北方那些明亮的恒星透过云层依旧散出光芒。星团继续变换着奇异的形状和姿态。众天使们的手臂，躲藏在上帝摄人心魄的目光下，变幻着天堂的景色。夜晚的余晖消隐在黎明的薄雾微明之中了。
这时，蓝天变得更加沁人心脾。巨大的守夜星合上了它们神圣的眼睛。东方开始发出亮光。微现的紫色条纹很快就染红了天际。整个云空凹陷处都被晨光流入的波浪状云彩填满了，从上到下喷涌出如海洋一般的巨大光辉。最后，在我们抵达特克斯和凯科斯群岛时，从地平线之上闪出一缕紫色火焰，将繁花和树叶的露珠凝结成红宝石和砖石。不一会儿，清晨永无休止的大门便赫然洞开，沐浴着光芒的主宰白天的万物之主，神情威严地注视着大地，一天开始了。
对于古代拜火教徒的迷信，我一点也不奇怪，他们在万物复苏的清晨就登上中亚的山峦，无视真正的上帝，却对手中的火把顶礼膜拜。可是令我充满惊奇的是，当我被告知在这个文明开化的时代以及身处基督教世界的核心，那些有幸亲眼目睹造物主强大力量和智慧这种日常表现的人，发自内心地说：“根本就没有什么上帝。”