growing wise, his Egeria, named reason, suggested laws and originated institutions which, in their gradual operation, bound together his subject-tribe into a manly nation. It grew first strong, then mighty, then invincible, till the Roman eagle became not Jove's alone, but Jehovah's messenger-bird to the ends of the earth.

An eastern merchant felt his soul grow big within him, and he nourished the divine conception till a wondrous birth produced the Koran; inspired by whose sacred pre. cepts an Arab band, shouting God is one God, charged fiercely over ten thousand idol temples, and routed from the hill-tops of half Asia, Africa and Europe, the deified demons of popular superstition.

An humble Geneose grew mad over the story of a traveling Jesuit, till he dreamed out his destiny and would fain sail west into the boundless waste of waters; for so he knew had God ordained. Derisive laughter stung his ear, but frightened not his purpose, and he worked on to the very edge of despair, when a woman's heart was impregnated by a man's mind, and the occidental world was born to Columbus and Isabella.

Neither did Washington come by chance into the army of our fathers, when it stood looking heaven-ward for an angel leader. With that man, so firm in unshaken integrity of purpose, so fearless in the cause of justice and his country, so far-reaching in the soundness of his policy, and so brilliant in the executions of his martial projects, America could but conquer. Failure was as impossible as that eternal right and truth can be permanently obscured by the fleeting shadows of temporarily successful wrong and error. Washington could not fail: when nature made that noble brow, that generous right hand of his, she stamped upon them both the seal of victory; and though calumny

might misrepresent the motives of his conduct and injustice asperse the righteousness of his cause, yet he was destined to triumph and to save his country from the dominion of those false principles of government, those antiquated prejudices and time-honored absurdities of state policy, that had so long been the most effectual barrier to human advancement. How glorious the result of his disinterested efforts, let the shouts of disenthralled millions testify at each return of his, and of our nation's birth-day: let the universally expressed admiration of the world testify; let the history of man, marching forward from ignorance, vice and oppression, to knowledge, virtue and happiness, testify. Called to assume a most responsible station at a critical conjuncture, our nation's father was found by the fearful experiment, great enough amply to fill that station, quite strong enough to meet that emergency. Napoleon was a greater general, our own Jefferson an abler statesman; but neither would have trod for a quarter-century so firmly in the way of life, bearing the western continent upon his shoulders, and drawing after him in a long train the hopes of mankind, as did Washington: therefore, I assign him a rank not among the greatest statesmen, nor successful warriors, nor virtuous sages that the world has ever seen, but as something more and higher than all these -as the great conservator of human freedom and promoter of human happiness; the distinguished rescuer of an oppressed nation and of down-trodden humanity; as the man who of all others after Christ, deserves to be remembered as the redeemer of his race. He gave an impetus to the progressive tide of civilization of which the effect will only cease with time; a shock to the drowsy mind of practical philosophy, of which the awakening influence will tell on the annals of eternity. And not only was he con

spicuous by position; he was really great also in character. An attentive perusal of any faithful biography will satisfy that while in some single faculty, very many have been far his superiors, few men have ever had an intellect of greater general power, and none a higher moral nature. He stands out on the scroll of human history, the most perfect impersonation of those true and virtuous principles of action which confer the highest dignity and constitute the greatest ornament, the brightest glory of our manhood. His name will ever live, embalmed by the immortalizing sympathy of every heart which has learned how to throb with the deepest, purest feelings of which humanity is susceptible. His sacred example will remain treasured up by the enduring memory of his countrymen, a most powerful incentive to patriotic action-yes, to a wider philanthropic life. His heaven-descended presence troubled the turgid waters of life's muddy stream with a healthful agitation, that still ripples on its surface, that will ever excite its deep bosom as it sweeps onward to its destiny. The most important actor, the great hero of the world's drama, he still treads the stage, the moving spirit in its mighty plot. Does any accuse me of exaggerating the result of his labor, or attributing too great a share of that result to his personal will and power, and urge that he may not justly be regarded as alone" the author and finisher" of the great revolution as whose agent he acted? To such I answer by admitting that it would indeed be absurd to claim for Washington that Saul-like elevation above all his cotemporaries which has distinguished so many heroes of ruder ages, and which has been liberally attributed to many, others, by those eager man-god makers whose weak eyes see all things magnified through the obscurity of distant antiquity and the fogs of superstitious credulity. Our chieftain certainly

was not so much more clear-sighted as to foreknow the coming struggle before other men; much less did his private exertions induce it: neither was he so much more mighty and energetic than any other, and all others combined, that his mental and physical toil can be said to have been the only or anything more than one of the principal causes of our success. He did not stand solitary, like

Jesus, and without aid, unsustained even by the sympathy of one living soul, accomplish his mighty work. Oh, no! nothing of all this. He was surrounded by "three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty," and he had the world's applause awaiting him if victorious, its tears for his grave if vanquished. And yet it is not an inflamed imagination that regards him as the WORLD'S CHAMPION; since everywhere conspicuous personages draw to and center in themselves the surrounding mass, so that in them we no longer recognize the single man, denuded of his circumstances and associates. These have become a part of his own public character. It is the razor's edge that cuts. It is the angular man in society's advancing wedgephalanx that is first seen, whose name is alone known and talked about as being the individual representative of a multitudinous agglomerate of men and principles and circumstances. It is easy and proper thus to speak of fileleaders, ever remembering, and when necessary, explain, ing what we mean. It is in this sense that I say of Washington-the past, at which we have thrown a rapid glance, was but the preparation for his advent; the present is the scene of his activity; the future is destined to be the result of his success. What we may hope that will be, a momentary survey of the present will assist us in surmising. The present state of our country and the world is of peculiar interest, to a reflecting mind. When we

look round us on the face of society, and consider its condition in comparison with that of past ages, and in relation to both past and future, we can but feel that we live in the very center of revolving wonders, and that the passing events of the day are indeed of the most absorbing and fearful importance, as the very elements of our destiny. This generation stands a connecting link between a mysterious, impenetrable future and an almost equally mysterious and inexplicable past. Thirty years ago the curtain fell on the tragedy of European war. Every nation that had been an actor was wounded and crippled; treasure had been scattered in lavish millions; blood had flowed in a red deluge; every family on the continent mourned some loss. The exhausted combatants laid down to rest; by mutual consent the storm ceased; nor has it again dared to sweep over the nations with its besom of destruction. Causes of war have occurred, but the nations are learning wisdom and peace. Causes of international collision are even now arising, yet the philanthropist rejoices in the pacific feeling that rests like a covering of oil on the bosom of public sentiment, and the haters of the sword are going up from all lands to take counsel at Paris, for the Prince of Peace.*

Meanwhile, all the great powers have been engaged in contests with semi-civilized and barbarous nations. England has severely chastised China for her haughty contempt of international law, and forced her to open a more liberal eye upon the surrounding world. Whatever may be said or thought by the censors of British policy, as to the causes or the manner of prosecuting this war, none can doubt that its general result will be and has already been good; that

*August 22d, 1849.