, 1852.

I profess to feel a strong attachment to the liberty of the United
States; to the constitution and free institutions of the United States;
to the honor, and I may say the glory, of this great Government and
great country.

I feel every injury inflicted upon this country almost as a personal
injury. I blush for every fault which I think I see committed in its
public councils as if they were faults or mistakes of my own.

I know that, at this moment, there is no object upon earth so attracting
the gaze of the intelligent and civilized nations of the earth as this
great Republic. All men look at us, all men examine our course, all good
men are anxious for a favorable result to this great experiment of
republican liberty. We are on a hill and can not be hid. We can not
withdraw ourselves either from the commendation or the reproaches of the
civilized world. They see us as that star of empire which, half a
century ago, was predicted as making its way westward. I wish they may
see it as a mild, placid, though brilliant orb, making its way athwart
the whole heavens, to the enlightening and cheering of mankind; and not
a meteor of fire and blood, terrifying the nations.

GENIUS OF THE WEST.

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, the distinguished American poet. Born at
Haverhill, Mass, December 17, 1807. From his poem, "On receiving an
eagle's quill from Lake Superior." By permission of Messrs.
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Publishers, Boston.

I hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be;
The first low wash of waves, where soon
Shall roll a human sea.

The rudiments of empire here
Are plastic yet and warm;
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form.

Each rude and jostling fragment soon
Its fitting place shall find--
The raw material of a state,
Its muscle and its mind.

And, westering still, the star which leads
The New World in its train
Has tipped with fire the icy spears
Of many a mountain chain.

The snowy cones of Oregon
Are kindling on its way;
And California's golden sands
Gleam brighter in its ray.

GOD SAVE AMERICA.

ROBERT C. WINTHROP, an American statesman and orator. Born in
Boston, Mass., May 12, 1809. From his "Centennial Oration,"
delivered in Boston, 1876.

Instruments and wheels of the invisible governor of the universe! This
is indeed all which the greatest men ever have been, or ev