Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard, nothing as of paramount political interest, | but the integrity of the union itself. With a united go- . vernment, well administered, | he saw we had nothing 1 to fear; and without it, nothing to hope. | The sentiment is just, and its momentous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. |

If we might regard our country as personated in the spirit of Washington; if we might consider him as representing her, in her past renown, her present prosperity, and her future career, and as in that character demanding of us all, to account for our conduct, as political men, or as private citizens, | how should he answer him, who has ventured to talk of disuniona and dismemberment ? | Or, how should he answer him, who dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every kindling flame of local prejudice? | How should he answer him, who would array state against state, interest against interest, and party against party, careless of the continuance of that unity of government which constitutes us one people? |

Gentlemen, the political prosperity which this country has attained, and which it now enjoys, it has acquired mainly through the instrumentality of the present government. While this agent continues, the capacity of attaining to still higher degrees of prosperity exists also. We have, while this lasts, a political life, capable of beneficial exertion, with power to resist or overcome misfortunes, | to sustain us against the ordinary accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by active efforts, every public interest. ]

But dismemberment | strikes at the very being which preserves these faculties; it would lay its rude and ruthless hand on this great agent itself. It would sweep away, not only what we possess, but all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions. It

* Dis-u'nè-ůn.

b Diz-mêm'bůr-ment.

с

с

• Poż-żêsh'unż.

would leave the country, not only bereft of its prosperity and happiness, | but without limbs, or organs, or faculties, by which to exert itself, hereafter, in the pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. |

Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If disastrous war sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it; | if it exhaust our treasury, | future industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It were but a trifle, even if the walls of yonder Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley.

All these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government? | Who shall rear again the well proportioned columnsa of constitutional liberty? Who shall frame together the skilful architecture which unites national sovereignty | with state rights, | individual security, and public prosperity? |

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No, gentlemen, if these columns fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Coliseumb and the Parthenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they will be the_remnants of a more glorious edifice | than Greece or Rome the edifice of constitutional American

ever saw

liberty. I

-

But, gentlemen, let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that Gracious Being, who has hitherto held our country as in the hollow of his hand. | Let us trust to the virtue and the intelligence of the people, |

Kōl'lům.

COLISEUM, an amphitheatre at Rome, in which the people assembled to witness the combats of gladiators and wild beasts. It is said to be capable of containing 60,000 spectators. PARTHENON, a celebrated temple at Athens, sacred to Minerva.

and to the efficacy of religious obligation. Let us trust to the influence of Washington's example. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven, which expels all other fear, and that regard to duty, which transcends all other regard, may influence public men and private citizens, and lead our country still onward in her happy career.

Full of these gratifying anticipations and hopes, let us look forward to the end of that century which is now commenced. A hundred years hence, other disciples of Washington will celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere admiration | than we now commemorate it. When they shall meet, as we now meet, to do themselves and him that honour, so surely as they shall see the blue summits of his native mountains | rise in the horizon; so surely as they shall behold the river on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he rests, still flowing to the sea; so surely may they see, as we now see, the flag of the union floating on the top of the Capitol; and then, as now, may the sun in his course | visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country.

RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS ON HIS RETURN TO SPAIN.

(WASHINGTON IRVING.)

The fame of his discovery | had resounded throughout the nation, and as his route | lay through several of the finest and most populous provinces of Spain, | his journey appeared like the progress of a sovereign. | Wherever he passed, the surrounding country poured forth its inhabitants, who lined the road and thronged the villages. In the large towns, the streets, windows, and balconies, were filled with eager spectators, who rent the air with acclamations. I

His journey was continually impeded by the multitude pressing to gain a sight of him, and of the Indians, who were regarded with as much admiration |

as if they had been natives of another planet. It was impossible to satisfy the craving curiosity | which assailed himself and his attendants, at every stage, | with innumerable questions: | popular rumour, as usual, | had exaggerated the truth, and had filled the newlyfound country with all kinds of wonders. |

It was about the middle of April, that Columbus arrived at Barcelona, where every preparation had been made to give him a solemn and magnificent reception. The beauty and serenity of the weather, in that genial season and favoured climate, contributed to give splendour to this memorable ceremony. | As he drew near the place, | many of the more youthful courtiers, and hidalgosa of gallant bearing, together with a vast concourse of the populace, came forth to meet and welcome him. |

His entrance into this noble city has been compared to one of those triumphs, which the Romans were accustomed to decree to conquerors. First were paraded the Indians, painted according to their savage fashion, and decorated with tropical feathers, and with their national ornaments of gold; after these were borne various kinds of live parrots, together with stuffed birds and animals of unknown species, and rare plants, supposed to be of precious qualities: while great care was taken to make a conspicuous display of Indian coronets, | bracelets, and other decorations of gold, which might give an idea of the wealth of the newly-discovered regions. After these followed Columbus, on horseback, | surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish chivalry. I

The streets were almost impassable from the countless multitude; the windows and balconies were crowded with the fair; the very roofs were covered with spectators. It seemed, as if the public eye could not be sated with gazing on these trophies of an un

a

Hidalgo, (Spanish) a noble man or woman.

known world, or on the remarkable man by whom it had been discovered. There was a sublimity in this event, that mingled a solemn feeling with the public joy. It was looked upon as a vast and signal dispensation of Providence, in reward for the piety of the monarchs; and the majestic and venerable appearance of the discoverer, so different from the youth and buoyancy that are generally expected from roving enterprise, seemed in harmony with the grandeur and dignity of his achievement.

To receive him with suitable pomp and distinction, | the sovereigns had ordered their throne to be placed in public, | under a rich canopy of brocade of gold, in a vast and splendid saloon. Here the king and queen awaited his arrival, | seated in state with the prince Juan beside them, and attended by the dignitaries of their court, and the principal nobility of Castile, Valentia, | Catalonia, and Arragon, | all impatient to behold the man, | who had conferred so incalculable a benefit upon the nation. |

At length Columbus entered the hall, surrounded by a brilliant crowd of cavaliers, among whom, says Las Casas, he was conspicuous for his stately and commanding person, which, with his countenance rendered venerable by his gray hairs, gave him the 1 august appearance of a senator of Rome. A modest smile lighted up his features, showing that he enjoyed the state and glory in which he came; and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving, to a mind inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having greatly deserved, than were these testimonials | of the admiration and gratitude of a nation, | or rather of a world.

As Columbus approached, the sovereigns rose, as if receiving a person of the highest rank. Bending his knees, he requested to kiss their hands; | but there