tory, as hard to emulate, as they are worthy of our emulation. The eyes of the whole world are upon us. And we shall shame our sires, and dispossess our sons, if we permit one blot to fall upon the glorious page, that chronicles the wars, and brightens with the fame, of Washington.

ii. Even more important, in discharging our great obligations, to mankind, is the influence of our Institu tions. A wisdom, more than human, inspired the counsels of the Founders and Framers of our Government. The heavenly grace, which Franklin urged them to invoke, was freely poured upon their hearts. The Constitution of the United States, after a trial of almost seventy years; through all the vicissitudes of peace and war, of poverty and plenty, of prosperity and adversity; maintains its marvellous equipoise; expands, with the expansion of our country; strengthens, with the multiplication of our inhabitants; is equal to every emergency; is superior to every assault; spans our wide continent, as one triumphal arch, laved, at one base, by the Atlantic, and, by the Pacific, at the other; and sheds, on five and twenty millions of freemen, the light, the peace, the joy, the unity, the indivisibility, of perfect freedom. To our children, and our children's children, and their children's children, " an inheritance, for ever." To the nations of mankind, the bow, which God, Himself, has set, to span the sky; and tell them, that, for them, the days of tyranny are numbered; that, for them, the storm will shortly pass; that, for them, the light of freedom soon will spread upon the moun

tains; and their joy, as freemen, be, as theirs, who bring the harvest home.

"O thus be it ever" where "freemen shall stand,

Between their loved home, and the war's desolation;

Bless'd with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power, that hath made and preserved," it " a nation.
For conquer" they "must," when their cause shall be just,
While this is their motto, 'In God is our trust; '

And the star-spangled banner, in triumph, shall wave,
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

iii. And one more form of influence, there is, for which we are all debtors, to mankind, the influence of our example. "A city, set upon a hill, cannot be hid." Men, that are walking in the clear, calm, cool, transparent, mountain light of freedom, must be content, to have their attitudes and actions scanned and scrutinized. The eyes of men are turned on us. Whether the nations, that are grinding in the prison-house, or groping in the gloom, shall see the light, and win their freedom, rests with us. The Spartans made the Helots drunk, to warn their children, against drunkenness. And, if the pride of power, and plenty of prosperity, shall madden us, with their intoxication, we shall but brutalize ourselves, and fright the nations, by our fate. "He is the freeman, whom the truth makes free." And, only, "where the Spirit of the Lord is," is true "liberty." Only, as we make the law of God our rule; conform our lives to the divine and perfect pattern of His Son; and sink our selfishness and self-sufficiency, in the desire to honour Him, by doing good to other men, shall we

approve ourselves His freemen; perpetuate the freedom He has granted; and make the world in love with it, and sharers of its blessings.

Upon the

young, who hear me, the reliance, chiefly, is, that these things may be so. To the annual streams, that are to go forth, from this living fountain, we commit a sacred trust. The College, where their youth is nurtured, blends the kindred waves of patriotism and piety. Founded upon the Rock, CHRIST JESUS, it combines the sacred interests of country and of Church. Next to the holy Festivals, which Christendom devotes, to the commemoration of the Christ, who made her Christendom, we cherish the birth-day of our Independence, and the birth-day of our Washington. To day, a noble name, among the few, that men have borne, worthy a place with his, lies, sadly, on our hearts. The venerable dust of Henry Clay has not yet reached its resting-place, beneath the shades of Ashland. A nation's tears sadden, to-day, a nation's joy. A leaf of cypress mingles with the laurel wreath, to-day. The stars rise, clouded, to our eye. And, with the stripes, funereal crape is blended It is well, for us, that it should be so. "It is good," for nations, as it is for men, "to be afflicted." They learn, so, to "cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." They are taught, so, that for nations, as for men, the only trust is, in the living God. They are admonished, so, that "men must die: principles never." The heroes of the Revolution are all gone. The giants of the next age are passing, from among us. The third act of the great drama of

the nation hastens to its close. In the next, you that are gathered, here, must be among the actors. I would have you lay to heart the solemn and impressive thought. I would have you look, with reverent admiration, on the shadows, that are flitting, by you, to the grave. I would have you emulate their virtues, and realize their example. Imitate their manliness. Imitate their moderation. Imitate their patriotism. Swear, to-day, to be true, as they were, to the Republic. Bless God, to-day, for the treasure of their service, and the inheritance of their example. Pray to God, to-day, that, in none of you, their fame may suffer loss; that, by each of you, according to his measure, the void, which they have left, may be filled up; that, through each of you, the light of Christian Freedom may pass on, undimmed. Noblest, among the torch-bearers of liberty, was he, who, to the services of fifty glorious years, added, as its becoming crown, and consummation, his dying testimony, to the lesson, which his life exemplified, and which I have sought to teach, to-day: that INFLUENCE, WITHOUT INTERVENTION, IS THE DUTY OF OUR NATION, TO THE WORLD.

"Praise to the man! A nation stood,

Beside his coffin, with wet eyes;

Her brave, her beautiful, her good,
As when a loved one dies."

"And consecrated ground, it is;

The last, the hallowed home, of one,

Who lives, upon our memories;

Though, with the buried, gone."

VII.

THE YOUNG AMERICAN: HIS DANGERS, HIS DUTIES, AND HIS DESTINIES.

*THE SEVENTH FOURTH OF JULY ORATION AT BURLINGTON COLLEGE.

Ir cannot be questioned, for a moment, that there are geographical responsibilities. Peculiarities of pósi tion, peculiarities of climate, peculiar political institutions, historical peculiarities, create, continue, and enforce, local relations and national duties; in a word, GEOGRA PHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES. It is the sentiment of that old Laconian adage, “ Σπαρταν ελαχες ταυταν κοσμει.” Sparta is your birthplace: make it your pride to honour it. It kindled in St. Paul's great heart, when, to the chief captain at Jerusalem, who gloried in the Roman citizenship, which he had obtained, for "a great sum," he answered, with sublime sententiousness, "But I was born free!" And, how it blazed, in those few burning words, which old Hugh Latimer spoke, to his brother Bishop, at the stake, "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as shall never be put out.”

VOL. IV.-18

* A. D. 1853.