[58] true learning, the city of churches. By all these tokens she stands conspicuous; and other parts of the country are not unwilling to follow er example. Athens was called the eye of Greece: Boston may be called the eye of America; and the influence which she exerts is to be referred, not to her size, for there are other cities larger far, but to her moral and intellectual character.On reaching home, he found a widowed mother — who during his absence had followed the remains of her accomplished daughter Jane, and then in 1839 of her beloved husband, to the silent grave — in charge of the bereaved family. His reception was most cordial and affectionate; and, choosing for his study the front chamber above the parlor, he arranged the specimens of art and the books he had secured abroad, and there for many years pursued his literary course. His books were his society, his pen the instrument of his toil. He labored unremittingly; now delving into classical lore, now poring over the tomes of mediaeval learning, now studying the works of the French and English statesmen, and now communing with the spirits of the Revolutionary patriots,--Adams, Ames, Jay, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Washington. To use the language which he loved, it could be truly said of him,--“Come l'ape succhia i fiori,
Succhia i detti de‘ migliori.
”
