order of nature is unbroken by the hand of man; there, where majestic trees arise, spread forth their branches, live out their age, and decline; sometimes will a patriarchal plant, which has stood for centuries the winds and storms, fall when no breeze agitates a leaf of the trees that surround it.

7. And when, in the calm stillness of a summer's noon, the solitary woodsman hears on either hand the heavy crash of huge, branchless trunks, falling by their own weight to the earth whence they sprang, prescient of the future, he foresees the whirlwind at hand, which shall sweep through the forest, break its strongest stems, upturn its deepest roots, and strew in the dust its tallest, proudest heads. But I am none of those who indulge in gloomy anticipation. I do not despair of the republic.

8. My trust is strong that the gallant ship, in which all our hopes are embarked, will yet outride the storm; saved alike from the breakers and billows of disunion, and the greedy whirlpool-the all-engulfing maelstrom of executive power, that unbroken, if not unharmed, she may pursue her prosperous voyage far down the stream of time; and that the banner of our country, which now waves over us so proudly will still float in triumph-borne on the wings of heaven, fanned by the breath of fame, every stripe, bright and unsullied, every star fixed in its sphere, ages after each of us now here shall have ceased to gaze on its majestic folds forever. T. EWING.

THE

84. LIBERTY AND GREATNESS.

HE name of " Republic" is inscribed upon the most im perishable monuments of the human race; and it is probable that it will continue to be associated, as it has been in all past ages, with whatever is heroic in character, sublime in genius, and elegant and brilliant in the cultivation of arts and letters.

2. What land has ever been visited with the influences of

liberty, that did not flourish like the spring? What people has ever worshipped at her altars, without kindling with a loftier spirit, and putting forth nobler energies?

3. Where she has ever acted, her deeds have been heroic. Where she has ever spoken, her eloquence has been triumphant and sublime.

4. We live under a form of government, and in a state of ociety, to which the world has never yet exhibited a parallel. Is it then nothing to be "free?" How many nations, in the whole annals of human kind, have proved themselves worthy of being so? Is it nothing that we are Republicans?

5. Were all men as enlightened, as brave, as proud as they ought to be, would they suffer themselves to be insulted with any other title? Is it nothing that so many independent sovereignties should be held together in such a confederacy as ours?

6. What does history teach us of the difficulty of instituting and maintaining such a polity, and of the glory that ought to be given to those who enjoy its advantages in so much perfection, and on so grand a scale?

7. Can any thing be more striking and sublime, than the idea of an Imperial Republic, spreading over an extent of territory, more immense than the empire of the Cæsars, in the accumulated conquests of a thousand years-without prefects, proconsuls, or publicans-founded in the maxims of common sense-employing within itself no arms but those of reason-and known to its subjects only by the blessings it bestows and perpetuates, yet capable of directing against a foreign foe all the energies of a military despotism,-a Republic, in which men are completely insignificant, and principles and laws exercise, throughout its vast domain, a peaceful and irresistible sway, blending, in one divine harmony, such various habits and conflicting opinions, and mingling, in our institutions, the light of philosophy with all that is dazzling in the associations of heroic achievement, extended dominion, and formidable power?

LEGARE.

85. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES.

[No speeches commanded greater attention in Congress, or were more universally read at the period of their delivery, than those of this brilliant and eccentric Virginia statesman. He was a skilful debater, a ripe scholar, profoundly versed in the politics of our own country, and intimately familiar with the history of others. Few speakers in any age were more thoroughly master of all the beauty, strength, and delicacy of the English language. Many of his speeches abound in sharp flashes of sarcasm; keen and cutting as a bright Toledo blade, his satire was universally feared.]

SIR, I see no wisdom in making this provision for future

changes. You must give governments time to operate on the people, and give the people time to become gradually assimilated to their institutions. Almost any thing is better than this state of perpetual uncertainty.

2. A people may have the best form of government that the wit of man ever devised; and yet, from its uncertainty alone, may, in effect, live under the worst government in the world. Sir, how often must I repeat, that change is not reform? I am willing that this new Constitution shall stand as long as it is possible for it to stand, and that, believe me, is a very short time.

3. Sir, it is vain to deny it. They may say what they please about the old Constitution-the defect is not there. It is not in the form of the old edifice, neither in the design nor the elevation: it is in the material—it is in the people of Virginia. To my knowledge, that people are changed from what they have been.

4. The four hundred men who went out to David were in debt. The partisans of Cæsar were in debt. The fellowlaborers of Catiline were in debt. And I defy you to show me a desperately indebted people anywhere who can bear a regular, sober government.

5. I throw the challenge to all who hear me. I say that the character of the good old Virginia planter-the man who owned from five to twenty slaves, or less, who lived by hard work, and who paid his debts-is passed away.

6. A new order of things is come. The period has arrived of living by one's wits-of living by contracting debts that one cannot pay—and above all, of living by office-hunting.

7. Sir, what do we see? Bankrupts-branded bankrupts— giving great dinners-sending their children to the most expensive schools-giving grand parties-and just as well received as anybody in society.

8. I say, that in such a state of things the old Constitution was too good for them; they could not bear it. No, sirthey could not bear a freehold suffrage and a property representation.

9. I have always endeavored to do the people justice-but I will not flatter them-I will not pander to their appetite for change. I will do nothing to provide for change. I will not agree to any rule of future apportionment, or to any provision for future changes called amendments to the Constitution.

10. They who love change-who delight in public confusion -who wish to feed thé caldron, and make it bubble-may vote if they please for future changes. But by what spellby what formula are you going to bind the people to all future time?

11. You may make what entries upon parchment you please. Give me a Constitution that will last for half a century-that is all I wish for. No Constitution that you can make will last the one-half of half a century.

12. Sir, I will stake any thing short of my salvation, that those who are malcontent now, will be more malcontent three years hence than they are at this day. I have no favor for this Constitution.

13. I shall vote against its adoption, and I shall advise al the people of my district to set their faces-ay-and their shoulders against it. But if we are to have it, let us not have it with its death-warrant in its very face, with the sar donic grin of death upon its countenance.

JOHN RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE

86. THE PATRIOT'S COURAGE.

[One of HENRY CLAY's ablest contemporaries in the Senate says of this great statesman: "He was indeed eloquent. All the world knows that. He held the keys to the hearts of his countrymen, and turned the wards within them with a skill attained by no other master." Some of his noblest oratorical efforts were delivered in favor of the recognition of the South American Republics, the independence of Greece, and the war with Great Britain, in 1812. His style of oratory was heightened by all the charms of a voice of sustained sweetness and a heart full of chivalrous courtesy.]

HERE is a sort of courage which, I frankly confess it, I

THERE

do not possess, a boldness to which I dare not aspire, a valor which I cannot covet. I cannot lay myself down in the way of the welfare and happiness of my country. That I cannot, I have not the courage to do.

2. I cannot interpose the power with which I may be invested, a power conferred, not for my personal benefit, nor for my aggrandizement, but for my country's good, to check her onward march to greatness and glory. I have not courage enough. I am too cowardly for that.

3. I would not, I dare not, in the exercise of such a trust, lie down, and place my body across the path that leads my country to prosperity and happiness. This is a sort of courage widely different from that which a man may display in his private conduct and personal relations.

4. Personal or private courage is totally distinct from that higher and nobler courage which prompts the patriot to offer himself a voluntary sacrifice to his country's good. Appre hensions of the imputation of the want of firmness sometimes impel us to perform rash and inconsiderate acts. It is the greatest courage to be able to bear the imputation of the want of courage.

5. But pride, vanity, egotism, so unamiable and offensive in private life, are vices which partake of the character of crimes, in the conduct of public affairs. The unfortunate victim of these passions cannot see beyond the little, petty, contemptible circle of his own personal interests. All his