On The Contrary, There Is
Something In The Frequent, Fond Recurrence Of Mankind To This
Principle, Among The Freest People,
In their best times and in their
worst dangers, which leads me to believe, that it has a very deep
Hold
in human nature itself - an excellent basis for a government to have.
But, indeed, Sir, the main question is the due distribution of powers
in a Federal Union - a question I dare not touch to-night, but which I
may be prepared to say something on before the vote is taken. The
principle itself seems to me to be capable of being so adapted as to
promote internal peace and external security, and to call into action a
genuine, enduring, and heroic patriotism. It is a fruit of this
principle that makes the modern Italian look back with sorrow and pride
over a dreary waste of seven centuries to the famous field of Legnano;
it was this principle kindled the beacons which yet burn on the rocks
of Uri; it was this principle that broke the dykes of Holland and
overwhelmed the Spanish with the fate of the Egyptian oppressor. It is
a principle capable of inspiring a noble ambition and a most salutary
emulation. You have sent your young men to guard your frontier. You
want a principle to guard your young men, and thus truly defend your
frontier. For what do good men who make the best soldiers fight? For a
line of scripture or chalk line - for a text or for a pretext?
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