5 As great might have aspired, and me, though mean, Me miserable! which way shall I fly Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; 30 The lower still I fall, only supreme But say I could repent, and could obtain, By act of grace, my former state; how soon This knows my punisher: therefore as far EXERCISE 117. Eloquence of Sheridan. Public curiosity was scarcely ever so strongly interested as on the day when Mr. Sheridan was to speak on the Begum charge on the impeachment of Mr. Hastings. The avenues leading to the hall were filled with persons of 5 the first distinction, many of them peeresses in full dress, who waited in the open air for upwards of an hour and a half, before the gates were opened, when the crowd pressed so eagerly forward, that many persons had nearly perished. No extract can do justice to this speech; the 10 following is a partial specimen of its power: When we hear the description of the paroxysm, fever, and delirium, into which despair had thrown the natives, when on the banks of the polluted Ganges, panting for death, they tore more widely open the lips of their 15 gaping wounds, to accelerate their dissolution, and while their blood was issuing, presented their ghastly eyes to Heaven, breathing their last and fervent prayer, that the dry earth might not be suffered to drink their blood, but that it might rise up to the throne of God, and rouse the 20 eternal Providence to avenge the wrongs of their country; what motive, could have such influence in their bosom? what mótive!--That which nature, the common parent, plants in the bosom of man, and which, though it may be less active in the Indian than in the Englishman, 25 is still congenial with, and makes part of his being;that feeling which tells him, that man was never made to be the property of man; but that, when through pride and insolence of power, one human creature dares to tyrannize over another, it is a power usurped, and resist30 ance is a duty;-that feeling which tells him, that all power is delegated for the good, not for the injury of the people, and that when it is converted from the original purpose, the compact is broken, and the right is to be resumed; that principle which tells him that resistance to 85 power usurped is not merely a duty which he owes to himself and to his neighbor, but a duty which he owes to his God, in asserting and maintaining the rank which he gave him in the creation! to that common God, who, where he gives the form of man, whatever may be the 40 complexion, gives also the feelings and the rights of man, -that principle, which neither the rudeness of ignorance can stifle, nor the enervation of refinement extinguish !— that principle, which makes it base for a man to suffer when he ought to act, which tending to preserve to the 45 species the original designations of Providence, spurns at the arrogant distinctions of man, and vindicates the independent quality of his race. I The Majesty of Justice, in the eyes of Mr. Hastings, is a being of terrific horror-a dreadful idol, placed in 50 the gloom of graves, accessible only to cringing supplication, and which must be approached with offerings, and worshiped by sacrifice. The Majesty of Mr. Hastings is a being, whose decrees are written with blood, and whose oracles are at once secure and terrible. From 55 such an idol I turn mine eyes with horror—I turn them here to this dignified and high tribunal. where the Majesty of Justice really sits enthroned. Here I perceive the Majesty of Justice in her proper robes of truth and mercy-chaste and simple-accessible and patient-aw60 ful without severity,-inquisitive, without meanness. see her enthroned and sitting in judgment on a great and momentous cause, in which the happiness of millions is involved.-Pardon me, my lords, if I presume to say, that in the decision of this great cause, you are to be en65 vied, as well as venerated. You possess the highest distinction of the human character; for when you render your ultimate voice on this cause, illustrating the dignity of the ancestors from whom you spring-justifying the solemn asseveration which you make-vindicating the 70 people of whom you are a part-and manifesting the intelligence of the times in which you live-you will do such an act of mercy, and blessing to man, as no men but yourselves are able to grant." On the conclusion of Mr. Sheridan's speech, the whole 75 assembly, members, peers, and strangers, involuntarily joined in a tumult of applause, and adopted a mode of expressing their approbation new and irregular in that House, by loudly and repeatedly clapping their hands. A motion was immediately made and carried for an ad20 journment, that the members, who were in a state of delirious insensibility, from the talismanic influence of such powerful eloquence, might have time to collect their scattered senses for the exercises of a sober judgment, This motion was made by Mr. Pitt, who declared that 85 this speech "surpassed all the eloquence of ancient and modern times, and possesses every thing that genius or art could furnish, to agitate and control the human mind." "He has this day," said Mr. Burke, "surprised the 90 thousands who hung with rapture on his accents, by such an array of talents, such an exhibition of capacity, such a display of powers, as are unparalleled in the annals of oratory! a display that reflects the highest honor upon himself-lustre upon letters-renown upon parliament95 glory upon the country. Of all species of rhetoric, of every kind of eloquence that has been witnessed or recorded, either in ancient or modern times: whatever the acuteness of the bar, the dignity of the senate, the solidity of the judgment seat, and the sacred morality of 100 the pulpit, have hitherto furnished, nothing has surpassed, nothing has equalled, what we have this day heard in Westminister hall. No holy seer of religion, no sage, no statesman, no orator, no man of any literary description whatever, has come up in the one instance, 105 to the pure sentiments of morality; or, in the other, to that variety of knowledge, force of imagination, propriety and vivacity of allusion, beauty and elegance of diction, strength and copiousness of style, pathos and sublimity of conception, to which we have this day listened with 110 ardor and admiration. From poetry up to eloquence, there is not a species of composition, of which a complete and perfect specimen might not from that single speech be culled and collected." EXERCISE 118. Believe not these Spirit of the American Revolution.-JOSIAH QUINCY, JR. Be not deceived, my countrymen. venal hirelings, when they would cajole you by their subtilties into submission, or frighten you by their vaporings into compliance. When they strive to flatter you 5 by the terms "moderation and prudence," tell them that calmness and deliberation are to guide the judg ment; courage and intrepidity command the action When they endeavor to make us 'perceive our inabil 66 ity to oppose our mother country," let us boldly answer; 10 In defence of our civil and religious rights, we dare oppose the world; with the God of armies on our side, even the God who fought our fathers' battles, we fear not the hour of trial, though the hosts of our enemies should cover the field like locusts. If this be enthusiasm, we 15 will live and die enthusiasts. Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will threats of a "halter" intimidate. For, under God, we are determined, that wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will die freemen. 20 Well do we know, that all the regalia of this world cannot dignify the death of a villain, nor diminish the ignominy with which a slave shall quit existence. Neither can it taint the unblemished honor of a son of freedom, though he should make his departure on the already pre25 pared gibbet, or be dragged to the newly erected scaffold for execution. With the plaudits of his country, and what is more, the plaudits of his conscience, he will go off the stage. The history of his life his children shall venerate. The virtues of their sire shall excite their 30 emulation. Who has the front to ask, Wherefore do you complain? Who dares assert that every thing worth living for is not lost when a nation is enslaved ? Are not pensioners, stipendiaries, and salary-men, unknown before, 35 hourly multiplying upon us, to riot in the spoils of miserable America? Does not every eastern gale waft us some new insect, even of that devouring kind, which eat up every green thing? Is not the bread taken out of the children's mouths and given unto the dogs? Are not our 40 estates given to corrupt sycophants, without a design, or even a pretence of soliciting our assent; and our lives put into the hands of those whose tender mercies are cruelties? Has not an authority in a distant land, in the most public manner, proclaimed a right of disposing of 15 the all of Americans? In short, what have we to lose? What have we to fear? Are not our distresses more than we can bear? And, to finish all, are not our cities in a time of profound peace, filled with standing armies, to preclude from us that last solace of the wretched-to 50 open their mouths in complaint, and send forth their cries in bitterness of heart? |
