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THE ORATION OF MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW.

culties, without that competency of political skill, abilities and inclination which are necessary to manage the helm." His whole life had been spent in repeated sacrifices for his country's welfare, and he did not hesitate now, though there is an undertone of inexpressible sadness in this entry in his diary on the night of his departure: "About 10 o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations.'

WASHINGTON'S TRIUMPHAL JOURNEY.

No conqueror was ever accorded such a triumph, no ruler ever received such a welcome. In this memorable In this memorable march of six days to the Capitol, it was the pride of States to accompany him with the masses of their people to their borders, that the citizens of the next commonwealth might escort him through its territory. It was the glory of cities to receive him with every civic honor at their gates, and entertain him as the savior of their liberties. He rode under triumphal arches from which children lowered laurel wreaths upon his brow. The roadways were strewn with flowers, and as they were crushed beneath his horses's hoofs, their sweet incense wafted to heaven the ever-ascending prayers of his loving countrymen for his life and safety. The swelling anthem of gratitude and reverence greeted and followed him along the country side and through the crowded streets; 66 Long live George Washington! Long live the Father of his people!"

His entry into New York worthy of the city and State.

was

He

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was met by the chief officers of the retiring government of the country, by the Governor of the Commonwealth, and the whole population. This superb harbor was alive with fleet and barges, and the ships of others nations with salutes from their guns, and the cheers of their crews added to the joyous acclaim. But as the captains who had asked the privilege, bending proudly to their oars, rowed the President's barge swiftly through these inspiring scenes, Washington's mind and heart were full of reminiscence and foreboding.

He had visited New York thirtythree years before, also in the month of April, in the full perfection of his early manhood, fresh from Braddock's bloody field, and wearing the only laurels of the battle, bearing the prophetic blessing of the venerable President Davies, of Princeton College, as "That heroic youth Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to the country." It was a fair daughter of the State whose smiles allured him here, and whose coy confession that her heart was another's recorded his only failure and saddened his departure. Twenty years passed, and he stood before the New York Congress, on this very spot, the unanimously chosen Commander-inChief of the Continental Army, urging the people to more vigorous measures, and made painfully aware of the increased desperation of the struggle, from the aid to be given to the enemy by domestic 'sympathizers, when he knew that the same local military company which escorted him was to perform the like service for the British Governor Tryon on his landing on the morrow. Returning for the defence of the city the next summer he executed the retreat from Long Island, which secured

from Frederick the Great the opinion that a great commander had appeared, and at Harlem Heights he won the first American victory of the Revolution, which gave that confidence to our raw recruits against the famous veterans of Europe which carried our army triumphantly through the war. Six years more of untold sufferings, of freezing and starving camps, of marches over the snow by barefooted soldiers to heroic attack and splendid victory, of despair with an unpaid army, and of hope from the generous assistance of France, and peace had come and Independence triumphed. As the last soldier of the invading enemy embarks, Washington at the head of the patriot host enters the city, receives the welcome and gratitude of its people, and in the tavern which faces us accross the way, in silence more eloquent than speech, and with tears which choke the words, he bids farewell for ever to his companions in arms. Such were the crowding memories of the past suggested to Washington in 1789 by his approach to New York. But the future had none of the splendor of precedent and brilliance of promise which have since attended the inauguration of our Presidents. An untried scheme, adopted mainly because its administration was to be confided to him, was to be put in practice. He knew that he was to be met at every step of constitutional progress by factions temporarily hushed into unanimity by the terrific force of the tidal wave which was bearing him to the President's seat, but fiercely hostile upon questions affecting every power of nationality and the existence of the Federal Government.

EYES ONLY FOR THE GREAT COMMANDER

Washington was never dramatic, but on great occasions he not only rose to the full idea of the event, he

became himself the event. One hundred years ago to-day, the procession of foreign Ambassadors, of statesmen and generals, of civic societies and military companies, which escorted him, marched from Franklin Square to Pearl Street, through Pearl to Broad, and Broad to this spot, but the people saw only Washington. As he stood upon the steps of the old Government Building here, the thought must have occurred to him that it was a cradle of liberty, and, as such, giving a bright omen for the future. In these halls in 1735, in the trial of John Zenger, had been estabtablished for the first time in history, the liberty of the press. Here the New York Assembly, in 1764, made the protest against the Stamp Act, and proposed the General Conference, which was the beginning of united Colonial action, In this old State House, in 1765, the Stamp Act Congress, the first and the father of American Congresses, assembled and presented to the English Government that vigorous protest which caused the repeal of the Act and checked the first step toward the usurpation which lost the American colonies to the British Empire. Within these walls the Congress of the Confedera tion had commissioned its Ambassadors abroad, and in ineffectual efforts at government had created the necessity for the concentration of Federal authority, now to be consummated.

The first Congress of the United States gathered in this ancient temple of liberty greeted Washington and accompanied him to the balcony. The

famous men visible about him were Chancellor Livingston, Vice-President John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Governor Clinton, Roger Sherman, Richard Henry Lee, General Knox and Baron Steuben. But we believe that among the invisible host above

THE ORATION OF MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW.

him, at this supreme moment of the culmination in permanent triumph of the thousands of years of struggle for self-government, were the spirits of the soldiers of the Revolution who had died that their country might enjoy this blesseed day, and with them were the Barons of Runnymede and William the silent, and Sydney and Russell, and Cromwell and Hampden and the heroes and martyrs of liberty of every race and age.

As he came forward, the multitude in the streets, in the windows and on the roofs sent up such a rapturous shout that Washington sat down overcome with emotion. As he slowly rose and his tall and majestic form again appeared, the people, deeply affected in awed silence viewed the scene. The Chancellor solemnly read to him the oath of office, and Washington, repeating, said: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Then he reverently bent low and kissed the Bible, uttering with profound emotion: "So help me, God." The Chancellor waved his robes and shouted: "It is done:

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long live George Washington, President of the United States! "Long live George Washington, our first President!" was the answering cheer of the people, and from the belfries rang the bells, and from forts and ships thundered the cannon, echoing and repeating the cry with responding acclaim all over the land: "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!"

THE ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH OF THE REPUBLIC

The simple and imposing ceremony over, the inaugural read, the blessing of God prayerfully petitioned in old St. Paul's, the festivities passed, and

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No one

Washington stood alone. else could take the helm of state, and enthusiast and doubter alike trusted only him. The teachings and habits of the past had educated the people to faith in the independence of their States, and for the supreme authority of the new Government there stood against the precedent of a century and the passions of the hour little besides the arguments of Hamilton, Madison and Jay in "The Federalist." and the judgment of Washington. With the first attempt to exercise National power began the duel to the death between State sovereignty, claiming the right to nullify Federal

laws or to secede from the Union and the power of the Republic to command the resources of the country, to enforce its authority and protect its life. It was the beginning of the sixty years' war for the Constitution and the Nation. It seared consciences, degraded politics, destroyed parties, ruined statesmen, and retarded the advance and development of the country; it sacrificed thousands of precious lives and squandered thousands of millions of money; It desolated the fairest portion of the land and carried mourning into every home North and South; but it ended at Appomattox in the absolute triumph of the Republic.

Posterity owes to Washington's administration the policy and measures, the force and direction, which made In possible this glorious result. giving the organization of the Department of State and foreign relations to Jefferson, the Treasury to Hamilton, and the Supreme Court to Jay, he selected for his Cabinet and called to his assistance the ablest and most eminent men of his time. Hamilton's marvellous versatility and genius designed the armory and the weapons for the promotion of National power and greatness, but Washington's

steady support carried them through. Parties crystalized, and party passions were intense, debates were intemperate, and the Union openly threatened and secretly plotted against, as the firm pressure of this mighty personality funded the debt and established credit, assumed the State del incurred in the War of the Revolution and superseded the local by the National obligation, imposed duties upon imports and excise upon spirits, and created revenue and resources, organized a National Banking system for public needs and private business, and called out an army to put down by force of arms resistance to the Federal Laws imposing unpopular taxes. Upon the plan marked out by the Constitution, this great architect. with unfailing faith and unfaltering courage, builded the Republic. He gave to the Government the principles of action and sources of power which carried it successfully through the wars with Great Britain in 1812 and Mexico in 1848, which enabled Jackson to defeat nullification, and recruited and equipped millions of men for Lincoln and justified and sustained his Proclamation of Emancination.

The French Revolution was the bloody realty of France and the nightmare of the civilized world. The tyranny of centuries culminated in frightful reprisals and reckless revenges. As parties rose to power and passed to the guillotine, the frenzy of the revolt against all authority reached every country and captured the imaginations and enthusiasm of millions in every land who believed they saw that the madness of anarchy, the overturning of all institutions, the confiscation and distribution of property, would end in a millennium for the masses and the universal brotherhood of man. Enthusiasm for France, our late ally, and the ter

rible commerial and industrial distress occasioned by the failure of the Government under the Articles of Confederation aroused an almost unanimous cry for the young Republic not yet sure of its own existence, to plunge into the vortex. The ablest purest statesmen of the time bent to the storm, but Washington was unmoved. He stood like the rock, ripped coast of a continent between the surgbillows of fanaticism and the child of his love. Order is Heaven's first law, and the mind of Washington was order. Washington devoutly reverenced the Deity and believed liberty impossible without law. He spoke to the sober judgment of the nation and made clear the danger. He saved the infant Government from ruin, and expelled the French Minister who had appealed from him to the people. The whole land, seeing safety only in continuance in office, joined Jefferson in urging him to accept a second term. "North and South," pleaded the Secretary, "will hang together while they have you to hang to."

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Ho! reapers of life's harvest,

Why stand with rusted blade,
Until the night draws round you,
And days begin to fade?
Why stand ye idle, waiting
For reapers more to come?
The golden morn is passing,
Why sit ye idle, dumb?

Thrust in your sharpened sickle,
And gather in the grain;
The night is fast approaching,
And soon will come again.
The master calls for reapers;
And shall He call in vain?
Shall sheaves lie there ungathered,
And waste upon the plain?

Come down from hill and mountain
In morning's ruddy glow,

Nor wait until the dial

Points to the noon below;
And come with the strong sinew,
Nor faint in heat or cold,
And pause not till the evening

Draws round its wealth of gold
Mount up the heights of Wisdom,
And crush each error low;
Keep back no words of knowledge
That human hearts should know.
Be faithful to thy mission

In service of thy Lord; And then a golden chaplet Shall be thy just reward.

GWALIA.

Fairest land to me on earth Is the land that gave me birth, Fairest of the flowers that be, Hem-kissed by the lapping sea; Land of mountains, dells and vales, Gem of beauty, darling Wales; Land of song from myriad rills Echoed faom the deep-set hills; Land of freedom, land of love, Smiled upon from skies above; Land that holy men have trod, Land of music, land of God, Land of meadow, field and glen, Land of brave and honest men, Land of those whose foes withstood, Land of sweetest womanhood, Land of men who till the sod, Land of Christians blessed by God, Land of reason, land of light, (Here and there a hypocrite), Land of shingle, sea and shore, Land that breathes the evermore; Land God-favored, land of faith, JESU, God that died the death, Land that never caused a shame,

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I would live ever in the light,

I would work ever for the right.

I would serve Thee with all my might.
"Just as I am," young, strong, and free,
To the best that I can be

For truth and righteousness, and Thee,
Lord of my life, I come.

With many dreams of fame and gold,
Success and Joy to make me bold;
But dearer still my faith to hold,

For my whole life, I come.

And for Thy sake to win renown,
And then to take my victor's crown,
And at Thy feet to cast it down,
O Master, Lord, I come.

MARIANNE FARNINGHAM.

-Christian World.

CANON LIDDON ON JUDAS ISCARIOT.

Judas's career illustrates the power of a single passion to enwrap, enchain, possess, degrade a man's whole character.

Judas, we must suppose, had his good points, or he never would have become of his own act a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not in the position of those who are born of Christian parents, and who are bapted into the Church of Christ in

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