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AMERICAN HISTORY.

225

Ex. CXLV.-AMERICAN HISTORY.

GULIAN C. VERPLANCK.

THE study of the history of most other nations fills the mind with sentiments not unlike those which the American traveller feels on entering the venerable and lofty cathedral of some proud old city of Europe. Its solemn grandeur, its vastness, its obscurity, strike awe to his heart. From the richly painted windows, filled with sacred emblems and strange antique forms, a dim religious light falls around. A thousand recollections of romance and poetry and legendary story, come thronging in upon him. He is surrounded by the tombs of the mighty dead, rich with the labors of ancient art, and emblazoned with the pomp of heraldry.

What names does he read upon them? Those of princes. and nobles who are now remembered only for their vices, and of sovereigns at whose death no tears were shed, and whose memories lived not an hour in the affections of their people. There, too, he sees other names, long familiar to him for their guilty or ambiguous fame. There rest the blood-stained warrior of fortune,-the orator who was ever the apologist of tyranny,-great scholars, who were the pensioned flatterers of power, and poets who profaned the high gift of genius to pamper the vices of a corrupted court.

Our own history, on the contrary, like that poetical temple of fame reared by the imagination of Chaucer, and decorated by the taste of Pope, is almost exclusively dedicated to the memory of the truly great. Or rather, like the Pantheon of Rome, it stands in calm and severe beauty amid the ruins of ancient magnificence and "the toys of modern state.' Within, no idle ornament encumbers its bold simplicity. The pure light of heaven enters from above, and sheds an equal and serene radiance around. As the eye wanders about its extent, it beholds the unadorned monuments of brave and good men who have bled or toiled for their country, or it rests on votive tablets inscribed with the names of the best benefactors of mankind.

We have been repeatedly told, and sometimes, too, in a tone of affected impartiality, that the highest praise which can fairly be given to the American mind, is that of possessing an enlightened selfishness; that if the philosophy and talents of this country, with all their effects, were forever swept into oblivion, the loss would be felt only by ourselves;

and that if to the accuracy of this general charge, the labors of Franklin present an illustrious, it is still but a solitary, exception.

The answer may be given confidently and triumphantly. Is it nothing for the universal good of mankind to have carried into successful operation a system of self-government uniting personal liberty, freedom of opinion and equality of rights, with national power and dignity such as had before existed only in the Utopian dreams of philosophers? Is it nothing in moral science to have anticipated, in sober reality, numerous plans of reform in civil and criminal jurisprudence, which are but now received as plausible theories by the politicians and economists of Europe? Is it nothing to have been able to call forth on every emergency, either in war or peace, a body of talents always equal to the difficulty? Is it nothing to have given the world examples of disinterested patriotism, of political wisdom, of public virtue; of learning, eloquence and valor, never exerted, save for some praiseworthy end? It is sufficient to have briefly suggested these considerations; every mind would anticipate me in filling up the details.

No-land of Liberty! thy children have no cause to blush for thee. What though the arts have reared few monuments among us, and scarce a trace of the Muse's footstep is found in the paths of our forests, or along the banks of our rivers yet our soil has been consecrated by the blood of heroes, and by great and holy deeds of peace. Its wide extent has become one vast temple and hallowed asylum, sanctified by the prayers and blessings of the persecuted of every sect, and the wretched of all nations.

Land of Refuge! Land of Benedictions! Those prayers still arise and they still are heard: "May peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces!" "May there be no decay, no leading into captivity, and no complaining in thy streets!" 'May truth flourish out of the earth, and righteousness look down from Heaven!"

66

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REVOLUTION.

227

Ex. CXLVI.-ENNOBLING RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REV

OLUTION.

ROBERT Y. HAYNE.*

It has been usual, on occasions like the present, to give a history of the wrongs endured by our fathers. But we have prouder and more ennobling recollections connected with our revolution. They are to be found in the spirit displayed by our fathers when all their petitions had been slighted, their remonstrances despised, and their appeals to the generous sympathies of their brethren utterly disregarded. Yes, my friends, theirs was that pure and lofty spirit of devoted patriotism which never quailed beneath oppression, which braved all dangers, trampled upon difficulties, and in "the times which tried men's souls" taught them to be faithful to their principles, and to their country true; and which induced them in the very spirit of that Brutus whose mantle has fallen, in our own day, upon the shoulders of one so well able to wear it, to swear on the altar of liberty to give themselves up wholly to their country. There is one characteristic, however, of the American revolution, which constituting as it does its living principle, its proud distinction, and its crowning glory, can not be passed over in silence. It is this-that our revolution had its origin, not so much in the weight of actual oppression, as in the great principle, the sacred duty, of resistance to the exercise of unauthorized power. Other nations have been driven to rebellion by the iron hand of despotism, the insupportable weight of oppression, which leaving men nothing worth living for, has taken away the fear of death itself, and caused them to rush upon the spears of their enemies, or to break their chains the heads of their oppressors. But it was a tax of three pence a pound upon tea, imposed without right, which was considered by our ancestors as a burden too grievous to be borne. And why? Because they were men "who felt oppression's lightest finger as a mountain weight," and, in the fine language of that just and beautiful tribute paid to their character by one "whose praises will wear well"-they "judged of the grievance by the badness of the principle, they augured misgovernment at a distance, and snuffed the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze-because they were men

*U. S. Senator from South Carolina.

upon

who in the darkest hour could say to their oppressors, We have counted the cost, and find nothing so deplorable as voluntary slavery;' and who were ready to exclaim with the orator of Virginia, 'give me liberty or give me death!" " Theirs was the same spirit which inspired the immortal Hampden to resist, at the peril of his life, the imposition of ship-money; not because, as remarked by Burke, "the payment of twenty shillings would have ruined his fortune, but because the payment of half twenty shillings or the principle on which it was demanded, would have made him a slave." It was the spirit of liberty which still abides on the earth, and whose home is in the bosoms of the brave; which but yesterday, in "beautiful France," restored their violated charter; which even now burns brightly on the towers of Belgium, and has rescued Poland from the tyrant's grasp; making their sons-aye, and their daughters too-the wonder and the admiration of the world,-the pride and glory of the human race!

Ex. CXLVII.-ODE.

OUR patriot sires are gone;
The conqueror Death lays low
Those veterans one by one

Who braved each other foe;

ANNE C. LYNCH.

Though on them rests Death's sable pall,
Yet o'er their deeds no shade shall fall.

No; ye of deathless fame!
Ye shall not sleep unsung
While freedom hath a name,
Or gratitude a tongue;

Yet shall your names and deeds sublime
Shine brighter through the mists of Time.

Oh, keep your armor bright,

Sons of those mighty dead,

And guard ye well the right

For which such blood was shed!

Your starry flag should only wave
O'er Freedom's home, or o'er your grave.

BOND OF UNION BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH. 229

Ex. CXLVIII.-BOND OF UNION BETWEEN NORTH AND

SOUTH.*

Speech in Congress, Jan. 26, 1830.

DANIEL WEBSTER.

MR. PRESIDENT: The eulogium pronounced by the honorable gentleman on the character of the State of South Carolina, for her Revolutionary and other merits, meets my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowledge that the honorable member goes before me in regard for whatever of distinguished talent, or distinguished character, South Carolina has produced. I claim part of the honor; I partake in the pride of her great names. I claim them for countrymen, one and all; the Laurenses, the Rutledges, the Pinckneys, the Sumters, the Marions,-Americans all, whose fame is no more to be hemmed in by State lines than their talents and patriotism were capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow limits.

In their day and generation they served and honored the country, and the whole country; and their renown is of the treasures of the whole country. Him whose honored name the gentleman himself bears,-does he esteem me less capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or sympathy for his sufferings, than if his eyes had first opened upon the light of Massachusetts instead of South Carolina? Sir, does he suppose it in his power to exhibit a South Carolina name so bright as to produce envy in my bosom? No, Sir; increased gratification and delight rather. I thank God that, if I am gifted with little of the spirit which is able to raise mortals to the skies, I have yet none, as I trust, of that other spirit which would drag angels down.

When I shall be found, Sir, in my place here in the *This and the following extract are taken from Webster's "Reply to Hayne,” which has been pronounced the most celebrated parliamentary speech ever delivered. Robert Y. Hayne, Senator from South Carolina, took occasion while speaking ostensibly on a bill relating to the public lands, to use contemptuous language towards Massachusetts and the New England States in general, and to advance the doctrine of "nullification," or the right of a State to resist the operation of any law which she considered unconstitutional or opposed to her interests, and declare it null and void. Mr. Webster's reply was a complete refutation of every point in his opponent's argument, and justly ranks as a masterpiece of parliamentary eloquence. From this splendid speech we can give only short extracts; but every American student who has access to Webster's writings should study it thoroughly as a whole. It is called in the collection of his published works, "Second Speech on Foot's Resolutions."

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