For thee they fought, for thee they fell,
And their oath was on thee laid;
To thee the clarions raised their swell,
And the dying warriour prayed.
Thou wert, through an age of death and fears,
The image of pride and power,
Till the gathered rage of a thousand years
Burst forth in one awful hour.

And then, a deluge of wrath it came,

And the nations shook with dread; And it swept the earth till its fields were flame, And piled with the mingled dead. Kings were rolled in the wasteful flood, With the low and crouching slave; And together lay, in a shroud of blood, The coward and the brave.

And where was then thy fearless flight? 'O'er the dark mysterious sea,

To the lands that caught the setting light,

The cradle of Liberty.

There, on the silent and lonely shore,

For ages I watched alone,

And the world, in its darkness, asked no more Where the glorious bird had flown.

'But then came a bold and hardy few,
And they breasted the unknown wave;

I caught afar the wandering crew,
And I knew they were high and brave.
I wheeled around the welcome bark,
As it sought the desolate shore;
And up to heaven, like a joyous lark,
My quivering pinions bore.

'And now that bold and hardy few Are a nation wide and strong,

PROPERTY AN ELEMENT OF SOCIETY.

Extract from a Speech of Mr Upshur in the Convention of Virginia.

THE question before us, is not whether a majority shall rule in the Legislature, but of what elements that majority shall be composed. If the interests of the several parts of the Commonwealth were identical, it would be, we admit, safe and proper that a majority of persons only should give the rule of political power. But our interests are not identical, and the difference between us arises from property alone. We therefore contend that property ought to be considered, in fixing the basis of representation.

What, Sir, are the constituent elements of society? Persons and property. What are the subjects of legislation? Persons and property. Was there ever a society seen on earth, which consisted only of men, women and children? The very idea of society, carries with it the idea of property, as its necessary and inseparable attendant. History cannot show any form of the social compact, at any time, or in any place, into which property did not enter as a constituent element, nor one in which that element did not enjoy protection in a greater or less degree. Nor was there ever a society in which the protection once extended to property, was afterwards withdrawn, which did not fall an easy prey to violence and disorder. Society cannot exist without property; it constitutes the full half of its being.

Take away all protection from property, and our next business is to cut each other's throats. All experience proves this. The safety of men depends on the safety of property; the rights of persons must mingle in the ruin of the rights of property. And shall it not then be protected? Sir, your government cannot move an inch without property. Are you to have no political head? No Legislature to make laws? no Judiciary to interpret them? no Executive to enforce them? And if you are to have all these departments, will they render their services out of mere grace and favour, and for the honour and glory of the thing? Not in these money-loving days, depend on it. If we would find patriotism thus disinterested, we must indeed go back to a period prior to Bible history.

And what are the subjects upon which the law-making power is called to act? Persons and property. To these

two subjects, and not to one of them alone, is the business of legislation confined. And of these two, it may be fairly asserted that property is not only of equal, but even of more importance. The laws which relate to our personal actions, with reference to the body politic; which prescribe the duties which we owe to the public, or define and punish crime, are comparatively few in number, and simple in their provisions. And one half of these few, find their best sanctions in public opinion. But the ramifications of the rights of property are infinite. Volume upon volume, which few of us, I fear, are able to understand, are required to contain even the leading principles relating to them; and yet new relations are every day arising, which require continual interpositions of the legislative power.

If, then, Sir, property is thus necessary to the very being of society; thus indispensable to every movement of government; if it be that subject upon which government chiefly acts; is it not, I would ask, entitled to such protection as shall be above all suspicion, and free from every hazard?

Second Extract from the same Speech.

GENTLEMEN have admitted the principle, that property must be protected, and protected in the very form now proposed; they are obliged to admit it. It would be a wild and impracticable scheme of government, which did not admit it. Among all the various and numerous propositions, lying upon your table, is there one which goes the length of proposing universal suffrage? There is none. Yet this subject is in direct connexion with that. Why do you not admit a pauper to vote? He is a person: he counts one in your numerical majority. In rights strictly personal, he has as much interest in the government as any other citizen. He is liable to commit the same offen

length of giving the elective franchise to every human being over twenty-one years,-yes, and under twenty-one years,- -on whom your penal laws take effect; an experiment, which has met with nothing but utter and disastrous failure, wherever it has been tried. No, Mr Chairman, let us be consistent; let us openly acknowledge the truth; let us boldly take the bull by the horns, and incorporate this influence of property as a leading principle in our Constitution. We cannot be otherwise consistent with ourselves.

I was surprised to hear the assertion made by gentlemen on the other side, that property can protect itself. What is the meaning of such a proposition? Is there anything in property, to exert this self-protecting influence, but the political power which always attends it? Is there anything in mere property alone, in itself considered, to exert any such influence? Can a bag of golden guineas, if placed upon that table, protect itself? Can it protect its owner? I do not know what magic power the gentlemen allude to. If it is to have no influence in the government, what and where is its power to protect itself? Perhaps the power to buy off violence; to buy off the barbarian who comes to lay it waste, by a reward, which will but invite a double swarm of barbarians to return next year. Is this one of the modes alluded to? This, I am well assured, never entered into the clear mind of the very intelligent gentleman from Frederick.

How else, then, may property be expected to protect itself? It may be answered, by the influence which it gives to its owner. But in what channels is that influence exerted? It is the influence which prevents the poor debtor from going against the will of his creditor; which forbids the dependent poor man from exerting anything like independence, either in conduct or opinion; an influence which appeals to avarice on both sides, and depends for its effect on rousing the worst and basest of passions, and destroying all freedom of will, all independence of opinion.

Is it desirable to establish such an influence as this? an influence which marches to power through the direct road to the worst, and most monstrous of aristocracies,the aristocracy of the purse? an influence which derives its effect from the corruption of all principle, the blinding of the judgment, and the prostration of all moral feeling? and whose power is built on that form of aristocracy, most of all to be dreaded in a free government? The gentle

man appeals to fact, and says that property always has protected itself, under every form of government. The fact is not admitted. Property never has protected itself long, except by the power which it possessed in the gov

ernment.

REGULUS.Dale.

URGE me no more-your prayers are vain,
And even the tears ye shed:
When I can lead to Rome again,
The bands that once I led;
When I can raise your legion's slain
On swarthy Lybia's fatal plain,
To vengeance from the dead;

Then will I seek once more a home,
And lift a freeman's voice in Rome !

Accursed moment! when I woke
From faintness all but death,

And felt the coward conqueror's yoke
Like venomed serpents wreathe
Round every limb ;—if lip and eye
Betrayed no sign of agony,

Inly I cursed my breath-
Wherefore of all that fought, was I

The only wretch who could not die?

To darkness and to chains consigned,
The captive's fighting doom,

I recked not;-could they chain the mind,
Or plunge the soul in gloom?
And there they left me, dark and lone,
Till darkness had familiar grown;

Then from that living tomb

They led me forth-I thought, to die

Oh! in that thought was extasy!

But no-kind Heaven had yet in store For me, a conquered slave,

A joy I thought to feel no more, Or feel but in the grave.