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2. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future, but by the past. And, judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. 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.

resort.

3. 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? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation-the last arguments to which kings. 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, which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, deceive ourselves longer.

5. Sir, we have done every thing that could be done, to avert the storm which 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. 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 thron

6. 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!

7. 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 irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the 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.

8. 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 ust God, who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

9. 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 inevitableand let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!!

Gentlemen
The war is

10. It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. 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

This speech of Patrick Henry, was made in the spring of 1775, before the convention of delegates from the several counties of Virginia. The subject upon which he spoke, being a question of freedom or slavery, called into active and irrepressible operation, all the energies of his nature. The matter which the speech contains is so excellent, and the manner in which it was delivered, was so eloquent, that "it made the prince tremble on his distant throne, and shook the brightest jewels from the British crown." Mr. Henry was decidedly the greatest orator of the revolution. He was so critical an observer of the workings of the human passions, that he has been justly styled "nature's own orator." His manner of speaking was distinguished by that best gift of an orator, earnestness. He knew that, as Horace says:

"With them who laugh our social joy appears;

With them who mourn we sympathize in tears;
If you would have me weep, begin the strain,
Then I shall feel your sorrows, feel your pain;
But if your heroes act not what they say,
I sleep or laugh the lifeless scene away.'

To obtain a thorough knowledge of Patrick Henry's character, it is necessary to read Wirt's work on that subject. The speech of Henry on the question of war with England, is a good one upon which to practise, as an exercise in elocution. It requires a pretty high key, rather a rapid rate of utterance, occasionally some quantity, and frequently emphasis. The phrases in which he tells his hearers that they must "appeal to arms," and "fight," should be given on a high key-the name of Deity, with quantity, and a low key.

42. CARDINAL WOLSEY'S SOLILOQUY ON AMBITION.-Shakspeare.

1. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!
This is the state of man: To-day, he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow, blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost;
And when he thinks, good, easy man, full surely
His greatness is a ripening, nips his root;
And then he falls, as I do.

2.

I have ventured,

Like little wanton boys, that swim on bladders,

3.

These many summers in a sea of glory;

But far beyond my depth; my high-blown pride
At length broke under me; and now has left me,
Weary, and old with service, to the mercy

Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.
Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye!
I feel my heart now open'd.

O! how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors!
There are, betwixt that smile he would aspire to,
That sweet aspect of princes, and his ruin,
More pangs and fears, than war or women have;
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to rise again.

"Wolsey's Soliloquy on Ambition," and also his "Farewell Address to Cromwell," should be read or recited in a plaintive manner, on rather a low key, with a slow rate of utterance, and with quantity.

1.

43. CARDINAL WOLSEY'S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO CROM

WELL.-Shakspeare.

Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear

In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,

Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.

Let's dry our eyes; and, thus far, hear me, Cromwell;
And, when I am forgotten, as I shall be,

And sleep in dull, cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say then, I taught thee—
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honor,
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in ;
A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it.

2. Mark but my fall, and that, that ruin'd me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By that
sin, fell the angels; how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee;

3.

Still in thy right hand, carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues.

Be just and fear not.

Let all the ends thou aim'st at, be thy country's,

Thy God's, and truth's; then, if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr! O Cromwell, Cromwell; Had I but serv'd my God, with half the zeal

I serv'd my king, He would not in mine age,

Have left me naked to mine enemies!

"Wolsey's Farewell Address" and his "Soliloquy," are taken from a scene in Henry VIII. The exhortation which the great dramatic poet, through the proud, broken, and remorseful spirit of Cardinal Wolsey, addresses to Cromwell, is no less elevated in moral tone, than it is beautiful in language.

The writer heard the President of Missouri University, Professor J. H. Lathrop, after quoting, in a lecture, the first part of the last verse, say, by way of contrast, and in imitation of Shakspeare's style:

"But if thou plume the wing of power,

And tempt the giddy height, for sordid ends;
I'll drag thee from the heaven of thy ambition,
And thy fall shall be 'like Lucifer's,
Never to rise again.""

44. SPEECH TO JOSEPH.-Judah.

1. Then Judah came near unto him, and said, O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

2. And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

3. And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

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