more.

Polybius* and Livy after him, relate, that when Hamilcar Barca was about to carry the war, which he had waged so long against the Romans, into Spain, he performed, by the Straits of Gibraltar, a solemn act of his religion. A sacrifice was offered, to propitiate the heavenly favour on his country and its armies. As his little son, then nine years old, stood by, he bade the priests and others who were present, to retire a little; and called him to the altar, blazing yet with sacrificial fires. He asked him, then, if he would like to go with him, upon the expedition. And when, with childish zeal he begged him, that he might, he took his little hand and laid it on the sacrifice; and bade him swear, that he would never cease to be the enemy of Rome. And Rome, in all her history, had never such an enemy as Hannibal. I believe that Patriotism is a religious duty. I believe, that it is to be taught, as such, from earliest childhood. I believe, that, only second to their Saviour and His Church, our offserve the land,

spring should be trained to love and

which is their providential heritage. And, I would take these children now, and lay their hands upon the altar, which commemorates and certifies to their redemption; and demand their pledge, before the God who sees their heart, that they would never be the friend of him, who would disturb this Union. I care not where he comes from. I care not what his plea be. As an American, I know no North; I know no South. One country is enough for me. "Omnes omnium

* Historiarum, III. 11.

Historiarum, XXI. 3.

caritates patria una complexa est."* The country of the Union; the country of the Constitution; the country of the stars and stripes; that is my country, I go for it, all. I go for it, as one. I go for it, as indivisi ble. And, I would sooner tear my quivering heartstrings from their core, than see one Pleiad lost from that all-glorious constellation.

*

"When Freedom, from her mountain height,

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,

And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with the gorgeous dies,
The milky baldric of the skies;
And striped its pure celestial white,
With streakings of the morning light.
Then, from his mansion, in the sun,
She called her eagle-bearer down,
And gave into his mighty hand
The symbol of her chosen land."

"Flag of the free heart's only home,

By angel hands to valour given,
Thy stars have lit the western dome,

And all thy hues were born in Heaven.

Forever float that standard sheet,

While breathes the foe, that falls before us:

With Freedom's soil beneath our fect;

And Freedom's banner, streaming o'er us!"
Cicero, de officiis, I. 17.

The American Flag, by Dr. Drake.

VI.

INFLUENCE WITHOUT INTERVENTION, THE DUTY OF OUR NATION TO THE WORLD.

* THE SIXTH FOURTH OF JULY ORATION AT BURLINGTON COLLEGE.

NATIONS are men, in masses. The same God made them, nations, that, first, made. them, men. He "hath made, of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." They are, thus, moral aggregates; and held for moral obligations: the same, as nations, which they own, as men. Of the one, as of the other, it is true: "none of us liveth, to himself; and no man dieth, to himself." On one, as on the other, it is enjoined: "look not every man on his own things; but, every man, also, on the things of others." Of the one, as of the other, it holds good: "love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law." By these, and such like, rules, a Christian nation, as a Christian man, is governed. Such fruits, as these, demonstrate Christian men, alike; and Christian nations. And, for

A. D. 1852.

nations, as for men, there is a rule of holy retribution: "therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof."

These premises will quite suffice, for the conclusions, which I mean to draw. It follows, from them, that a nation owes a nation, as a man, to men, the impulses and efforts of a true benevolence. Not, in the interchange of commerce; not, in the negotiations of diplomacy; not, in the formalities of etiquette; are the mutual debts, which nations owe each other, to be discharged: but, in the aims and offices of an all-embracing, all-enduring, charity. The law of Christ, for nations, as for men, is still the same: "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And, when the question rises, in the sel fish, self-excusing, heart, "Who is my neighbour?"-the Lord Himself, in His own image, in the Good Samaritan, supplies, at once, the answer, and the illustration, "Which now, of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him, that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus, unto him, Go, and do thou, likewise."

We are ready, now, to apply to our own case, the principles, thus, stated. We are a nation; a great and powerful nation; a free and happy nation. This is the six and seventieth anniversary of seventeen hundred and seventy-six. And, all the glorious hopes of the immortal band, who made this day, immortal, have been more than realized, in happiness and freedom. The handful, that, then, skirted the long sea-board of the

wild Atlantic, are now, five and twenty millions; and join hands, from the Atlantic, to the broad Pacific. It is a simple fact, from which all boasting is excluded, since we owe whatever we possess to Him, to whom our fathers looked, that these United States, are, now, the equal of the chiefest of the nations of the world. England and France, and Russia, stand, on the same line. The rest, in various grades of obvious inferiority. In the respect of freedom, we surpass them all. Here, alone, in all the world, the problem is wrought out, of true and perfect freedom. No hereditary rank. No privileged class. No standing army. No public debt. The utmost scope to enterprise. The utmost enjoyment to possession. Competence, within the reach of all, who will. Distinction, free, to all, alike. No service, but of God. No submission, but to His law. No dependence, but on His will. "What nation is there, so great," we may say, with as much truth, as Moses said, "who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is, in all things, that we call upon Him for!" But, as truly, as we owe not these great blessings, to ourselves; so truly, for ourselves, we hold them not. We are the trustees, for the world, of equal laws and of free institutions. We owe, to all, who have them not, the benefits, which spring from them, alone, which they, alone, can keep; which, without them, if they could be, were not worth having. The God, Who made, "of one blood, all the nations of men," and Who has, thus, made us, to differ, from all others, designs, by us, to spread them, through the world; and holds