tions of every clime, and its banks one long mart of commerce, resting upon fields waving with the fruits of agriculture. The strong bond of union which is constituted by this chain of internal navigation, makes it an object of affection to every patriot, and every good man wherever he may be. The confederacy of the states, as it is the source and guarantee of all our prosperity, so its dissolution would be the most extensive calamity which could befal the human race. Monarchs may be vanquished, and their subjects and dominions transferred to other kings; a Buonaparte, or a Bourbon, may hold the destinies of an empire; but the great concern of human improvement is no way affected. Barbarian hordes may flourish or die, and the beast they warred upon alone may mourn or rejoice. But put out this light, and there is no Promethean fire that can the light relume." It forms a moral bond which traitors: cannot buy, and which bayonets cannot asunder. How delightful, then, are the reflections of this day! Our country, in its vast relations, is all before us-and how proud does she appear in history, and how mighty in prospect? Her national existence is not so old as many who hear me. And what age, or what nation, can offer a record of a life so honourable to herself, and so useful to the world? To her must man 、 from every region turn his grateful regards for whatever of civil liberty his condition may afford. Whether we look at him slowly but surely rising from the accumulated bondage of centuries in Europe, or behold him on the plains of South America, breathless and bleeding from the battle and the victory, he * thinks and acts, he fights and conquers, in the spirit that has emanated from this country. 4 Extract from Judge DUERS Eulogy on Adams and Jeffer son. No true American, capable of reflection, can meditate upon the events of the last half century, without feeling that his country has enjoyed the peculiar favour of the Supreme Governor of the world. At the commencement of that period, our immediate ancestors began to reap the fruits of that constancy and perseverance by which their fathers"in the old time be fore them," had been induced to seek, in the wilds of this newly discovered continent, an asylum from religious and political intolerance. They had subdued the forest in the vicinity of the shores where their forefathers had landed. They had explored the rivers piercing the interminable hills which seemed ranged as barriers against their progress to the west. They had penetrated to the fertile plains beyond the sources of those rivers, and had discovered others emptying into inland seas connected with each other, skirting the northern borders, and stretching to the western confines of the land; and they had visited the mighty cataract, where the accumulated waters have overthrown the mountain wall, and forced their passage to the ocean. Rapidly increasing in number, they were already strong enough to defend themselves against the hostile tribes still lurking within their territories; and to repel the invasions of more civilized enemies, from a bordering province. They had ac quired experience in war. At home, they had secured peace; and were steadily advancing in agriculture and all the useful arts of civil and domestic life. Abroad, they had pursued a commerce, which, though restricted by the jealous spirit of colonial monopoly, was the more profitable from their freer inter course with their sister colonies in the islands, and from their almost exclusive possession of the great fisheries on their own coast. To improve these advantages, they were blessed with industry, frugality, enterprise and intelligence; and with equal probity and skill, they availed themselves of all their physical and moral resources, to acquire wealth and honour, prosperity and happiness. Nor were their efforts fruitless; for they had already become rich and powerful enough to excite the cupidity, and alarm the jealousy of the mother country. A revenue was attempted to be drawn from them, by the paramount authority of a British parliament. But, though well disposed to bear their fair proportion of the public burdens, when constitutionally required, the future founders of the American Republic were as resolute to withhold the contribution even of a nominal sum, when exacted by a legislature in which they were not represented.-It was the principle for which they contended. The inseparable connection between taxation and representation, was maintained by them as a fundamental axiom; and sooner than compromise their unalienable right to the enjoyment of their private property without surrendering the smallest portion of it for public purposes, except by their own consent; the descendants of Hampden, of Russell, and of Sidney, and the disciples of Milton, of Harrington and of Locke, were prepared to stake all they possessed on the issue of resistance. The great ter of English liberty they claimed as their birth-right; its im Char mortal vindicators, as their ancestors; and notwithstanding their affection for the land to which they owed their origin and laws; notwithstanding their attachment to the nation with whom they claimed a common language and descent; they deliberately resolved, rather than submit to usurpation, to sever the ties which held them in allegiance to a parent government, and connected them in friendship with a kindred people. In the struggle which ensued, it was soon apparent upon whom the mantles of the great Apostles of English liberty had fallen; for in the American Congress were collected individuals not only worthy of the blood of the martyrs from which they had sprung, but whose wisdom and fortitude, whose virtue and eloquence would have shed a lustre on the brightest days of Greece or Rome. So true is it, that great occasions produce the talents equal to their exigencies; or, rather, so true is it, my countrymen, that the all-bounteous Ruler of the Universe, whenever he purposes to exalt a nation, calls forth the faculties of his intellectual creatures, in correspondence with the great design. In this august assembly, Adams and Jefferson were amongst the most conspicuous. They came as the respective delegates of the two provinces, at that time the most important in the confederacy; and the most forward and resolute in the assertion of their rights. Hand in hand they had approached the contest; and hand in hand, and in the foremost rank, appeared their chosen sons, worthy and fit to represent them. The one descended from intrepid sufferers for conscience' sake; the other sprung from a gayer and chivalric race of bold adventurers for fame and freedom. Both were in "the prime and vigour of their manhood," and each was distinguished for natural endowments, as well as for extensive acquirements; for strength of understanding, solidity of judgment, firmness of principle, liberality of sentiment, and rectitude of intention and of conduct. They met on high, but equal ground; and seem to have been drawn together by sympathy of character as well as of opinions. They were members of the same profession, and had pursued it in that liberal and honourable spirit, by which the study and practice of the law tend to enlarge the capacity of the mind, as well as to sharpen and invigorate its faculties. From principle, both were inflexible, devoted patriots; by intuition, if not by education, statesmen. The one was an orator; the other a philosopher and if Adams had attained more celebrity for eloquence, Jefferson was more highly estimated for the written productions of his genius. If the former possessed greater practical knowledge of affairs, the latter was richer in the resources of speculative wisdom; and whatsoever quality or acquisition appeared deficient in the one, was to be found in the character or talents of the other; so that between them, they combined every requisite which, at the impending crisis, could render their services so useful, so inestimable, to their country. And most auspiciously were those services united on that momentous occasion, when Congress, having drawn the sword, determined to throw away the scabbard, and were about to resolve, that "the United Colonies" were, "and of right ought to be, free and independent States." Then it was, that Jefferson and Adams were associated with Franklin, Sherman, and Livingston, to prepare a solemn declaration, announcing and justifying that determination to the world. The two former were deputed by their colleagues, to perform the office; and an amicable contest ensued between them, in which each pressed upon the other, the honourable task of drawing up the document. Adams finally prevailed; and thus the duty of com pesing it, devolved on Jefferson. Never was public trust more ably or satisfactorily performed. The declaration thus produced, established the lasting fame of its author, as a scholar, a statesman, and a patriot: for its principles were sound and enlightened; its statements forcible and clear; its style animated, nervous, and impressive; its tone calm, dignified and firm; and above all, it responded in language and sentiment to the voice and feelings of the nation. As a public measure, its immediate effects were decisive; and its beneficial consequences are not yet to be esti mated. It disarmed the treacherous; it rallied the faithful and the bold; it encouraged the timid, confirmed the dubious; and it pledged the lives and fortunes, and the sacred honour of the people, as well as of their representatives, to maintain the rights and principles it had asserted. It secured our own freedom; and offered to the oppressed of other nations, and of other times, an example, as well as precepts, which never will be lost on them. It gave the first impulse to the protracted struggle for liberty in France. Its spirit once animated the patriots of Spain; and will awaken them again. It still lives in their descendants in our southern continent, and cheers the last lingering hopes of Greece; and will yet revive them! Yes, fellow-countrymen! the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of American Independence, have not only produced their fruits on this wide continent, and been disseminated on the wastes of Europe; but before the revolution of another jubilee, they will take root and flourish in every soil and climate under heaven! The march of Light, of Knowledge, and of Truth is THE BELVIDERE APOLLO.-H. H. Milman. Heard ye the arrow hurtle in the sky? Heard ye the dragon-monster's dreadful cry? Proud of his might, yet scornful of the slain, Youth blooms immortal in his beardless face, In deathless glory lives the breathing stone. Bright kindling with a conqueror's stern delight, Mighty Ephesian, with an eagle's flight, Thy proud soul mounted through the fields of light, |