DECLINE OF THE HEBREW COMMONWEALTH.

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men from those who fought at Naseby, or even from those who stood at Concord bridge and on "the green" at Lexington. They were the American Saxons, of the National type, and to their hands, at that high, momentous hour, was committed the destiny of free, representative government. EDGAR A. ENOS.

THE DECLINE OF THE HEBREW COMMONWEALTH. Note 8.

THE principles of self-government are of ancient origin. They were not created by the authors of the American Constitution. They were adopted by those wise and gifted minds from the models of former times, and applied to the wants of the American people. Far back in the gray, uncertain dawn of history, in the land of mystery and of miracles, the hand of Almighty benevolence planted the seeds of constitutional government by which life, liberty, and property were made secure. Abraham and Lot each governed his household, and his herdsmen, by law; and, although they became offended at each other, yet, under the divine sanction, they refrained from the pleasures of conquest, subjugation, confiscation. They divided the country before them by a primitive treaty, and the grass continued to grow for their flocks unstained by fraternal blood, and uncrushed by the hoof of war. And in long after years, when the descendants of the patriarchs broke their prison doors in Egypt, and lay encamped in the wilderness, the Omniscient Presence came down, and gave them a framework of fundamental law, in which the popular will was largely recognized. A system of jurisprudence was devised for the people of Israel which protected liberty, and administered justice. Under its influence the feeble fugitives, and homeless wanderers, without bread, and without water in the desert, became an empire of wisdom, of wealth, and of power. The liberal institutions of the Jewish theocracy pro

duced statesmen, poets, historians, and warriors, who will continue to challenge the admiration of posterity by the splendor of their achievements as long as generations come and go. They lived within the immediate jurisdiction of Jehovah They possessed the ark of the covenant, and took counsel with ministering angels directly from the portals of Paradise. With all these evidences of celestial favor in their behalf, it is not to be wondered that they claimed an exemption from the changes and mutations of human affairs, and boasted that the seal of perpetuity had been impressed by the Divine hand on the pillars of their government. But public virtue became debauched; the popular heart corroded with the lust of conquest, and of gain; primitive purity faded away under the baleful breath of embittered factions; the fires of patriotism were smothered by rankling hate, and the thirst for revenge; and all these evil passions broke forth in the voice of a malignant majority clamoring for a king. In that hour of disastrous eclipse, the spirit of liberty took her flight forever from the hills of Judea. Thousands of years have rolled away since then. The Holy Land has been the theatre of conflicts which rocked the world as the throes of an earthquake. Genius and heroism have there blazed as stars in the Eastern skies. There, too, was enacted the sublime tragedy of redemption-that tragedy which summoned the inhabitants of all worlds as its witnesses, and filled nature with agony. The eyes of mankind have been turned back, and fixed upon those scenes of immortal interest for more than thirty centuries. But who has lifted up and restored her fallen system of liberal institutions? The people surrendered their rights, their franchises, their selfcontrol, and welcomed the power of one man. That base act has never been reversed. As the tree fell, so it lies. It died at the root. Despotism reigns undisturbed and unbroken, in darkness and silence, where once the light and music of freedom gladdened the souls of the stately sons and dark-' eyed daughters of Israel.

DANIEL W. VOORHEES.

TRUTH AND VICTORY.

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Note 9.

TRUTH AND VICTORY.

THE face of the world is changing. When crazy old John Coffin went down to the Battery, and looking eastward over New York Bay called out, "Attention, Europe! Nations! by the right, wheel!" he saw what sane men see now. Nations are discovering there is something more terrible than armies, something more reliable than battalions and bayonets, something wiser than senates, something greater than royalty, something sweeter than liberty. Through the gospel of Peace and through the gospel of War one name is sounding over the continents. Truth! inspires the student of history; Truth! is the watchword of science; Truth! is the victorious cry of Christianity. Graven on the intellect of the statesman, burned into the brain of the philosopher, blazoned upon the standard borne in the van of the army of progress, Truth! is the animating shout of the ages.

In these days of political corruption, while one after another of our trusted leaders falls before the righteous and relentless indignation of public sentiment, it helps him who despairs of the future to remember that company in whose veins flows the young blood of the nation, in whose eyes kindle the fires of a pure faith, and from whose hearts radiate the strong purposes that make nations and direct civilization. These shall rise up when need is, and go into life's great battle with unfaltering heroism; and under their banner shall gather the world's best and bravest youth. In the terrible battle of Balaklava two British regiments were calmly awaiting the advance of twelve times their number of Russians. It was a fearful moment. The English and French generals and thousands of soldiers looked from the heights above upon this heroic handful of silent, motionless men who, with sublime courage, held the honor of Britain in that supreme hour. The glittering lines of Russians came confid tly on. They halted in very wonderment at the heroism of the devoted band of English. Sud

denly the British trumpets sounded the charge, and the Scotch Greys dashed at the foremost line of Russians. It yielded and broke. Again the heroic little band gathered its thinned and broken ranks, and flung itself against the second line. 66 God save them! They are lost!" cried a thousand of their comrades from the heights. It seemed madness, it was madness; but it was madness which knows nothing but success. Ten minutes of the agony of suspense, and then a wild, spontaneous, tumultuous cheer burst from the watching thousands on the hills, and Balaklava was won. There on the spot where victory rewarded valor, they lifted tenderly up a dying Highlander. He plucked from his breast a cross of honor, through which the fatal bayonet had crashed. "Take this to mother," said he, "and tell her I was struck when we charged the first line, but I could not die till we had carried the second."

And so, in the infinitely nobler battle of life, remember, as you stand single and unsupported in the conflict of Truth, that the hosts of Heaven, whose cause is that day intrusted to your keeping, are watching you with infinite solicitude. Heed not the odds against you. Ask for no allies. Depend upon no reinforcements. Against all the world, against wrong government, against corrupt society you alone. are invincible, you alone irresistible.

D. C. SCOVILLE.

Note 10.

AARON BURR.

THE fourth of March, 1801, was a day of rejoicing throughout the Union. It witnessed the success of Democracy, and the overthrow of federalism and monarchy. It was the inaugural day of Jefferson and Burr. Thirty-five years later, on a beautiful September morning, the remains of the latter were borne by a few friends to a dishonored grave. These two scenes mark high and low tide in the fortunes of Aaron Burr.

The question raised by Tacitus, whether impartial biography can best be written in the brightness and glare of the morning, or the shadow and uncertain light of the evening of a man's career, has never yet been answered. But certain it is, while each year has credited new exaggerations of the virtues of our early favorites, it has made more difficult and precarious a just estimate of Burr. The military services of Burr were invaluable his patriotism unquestioned. With no encouragement for his surpassing energy and ability, subject to continual slights and humiliation, he rose steadily in rank and rendered services never to be forgotten. His professional career was characterized by successes as commendable and far more brilliant than those of his contemporaries. Had his life terminated here, his career would have been rational and complete.

Parton says that "the choice of politics was Burr's fatal error." Undoubtedly; but the effect of this choice upon the nation, however, was far different. An alchemist was found dead beside his crucible; the lid was raised, and within was found a metal, the discovery of which revolutionized science and became the guide to future research. So with the labors of Burr: disastrous to himself, but beneficent to his country. The last of the eighteenth century was a time of great perils. The French revolution had created distrust of popular government in this country. John Adams leaned toward aristocracy. The Cabinet had little faith in the Constitution, and was favorable to royalty. Federalism, adverse to popular rule, was triumphant. The adherents of Democratic principles were without a leader, dissatisfied, powerless, disheartened. On the other side were organization and discipline. Against this combination of wealth, talent, power, Burr contended and was successful. He organized, equipped, and led to victory the party that preserved freedom. He built the fortress of Democracy, which has never surrendered, though the siege has been long and persistent. This was the crowning effort of his life. Thenceforth fortune was adverse, remorseless. The