ted being in the great chain of humanity, and that, while
we are not selfishly independent of the past, so also, by equal
affinity, we are connected with and control the fate of those who are to
succeed us in the drama of the world.

The Time that merges in Eternity, sinks like a drop in the ocean, but
the deeds of that Time, like the drop in the deep, are again exhaled and
fitted for new uses; so that although the Time be dead, the acts thereof
are immortal--for the achieved action never perishes. That which was
wrought, in innocence or wrong, is eternal in its results or
influences.

This reflection inculcates a profound lesson of our responsibility. It
teaches us the value of assembling to look over the account of the past;
to separate the good from the false; to winnow the historical harvest we
may have reaped; to survey the heavens, and find our place on the ocean
after the storm. And if such conduct is correct in the general concerns
of private life, how much more is it proper when we remember the duty we
owe to the founders of great principles,--to the founders of great
states,--of great states that have grown into great nations! In this
aspect the principle rises to a dignity worthy our profoundest respect.
History is the garnered treasure of the past, and it is from the glory
or shame of that past, that nations, like individuals, take heart for
the coming strife, or sink under irresistible discouragement.

Is it not well, then, that we, the people of this large country, divided
as we are in separate governments, should assemble, at proper seasons,
to celebrate the foundations of our time-honored commonwealths; and,
while each state casts its annual tribute on the altar of our country,
each should brighten its distinctive symbols, before it merges their
glory in that great constellation of American nations, which, in the
political night that shrouds the world, is the only guiding sign for
unfortunate but hopeful humanity!

* * * * *

When the Reformation in England destroyed the supremacy of the Roman
Church, and the Court set the example of a new faith, it may readily be
supposed, that the people were sorely taxed when called on to select
between the dogmas they had always cherished, and those they were
authoritatively summoned to adopt. The age was not one either of free
discussion or of printing and publication. Oral arguments, and not
printed appeals, were the only means o