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2. And let me say, gentlemen, that if we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion,-if we and they shall live always in the fear of God, and shall respect his commandments,— if we and they shall maintain just, moral sentiments, and such conscientious convictions of duty as shall control the heart and life, we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country; and if we maintain those institutions of government and that political union, exceeding all praise as much as it exceeds all former examples of political associations, we may be sure of one thing-that, while our country furnishes materials for a thousand masters of the historic art, it will afford.no topic for a Gibbon. It will have no Decline and Fall. It will go on prospering and to prosper.

3. But, if we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity. Should that catastrophe happen, let it have no history! Let the horrible narrative never be written! Let its fate be like that of the lost books of Livy, which no human eye shall ever read; or the missing Pleiad,' of which no man can ever know more, than that it is lost, and lost forever!

4. But, gentlemen, I will not take my leave of you in a tone of despondency. We may trust that Heaven will not forsake us, nor permit us to forsake ourselves. We must strengthen ourselves, and gird up our loins with new resolution; we must counsel each other; and, determined to sustain each other in the support of the Constitution, prepare to meet manfully, and united, whatever of difficulty or of danger, whatever of effort or of sacrifice, the providence of God may call upon us to meet. 5. Are we of this generation so derelict, have we so little of the blood of our revolutionary fathers coursing through our

originally consisted of 142 books, of which only 35 have descended to us. His style may be pronounced almost faultless.

1 Pleiad (plu̸ yad). The Pleiades, in heathen mythology, were the seven daughters of Atlas, who were translated to the heavens, and formed the

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seven stars in the neck of the constellation Taurus. There are, however, but six visible to the naked eye, Alcyon being the brightest, and hence the expression the lost Pleiad.

2 Děr e lict, given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; unfaithful.

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veins, that we can not preserve what they achieved? The world will cry out SHAME upon us, if we show ourselves unworthy to be the descendants of those great and illustrious men, who fought for their liberty, and secured it to their posterity, by the Constitution of the United States.

6. Gentlemen, inspiring auspices, this day, surround us and cheer us. It is the anniversary of the birth of Washington. We should know this, even if we had lost our calendars, for we should be reminded of it by the shouts of joy and gladness. The whole atmosphere is redolent of his name; hills and forests, rocks and rivers, echo and reëcho his praises. All the good, whether learned or unlearned, high or low, rich or poor, feel, this day, that there is one treasure common to them all, and that is the fame and character of Washington. They recount his deeds, ponder over his principles and teachings, and resolve to be more and more guided by them in the future.

7. To the old and the young, to all born in the land, and to all whose love of liberty has brought them from foreign shores to make this the home of their adoption, the name of Washington is this day an exhilarating theme. Americans by birth are proud of his character, and exiles from foreign shores are eager to participate in admiration of him; and it is true that he is, this day, here, everywhere, all the world over, more an object of love and regard than on any day since his birth.

8. Gentlemen, on Washington's principles, and under the guidance of his example, will we and our children uphold the Constitution. Under his military leadership our fathers conquered; and under the outspread banner of his political and constitutional principles will we also conquer. To that standard we shall adhere, and uphold it through evil report and through good report. We will meet danger, we will meet death, if they come, in its protection; and we will struggle on, in daylight and in darkness, ay, in the thickest darkness, with all the storms which it may bring with it, till "Danger's troubled night is o'er, and the star of Peace return."

WEBSTER.

DANIEL WEBSTER, one of the greatest, if not the greatest of American orators, jurists, and statesmen, was born in the town of Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18th, 1782. At the age of fifteen he entered Dartmouth College, where he graduated in due course, exhibiting remarkable faculties of mind. When in his nineteenth year, he delivered a Fourth of July oration, at the request of the citizens of Hanover, which, energetic, and well stored with historical matter,

proved him, at that early age, something more than a sounder of empty words. Upon graduating, in 1801, he assumed the charge of an academy for a year; then commenced the study of law in his native village, which he completed in Boston, in 1805. He first practiced his profession near his early home; but, not long after, feeling the necessity of a wider sphere of action, he removed to Portsmouth, where he soon gained a prominent position. In 1812 he was elected to a scat in the National Congress, where he displayed remarkable powers both as a debater and an orator. In 1817 he removed to Boston, and resumed the practice of his profession with the highest distinction. In 1822 he was elected to a seat In Congress from the city of Boston; and in 1827 was chosen senator of the United States, from Massachusetts. From that period he was seldom out of public life, having been twice Secretary of State, in which office he died. In 1839 he visited England and France, and was received with the greatest distinction in both countries. His works, arranged by his friend, Edward Everett, were published in six volumes, at Boston, in 1851. They bear the impress of a comprehensive intellect and exalted patriotism. He died at Marshfield, sur rounded by his friends, October 24th, 1852. The last words he uttered were, "I still live." Funeral honors were paid to his memory, in the chief cities of the Union, by processions and orations. A marble block, placed in front of his tomb, bears the inscription: "LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF."

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V.

110. PUBLIC VIRTUE.

HOPE, that in all that relates to personal firmness, all that concerns a just appreciation of the insignificance of human life,-whatever may be attempted to threaten or alarm a soul not easily swayed by opposition, or awed or intimidated by menace, -a stout heart and a steady eye, that can survey', unmoved and undaunted, any mere personal perils that assail this poor, transient, perishing frame,-I may, without disparagement, compare with other men.

2. But there is a sort of courage, which, I frankly confess it, I do not possess,—a bōldnèss to which I dare not aspire, a valor which I can not covet. I can not lay myself down in the way of the welfare and happiness of my country. That I can not, I have not the courage to do. I can not interpose the power with which I may be invested-a power conferred, not for my personal benefit, nor for my aggran'dizement, but for my country's good-to check her onward march to greatness and glory. I have not courage enough. I am too cowardly for that.

3. I would not, I dare not, in the exercise of such a trust, lie down, and place my body across the path that leads my country to prosperity and happiness. This is a sort of courage widely different from that which a man may display in his private con

duct and personal relations. Personal or private courage is totally distinct from that higher and nobler courage which prompts the patriot to offer himself a voluntary sacrifice to his country's good.

4. Apprehensions of the imputation of the want of firmness sometimes impel us to perform rash and inconsiderate acts. It is the greatest coŭrage to be able to bear the imputation of the want of courage. But pride, vanity, egotism, so unamiable and offensive in private life, are vices which partake of the character of crimes, in the conduct of public affairs. The unfortunate victim of these passions can not see beyond the little, petty, contemptible circle of his own personal interèsts. All his thoughts are withdrawn from his country, and concentrated on his consistency, his firmness, himself.

5. The high, the exalted, the sublime emotions of a patriotism, which, soaring toward heaven, rises far above all mean, low, or selfish things, and is absorbed by one soul-transporting thought of the good and the glory of one's country, are never felt in his impenetrable bosom. That patriotism, which, catching its inspirations from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below all lesser, groveling, personal interests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of self-sacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of death itself,—that is public virtue ; that is the noblest, the sublimest, of all public virtues. H. CLAY.

HENRY CLAY, a distinguished statesman of the United States, was born at the Slashes, Hanover County, Virginia, on the 12th of April, 1777. His father, a clergyman, died in 1781, and Henry acquired the rudiments of an education at a log school-house. At an early age he became clerk of the Court of Chancery in Richmond. He commenced the study of law at the age of nineteen, was admitted to the bar at the close of one year, and removed to Lexington, Ky., where he practiced his profession with great success. In 1803 he was elected to the legislature of his State, and in 1806 and 1809, was appointed to fill vacancies in the national senate. In 1811 he was chosen a member of the House of Representatives, and was at once elected speaker, which office he retained until his appointment, in January, 1814, as one of the commissioners to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent. On his return he was reelected to Congress; and, in 1823, was again elected speaker of the House. During the presidency of John Quincy Adams he was secretary of state. In 1831 he was elected United States senator from Kentucky, and was soon after nominated a candidate for the presidency, but was defeated. In 1836 he was reëlected to the United States Senate, and served until 1842. In 1844 he was again nominated to the presidency, and again defeated. He was returned to the U. S. Senate in 1849, and died on the 29th of June, 1852. He was ever an advocate of "protection to American industry" by a sufficient tariff, and of "internal improvements." He was in favor of the war of 1812, of the recognition of the South American republics, and of the independence

of Greece. Some of his noblest oratorical efforts were delivered in support of these measures. His speeches are sincere, impassioned, and distinguished for their eminent practicalness. Full, flowing, sensuous, his style of oratory was modulated by a voice of sustained sweetness and power, and a heart of chivalrous courtesy. His Life and Speeches, complied and edited by Mallory, in two volumes, 8vo., appeared in 1843; and his "Life and Times," and entire works, by Calvin Colton, have since been published in New York.

VI.

111. WASHINGTON'S SWORD AND FRANKLIN'S STAFF:

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HE sword of Washington! The staff of Franklin! Oh, Sir, what associations are linked in adamant with these names! Washington, whose sword was never drawn but in the cause of his country, and never sheathed when wielded in his country's cause! Franklin, the philosopher of the thunderbolt, the printing-press, and the plowshare! What names are these in the scanty catalogue of the benefactors of human kind! Washington and Franklin! What other two men, whose lives belong to the eighteenth century of Christendom, have left a deeper impression of themselves upon the age in which they lived, and upon all after-time?

2. Washington, the warrior and the legislator! In war, contending, by the wager of battle, for the independence of his country, and for the freedom of the human race,—ever manifesting, amidst its horrors, by precept and by example, his reverence for the laws of peace, and for the tenderèst sympathies of humanity; in peace, soothing the ferocious spirit of discord, among his own countrymen, into harmony and union, and giving to that věry sword, now presented to his country, a charm more potent than that attributed, in ancient times, to the lyre of Orpheus.'

3. Franklin! The mechanic of his own fortune; teaching, in early youth, under the shackles of indigence, the way to wealth, and, in the shade of obscurity, the path to greatness; in the maturity of manhood, disarming the thunder of its terrors, the light

1 From an address in the U. S. H. R., on the reception of these memorials by Congress.

'Orpheus, a mythical personage, was regarded by the Greeks as the most celebrated of the early poets who lived before the time of Homer.

Presented with the lyre of Apollo, and instructed by the Muses in its use, he enchanted with its music not only the wild beasts, but the trees and rocks upon Olympus, so that they moved from their places to follow the sound of his golden harp.

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