heirs of their greatness, and ought to be the perpetuators of
their glory. It is of momentous importance that a nation should
have a great past (21) to look back upon. It steadies the life of
the present, elevates and upholds it, and lightens and lifts it
up, by the memory of the great deeds, the noble sufferings, and
the valorous achievements of the men of old. The life of nations,
as of men, is a great treasury of experience, which, wisely used,
issues in social progress and improvement; or, misused, issues in
dreams, delusions, and failure. Like men, nations are purified
and strengthened by trials. Some of the most glorious chapters in
their history are those containing the record of the sufferings by
means of which their character has been developed. Love of
liberty and patriotic feeling may have done much, but trial and
suffering nobly borne more than all.

A great deal of what passes by the name of patriotism in these
days consists of the merest bigotry and narrow-mindedness;
exhibiting itself in national prejudice, national conceit, amid
national hatred. It does not show itself in deeds, but in
boastings--in howlings, gesticulations, and shrieking helplessly
for help--in flying flags and singing songs--and in perpetual
grinding at the hurdy-gurdy of long-dead grievances and long-
remedied wrongs. To be infested by SUCH a patriotism as this is,
perhaps, amongst the greatest curses that can befall any country.

But as there is an ignoble, so is there a noble patriotism--the
patriotism that invigorates and elevates a country by noble work--
that does its duty truthfully and manfully--that lives an honest,
sober, and upright life, and strives to make the best use of the
opportunities for improvement that present themselves on every