spont. She was conquered by her own factions--she fell by the
hands of her own people. The man of Macedonia did not the work of
destruction. It was already done by her own corruptions, banishments,
and dissensions. Rome! whose eagles glanced in the rising and setting
sun, where and what is she! The Eternal City yet remains, proud even in
her desolation, noble in her decline, venerable in the majesty of
religion, and calm as in the composure of death.

"The malaria has but traveled in the parts won by the destroyers. More
than eighteen centuries have mourned over the loss of the empire. A
mortal disease was upon her before Caesar had crossed the Rubicon; and
Brutus did not restore her health by the deep probings of the
senate-chamber. The Goths, and Vandals, and Huns, the swarms of the
North, completed only what was begun at home. Romans betrayed Rome. The
legions were bought and sold, but the people offered the tribute-money.

"And where are the republics of modern times, which cluster around
immortal Italy? Venice and Genoa exist but in name. The Alps, indeed,
look down upon the brave and peaceful Swiss in their native fastnesses;
but the guaranty of their freedom is in their weakness, and not in their
strength. The mountains are not easily crossed, and the valleys are not
easily retained.

"When the invader comes, he moves like an avalanche, carrying
destruction in his path. The peasantry sink before him. The country,
too, is too poor for plunder, and too rough for a valuable conquest.
Nature presents her eternal barrier on every side, to check the
wantonness of ambition. And Switzerland remains with her simple
institutions, a military road to climates scarcely worth a permanent
possession, and protected by the jealousy of her neighbors.

"We stand the latest, and if we fall, probably the last experiment of
self-government by the people. We have begun it under circumstances of
the most auspicious nature. We are in the vigor of youth. Our growth has
never been checked by the oppression of tyranny. Our Constitutions never
have been enfeebled by the vice or the luxuries of the world. Such as we
are, we have been from the beginning: simple, hardy, intelligent,
accustomed to self-government and self-respect.

"The Atlantic rolls between us and a formidable foe. Within our own
territory, stretching through many degrees of latitude, we have the
choice of many products, and many means of independence. The government
is m