Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-06-16
A Contrast.
BY WILLIAM VI. SEWARD.

BY WILLIAM ". SEWARD.
ONLY two years after the birth Of John Q.
Adams. there appeared, on an Island IN the
Mediterranean Sea, a Human Spirit, newly
born, endowed with equal genius, without
the regulating qualities of Justice and Bene-
violence. which Adams possessed in such an
eminent degree. A like career opened to
both Born, like Adams, a subject OF a king
the child OF more genial skies, like him,
became in early life a patriot and a citizen OF
a new and great Republic. Like Adams. he
lent his service TO the State in precociouS
youth, and in its hour of need, and Won its
confidence. But, unlike Adams, he could
not wait the dull delays Of slow, and labor
ious, but sure advancement. He'sought pow
er by the hasty road that leads through fields
Of carnage, and he. became, like Adams, a
Supreme Magistrate, a Consul. But there
were other Consuls. He was not content
He thrust them aside, and was Consul alone.
Consular power was too short. He fought
new battles, and was Consul for life. But
Power, confessedly derived from the People,
must be exercised in obedience to their will,
and must be resigned to them again, at
least in death. He was not content. He
d~esolated Europe afresh, subverted the Re-
public, imprisoned the Patriarch who presi-
ded over Rome's comprehensive See. and o.
bligud him TO pour on his head the sacred oil
that made the persons Of kings divine, and
their right to reign indefeasible He was an
Emperor. But he saw arou nd him a mother,
brothers, and sisters, not ennobled, whose
humble state reminded him and the world
that he was born a Plebian; and he had no
heir TO wait impatient for the imperial crown.
He scourged The earth again, and again.
Fortune smiled on him, even in his wild eX-
tTayagance. He bestowed Kingdoms and
Principalities on his kindred-put away the
devoted wife of his youthful days, and moth
eT, a daughter of Hapsburg's imperial house,
ioyfully accepted his proud alliance. OFF
spring gladdened his anxious sight; a diadem
was placed on its infant brow, and it recei-
we'd the homage of princes even in its cradle.
Now he was indeed a moDarch-a legitimate
Monarch-a Monarch by divine appointment
the first of an endless succession of Mon
archs. But there were other Monarchs
who held sway in the Earth. He was not
content. He would reign with his kindred
alone. He gathered new and greater armies
from his own land-from subiugated lands.
He called forth the young and brave, one
from every household-from the Pyrenees TO
the Zuyder Zee-from Jura to the Ocean,
He marshaled them into long and majestic
columns, and went forth to seize that u%niver-
sal Dominion, which seemed almost within
his grasp. But Ambition had tempted For
tune too far. The nations of the earth resis-
ted, rebelled, pursued, surrounded him.
The pageant was ended. The Crown fell
from his presumptuous head. The wife who
had welded him in his pride, forsook him in
the hour when fear came upon him. His
child was ravished from his sight. His kins-
men were degraded to their first estate, and
he was no longer Emperor, nor Consul, nor
General, nor even a citizen, but an exile and
a prisoner, on a lonely island in the midst of
the wild Atlantic. Discomfort attended him
there. The wayward man fretted out a few
long years Of his yet unbroken manhood,
looking off, at the earliest dawn and in the
evenings twilight, toward that distant world
that had only just eluded his grasp. His
heart corroded. Death came, not unlocked
for, though it came even then unwelcome.-
He was stretched on his bed within the fort
which constituted his prison. A few fast
and faithful friends stood around, with the
guards who rejoiced that the hour of relief
from long and wearied watching was at hand.
AS his strength wasted away, delirium stir
red up the brain from its long and inglorious
inactivity. The pageant of Ambition return
ed. He was again a Lieutenant, a General,
a Consul, an Emperor of France. He filled
again the throne Of Charlemagne. His kim
dred pressed around him, again reinvested
with the pompous pageantry Of Royalty
The Daughter of the long line of Kings again
stood proudly by his side, and the sunny face
of his Child shone out from beneath the dia-
dem that encircled its flowing locks. The
Marshals of the Empire awaited his com.
mand. The legions of the Old Guard were
in the field, and their SCARED faces rejuvena.
ted, and their ranks, thinned in many battles,
replenished. Russia, Prussia, Austria, Den.
mark, and England, gathered their mighty
hosts to give him battle. Once more he
mounted his impatient charger, and rushed
forth to conquest. He waved his sword a
loft. and cried, ''Tete d'Armee." The fe
verish vision broke, the mockery was ended
The silver cord was loosed, and the warrior
fell back upon his bed a lifeless corpse
This was the END OF EARTH. The CoRsI
CAN WAS NOT CONTENT.
If were a Rich Man.