Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation'? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love'? 3. Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the imple ments of war and subjugation, the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission'? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it'? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies'? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. 4. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument'? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we any thing new to offer upon the subject'? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication'? What terms shall we find that have not been already exhausted'? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done every thing that could be done, to avert the storm that is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. 5. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained,—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us. 6. They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week', or the next year'? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house'? Shall we gather strength by irreso lution and inaction'? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging th delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot'? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. 7. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God, who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable: and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! 8. It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace! but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle'? What is it that gentlemen wish'? What would they have'? Is life so dear', or peace so sweet', as to be purchased at the price of chains' and slavery'? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! LESSON XIV. HALLOWED GROUND. BY THOMAS CAMPBELL. 1. WHAT'S hallow'd ground'? Has earth a clod Erect and free, Unscourged by Superstition's rod To bow the knee'? 2. That's hallow'd ground, where, mourn'd and miss'd, No! in ourselves their souls exist, 3. What hallows ground where heroes sleep'? Or genii twine beneath the deep 4. But strew his ashes to the wind Whose sword or voice has served mankind, To live in hearts we leave behind 5. Is't death to fall for freedom's right'? What can alone ennoble fight? A noble cause! 6 Give that! and welcome war to brace The charging cheer, Though death's pale horse led on the chase, 7. And place our trophies where men kneel Transfer it from the sword's appeal, 8. Peace, love! the cherubim that join Their spread wings o'er Devotion's shrine; The heart alone can make divine Religion's spot. 9. To incantations dost thou trust'? And pompous rites in domes august'? That man can bless one pile of dust 10. Fair stars! are not your beings pure'? Ye must be Heaven's that make us sure 11. And in your harmony sublime And reason on his mortal clime Immortal dawn. 12. What's hallow'd ground? 'Tis what gives birth And your high-priesthood shall make earth LESSON XV. THE PASSING OF THE RUBICON. BY SHERIDAN KNOWLES. 1. A GENTLEMAN, Mr. Chairman, speaking of Cæsar's benevolent disposition, and of the reluctance with which he entered into the civil war, observes, "How long did he pause upon the brink of the Rubicon !" How came he to the brink of that river'? How dared he cross it? Shall private men respect the boundaries of private property', and shall a man pay no respect to the boundaries of his country's rights'? How dared he cross that river'? 2 Oh! but he paused upon the brink. He should have perished on the brink, ere he had crossed it! Why did he pause? Why does a man's heart palpitate when he is on the point of committing some unlawful deed'? Why does the very murderer, his victim sleeping before him, and his glaring eye taking the measure of the blow, strike wide of the mortal part'? Because of conscience'! 'Twas that made Cæsar pause upon the banks of the Rubicon. 3. Compassion'! What compassion'? The compassion of an assassin, that feels a momentary shudder as his weapon begins to cut! Cæsar paused upon the brink of the Rubicon! What was the Rubicon'? The boundary of Cæsar's province. From what did it separate his province'? From his country'. Was that country a desert'? No'; it was cultivated and fertile', rich and populous! Its sons were men of genius, spirit, and generosity! Its daughters were lovely, susceptible, and chaste! Friendship was its inhabitant! Love was its inhabitant! Domestic affection was its inhabitant! Liberty was its inhabitant! All bounded by the stream of the Rubicon! 4. What was Cæsar, that stood upon the brink of that stream`? A traitor', bringing war and pestilence into the heart of that country'! No wonder that he paused; no wonder if, his imagination wrought upon by his conscience, he had beheld blood instead of water, and heard groans instead of murmurs! Nc wonder if some gorgon horror had turned him into stone upon the spot! But no! he cried, "The die is cast!" He plunged! he crossed and Rome was free no more! LESSON XVI. LAS CASAS DISSUADING FROM BATTLE. BY KOTZEBUE. 1. Is then the dreadful measure of your cruelty not yet complete'? Battle! Gracious Heaven! against whom? Against a king, in whose mild bosom your atrocious injuries, even yet, have not excited hate, but who, insulted or victorious, still sues for peace. Against a people who never wronged the living being their Creator formed; a people who, children of innocence! received you as cherished guests, with eager hospitality and confiding kindness. Generously and freely did they share with you their comforts', their treasures', and their homes': you repaid them by fraud', oppression', and dishonor'. |