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of undoubted respect and authenticity on that subject; and he assured me, with a certainty which his judgment and opportunity gave him, that these were the prevalent and steady principles of America; that you might destroy their towns, and cut them off from the superfluities, perhaps, the conveniences of life; but that they were prepared to despise your power, and would not lament their loss, while they have-what, my lords? their woods and their liberty!

7. When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America; when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you can not but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must declare and avow, that, in all my reading and observation, and it has been my favorite study, I have read +Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world—that, for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of men, can stand in preference to the general congress at Philadelphia.

8. I trust it is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts to impose servitude upon such men; to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must be vain; must be fatal. We shall be forced ultimately to retract; let us retract while we can, not when we must. I say we must necessarily undo these violent, oppressive acts; they must be repealed; you will repeal them; I pledge myself for it, that you will, in the end, repeal them; Í stake my reputation on it; I will consent to be taken for an idiot, if they are not finally repealed. Avoid, then, this humiliating, this disgraceful necessity. With a dignity becoming your exalted situation, make the first advances to concord, to peace, and happiness; for that is your true dignity, to act with prudence and justice.

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9. Every motive, therefore, of justice and of policy, of dignity and of prudence, urges you to allay the ferment in America, by a removal of your troops from Boston; by a repeal of your acts of parliament, and by a demonstration of your amicable disposition toward your colonies. On the other hand, every danger and every hazard impend, to deter you from perseverance in your present ruinous measures. Foreign war is hanging over your heads by a slight and brittle thread, and France and Spain are watching your conduct, and waiting for the maturity of your errors.

10. To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the king, I will not say that they can +alienate the affections of his subjects from his crown; but I will affirm, that they will make the crown not worth his wearing! I will not say, that the king is betrayed; but I will pronounce, that the kingdom is undone!

LORD CHATHAM.

LESSON CLVI.

EDWARD AND WARWICK.

Edward. Let me have no tintruders; above all, Keep Warwick from my sight

Enter WARWICK.

Warwick. Behold him here—

No welcome guest, it seems, unless I ask
My lord of Stafford's leave; there was a time,
When Warwick wanted not his aid, to gain
Admission here.

Ed.

There was a time, perhaps,

When Warwick more desired, and more deserved it.
War. Never; I've been a foolish, faithful slave;
All my best years, the morning of my life,
Have been devoted to your service: what
Are now the fruits? Disgrace and infamy;
My spotless name, which never yet the breath
Of+calumny had tainted, made the mock
For foreign fools to carp at; but 't is fit,
Who trust in princes, should be thus rewarded.
Ed. I thought, my lord, I had full well repaid
Your services with honors, wealth, and power
Unlimited: thy all-directing hand

Guided in secret every latent wheel

Of government, and moved the whole machine;
Warwick was all in all, and powerless Edward
Stood like a cipher in the great account.

War. Who gave that cipher worth, and seated thee

On England's throne? Thy undistinguish'd name
Had rotted in the dust from whence it sprang,
And molder'd in toblivion, had not Warwick

Dug from its sordid mine the useless ore,

And stamp'd it with a diadem. Thou knowest,
This wretched country, doom'd, perhaps, like Rome,
To fall by its own self-destroying hand,
Tost for so many years in the rough sea
Of civil discord, but for me had perish'd.
In that distressful hour, I seized the helm,

Bade the rough waves subside in peace, and steer'd
Your shatter'd vessel safe into the harbor.
You may despise, perhaps, that useless aid
Which you no longer want; but know, proud youth,
He who forgets a friend, deserves a foe.

Ed. Know, too, reproach for benefits received,
Pays every debt, and cancels obligation.

War. Why, that indeed, is frugal honesty; A thrifty, saving knowledge: when the debt

Grows burdensome, and can not be discharged,
A sponge will wipe out all, and cost you nothing.

Ed. When you have counted o'er the numerous train Of mighty gifts your bounty lavish'd on me,

You may remember next the injuries

Which I have done you; let me know them all,

And I will make you ample satisfaction.

War. Thou canst not; thou hast robb'd me of a jewel, That all thy power can not restore to me. I was the first, shall future annals say, That broke the sacred bond of public trust And mutual confidence; tembassadors, In after times, mere instruments, perhaps, Of venal statesmen, shall recall my name To witness, that they want not an example, And plead my guilt to sanctify their own. Amid the herd of mercenary slaves

That haunt your court, could none be found but Warwick, To be the shameless herald of a lie?

Ed.

And wouldst thou turn the vile reproach on me?
If I have broke my faith, and stain'd the name
Of England, thank thy own pernicious counsels
That urged me to it, and extorted from me
A cold consent to what my heart abhorr'd.

War. I've been abused, insulted, and betray'd;
My injured honor cries aloud for vengeance,
Her wounds will never close.

Ed. These gusts of passion

Will but inflame them; if I have been right
Inform'd, my lord, besides these dangerous scars
Of bleeding honor, you have other wounds
As deep, though not so fatal: such, perhaps,
As none but fair Elizabeth can cure.

War.

Ed.

Elizabeth!

Nay, start not; I have cause
To wonder most: I little thought, indeed,
When Warwick told me, I might learn to love,
He was himself so able to instruct me:

But I've discover'd all

War. And so have I

Too well I know thy breach of friendship there,
Thy faithless, base endeavors to supplant me.
Ed. I scorn it, sir; Elizabeth hath charms;
Nor see I ought so god-like in the form,
So all-commanding in the name of Warwick,
That he alone should revel in the rays
Of beauty, and +monopolize perfection.
I knew not of your love.

War. 'Tis false.

You knew it all, and meanly took occasion,
While I was busied in the noble office,
Your grace thought fit to honor me withal,
To tamper with a weak, unguarded woman,

And basely steal a treasure,

Your kingdom could not purchase.

Ed. How know you that? But be it as it may,
I had a right, nor will I tamely yield
My claim to happiness, the privilege
To choose the partner of my throne:
It is a branch of my +prerogative.

War. Prerogative! what's that? The boast of tyrants,
A borrow'd jewel, glittering in the crown

With specious luster, lent but to betray;

You had it, sir, and hold it, from the people.

Ed. And therefore do I prize it; I would guara

Their liberties, and they shall strengthen mine,
But when proud +faction and her rebel crew
Insult their sovereign, trample on his law,
And bid defiance to his power, the people
In justice to themselves, will then defend
His cause, and vindicate the rights they gave.

War. Go to your darling people, then; for soon,
If I mistake not, 't will be needful; try

Their boasted zeal, and see if one of them
Will dare to lift his arm up in your cause,
If I forbid him.

Ed. Is it so, my lord?

Then mark my words: I've been your slave too long,
And you have ruled me with a rod of iron;

But henceforth, know, proud peer, I am thy master,
And will be so; the king who +delegates

His power to others' hands, but ill deserves
The crown he wears.

War. Look well then to your own:

It sits but loosely on your head; for, know,
The man who injured Warwick, never pass'd
Unpunished yet.

Ed. Nor he who threaten'd Edward.
You may repent it, sir-my guards there!-seize
This traitor, and convey him to the Tower;
There, let him learn obedience.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.

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LESSON CLVII.

EULOGY ON LA FAYETTE.*

1. WHILE we bring our offerings for the mighty of our own land, shall we not remember the chivalrous spirits of other shores,

*In 1824, fifty years after the war of Independence, in which he had taken an active part, La Fayette again visited the United States, and was received every where with a spontaneous burst of acclamation and rejoicing.

who shared with them the hour of weakness and woe? Pile to the clouds the majestic column of glory; let the lips of those who can speak well, hallow each spot where the bones of your bold repose; but forget not those who, with your bold, went out to battle.

2. Among these men of noble daring, there was one, a young and gallant stranger, who left the blushing vine-hills of his delightful France. The people whom he came to succor were not his people; he knew them only in the melancholy story of their wrongs. He was no mercenary wretch, striving for the spoil of the vanquished; the palace acknowledged him for its lord, and the valleys yielded him their increase. He was no nameless man, staking life for reputation; he ranked among nobles, and looked unawed upon kings. He was no friendless outcast, seeking for a grave to hide his cold heart; he was girdled by the companions of his childhood; his kinsmen were about him; his wife was before him.

3. Yet from all these he turned away and came. Like a lofty tree, that shakes down its green glories, to battle with the winter's storm, he flung aside the trappings of place and pride, to +crusade for Freedom, in Freedom's holy land. He came; but not in the day of successful rebellion; not when the new-risen sun of Independence had burst the cloud of time, and careered to its place in the heavens. He came when darkness curtained the hills, and the tempest was abroad in its anger; when the plow stood still in the field of promise, and briers +cumbered the garden of beauty; when fathers were dying, and mothers were weeping over them; when the wife was binding up the gashed bosom of her husband, and the maiden was wiping the death-damp from the brow of her lover. He came when the brave began to fear the power of man, and the pious to doubt the favor of God.

4. It was then that this ONE joined the ranks of a revolted people. Freedom's little phalanx bade him a grateful welcome. With them he courted the battle's rage; with theirs, his arm was lifted; with theirs, his blood was shed. Long and doubtful was the conflict. At length, kind Heaven smiled on the good cause, and the beaten invaders fled. The profane were driven from the temple of Liberty, and, at her pure shrine, the pilgrim warrior, with his adored COMMANDER, knelt and worshiped. Leaving there his offering, the incense of an uncorrupted spirit, he at length rose, and, crowned with +benedictions, turned his happy feet toward his long-deserted home.

5. After nearly fifty years, that ONE has come again. Can mortal tongue tell, can mortal heart feel the sublimity of that

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