not to transfer to a tablet or a column the tribute which is due from yourselves. Just honor to Washington can only be rendered by observing his precepts and imitating his example. He has built his own monument. We, and those who come after us, in successive generations, are its appointed, its privileged guardians. The wide-spread republic is the future monument to Washington. Maintain its independence. Uphold its constitution. Preserve its union. Defend its liberty. Let it stand before the world in all its original strength and beauty, securing peace, order, equality, and freedom to all within its boundaries, and shedding light, and hope, and joy upon the pathway of human liberty throughout the world, and Washington needs no other monument. Öther structures may fully testify our veneration for him; this, this alone can adequately illustrate his services to mankind. 4. Nor does he need even this. The republic may perish; the wide arch of our ranged union may fall; star by star, its glories may expire; stone by stone, its columns and its capital may molder and crumble; all other names which adorn its annals may be forgotten; but, as long as human hearts shall anywhere pant, or human tongues shall anywhere plead, for a true, rational, constitutional liberty, those hearts shall enshrine the memory, and those tongues shall prolong the fame, of GEORGE WAshington. LESSON CLXXXIX. RUM'S MANIAC. BY DR. NOTT. 1. "WHY am I thus ?" the maniac cried, I am not mad: knave, stand aside! I must have rum! 2. "Sane? yes, and have been all the while; 3. ""Tis he! 'tis he! my aged sire! Why torment, since thou canst not save? 4. "Why is my mother musing there, Where once she taught me words of prayer? 5. "It won't wash out, that crimson stain! I've scour'd those spots, and made them white; Blood reappears again, again, Soon as the morning brings the light! 6. ""Twas there I heard his piteous cry, 7. "Hark! still I hear that piteous wail! 8. "Guard, guard those windows! bar that does They've robb'd my house of all its store, They're breaking in! don't let them come! 9. "See how that rug those reptiles soil! On every limb,-around my head; 10. "A fiend! a fiend! with many a dart, 11. "He's gone! he's gone! and I am free! 12. "There! there again! that demon's there, See how his flaming eyeballs glare! Thou fiend of fiends, what's brought thee back? Back in thy car? for whom? for where? He smiles, he beckons me to come! What are those words thou'st written there?- 13 Accept thy proffer, fiend? I will, Nor plead for rum, as here I must: 14. Thus raved that maniac rum had made;. LESSON CXC. EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH MADE AT WASHINGTON, D. C., JULY 4, 1851. BY DANIEL WEBSTER. 1. FELLOW-CITIZENS:-What contemplations are awakened in our minds, as we assemble here to re-enact a scene like that performed by Washington! Methinks I see his venerable form now before me, as presented in the glorious statue by Houdon, now in the Capitol of Virginia. He is dignified and grave; but concern and anxiety seem to soften the lineaments of his countenance. The government over which he presides is yet in the crisis of experiment. Not free from troubles at home, he sees the world in commotion and arms all around him. He sees that imposing foreign powers are half disposed to try the strength of the recently-established American Government. We perceive that mighty thoughts, mingled with fears as well as with hopes, are struggling within him. He heads a short procession over these then naked fields; he crosses yonder stream, on a fallen tree; he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose original oaks of the forest stand as thick around him as if the spot had been devoted to druidical worship; and here he performs the appointed duty of the day. "Ye 2. And now, fellow-citizens, if this vision were a reality,-if Washington actually were now amongst us, and if he could draw around him the shades of the great public men of his own days,-patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen,—and were to address us in their presence, would he not say to us, men of this generation, I rejoice, and thank God for being able to see, that our labors, and toils, and sacrifices were not in vain You are prosperous; you are happy; you are grateful. The fire of liberty burns brightly and steadily in your hearts, while duty and the law restrain it from bursting forth in wild and destructive conflagration. Cherish liberty, as you love it; cherish its securities, as you wish to preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which we labored so painfully to establish, and which has been to you such a source of inestimable blessings. Preserve the union of the States, cemented as it was by our prayers, our tears, and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, and to your duty. So shall the whole Eastern world follow the morning sun to contemplate you as a nation; so shall all succeeding generations honor you as they honor us; and so shall that Almighty Power which so graciously protected us, and which now protects you, shower its everlasting blessings upon you and your posterity!" 3. Great father of your country! we heed your words; we feel their force, as if you now uttered them with lips of flesh and blood. Your example teaches us, your affectionate addresses teach us, your public life teaches us, your sense of the value of the blessings of the Union. Those blessings our fathers have tasted, and we have tasted, and still taste. Nor do we intend that those who come after us shall be denied the same high fruition. Our honor, as well as our happiness, is concerned. We cannot, we dare not, we will not, betray our sacred trust. We will not filch from posterity the treasure placed in our hands to be transmitted to other generations. The bow that gilds the clouds in the heavens, the pillars that uphold the firmament, may disappear and fall away in the hour appointed by the will of God; but, until that day comes, or so long as our lives may last, no ruthless hand shall undermine that bright arch of Union and Liberty which spans the continent from Washington to California! LESSON CXCI. THE LEPER. BY N. P. WILLIS. 1. "ROOM for the leper! room!" And, as he came, "Room for the leper! room!" |