Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-03-02

enough OF heraldry for me.*
In one of the townships of New York we
find long list OF those who are called true
Wings, and then comes what is called the list
OF Tories and on that list there was one name.
Are there young men before me who wish to lsor,
and to initiate the spirit of their who wish r.
live and breathe in that spirit who desire that every
pusaon OF Their hearts and every aspiration of their
ambition shall be American and nothing but America
Let them master the contents of the immortal papers NJ
the hrst Congress- and fully Undue themselves with their
sentiments
20 The great Lord Chatham spoke of this assem-.
bly, in terms which have caused my heart to
thrill and my eyes to be moistened whenever 7
reconect them, from my first reading of them to
this present hour.
hen your ordships look at the papers transn1 tied
Us rom Amer1ca-when you consider their decency
nrlnness' and wisdom you cannot but respect their
cause ahe wish to make it your own. For myself
must declare and avow that in all my reading and OBJ
audit has been my fvorte study-I have read
heyoides and have studied and admired the master
statesmen OF the worldthat for sodiry of reasoning
iorce OF saSaclty wisdom of conclusion under such
caon OF difficult circumstances nation or bo-
gress at Philadelphia. trust it is obyous to your lord
SHIPS that all attempts to impose servtude upon such
men 70 establish despotsm over such mighty cont
mental pataon, must be vain, must be fatal We shall
be Jorced ultimately TO retract let us retroct ,vhsn
can, not when we must ~ =" .
Inns hrst Congress, for the ability which it
manifested, the principles which it proclaimed.
and the characters of those who composed #
makes an illustrious chapter in our American
history Its members should be regarded not
only individually, but as in a group; they should
De viewed as living pictures exhibiting Young
America as 1t then was, and when the seeds Of
, pup lie destiny were beginning to start into
me- Wen described by our early motto as be-
my loil OF energy and prospered by Heaven
Non sine Dis, animosus infans'
Some OF the members of this Congress have
hved to my time, and l have had the honor
OF seeing and knowing them; and there are
those in this assembly, doubsless. who have
beheld the stately form of Washington, and
looked upon the mild and intelligent face and
heard the voice of John Jaw.
For myself | love to travel back in imaoi
nation, to place myself in the midst of this as
semoly' this union of greatness and patriotism,
ana TO contemplate, as if | had witnessed, its
profound deliberations, and its mastery exhibit
lions, both OF the rights and of the wrongs of the
country.
may not dwell longer on this animating and
enchanting picture. Another grand picture
succeeds it, and that is the Convention which
framed the Constitution, the spirited debates in
the States, by the abest men of those States
upon Its adoption, and finally, the organization
oil the first Congress, filled by the grey haired
men OF the revolution, and younger and vigorous
patriots and lovers of liberty, and Washington
himself in the principal chair OF State, surroun-
ded by his heads of departments, selected from
those who enjoyed the greatest portion of his
own regard, and stood highest in the esteem of
their country
Neither Aenophon nor Thucydides neither
Sallust nor Livy, presents any picture of an as
sembly OF public men, or any scene of history,
which, In Its proper grandeur or its large and
lasting influence upon the happiness of man.
kind, equal this.
Its importance, indeed, did not at the mo-
ment strike the minds of ordinary men. But
Burke saw it with an intuition clear ne the light
OF Heaven. Charles Fox saw it, and sagacious
and deep thinking minds over all Europe beheld
it,
England, England how would thy destinies
have been altered if the advice of Chatham
Burke, and Fox had been followed?
Shall say altered for the better? Certainly
not, not for the better for England herself; pro-
badly she Is stronger and richer at this moment
than II she had listened to the UNDECIDED words
OF her great statesmen. Neither nations nor
individuals always toresee that which their own
interest and happiness require.
Our greatest blessings often arise from the dis
appointment of our most anxious hopes and our
most fervent wishes.
-"Let us know !.
Our lndiscretioI sometimes serves us we'll
Then our deep plots do fail; aud that should
There's divinity that shapes our ends
Rough hew them how we will.
Instead of colonies, England now beholds a
mighty rival, rich, powerful intelligent like her.
self. And may these countries be forever
friendly rivals May their power and greatness,
sustaining themselves, be always directed to the
promotion OF the peace, the prosperity, the en-
Hghtenment, and the liberty of mankind; and
II 1t be their united destiny, in the course of
human events, that they shall be called upon, in
the cause OF humanity and in the cause of free
dora, to stand against world in arms, they are
of a race and of blood to peet that crisis with
out shrinking from danger, without quailing
in the presence of earthly power
Gentlemen, must bring these desultory re-
marks to close. Terminate them where per-
haps ought to have begun-namely, with few
words on the present state and condition of our
country, and the prospects which are before
her.
Unborn ages and visions of glory crowd upon
my soul. The realization of all these, however,
is in the hands and good pleasure Of Almighty
God. But, under His Divine blessing, it WILDE
Depending on the character and the virtues of
ourselves ana OF our pGster1ty.
Ifclasscal history has been found to be, Is now,
and shall continue to be- the concomitant of free
Institutions and of popular eloquence, what
field is opening to us for another Herodotus,
another Thuciddes, (only may his theme not
bea Peoponnesin war; and another Livy! And
let me say, gentlemen, that if we and our pos
terity snail be true to the Christian religion; if
we and they shall live always in thu fear of Cpd,
and shall respect his commandments: if we and
they shall maintain just moral sentiments, and
such conscientious convictions of duty as shall
control the heart and life, we may have the
highest hopes ofthe future fortunes of our coun-
try; e we maintain those institutions of Gov
ernlnent and that POLITICAL unian exceeding all
praise as much as it exceeds all former examples
of political associations, we may be sure of
one thing, that while our country furnishes ma
terias for thousand masters of the historic art,
>, THE signers in Salisbury, New Hampshire, were
the following ;-Abenezer Johnson Samuel Scrbner,
John Collins Reuben Creole William Mutton, Benjamin
Bean, Job Heath Phineas Bean John Jameson, John
saubOrn Jacob Erue Tohn Gale Moses Ekius Rev