And mowed in ranks the hireling brood, In desperate fight! O! 't was a proud, exulting day, For e'en our fallen fortunes lay 4 There is no other land like thee, Thou art the shelter of the free; Thou hast been, and shalt ever be, Till time is o'er. Ere I forget to think upon My land, shall mother curse the son 5. Thou art the firm, unshaken rock, And, rising from thy hardy stock, All, who the wreath of freedom twine, 6. We love thy rude and rocky shore, Let foreign navies hasten o'er, And on our heads their fury pour, And peal their cannon's loudest roar, And storm our land, They still shall find, our lives are given, To die for home; -- and leaned on Heaven, Our hand. LESSON XXXV. AN EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT.- Fox. 1. How infinitely superior must appear the spirit and principles of General Washington, in his late address to congress, compared with the policy of modern European courts! Illustrious man!-deriving honor less from the splendor of his situation, than from the dignity of his mind! Grateful to France for the assistance received from her, in that great contest which secured the independence of America, he yet did not choose to give up the system of neutrality in her favor. Having once laid down the line of conduct most proper to be pursued, not all the insults and provocations of the French minister, Genet, could at all put him out of his way, or bend him from his purpose. 2. It must, indeed, create astonishment, that, placed in circumstances so critical, and filling a station so conspicuous, the character of Washington should never once have been called in question; that he should, in no one instance, have been accused either of improper insolence, or of mean submission, in his transactions with foreign nations. It has been reserved for him to run the race of glory without experiencing the smallest interruption to the brilliancy of his career. The breath of censure has not dared to impeach the purity of his conduct, nor the eye of envy, to raise its malignant glance to the elevation of his virtues. Such has been the transcendent merit, and the unparalleled fate of this illustrious man! 3. Happy Americans! while the whirlwind flies over one quarter of the globe, and spreads everywhere desolation, you remain protected from its baneful effects by your own virtues, and the wisdom of your government. Separated from Europe This speech, copied from the "British Senate," was pronounced by Mr. Fox in the British parliament, in 1794, on the foreign policy of Washington. by an immense ocean, you feel not the effect of those prejudices and passions, which convert the boasted seats of civilization into scenes of horror and bloodshed. 4. Cultivating the arts of peace under the influence of freedom, you advance by rapid strides to opulence and distinction; and if, by any accident, you should be compelled to take part in the present unhappy contest, if you should find it necessary to avenge insult, or repel injury, the world will bear witness to the equity of your sentiments, and the moderation of your views; and the success of your arms will, no doubt, be proportioned to the justice of your cause! LESSON XXXVI. DUTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS. WEBSTER. 1. Fellow-Citizens: Let us not retire from this occasion, without a deep and solemn conviction of the duties, which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past, and generations to come, hold us responsible for this sacred trust. 2. Our fathers, from behind, admonish us with their anxious, paternal voices; posterity calls out to us from the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes; all, all conjure us to act wisely, and faithfully, in the relation which we sustain. We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but, by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the culti vation of every good principle, and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing through our day, and leave it unimpaired to our children. 3. Let us feel deeply, how much of what we are, and what we possess, we owe to this liberty, and to these institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, given us a soil, which yields. bounteously to the hands of industry; the mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies, over our heads, shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society, without knowledge, without morals, without religious culture; and how can these be enjoyed in all their extent, and all their excellence, but under the protection of wise institutions, and a free government? 4. Fellow-citizens, there is not one of us here present, who does not at this moment, and at every moment, experience in his own condition, and in the condition of those most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits of this liberty, and these institutions. Let us then, acknowledge the blessing; let us feel it deeply and powerfully; let us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain, and perpetuate it. The blood of our fathers, let it not have been shed in vain; the great hope of posterity, let it not be blasted. 5. It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute against the sun, that with America, and in America, a new era commences in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free, representative governments; by entire religious liberty; by improved systems of national intercourse; by a newly awakened and an unquenchable spirit of free inquiry; and, by a diffusion of knowledge through the community, such as has been before, altogether unknown, and unheard of. America, America, our country, feilow-citizens, our own dear and native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound up, in fortune, and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall, we fall with them; if they stand, it will be because we have upholden them. LESSON XXXVII. THE PRESENT AGE. - CHANNING [See Rule 9, p. 115, for Exclamations, and Rule 1, p. 153.] 1. The Present Age! In these brief words what a world of thought is comprehended! what infinite movements! what joys and sorrows! what hope and despair! what faith and doubt! what silent grief and loud lament! what fierce conflicts and subtle schemes of policy! what private and public revolutions! In the period through which many of us have passed, what thrones have been shaken! what hearts have bled! what millions have been butchered by their fellow-creatures! what hopes of philanthropy have been blighted! And, at the same time, what magnificent enterprises have been achieved! what new provinces won to science and art! what rights and liberties secured to nations! 2. It is a privilege to have lived in an age so stirring, so pregnant, so eventful. It is an age never to be forgotten. Its voice of warning and encouragement is never to die. Its impression on history is indelible. Amidst its events, the American Revolution, the first distinct, solemn assertion of the rights of men, and the French Revolution, that volcanic force which shook the earth to its center, are never to pass from men's minds. Over this age the night will indeed gather more and more as time rolls away; but in that night two forms will appear, Washington and Napoleon, the one, a lurid meteor, the other, a benign, serene, and undecaying star. 3. Another American name will live in history,-your Franklir; and the kite, which brought lightning from heaven, will be seen sailing in the clouds by remote posterity, when the city where he dwelt, may be known only by its ruins. There is, however, something greater in the age than its greatest men; |