dom shall be established by Congress everywhere, at least beyond the local limits of the states. Thus, sir, now standing at the very grave of freedom in Kansas and Nebraska, I lift myself to the vision of that happy resurrection, by which freedom will be secured, not only in these territories, but everywhere under the national government. More clearly than ever before, I now penetrate that "All-Hail-Hereafter" when slavery must disappear. Proudly I discern the flag of my country, as it ripples in every breeze, at last become in reality, as in name, the Flag of Freedom, undoubted, pure, and irresistible. Am I not right, then, in calling this bill the best on which Congress ever acted ? Sorrowfully I bend before the wrong you are about to commit. Joyfully I welcome all the promises of the future. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.1 1812-. From Appendix to "The Constitutional View." 80. ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN FLAG. THE stars, as a matter of course, represent states. The origin of the stripes, I think, if searched out, would be found to be a little curious. All I know upon that point is, that on the 4th day of July, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was carried, a committee was appointed by Congress, consisting of Mr. Jefferson, Dr. Franklin, and John Adams, to prepare a device for a seal of the United States. This seal, as reported, or the device in full, as reported, was never adopted. But in it we see the emblems, in part, which are still preserved in the flag. The stripes, or lines, which, on Mr. Jefferson's original plan, were to designate the six quarterings of the shield, as signs of the six countries from which our ancestors came, are now, I believe, considered as representations of the old thirteen states, and with most persons the idea of a shield is lost sight of. You perceive that, by drawing six lines or stripes on a shield figure, it will leave seven spaces of the original color, and of course give thirteen apparent stripes; hence the idea of their being all intended to represent the old thirteen states. My opinion is, that this was the origin of the stripes. Mr. Jefferson's quartered shield for a seal device was seized upon as a national emblem, that was put upon the flag. We have now the stars as well as the stripes. When each of these was adopted I cannot say; but the flag, as it now is, was designed by Captain Reid, as I tell you, and adopted by Congress. 1 One of the most eminent public men of the south; a native of Georgia. BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS. BENJAMIN RUSH.' 1745-1813. From "Essays, Literary, Moral," etc. 81. THE LIFE OF EDWARD DRINKER -A CENTENARIAN. He saw and heard more of those events which are measured by time, than have ever been seen or heard since the age of the patriarchs ; he saw the same spot of earth which at one period of his life was covered with wood and bushes, and the receptacle of beasts and birds of prey, afterwards become the seat of a city not only the first in wealth and arts in the new, but rivalling, in both, many of the first cities in the old world. He saw regular streets where he once pursued a hare; he saw churches rising upon morasses where he had often heard the croaking of frogs; he saw wharves and warehouses where he had often seen Indian savages draw fish from the river for their daily subsistence; and he saw ships of every size and use in those streams where he had often seen nothing but Indian canoes. He saw the first treaty ratified between the newly confederated powers of America and the ancient monarchy of France, with all the formalities of parchment and seals, on the same spot, probably, where he once saw William Penn ratify his first and last treaty with the Indians, without the formality of pen, ink, or paper. He saw the beginning and end of the empire of Great Britain in Pennsylvania. He had been the subject of seven successive crowned heads, and afterwards became a willing citizen of a republic; for he embraced the liberties and independence of America in his withered arms, and triumphed in the last years of his life in the salvation of his country. 1 A native of Pennsylvania, eminent as a writer, and especially as a teacher and practitioner of medicine. JOHN MARSHALL. 1755-1835. (Manual, p. 490.) From the "Address to Congress on the Death of Washington." THE melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt has been rendered but too certain. Our Washington is no more! The hero, the patriot, and the sage of America — the man on whom, in times of danger, every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed lives now only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people. Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head of our armies, we have seen him convert the sword into the ploughshare, and sink the soldier in the citizen. When the debility of our federal system had become manifest, and the bonds which connected this vast continent were dissolving, we have seen him the chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution, which, by preserving the Union, will, I trust, substantiate and perpetuate those blessings, which our Revolution had promised to bestow. In obedience to the general voice of his country calling him to preside over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the retirement he loved, and in a season more stormy and tempestuous than war itself, with calm and wise determination, pursue the true interests of the nation, and contribute, more than any other could contribute, to the establishment of that system of policy which will, I trust, yet preserve our peace, our honor, and our independence. JOHN ARMSTRONG. 1759-1843. From "The Life of General Wayne." 83. WAYNE'S MANOEUVRE TO ESCAPE CORNWALLIS. IN executing this order, after driving in the enemy's pickets, exterior and interior, Wayne very unexpectedly found himself within less than fifty yards of the whole British army, drawn up in order of battle, and already pushing forward flank corps, to envelop him. Moments decide the fate of battles; and the mind of our hero, prompt as firm, seeing at a glance the whole extent of his danger, and knowing that boldness only could afford a sufficient security against it, resorted to a charge. This was made with the vigor and gallantry habitual to the corps, and with the most decided effect upon the enemy. The flank movements, so menacing to the assailants, were not merely suspended, but recalled, while his centre was held in a state of great inactivity. Availing himself of these new and favorable circumstances, Wayne now retreated as rapidly as he had advanced, and thus contrived to give to the whole movement the character of a manœuvre intended to draw the British army into an ambuscade · —an impression so decidedly made upon the British general, that all pursuit of the American corps was forbidden. 1 An officer of the revolutionary army, and a conspicuous actor in the war of 1812; has written chiefly on military affairs. CHARLES CALDWELL.1 1772-1853. From his "Autobiography." 84. A LECTURE OF DR. RUSH. Ar length, however, though the class of the winter, all told, amounted to less than a hundred, a sufficient number had arrived to induce the professors to commence their lectures; and the introductory of Dr. Rush was a performance of deep and touching interest, and never, I think, to be forgotten (while his memory endures), by any one who listened to it, and was susceptible of the impression it was calculated to make. It consisted in a well-written and graphical description of the terrible sweep of the late pestilence; the wild dismay and temporary desolation it had produced; the scenes of family and individual suffering and woe he had witnessed during its ravages; the mental dejection, approaching despair, which he himself had experienced, on account of the entire failure of his original mode of practice in it, and the loss of his earliest patients (some of them personal friends); the joy he felt on the discovery of a successful mode of treating it; the benefactions which he had afterwards the happiness to confer ; and the gratulations with which, after the success of his practice had become known, he was often received in sick and afflicted families. The discourse, though highly colored, and marked by not a few figures of fancy and bursts of feeling, was, notwithstanding, sufficiently fraught with substantial matter to render it no less instructive than it was fascinating. 1 A native of North Carolina; prominent as a physician and controversialist. THOMAS H. BENTON. 1783-1858. (Manual, p. 487.) From the "Thirty Years' View of the United States Senate." 85. THE CHARACTER OF MACON.1 He was above the pursuit of wealth, but also above dependence and idleness, and, like an old Roman of the elder Cato's time, worked in the fields at the head of his slaves in the intervals of public duty, and did not cease this labor until advancing age rendered him unable to stand the hot sun of summer. I think it was the summer of 1817, — that was the last time (he told me) he tried it, and found the sun too hot for him, then sixty years of age, a senator, and the refuser of all office. How often I think of him, when I see at Washington robustious men going through a scene of supplication, tribula 1 Nathaniel Macon, United States senator from North Carolina. tion, and degradation, to obtain office, which the salvation of the soul does not impose upon the vilest sinner! His fields, his flocks, and his herds, yielded an ample supply of domestic productions. A small crop of tobacco three hogsheads when the season was good, two when bad - purchased the exotics which comfort and necessity required, and which the farm did not produce. He was not rich, but rich enough to dispense hospitality and charity, to receive all guests in his house, from the president to the day laborer no other title being necessary to enter his house but that of an honest man; and above all, he was rich enough to pay as he went, and never to owe a dollar to any man. He always wore the same dress, that is to say, a suit of the same material, cut, and color, superfine navy-blue, the whole suit from the same piece, and in the fashion of the time of the Revolution, and always replaced by a new one before it showed age. He was neat in his person, always wore fine linen, a fine cambric stock, a fine fur hat with a brim to it, fair top-boots- the boot outside of the pantaloons, on the principle that leather was stronger than cloth. He was an habitual reader and student of the Bible, a pious and religious man, and of the "Baptist persuasion," as he was accustomed to express it. ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE. 1803-1848. (Manual, pp. 490, 505.) From "The Life of Commodore Decatur. 86. DECATUR'S EXAMPLE. It will not be forgotten, either abroad or at home, that a country which once produced a Decatur may produce others like him. In this view also, he still survives to animate the youthful aspirant for naval honors by the splendor of his example. Let the youth of our navy keep this high mark steadily before them, aiming to be like Decatur in all things but his end, and, undismayed by the perfection of their model, find encouragement in the assurance contained in the familiar ancient motto, "He will reach the highest, who aims at the summit." Let them approach as near as they may to their high mark, treading after him, though with unequal steps, even if they reach not the lofty eminence which he attained, who revived in our days much of what was best in chivalry, and won for himself the proud titles of "Terror of the Foe;" "Champion of Christendom; Bayard of the Seas." "" 66 |