14 THE PATRIOT'S DUTY. 4. THE PATRIOT'S DUTY. THE present situation of our country calls for the active patriotism, the united efforts, and the persevering zeal of every true friend to its welfare and independence. We are engaged in a war with a nation that acknowledges no other law than its own power; no other rights than such as proceed from its own will; no justice but such as is obtained by submission. The nature of its government is insolent, cruel, and despotic; and though it has heaped countless injuries on our country, yet there are found among us men who call themselves Americans friends of peace, the disciples of Washington - who say we have no cause of war; that Great Britain has done us no wrong; that her numerous spoliations, her unceasing aggressions, were merely the exercise of her own rights; and that her piratical maritime system is the acknowledged law of nations. - the Gracious Heaven! where sleeps the shade of Washington, while these men thus dare prostitute his name? Disciples of Washington! They have not a single spark of the ethereal fire, the patriotic zeal, that warmed his breast. He loved his country above all others; he cherished her liberties and independence; he never looked with indifference upon the violation of her rights; palliated or excused the attack upon her honor. Disciples of Washington! He promoted a spirit of concord, enjoined obedience to the laws, confidence in the general government, and with his dying breath adjured his countrymen to preserve indissoluble the union of the states. They fo THE PATRIOT'S DUTY. 15 ment jealousies, weaken the obligation of the laws, and, by every means in their power, excite disaffection and resistance to the general government. Theythese men who vauntingly style themselves the peace party, the friends of commerce, the disciples of Washington are at war with every sentiment that reigned in the bosom of that great and good man with every principle of our independence - with every measure in defence of our rights and honor. Fellow-citizens, we are at war with England for the security and protection of our most precious rights and interests. Violation after violation, insult upon insult, had we borne for nearly twenty years, till there was an accumulation of wrongs and injuries, which could no longer be endured without the sacrifice of every virtuous and honorable sentiment. If the blessings of liberty be dear to us, if we value the noble heritage of independence, won by the valor and blood of the fathers of our Revolution, and transmitted to us in all its perfection and glory, we must support our government in a vigorous prosetion of the war, till we obtain complete redress of all our wrongs, restitution of our plundered property, liberation of our enslaved countrymen, and respect for our maritime rights and independence. Among Americans there should be but one voice on this subject, whatever may be our difference of opinion on local concerns. Let us then rally round our government, support the friends of the Constitution and of independence, indignantly frown upon every attempt to dismember the Union or truckle to the enemy. We fight under the banner of the Union of the States, the Freedom of the Seas, the Independence of our Country. Here let us take our stand firm on this rock erect the citadel of our liberties; and though the storms of faction beat against its front, though treason attempt to sap its foundation, though the enemy assail its portals, we shall gloriously triumph, avenge our wrongs, secure our rights, and save our country. A GOOD sword and a trusty hand, A merry heart and true; King James's men shall understand And have they fixed the where and when? Here's twenty thousand Cornish men Will know the reason why. And shall they scorn Tre, Pol, and Pen, There's twenty thousand Cornish men Out spake their captain brave and bold; Though London Tower were Michael's hold, We'd set Trelawney free. We'll cross the Tamar hand to hand; The Severn is no stay; * Trelawney was one of the bishops committed to the Tower by James II. With one and all, and hand in hand, And when we come to London wall - Trelawney he may die, But twenty thousand Cornish bold And shall they scorn Tre, Pol, and Pen, 17 6. BLANKETS AND TOP-BOOTS FOR THE CANNIBALS. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is with feel ings of mingled pleasure and regret that I appear before you of pleasure, to find that this excellent and world-wide-known society is in so promising a condition; and of regret, that you have not chosen a worthier chairman; in fact, one who is more capable than myself of dealing with a subject of so vital importance as this. But, although I may be unworthy of the honor, I am proud to state that I have been a subscriber to this society from its commencement; feeling sure that nothing can tend more to the advancement of civilization, social reform, fireside 18 oors. BLANKETS AND TOP-BOOTS. comfort, and domestic economy among the Cannibals, than the diffusion of blankets and top-boots. Here, in this New England of ours, which is the land of the Pilgrim Fathers, as I suppose you all know or, as our great poet so truthfully and beautifully expresses the same fact, "Ye Pilgrim Sires, New England's boast, Firm as your rock-surrounded coast," what, down the long vista of years, have conduced more to our successes in arms, and arts, and song, than blankets? Indeed, I never gaze upon a blanket without my thoughts reverting fondly to the days of my early childhood. Where should we all have been now but for those warm and fleecy coverings? Ladies and Gentlemen: Our first and tender memories are all associated with blankets; blankets when in our nurses' arms, blankets in our cradles, blankets in our cribs, blankets to our trundle-beds in our school days, and blankets to our four-posters now. Therefore, I say, it becomes our bounden duty as men and, with feelings of pride, I add, as Americans - to initiate the untutored savage, the wild and somewhat uncultivated denizen of the prairie, into the comfort and warmth of blankets, and to supply him, as far as practicable, with those reasonable, seasonable, luxurious, and useful appendages. At such a moment as this, the lines of another poet strike familiarly upon the ear. Let me see, they are something like this: "Blankets have charms to soothe the savage breast, I forget the rest. Do we grudge our money for such |