Page:Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America.djvu/160

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declared to be in a state of rebellion. The immediate cause of this address was the Boston Tea Party. The lives and fortunes of his Majesty's subjects were represented as being in danger, and he was asked to deal vigorously not only with Massachusetts but with her sympathizers.

10, 16. those chances. Suggested perhaps by lines in Julius Cæsar, IV., iii., 216–219:—

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries."

11, 8. according to that nature and to those circumstances. Compare with 8, 1. Point out the connection between the thought here expressed and Burke's idea of "expediency."

17, 9. great consideration. This paragraph has been censured for its too florid style. It may be rather gorgeous and rhetorical when considered as part of an argument, yet it is very characteristic of Burke as a writer. In no other passage of the speech is there such vivid clear-cut imagery. Note the picturesque quality of the lines and detect if you can any confusion in figures.

17, 10. It is good for us to be here. Burke's favorite books were Shakespeare, Milton, and the Bible. Trace the above sentence to one of these.

17, 21.

"Facta parentum
Jam legere et quæ sit poteris cognoscere virtus."
Virgil's Eclogues, IV., 26, 27