and the good-not to acquire power, wealth, honour or fame. With him character-moral character-was everything from the beginning. He always acted from principle-from the highest, holiest religious principle. And by the force of character, he rose in the confidence, admiration and affections of his countrymen. Neither birth, nor fortune, nor family alliances contributed, in the least, to his exaltation. It was all the result of his own good conduct, sound sense, indefatigable diligence, uniform kindness, invincible integrity, devoted patriotism, moral courage, Christian magnanimity—and of that determined resolution, which is ever the attribute of superior génius and real greatness, to become equal to every occasion, emergency and enterprise which he was providentially summoned to encounter or to direct. There have been many ambitious Cæsars-many illus trious patriots-many talented demagogues-many splendid traitors—whose glory and whose infamy are recorded in the everlasting page of history. Our country has produced a noble band of heroic warriors and gifted sages and accomplished statesmen-but, hitherto, no Cæsar, and but one Arnold. OUR WORLD HAS PRODUCED BUT ONE WASHINGTON. NOTE. The foregoing Address, though prepared on short notice, and delivered when he was somewhat unwell, we have ever regarded as one of the author's ablest efforts. It was uttered in the presence of a large and appreciative audience, the very elite of Nashville, and his whole manner in its delivery was one of glowing eloquence-inspired by the greatness of his subject and the greatness of the occasion, both of which he deeply felt. As stated in Sprague's Annals, when he had been speaking nearly an hour, and the bells rang for dinner, a prominent gentleman of the city, and withal a special friend and admirer of the Doctor, concluded to give him a gentle hint of the lapse of time, which was sometimes forgotten in the ardour of his public discourses. Occupying a seat immediately in front, he pulled out his watch and held it up until it caught the speaker's eye. Dr. Lindsley, as soon as he caught a view of the friendly monitor, paused for an instant; then raising himself up in an attitude of indescribable majesty, he said:"Sir, this is an occasion which comes but once in a hundred years, and the man who cannot afford to lose his dinner, to-day, is no patriot." After a spontaneous thrill of applause through the audience, he resumed his unfinished sentence, and went on with the discourse, which was heard with increasing delight to the close. We remember well how it closed. It was a rare thing for him to quote a line of poetry: and that which he used on this occasion never appeared with the printed Address. But we find it in the manuscript copy, and we vividly recall the effect upon his audience, when, after pronouncing the words, "Our world has produced but one Washington," he repeated the following lines, attributed to Byron :— AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. IN FIVE PARTS. PART FIRST. AN ADDRESS TO FARMERS AND MECHANICS.* TERS. THE three most important and useful classes of men in our world, are MECHANICS, FARMERS and SCHOOLMASThese are equally essential and indispensable in every stage and condition of civilized society. They would have existed and been honoured in Paradise, had the first parents of the human race never lost their primeval rectitude and glory. Of the three, indeed, the mechanic may justly claim priority in the order of time, if not pre-eminence in dignity and utilitarian importance. If the Mosaic history be true-and I accept it literallyAdam must have been a mechanic before he became a gardener or a husbandman. He could neither dig nor plant, nor trim his shrubbery, nor gather in his fruits, nor grind his corn, nor bake his bread, without some rude implements which required mechanical skill in the construction. The very first occupation, therefore, of the first man must have been strictly mechanical. And from the commencement of human labour to the present day, * Delivered at Nashville, October 5, 1842. |