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wholly without advantage. It calls forth the energies of character, it favors the manly virtues, it gives elevation to sentiment, it produces national union, generates patriotic love, and infuses a just sense of national honor. If, then, we are doomed to war, let us meet it as we

ought; and when the hour of trial comes, let it find us a band of brothers.

Sir, I have done, and I pray to Almighty God that this day's debate may eventuate in the prosperity, the freedom, the peace, the power and the glory of our country.

ORATION ON HAMILTON.

This oration was pronounced at the porch of the old Trinity Church, over the body of General Hamilton, at the time of its interment, July 14th, 1804.*

If on this sad, this solemn occasion, I should endeavor to move your commiseration, it would be doing injustice to that sensibility, which has been so generally and so justly manifested. Far from attempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own; and yet, I fear, that, instead of the language of a public speaker, you will hear only the lamentations of a wailing friend. But I will struggle with my bursting heart, to portray that heroic spirit, which has

flown to the mansions of bliss.

Students of Columbia-he was in the ardent pursuit of knowledge in your academic shades,

when the first sound of the American war

of strength for its own preservation; and that in consequence we should share the fate of chy to despotism. We hoped better things. many other republics, and pass through anarWe confided in the good sense of the American people; and, above all, we trusted in the protecting providence of the Almighty. On this important subject he never concealed his opinthe purity of his heart, he bore it as it were in Knowing his hand, exposing to every passenger its inmost him to censure from misrepresentation. His This generous indiscretion subjected designs; and yet you all know how strenuous, speculative opinions were treated as deliberate how unremitting were his efforts to establish opinion was wrong, pardon, O! pardon that and to preserve the constitution. If, then, his single error, in a life devoted to your service.

ion. He disdained concealment.

recesses.

At the time when our government was orcalled him to the field. A young and unpro-ganized, we were without funds, though not tected volunteer, such was his zeal, and so brilliant his service, that we heard his name before we knew his person. It seemed as if God had

called him suddenly into existence, that he might assist to save a world!

without resources. To call them into action, and establish order in the finances, Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensive information, and above all, he sought for sterling, Hamilton. The system then adopted, has been incorruptible integrity. All these he found in the subject of much animadversion. If it be

nothing human is perfect. Recollect the cir

cumstances of the moment-recollect the con-
flict of opinion-and, above all, remember that
of the people.
a minister of a republic must bend to the will
The administration which

The penetrating eye of Washington soon perceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom. By that excellent judge of men, he was selected as an aid, and thus he be-not without a fault, let it be remembered that came early acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more important scenes of our revolution. At the siege of York, he pertinaciously insisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope. He stormed the redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemy perished. His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chief, checked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting. Here closed his military career.

Shortly after the war, your favor-no, your discernment, called him to public office. You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he there assisted in forming that constitution, which is now the bond of our union, the shield of our defence, and the source of our prosperity. In signing the compact, he expressed his apprehension that it did not contain sufficient means

• See New York Evening Post, July 16th, 1804; and Coleman's Collection of Facts, relative to the death of Hamilton,

page 41.

Washington formed was one of the most effi-
cient, one of the best that any country was
ever blest with. And the result was a rapid
advance in power and prosperity, of which
there is no example in any other age or nation.
known.
The part which Hamilton bore is universally

which he believed to be sincere, led him to trust
His unsuspecting confidence in professions,
too much to the undeserving. This exposed
him to misrepresentation. He felt himself
obliged to resign. The care of a rising family,
and the narrowness of his fortune, made it a
duty to return to his profession for their sup-
port. But though he was compelled to abandon
public life, never, no, never for a moment did
he abandon the public service. He never lost
sight of your interests. I declare to you, be-

fore that God, in whose presence we are now especially assembled, that in his most private and confidential conversations, the single objects of discussion and consideration were your freedom and happiness. You well remember the state of things which again called forth Washington from his retreat to lead your armies. You know that he asked for Hamilton to be his second in command. That venerable sage well knew the dangerous incidents of a military profession, and he felt the hand of time pinching life at its source. It was probable that he would soon be removed from the scene, and that his second would succeed to the command. He knew by experience the importance of that place and he thought the sword of America might safely be confided to the hand which now lies cold in that coffin. Oh! my fellow-citizens, remember this solemn testimonial that he was not ambitious. Yet he was charged with ambition, and wounded by the imputation, when he laid down his command, he declared, in the proud independence of his soul, that he never would accept of any office, unless in a foreign war he should be called on to expose his life in defence of his country. This determination was immovable. It was his fault that his opinions and his resolutions could not be changed. Knowing his own firm purpose, he was indignant at the charge that he sought for place or power. He was ambitious only for glory, but he was deeply solicitous for you. For himself he feared nothing; but he feared that bad men might, by false professions, acquire your confidence, and abuse it to your ruin.

Brethren of the Cincinnati-there lies our chief! Let him still be our model. Like him, after long and faithful public services, let us cheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! he was mild and gentle. In him

there was no offence; no guile. His generoue hand and heart were open to all.

Gentlemen of the bar-you have lost your brightest ornament. Cherish and imitate his example. While, like him, with justifiable, and with laudable zeal, you pursue the interests of your clients, remember, like him, the eternal principle of justice.

Fellow-citizens-you have long witnessed his professional conduct, and felt his unrivalled eloquence. You know how well he performed the duties of a citizen-you know that he never courted your favor by adulation or the sacrifice of his own judgment. You have seen him contending against you, and saving your dearest interests, as it were, in spite of yourselves. And you now feel and enjoy the benefits resulting from the firm energy of his conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of my departed friend. I charge you to protect his fame. It is all he has left-all that these poor orphan children will inherit from their father. But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to you also. Let it be the test by which to examine those who solicit your favor. Disregarding professions, view their conduct, and on a doubtful occasion ask, Would Hamilton have done this thing?

On this last

You all know how he perished. scene I cannot, I must not dwell. It might excite emotions too strong for your better judg ment. Suffer not your indignation to lead to any act which might again offend the insulted majesty of the laws. On his part, as from his lips, though with my voice-for his voice you will hear no more-let me entreat you to respect yourselves.

And now, ye ministers of the everlasting God, perform your holy office, and commit these ashes of our departed brother to the bosom of the grave.

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER.

Or those learned and eloquent men, who belonged to the Maryland bar, during the latter portion of the last and the beginning of the present century, no one was more justly celebrated than General Harper. He was a native of Spottsylvania county, Virginia, where he was born in the year 1765. His parents removed, during his childhood, to Granville, in North Carolina. From this time until his appearance in the American service as a soldier in a troop of horse under General Greene, the record of his life is wanting. He was then but fifteen years old. At the age of twenty he entered the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, where, while perfecting his course, he acted as a tutor to some of the less advanced classes. In September, 1785, he received his first degree, choosing as the subject of his discourse, The Proper Objects of Education.* Soon after leaving college he embarked for Charleston, South Carolina, and after experiencing a boisterous and stormy passage, arrived at that place, "a stranger, with only a few dollars in his possession." Through the kindness of a gentleman, of whose son he had been a teacher while at Princeton, he was enabled to enter upon the study of law. So rapid was his improvement that he commenced practice in a year, and with a view of obtaining a larger sphere for his professional operations, he removed to the interior of the State. Here he became distinguished as a powerful political writer, and at a later period, was elected to the legislature of the State. On his retirement from this office, he was delegated to the lower house of the United States Congress, in which body he gained the enviable distinction of being an "earnest supporter of the measures of Washington, and a devoted, fearless friend of his country."

In the animated and protracted discussion which followed the publication of the Treaty of 1794, General Harper took a prominent part. During the winter of the next year he published an elaborate address to his constituents, giving his reasons for approving the measure. After pointing out its merits, and answering with ability the objections of its opponents, he concludes:-" Such are the reasons which have induced me to believe, that the treaty in question is proper and expedient.' Whenever it comes before us I shall give my voice for its going fully into effect; convinced that it is consistent with the honor and conducive to the interest and happiness of my country; of that country among whose citizens and whose sons it is my boast and my pride to be numbered, and to which it is my highest ambition to be useful." †

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In May, 1797, he published his Observations on the Dispute between the United States and France, and during the same month delivered a masterly speech on the necessity of resisting the encroachments of the latter nation. He continued in Congress during the three succeeding years, when, on the accession of President Jefferson, he retired for a time from public life; and, having married the daughter of Charles Carroll of Maryland, he removed to that State, and settled at Baltimore. Here he again commenced the practice of the law. His great professional qualifications were now brought into operation. In 1805, he was associated with Luther Martin

* See New Jersey Gazette, of October 10th, 1785.

+ Select Works of Robert Goodloe Harper, vol. 1, page 41.

and Joseph Hopkinson, as counsel for Judge Chase, in the celebrated trial which resulted in the acquittal of that officer on all the charges in his impeachment.

In 1812, he was a member of the House of Representatives, from his adopted State. The following year he delivered the eulogistic speech in honor of the Russian victories, and soon after another similar oration on the Recent Triumphs of the Cause of Mankind in Germany.* About this time he held the rank of General, and distinguished himself honorably, in repelling the attack of the British on Baltimore.

In the colonization of Africa, he took an active interest. One of the reports of the Society formed for that object, which was prepared by him, contains an elaborate exposition of the merits of the system. He viewed the plan of colonization as the only method by which the mischiefs of slavery could be lessened, and cherished the hope, that the day would come when the scourge of slavery would no longer be felt in the land, when the rod of chastisement should be withdrawn, and all voices should join in the song of freedom. "The alarming danger of cherishing in our bosom a distinct nation," he says, "which can never become incorporated with us, while it rapidly increases in numbers, and improves in intelligence; learning from us the arts of peace and war, the secret of its own strength, and the talent of combining and directing its force; a nation which must ever be hostile to us, from feeling and interest, because it can never incorporate with us, nor participate in the advantages we enjoy; the danger of such a nation in our bosom needs not to be pointed out to any reflecting mind. It speaks not only to our understanding, but to our very senses; and however it may be derided by some, or overlooked by others, who have not the ability or the time, or do not give themselves the trouble, to reflect on and estimate properly the force and extent of those great moral and physical causes, which prepare gradually, and at length bring forth, the most terrible convulsions in civil society; it will not be viewed without deep and awful apprehensions by any who shall bring sound minds, and some share of political knowledge and sagacity, to the serious consideration of the subject. Such persons will give their most serious attention to any proposition which has for its object the eradication of this terrible mischief, lurking in our vitals." +

In 1824, Mr. Harper advocated, in a powerful speech, the connection of the waters of the Ohio and the Chesapeake, by a canal through the District of Columbia. This speech was soon after published, together with a reply to some of the objections of the opponents of the scheme. The welfare of his adopted city always won his earnest attention, and although actively employed in his professional duties, he became identified with every project of public utility which was devised to increase the power and prosperity of the State.

On the fourteenth of January, 1825, he died. "He dropped down dead," says Wirt, “and it is said by his physician, died probably before he reached the floor. He had no recent warning of the approach of death: on the contrary, he had been unusually well for some time past. On Thursday (the day previous to his decease), he was well in court, and made one of the best arguments he ever made in his life-an argument three hours long. I met him again in the afternoon, at a watchmaker's, and he told me that he did not experience the slightest inconvenience from his exertions in speaking in the morning, and that he never felt better. That night he was at a ball, and, I am told, was uncommonly gay and agreeable. On Friday morning he was again well, and had eaten his breakfast as usual, and was standing up before the fire, reading a newspaper, when death struck him, in the manner I have mentioned." His death was deeply felt in the community in which he had lived, at the bar of which he was such a distinguished ornament; and the nation mourned one of its purest and most enlightened patriots. §

* This speech was delivered at Annapolis, Maryland, on the 20th of January, 1814, and subsequently published.

+ Annual Report of the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States, 1823. North American Review, vol. 18, page 62.

Extract from a letter of William Wirt to his daughter, written two days after the death of General Harper.-Ken redy's Life of Wirt, vol. 2, page 195.

See Washington National Journal of January 17th, 1825.

THE AGGRESSIONS OF FRANCE.

enemies' goods out of neutral ships, which Britain enjoys, and France by her treaty with us has given up. In these two points, it is the scope and object of the amendment to recommend, that the two nations should be placed on the same footing. Hence the amendment is to be considered under two points of view; first, the recommendation itself; and secondly, the thing recommended.

As to the recommendation itself, I ask, is it constitutional-is it useful-is it politic? With respect to its constitutionality, every

In 1797, after the refusal of the French Di- | in that of France; and to the right of taking rectory to receive Mr. Pinckney, the minister of the United States, President Adams called an extra session of Congress to take the subject into consideration. On the sixteenth of May of that year, he delivered a speech before both Houses of Congress, in which he expressed in strong terms his great disapprobation of the indignity offered to the United States; and on the twenty-second day following, an answer to his speech was reported in the House of Repre-body knows, that the power of negotiation is sentatives, responding to his sentiments. An amendment, however, was proposed, expressive of an opinion that the House viewed the conduct of the Directory as less reprehensible than it had been represented by the President, and recommending conciliatory measures as the basis of the negotiations about to be entered into with France.

On the twenty-ninth of May, the amendment being under consideration, Mr. Harper spoke as follows:

MP. CHAIRMAN: At the time the interruption took place on Saturday, by the unfortunate indisposition of the Speaker, I had drawn near to the close of those observations, with which at that time I intended to trouble the committee. I shall now resume, as nearly as possible, the same train of remarks, and bring them to a conclusion as speedily as possible. As more time, however, is now afforded to me, I will take a range somewhat more extensive than I had prescribed to myself on the former day, endeavoring, at the same time, to avoid every thing, not strictly relative to the question on the amendment, now under consideration.

given wholly to the President by the constitution, and that of making treaties to the President and Senate. Can the House of Representatives control or direct that power? Can it instruct the President in matters, which the constitution has intrusted solely and exclusively to his judgment? Shall it undertake to instruct him-will he be bound to obey those instructions? Should he think fit to pursue a different course, will the House be justified by the constitution and their duty in withholding supplies, and in leaving the country without defence? Do gentlemen foresee the dilemma, which they are preparing for themselves and for the House? a dilemma in which they must choose between pride and duty, between supporting the executive in measures adopted against their advice, and leaving the country defenceless, at the mercy of all who may choose to assail it? What possible effect can this interference have, but to lay

the foundations of a schism between the different departments of government?

But admitting such a recommendation to be conformable to the constitution, in what is it useful? Is it to dispose the executive to treat? If so, it is useless, for he already has that disposition, and has strongly declared it in his speech to both Houses. He has declared it as his resolution "to institute a fresh attempt at negotiation, and to promote and accelerate an accommodation, provided one can be made on terms compatible with the rights, duties, interests, and honor of the nation." He has dethoughclared, that if we have committed "errors, and these can be demonstrated, we shall be willing shall be willing, on conviction, to redress them." to correct them. If we have done injuries, we Can there be a spirit more conciliatory-or would gentlemen wish to see the negotiations conducted on other principles ?

Mr. Harper here observed, that he should go a little out of his way, in order to notice and refute some positions laid down by gentlemen in favor of the amendment, which, wholly irrelevant to the present question, would have a tendency, if allowed to pass uncontradicted, to render the people discontented with the government. Having concluded his remarks upon this subject, he proceeded thus:

The scope and object of this amendment is to recommend it to the President, to offer certain concessions to France, in the negotiations which he has declared it his intention to commence. These concessions are understood to relate to the list of contraband, which is more extensive, as stated by the British treaty, than

Is it to give information to the executive, to point out the course which the public good requires to be taken? But do gentlemen imagine that the executive is ignorant of the public interests, or less acquainted with it than the House? Is it not notorious that bodies of this kind are always unfit for negotiation? Have not the people declared it, by placing that

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