...p-fires! We ourselves must Pilgrims be, Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly Through the desperate winter sea, Nor attempt the Future's portal With the Past's blood-rusted key. For George William Curtis , the leader of the civil-service reform, I have the most sincere respect. His place as statesman, scholar, and reformer is such, and so universally recognized, that praise from me would be almost i...