for the preservation of the Union, at all times manifested by him, shows not only the opinion he entertained of its importance, but his clear perception of those causes 1 which were likely to spring up to endanger it, and which, if once they should overthrow the present system, would leave little hope of any future beneficial reunion. Washington could regard, and did regard, nothing as of paramount 2 political interest but the integrity of the Union itself. With a united government, well administered, he saw we had nothing to fear; and without it, nothing to hope. The sentiment is just, and its momentous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. If we might regard our country as personated in the spirit of Washington; if we might consider him as representing her in her past renown, her present prosperity, and her future career, and as in that character demanding of us all to account for our conduct as political men or as private citizens, how should he answer him who has ventured to talk of disunion and dismemberment?5 Or how should he answer him who dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every kindling flame of local prejudice? How should he answer him who would array State against State, interest against interest, and party against party, care 1 those causes: that is, sectional differences. 2 paramount. See Webster. 5 dismemberment = dis + member+ment, the condition when the members (States) are put asunder (dis) each from each. 6 local interests. Explain this 8 nothing to fear. . . nothing to hope. What is the figure of speech? 4 personated, represented, sym-expression. bolized. 7 array. Give a synonym. less of the continuance of that unity of government which constitutes us one people? Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If disastrous war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests.1 It were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder Capitol 2 were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government? Who shall rear again the well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty? Who shall frame together the skillful architecture which unites national sovereignty with State rights, individual security, and public prosperity? No, gentlemen, if these columns fall, they will not be raised again. Like the Coliseum and the Parthenon,5 they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them than were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they will be the remnants of a more glorious 1 If disastrous war . har 6 3 4 the Coliseum: the great circus vests. How many propositions in (Circus Maximus) in Rome. The this compound sentence? 2 yonder Capitol. Explain. 3 Who shall rear, etc. Note how finely the architectural metaphor is carried out in this sentence and those following. ruins are still standing. 5 the Parthenon, a celebrated temple of Minerva, in Athens. Its ruins remain also. 6 a mournful, a melancholy. Note the alliteration. edifice than Greece or Rome ever saw, the edifice of constitutional American liberty. But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that gracious Being who has hitherto held our country as in the hollow of his hand.1 Let us trust to the virtue and intelligence of the people, and to the efficacy of religious obligation. Let us trust to the influence of Washington's example. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven which expels all other fear, and that regard to duty which transcends all other regard, may influence public men and private citizens, and lead our country still onward in her happy career. Full of these gratifying anticipations and hopes, let us look forward to the end of that century which is commenced. A hundred years hence, other disciples of Washington will celebrate his birth with no less of sincere admiration than we now commemorate it.3 When they shall meet, as we now meet, to do themselves and him the honor, so surely as they shall see the blue summits of his native mountains 4 rise in the horizon; so surely as they shall behold the river on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he rests,5 still flowing on toward the sea, so surely may they see, as we now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol; and then, as now, may the sun, in 1 in the hollow of his hand, a scriptural phrase. In 2 efficacy, power, potency. 3 A hundred years... it. what year will the second centennial of Washington's birth occur? 4 his native mountains. What is the reference? 5 the river... rests. Explain the allusion. 6 Capitol. See Webster for the etymology. its course, visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country! Gentlemen, I propose-"THE MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON." 2. PERORATION OF THE REPLY TO HAYNE. [The following extract forms the peroration of Webster's most famous forensic effort, the Second Speech on Foot's Resolution. This speech was made in the United States Senate, January, 1830.] MR. PRESIDENT, I have thus stated the reasons of my dissent to the doctrines which have been advanced and maintained. I am conscious of having detained you and the Senate much too long. I was drawn into the debate with no previous deliberation,2 such as is suited to the discussion of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of which my heart is full, and I have not been willing to suppress the utterance of its spontaneous sentiments. I can not, even now, persuade myself to relinquish it without expressing once more my deep conviction that, since it respects nothing less than the Union of the States, it is of most vital and essential importance to the public happiness. I profess, sir, in my career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the prosperity and honor of the whole country, and the preservation of our Federal Union. It is to that Union we owe our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity abroad. It is to that Union 1 advanced and maintained. Substitute synonyms. 3 It is . . . abroad. Point out antithetical terms. Difference between "consideration" and "dignity"? that we are chiefly indebted for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That Union we reached only by the discipline of our virtues in the severe school of adversity. It had its origin2 in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great interests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness of life. Every year of its duration has teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings; and although our territory has stretched out wider and wider, and our population spread further and further, they have not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious fountain of national, social, and personal happiness. 3 I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union, to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counselor in the affairs of this government whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable * might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up and destroyed. 1 Union we reached. rhetorical order? Direct or 8 I have not, etc. How many sentences in this paragraph? Grammatical type of each? What 2 It had its origin, etc. period in our history is referred to? | 4 tolerable. Give a synonym. 4 |