They live in all that
perpetuates the remembrance of men on earth; in the recorded proofs of
their own great actions, in the offspring of their intellect, in the
deep-engraved lines of public gratitude, and in the respect and homage
of mankind. They live in their example; and they live, emphatically,
and will live, in the influence which their lives and efforts, their
principles and opinion, now exercise, and will continue to exercise,
on the affairs of men, not only in their own country, but throughout
the civilized world. A superior and commanding human intellect, a truly
great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary
flame, burning bright for a while, and then expiring, giving place to
returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat, as well as
radiant light, with power to enkindle the common mass of human mind; so
that when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death,
no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire,
from the potent contact of its own spirit. Bacon died; but the human
understanding roused by the touch of his miraculous wand to a perception
of the true philosophy and the just mode of inquiring after truth, has
kept on its course successfully and gloriously.
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