the humiliation which " acknowledged " "those same "American colonies" to be "sovereign and independent states." The immediate workers, too, of that political iniquity, have passed away. Another race is there to lament the folly, another here to magnify the wisdom, that cut the knot of empire. Shall these inherit and entail everlasting enmity? Like the Carthaginian Hamil'car, shall we come up hither with our children, and on this holy altar swear the pagan oath of undying hate? Even our goaded fathers disdained this. Let us fulfill their words, and prove to the people of England that "in peace we know how to treat them "as friends. They have been twice told that "in we know how to meet them as "enemies; war " and they will hardly ask another lesson, for it may be that, when the third trumpet shall sound, a voice will echo along their seagirt cliffs "The glory has departed!

CHARLES SPRAGUE.

VIII. - AMERICA'S TRIUMPHS.

WHAT were the victories of Pompey to the united achievements of our Washingtons and Montgomerys and Greens, our Franklins and Jeffersons and -Adams's and Laurens's, of the senate of sages whose wisdom conducted, of the band of warriors whose valor accomplished, of the "noble army of martyrs" whose blood sealed and consecrated, the Revolution of '76? What were the events of a few campaigns, however brilliant and successful, in the wars of Italy, or Spain, or Pontus, to by far the greatest era excepting, perhaps, the Reformation that has occurred in the political history of modern times,—to an era that has fixed forever the destinies of a whole quarter of the globe, with the numbers without number that are soon to inhabit it, and has already had, as it will probably continue to have, a visible influence upon the condition of society in all the rest?

Nay, what is there, even in the most illustrious series of victories and conquests, that can justly be considered as affording, to a mind that dares to make a philosophic estimate of human affairs, a nobler and more interesting subject of contemplation and discourse than the causes which led to the foundation of this mighty empire; than the wonderful and almost incredible history of what it has since done and is already grown to; than the scene of unmingled prosperity and happiness that is opening and spreading all around us; than the prospect, as dazzling as it is vast, that lies before us, the uncircumscribed career of aggrandizement and improvement which we are beginning to run under such happy

THE PEACE OF THE NATIONS.

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auspices, and with the advantage of having started at a point where it were well for the species had it been the lot of many nations even to have ended their career!

It is true, we shall not boast that the pomp of triumph has three hundred times ascended the steps of our capitol, or that the national temple upon its brow blazes in the spoils of a thousand cities. True, we do not send forth our prætors to plunder and devastate the most fertile and beautiful portions of the earth, in order that a haughty aristocracy may be enriched with booty, or a worthless populace be supplied with bread; nor, in every region under the sun, from the foot of the Grampian hills to the land of frankincense and myrrh, is the spirit of man broken and debased by us beneath the iron yoke of a military domination. No! our triumphs are the triumphs of reason, of happiness, of human nature. Our rejoicings are greeted with the most cordial sympathy of the cosmopolite and the philanthropist ; and the good and the wise all round the globe give us back the echo of our acclamations. It is the singular fortune, or, I should rather say, it is the proud distinction of Americans, that, in the race of moral improvement which society has been every where running for some centuries past, we have outstripped every competitor, and have carried our institutions, in the sober certainty of waking bliss, to a higher pitch of perfection than ever warmed the dreams of enthusiasm or the speculations of the theorist.

HUGH S. LEGARE.

SIR, there are considerations, springing from our situation and condition, which fervently invite us to take the lead in the great work of peace. To this should bend the patriotic ardor of the land; the ambition of the statesman; the efforts of the scholar; the pervasive influence of the press; the mild persuasion of the sanctuary; the early teachings of the school. Here, in ampler ether and diviner air, are untried fields for exalted triumphs, more truly worthy the American name than any snatched from rivers of blood. War is known as the Last Reason of Kings. Let it be no reason of our Republic. Let us renounce and throw off, forever, the yoke of a tyranny more oppressive than any in the annals of the world. As those standing on the mountain-top first discern the coming beams of morning, let us, from the vantageground of liberal institutions, first recognize the ascending sun of a new era!

It is a beautiful picture in Grecian story, that there was, at

least, one spot, the small Island of Delos, dedicated to the gods, and kept at all times sacred from war, where the citizens of hostile countries met, and united in a common worship. So let us dedicate our broad country! The Temple of Honor shall be surrounded by the Temple of Concord, so that the former can be entered only through the portals of the latter; the horn of Abundance shall overflow at its gates; the angel of Religion shall be the guide over its steps of flashing adamant: while, within, JusTICE, returned to the earth, from her long exile in the skies, shall rear her serene and majestic front. And the future chiefs of the republic, destined to uphold the glories of a new era, unspotted by human blood, shall be “the first in PEACE, and the first in the hearts of their countrymen."

But while we seek these blissful glories for ourselves, let us strive to extend them to other lands. Let the bugles sound the Truce of God to the whole world, forever! Let the selfish boast of the Spartan women become the grand chorus of mankind, that they have never seen the smoke of an enemy's camp. Let the iron belt of martial music which now encompasses the earth be exchanged for a golden cestus of Peace, clothing all with celestial beauty. History dwells with fondness on the reverent homage that was bestowed by massacring soldiers on the spot occupied by the Sepulcher of the Lord. Vain man! to restrain his regard to a few feet of sacred mould! The whole earth is the Sepulcher of the Lord; nor can any righteous man profane any part thereof. Let us recognize this truth; and now, on this Sabbath of our country, lay a new stone in the grand Temple of Universal Peace, whose dome shall be as lofty as the firmament of heaven, as broad and comprehensive as the earth itself.

SUMNER.

X.. CATHOLIC DISQUALIFICATIONS.

You complain of the violence of the Irish Catholic. Can you wonder he is violent? It is the consequence of your own inflic

tion :

"The flesh will quiver where the pincers tear,
The blood will follow where the knife is driven."

Your friendship has been to him worse than hostility; he feels its embrace but by the pressure of his fetters. I am only amazed he is not more violent. He fills your exchequer; he fights your battles; he feeds your clergy from whom he derives no benefit; he shares your burdens; he shares your perils; he shares every

THE TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY.

37

thing except your privileges; - can you wonder he is violent? No matter what his merit; no matter what his claims; no matter what his services; he sees himself a nominal subject and a real slave, and his children, the heirs, perhaps of his toils, perhaps of his talents, certainly of his disqualifications; - can you wonder he is violent?

-

He sees every pretended obstacle to his emancipation vanished; Catholic Europe your ally', the Bourbon on the throne, the Emperor a captive, the Pope a friend the aspersions on his faith disproved by his allegiance to you against, alternately, every Catholic potentate in Christendom, and he feels himself branded with hereditary degradation; can you wonder, then, that he is

violent?

He petitioned humbly; his tameness was construed into a proof of apathy. He petitioned boldly; his remonstrance was considered as an impudent audacity. He petitioned in peace; he was told it was not the time. He petitioned in war; he was told it was not the time. A strange interval, a prodigy in politics, a pause between peace and war, which appeared to be just made for him, arose; I allude to the period between the retreat of Louis and the restoration of Ronaparte: he petitioned then, and he was told it was not the time. O! shame! shame! shame! -I hope he will petition no more to a parliament so equivocating. However, I am not sorry they did so equivocate, because I think they have suggested one common remedy for the grievances of both countries, and that remedy is, a REFORM OF THAT

PARLIAMENT.

CHARLES PHILLIPS.

XI. THE TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY.

GENTLEMEN, a most auspicious omen salutes and cheers us, this day. This day is the anniversary of the birth of Washington. Washington's birthday is celebrated from one end of this land to the other. The whole atmosphere of the country is this day redolent of his principles, the hills, the rocks, the groves, the vales, and the rivers, shout their praises, and resound with his fame. 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 of Washington. They all recount his deeds, ponder over his principles and teachings, and resolve to be more and more guided by them in the future.

To the old and the young, to all born in this land, and to all whose preferences have led them to make it the home of their

adoption, Washington is an exhilarating theme. Americans are proud of his character; all exiles from foreign shores are eager to participate in admiration of him; and it is true that he is, this day, here, every where, all over the world, more an object of regard than on any former day since his birth.

Gentlemen, by his example, and under the guidance of his precepts, will we and our children uphold the constitution. Under his military leadership, our fathers conquered their ancient enemies; and, under the outspread banner of his political and constitutional principles, will we conquer now. To that standard we shall adhere, and uphold it, through evil report and good report. We will sustain it, and meet death itself, if it come; we will ever encounter and defeat error, by day and by night, in light or in darkness, thick darkness, if it come, till

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"Danger's troubled night is o'er,
And the star of peace return."

WEBSTER.

XII. - UNITY OF OUR COUNTRY.

OUR country, with all its sectional diversity of views and feelings, is one. It is one in the rich, manly, vigorous, expressive language we speak, which is become the vernacular tongue, as it were, of parliamentary eloquence, the very oldest of constitutional freedom. It is one in the fame of our fathers, and in the historical reminiscences which belong to us as a nation. It is one in the political principles of republicanism; one in the substantial basis of our manners; one in the ties of friendship, affinity, and blood, binding us together, throughout the whole extent of the land, in the associations of trade, of emigration, and of marriage; one in that glorious constitution, the best inheritance transmitted to us by our fathers, the monument of their wisdom and their virtue, under whose shelter we live and flourish as a people.

is

To this great republic, union is peace, union is grandeur, union power, union is honor, union is every thing which a free-spirited and mighty nation should glory to possess. To us all, next to independence, next to liberty, next to honor, be we persuaded that a cordial and abiding confederacy of the American people is the greatest of earthly goods.

Here, in the eyes of our countrymen and of the world, with the Muse of History before us to record our deeds and our words, let us, like Hannibal, at the altar of his gods, swear eternal faithfulness to our country, eternal hatred to its foes! Show we, that