PARTY SPIRIT.

Extract from a speech of the Hon. Henry Clay, of Ken tucky, delivered in the Senate, at Washington, Feb. 5th, 1850, on taking up his resolutions, proposing a compromise between the North and the South, on the subject of slavery.

I HAVE seen many periods of great anxiety, of peril, and of danger, in this country, but 1 have never before risen to address any assemblage, so oppressed, so appalled, and so anxious. And I hope it will not be out of place to do here, what I have done again and again in my private chamber-to implore Him who holds the destinies of nations and individuals in His hands, to bestow upon our country His blessing, to calm the violence and rage of party, to still passion, to allow reason once more to resume its empire. And may I not also ask Him to bestow upon His humble servant the blessing of His smiles, and strength and ability to perform the work which now lies before him?

If I should venture to trace the cause of our present dangers, difficulties, and distractions, to its original source, I should ascribe it to the violence and intemperance of party spirit. I know the jealousies, the fears, and the apprehensions which are engendered by it: bui

if there be in my hearing now, or out of this capitol, any one who hopes, in his race for honors and elevation, for higher honors and higher elevation than that he may now occupy, I beg him to believe that I will never jostle him in the pursuit of those honors, or that elevation. I assure him, if my wishes prevail, my name shall never be used in competition with his; for when my service is terminated in this body, my mission, so far as respects the public affairs of this world, is closed-and closed for ever.

It is impossible for us not to perceive that party spirit and future elevation mix more or less in all our affairs, in all our deliberations. At a moment when the White House is in danger of conflagration, instead of all hands uniting to extinguish the flames, we are contending about who shall be its next occupant.

It is passion and party spirit which I dread in the adjustment of the great questions which unhappily, at this time, divide our distracted country. Two months ago, all was calm, in comparison to the present moment. Now, all is uproar and confusion, and menace to the existence of the Union, and to the happiness and safety of this people.

I entreat you, by all you expect hereafter, and by all that is dear to you here below, to repress the ardor of these passions, to subdue the violence of party spirit, to listen to the voice of reason, and look to the interests of your country.

HOME.

WHAT a charm rests upon the endearing word, home, when that place is consecrated by domestic love, the golden key of earthly happiness! There a father welcomes with fond affection; there a brother's kind sympathies comfort in the hour of distress, and assist in every trial; there a pious mother first taught the infant lips to lisp the name of Jesus; and there a loved sister dwells, the companion of early days.

Our days may be painful, our path may be chequered with sorrow and care; unkindness and frowns may wither the joyousness of the heart, efface the happy smiles from the brow, and bedew life's way with tears. Yet when the memory hovers over the past, there is no place where it delights to linger, as among the

loved scenes of home! It is the polar star of existence. It cheers the mariner when far away from his native land, in a foreign port, or tossed upon the bounding billows. Truly, if there is aught that is lovely here below, it is Home, sweet Home!

HUMAN ACTIONS.

WE see not, in this life, the end of human actions their influence never dies. In every widening circle, it reaches beyond the grave. Death removes us from this to an eternal world. Time determines what shall be our condition in that world..

Every morning, when we go forth, we lay the moulding hand on our destiny, and every evening, when we have done, we have left a deathless impress upon our character. We touch not a wire but vibrates in eternity-not a voice but reports at the throne of God.

Let youth think of these things, and let every one remember that in this world, where character is in its formation state, it is a serious thing to think, to speak, to act.

BE ACTIVE.

A STILL pool soon becomes stagnant. A machine without motion becomes rusty. And man, great, glorious, majestic in his creation, without action, becomes an icy weight, a burthen to society. We live in stirring times. It becomes every man to do something, to exert himself for the common weal, to be zealous and active. What better are you than a man of snow, while you fold your arms, and sit still, gazing with a vacant stare above and around you?

TIME.

I SAW a temple reared by the hands of men, standing with its high pinnacles in the distant plain. The streams beat upon it, the God of Nature hurled his thunderbolts against it, and yet it stood as firm as adamant. Revelry was in its halls; the gay and beautiful were there. I returned, and the temple was not there! Its high walls lay scattered in ruins; moss and rank grass grew wildly there.

the gay who revelled there away.

The

The young and

had all passed