L. Carroll Judson

“ A sacred halo encircles it, that renders it dear to every philanthropist and respected by the whole civilized world. I am aware that his merits cannot be enhanced by eulogy, nor could detraction ever tarnish the glory of his fame. I am aware that the whole magazine of language has been exhausted in his praise. I am aware that talents of the highest order, hearts of the warmest devotion, imaginations of the happiest conception, united with the most refined and thrilling eloquence, have portrayed, in bold and glowing colours, the fair fame of Washington. ”

“ As the genial rays of liberty illuminate the minds of the human family, thrones will be held by a more slender tenure, and monarchies will become more limited if not completely annihilated. In Europe, kingly power has been vibrating for the last century, as if shaken by an earthquake. The love of freedom has never been extinguished in the old world; the same feelings that prompted the pilgrim fathers to tempt the dangers of this western hemisphere, still pervade the bosoms of millions who are writhing under the goring lash of potent sceptres. ”

“ It was the watchword in Heaven before this mighty globe was spoke into existence—its melody will be chanted there through the rolling ages of eternity. This magic word has rallied millions to deeds of noble daring both for good and evil. No language thrills through the soul of a patriot like the watchword of '76—"OUR UNION." Is this still the watchword of the great mass of the American people?—or is the unholy leaven of Dissolution working its fearful progress from demagogues and factionists? Shall our UNION be preserved to millions yet unborn? ”

“ CHARLES CARROLL, OF CARROLLTON.
The fond and faithful parents who have guided to manhood a family of sons whose every action is a source of pleasure and delight, who walk in wisdom’s ways, who prove themselves to be bold, generous, brave, virtuous, and patriotic; whose lives shed new lustre upon the world, and whose achievements, on the battle field or in the senate chamber, place them on the loftiest, proudest pinnacle fame can rear, enjoy a rich, a heavenly consolation, pure as the etherial skies and cheering as the zephyrs of spring. ”

“ Consistency is the crowning glory of meritorious fame. It is a bright jewel in the escutcheon of a name. It sheds a radiating lustre over the actions of men. "Be consistent" was a Roman motto and once guided its sages, heroes and literati in the path of duty—the surest path of safety. Consistency dignifies the man and prepares him for noble and god-like deeds. It is based upon wisdom and discretion—the pilot and helm of the bark of life in navigating the ocean of time. ”

“ JOHN ADAMS.
Genuine moral courage is a sterling quality that ennobles and dignifies the man. It invigorates the mind like an impregning cloud—shedding its gentle dews on the flowers of spring. It is a heavenly spark, animating the immortal soul with the fire of divinity that illuminates the path of rectitude. It is an attribute that opposes all wrong and propels its subject right onward to the fearless performance of all right. It is based upon virtue and equity, and spurns vice in all its borrowed and delusive forms. It courts no servile favours—it fears no earthly scrutiny. ”

“ How dare you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of Heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition!! But if the laboring earth doth not expand her jaws—if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death—yet hear it and tremble! the eye of Heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul and you, though screened from human observation, must be arraigned—must lift up your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of God. ”

“ His memory should be rehearsed by every print in our land; every new press and fount of type should spread, in glowing capitals, the name of the beloved, the illustrious WASHINGTON. The aged sire should impress it on the hearts of the rising generation; the mother should teach it to her lisping babe; the preceptor should point his pupils to this polar star of virtue, goodness and magnanimity; and the friends of union, liberty and order, should read often, carefully and attentively, the biography of the father of our country. ”

“ Many Christians tremble at the thought of being folded in the arms of this friend who performs for us the last—the greatest kind office that can be awarded this side of eternity. Why should we treat death as an enemy? Is he an enemy who delivers us from pain, disappointment, folly, error, misery and all the ills of our earthly pilgrimage? Is he an enemy who transfers us from the land of delusive dreams, the region of phantoms and corroding cares—to an Elysium of substantial joys and enduring bliss? It is a libel on death to call him a foe—a king of terrors—an enemy. ”

“ Charity is a child of heaven—the substratum of philanthropy, the brightest star in the christian’s diadem—the connecting link between man and his Creator—the golden chain that reaches from earth to mansions of bliss. It spurns from its presence the scrofula of green-eyed jealousy—the canker of self-tormenting envy— the tortures of heart-chilling malice, and the typhoid of foaming revenge. It neutralizes and tames the fiercer passions of man and prepares him for that brighter world where this darling attribute reigns triumphant without a rival. ”

“ It is an impartial mirror set in the frame of love embossed with equity and justice. Let broad and universal charity pervade the family of man with its sunbeams of living light—then a blow will be struck for the King of kings that will resound through the wilderness of mind and cause it to bud and blossom as the rose. Then the human race will be rapidly evangelized and made free in the fraternizing gospel of the word—a gospel untrammelled by the inventions and dogmas of men—a gospel crowned with all the glory of original simplicity and heavenly love. ”

“ Permit me, therefore, to remind my countrymen of the blood, the sufferings, the hardships and labour of their ancestors in purchasing the liberty and privileges they might peaceably enjoy. How can they answer it to fame, to honour, to honesty, to posterity, if they do not possess those inestimable blessings with grateful hearts, with purity of morals, and transmit them with safety to the next generation? Nothing is desired but that every man in the community may act up to the dignity of his own proper character. ”

“ The exciting causes of the revolution were exactly calculated to bring him out in all the grandeur of his native greatness. As an advocate, orator, patriot and statesman—he was the colossus of his time. As Grattan said of Pitt—there was something in Patrick Henry that could create, subvert or reform—an understanding, a spirit, an eloquence to summon mankind to society or break the bonds of slavery asunder and rule the wilderness of free minds with unbounded authority—something that could establish or overwhelm empires and strike a blow in the world that should resound through the universe. ”

“ In the full career of life and usefulness—rising on the wings of fame—flushed with hopes of Liberty for his country—pressing right onward toward the goal of freedom—an arrow from the quiver of death pierced his patriotic heart and consigned him to the insatiate tomb near the close of 1779. His dust reposes in peace whilst the lustre of his living examples will continue to shine and enlighten millions yet unborn. ”

“ Had I time and power to trace the fair lines of Washington’s private worth and routine of life, I would present the picture of a man graced with native dignity, reducing all things around him to as perfect a system of order, economy, harmony and peace, as was ever devised by man. It should be chastened with sterling merit and magnanimity, and mellowed with benevolence and charity. It should be enlivened by the richest colours of virtue and consistency, and finished with the finest touches of a master’s hand. ”

“ Like a blazing meteor bursting from the clouds amidst the gloom of midnight darkness, they illuminated our nation with light—the world with glory—raised the star spangled banner and planted the tree of Liberty deep in the soil of Freedom. Noble sons of Columbia! Sages and heroes of the American Revolution! Your names will be held in grateful remembrance through the rolling ages of time. Millions yet unborn will chant your brilliant achievements, your triumphant victories, your unsurpassed wisdom, your god-like actions. ”

“ Revolution is a tornado where prudence seldom enters to neutralize its baneful effects; but when such men as those who constituted the first American congress in Philadelphia combine, men who could command the whirlwind of passion, and conduct the lightning of revenge by the silken cords of reason, and the steel rods of unbending patriotism to a desired and useful destination, revolution is stripped of its bane and is crowned with unfading glory. Such were the signers of the declaration—such was the American revolution. ”

“ As by magic he threw off the cumbrous mass that so long confined his mighty genius and at once became a gigantic and brilliant intellectual man. Nature had so moulded him that the ordinary concerns of life never roused him. Had not the momentous subject of freedom engaged the mind of this bold and noble patriot he might have closed his career with its strongest powers unspent and left his loftiest talents to expire beneath the surface of the quarry from which they sublimely rose in peerless majesty. ”

“ Can there be an American so lost to the feelings which adorn human nature—to the generous pride, the elevation, the dignity of freedom? Is there a man who would not abhor a dependence upon those who have deluged his country in the blood of its inhabitants? ”

“ He then retired from the great theatre of public action in the rich enjoyment of the esteem of a nation of freemen. For thirty years he was spared to enjoy the cheering comforts of domestic felicity and survived all the others who had placed their names upon the Chart of our liberty.
In his retirement he delighted in beholding the onward march of this favored country, prospering under the care of an all-wise Providence—populated by a free and independent people—in rank second to no nation on earth—in enterprise traversing the globe—in genius eclipsing the old world—in talent equal to the best. ”

“ Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation—the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir; she has none. They are meant for us—they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. ”

“ The towering genius of Patrick Henry then burst from embryo into blooming life. From that time his fame spread its expansive wings and soared far above those of gayer plumage but of less strength. A lucrative practice banished want, sunshine friends returned and flashed around him, he leaped upon the flood tide of prosperity. From his childhood he had been a close observer of human nature—the only germ of genius visible in his juvenile character. ”

“ Roger was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. His father, William Sherman, was a respectable farmer, with means too limited to educate his son, and, at an early age, bound him to a shoemaker. Like Franklin, at the age of nineteen, he wandered from his master to seek his fortune, and like him, he had a genius that no shop could confine, no obstacle intimidate, or difficulty paralyze. The course of his mind was onward, upward; like a new and blazing star, illuminating the horizon as it rose. Nature designed him to be great and good ”