the greatest work of the human mind; and Cicero, whose ears were always desiring the aliquid immensum infinitumque in eloquence, says that "in this oration for Ctesiphon, where the orator speaks of his own deeds, councils and merits in respect to the republic, the IDEAL is filled so that no higher eloquence can be required." It meets all the demands we have made of a perfect work of art. It is a pure creation of the soul. It has, unlike all the others mentioned, reality directly connected with its origin and its end. It has the symmetrical proportions and masculine grandeur of Doric architecture; it is painted with the utmost regard to light and shade and color and grouping. In the orator, also, our high ideal is found. Years of inteusest study and cultivation had made the most musical of all thingsthe human voice-in him, we have reason to believe, almost perfect. Dr. Franklin says of Whitefield, "his delivery was so improved by repetition that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice was so perfectly tuned and well placed, that without being interested in the subject one could not help being pleased with the discourse, a pleasure much the same kind with that received from an excellent piece of music ;" and Garrick says of him that he could make men weep or tremble by his varied utterances of the word, "Mesopotamia." And can we imagine that the prince of orators with the most polished and musical of all languages would be less accomplished, would be deficient at all in this most essential element? The estimate too, which he placed upon Action every school boy knows; and having constantly before him in that palace of art, the noblest and purest models of grace and ease of attitude, expression, action and repose, he must here also have been no less perfect. All these then thus combined and aroused as he must have been by the greatness of the occasion - the skill and adroitness of his great opponent- the strong personal considerations - the results of success or failure-rendered his appearance and the great impression he produced nearer the superhuman than any other single effort in the annals of history. "Behold, what fire is in his eye, what fervor on his cheek! That glorious burst of winged words!-how bound they from his tongue! The full expression of the mighty thought, the strong triumphant argu ment, The rush of native eloquence, resistless as Niagara, In The keen demand, the clear reply, the fine poetic image, The nice analogy, the clenching fact, the metaphor bold and free, The grasp of concentrated intellect wielding the omnipotence of truth."* We said in the beginning that nature was the art of God. which form of art is He represented to us as putting forth his creative energy? Architecture? No. Sculpture? No. Painting? No. Tragic art? None of these. Infinite wisdom honored neither the chisel, the pencil nor the pen as his instruments on this august occasion. "He SPAKE and it was done." *Proverbial Philosophy. BUENA VISTA. Buena Vista, beauteous view Yet now there rests a russet hue Red Mars yclad in armor bright, Columbia's sons may not rejoice As victors, without sorrow: For Death of them made fearful choice, Buena Vista! though thou be Thy name records our lost McKEE, Buena Vista! field of graves! There on their lowly pillow Bold warriors sleep,—whilst o'er them waves Buena Vista! change the name ! Buena Vista! change the name ! Sepulchral shades hang o'er thee, Two nations weep their brave ones slain, This name in English signifies pleasant view, OUR COUNTRY. America is great in the extent of her territory and resources; but it is doubtful whether hers be the loose and unwieldy limbs of the boy or the firm proportions of the iron-sinewed man. Her course has so far been one of signal prosperity, without shock or collision to impede her march or try the firmness of her footing. It becomes therefore our duty in these times of peace, to cast an earnest glance about us and see what are the elements of durability in this our common country. "Know thyself" is a charge equally pertinent to nations as to individuals: and when, as Americans, we look into the complex machinery of our government, and scan the almost terrible momenta by which it acts, we detect sources of real and manifold apprehension. Our diversified soil and motley population, give birth to opposite interests and opinions, which although under the tutelage of an able constitution, call for most vigilant care. There is, however, a current of opinion below the roiled and noisy surface, which is ever washing up from its deep bosom new elements of strength and safety. Our limits forbid us to enter upon a discussion of the great questions now in agitation, and confine us to the simple inquiry, what are the elements of empire in America? reserve. The representative of a nation's character is its public opinion. This public opinion is the aggregated sentiments of its popular mind, derived from its history and situation, fashioned by its institutions. Thus English character is made up of two almost antagonistic principles-a love of action, curbed by a proud and selfish Her old Gothic mind upon which is engrafted the spirit of her Roman nurse; her insular position, with her wise and liberal constitution, have rooted in the heart of the people of England these, the first elements of a firm and daring greatness. Americans are what their history, their residence and their institutions have made them. Their first love is that of liberty, and home, their only motive to confirm that liberty and secure a competence to that home. With no exploits of novel adventure, no strange inroads upon old establishments, no daring experiments, (except their first great experiment in government,) they have shown to the world the wonder of a nation great in itself, the personation of "Peace resting in the bosom of strength." This is the end which our origin ensured. Those men who landed on Plymouth rock, were not a herd of fierce banditti, or of hot and venturous enthusiasts, such as have generally laid the foundations of empires, but men "firm to inflict and stubborn to endure," the advocates of staunch though persecuted opinions. The traces of such men and such opinions are left in strong lines upon our national character. On this legacy of conservative power, backed by that love of liberty which is almost the instinct of Americans, we must rely for defence against the evils incident to a nation embracing interests so great and various as ours. We shall now advert to some of these evils. A prevalent ignorance of our condition and the spirit of our government, shown by the fact that the best commentaries upon our institutions are the works of foreigners, is cause of earnest fear. Our idea of a Democratic government is vague. We are told that ours is a land of the free, but whether this freedom rests on the rock of truth or on the sandy foundation of error, is a matter seldom thought of, never submitted to an intelligent canvass. Instead of a political education, our citizens are schooled in the wiles of party, and in the place of broad views of Republican Government, get narrow glimpses of particular features. The Shibboleth of a political sect is a word at which interest and country often fall together in the dust. These parties are led it is true by men who stand above the strife, men who know the spells by which the rough elements may be calmed, but who too often, rather than speak peace to the waves, stand waiting to leap upon the topmost crest. Thus the people, instead of being the source of power, become its victims, surrendering their own high functions to aid the schemes of faithless representatives and wily demagogues. Another dangerous feature in the character of our countrymen, is the false estimate they place upon political reputation. This is an evil peculiar to a Democratic form of government. The rewards of office are more tempting than the slow but certain fruits of industry; so that many, from the false hope that reputation may be gained before respectability, abandon the rich promises which labor yields, to grasp at best-a bubble. Without political education, without principles, without honesty, they prowl like hyænas upon the skirts of a victorious party, or sink to fester in the rottenness of kindred depravity. A class of such men are represented by the clubs in New York city. The issue of more than one election has been changed by these societies of ruffled braves, and besotted assassins. And what more fearful than the fact, that this our Fabric of Freedom, "whose dome is high in Heaven," rests upon such sulphurous ground; that the land in which are buried that gallant three millions of men who gave us this heritage, should be in a manner ruled by such Lazar-house ruffians! Perhaps we speak too strongly, but the facts are too many and too glaring to go unheeded. So much volcanic material, so much organized iniquity as all of our large cities contain, unless checked by a stronger power, is full of awful portent. A more popular and on that account, a more ominous evil, exists in the idea that our public officers, are literally the servants of the people, and that careless of the high mandates of a broad and generous patriotism, they must truckle to the selfish dicta of cliques and sectional regencies. "We have made you," say the Sovereign People, "and not you, yourselves; you were strangers and we took ye in," render back then that fealty which is the duty of loving vassals. True to this allegiance, our political leaders "keep themselves before the people," and with the most supple elasticity of principle, conform to every phase of opinion and pander to every caprice of popular lust. The bed of Procrustes would be of no inconvenience to a political leader; he is long or short, broad or narrow, by the most electric transitions, just as the Sovereign People may require. He feeds their hungry ambitions with flattering promises, and like the giant in Rabelais, who swallowed five Pilgrims, staves and all, in a salad, the people complacently gorge themselves with impossible hopes. There is still another kind of special patronage which is due from a successful aspirant to his particular agents; those who have made the bar-room, the stump and the eloquent beer-barrel vocal with his praises and those of his synonym Liberty. These miscreant scene-painters and soups must be rewarded. The presumptuous wren would fain perch upon a crag of the rock which sustains the eagle. "Marry sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that art squires of the night's body, be called thieves of the day's beauty; let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon; being governed as the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress, the moon, under whose countenance westeal." This is the language of their demands, and ill befall that ungrateful officer who turns a deaf ear to such requests. Is a relation of such complete reciprocity between the governor and the governed, legitimate or safe? Should that time which, from the citizen of a Republic is especially due to a proper service of his country and a watchful study of her interests and laws, be exhausted in the "division of spoils," and the conflicts of party? No. Give us that Governor who stands above the jar and tumult, and like a Tishbite upon the Carmel of our history, not only foretells the danger with an unwavering prophesy, but applies the remedy with an unselfish zeal. There is a safeguard against these evils. It is in the heart of the American People, which no oppression can fetter and no corruption taint. It is the love of Liberty-of Country. "Reverence, says Carlyle, the divinest in man, springs forth always from an envelopment of fear," and however much the love of country may be forgotten in the heat of party contests, it springs into phrenzy at the approach of peril. The memory too of our struggle for independence still hovers about us, and like a solemn Mentor, warns us against civil animosities or disunion. We have no faith in those timid alarmists who cry war, war, when all is peace. In the hot debate and the seeming clash of interests, high-mettled sectional enthusiasts may hurl forth threats of disunion, but there is yet a neutral ground which is common, which is hallowed. Sherman |