deed, is the case with nil the other noble principles which I have alluded to. This possibility of excess is one of the conditions of freedom. You cannot hem it in, nor any of its accessories, within the line of strict propriety, to the rigid margin of cold exactitude. And the spirit of independence, the disposition to modest self-reliance, the feeling of one's being sufficient for one's own needs, and temporal requirements; is just one of those golden elements of character, which needs to be cultivated everywhere among our population. It is conservative, too, as well as democratic; and if it does overflow at times its banks, it will not be long ere it will delight to come back to, and run, in its proper channel. An antidote to its extravagances, will, moreover, be found in the cultivation of another prime characteristic of the English language, that is, its high moral and spiritual character. Remembering that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is a reproach to any people;" let us aim at the cultivation among us, of all that sensitive honor, those habits of honesty, that purity of manners and morals, those domestic virtues, and that evangelical piety, which are peculiarly the attributes of Anglo-Saxon society, States, and homes.
So, by God's blessing, shall we prove ourselves not undeserving of the peculiar providence God has bestowed upon us; and somewhat worthy the inheritance of the great and ennobling English Language.
