words so wholly unfit for the mouth of a christian, or for the ear of a court of justice, that I dare not, and will not, give them utterance) Milton made the grand conclusion of the Paradise Lost, the rest of his finished labours, and the ultimate hope, expectation, and glory of the world.

Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splen-, did, or illustrious, amongst created beings; all the minds gifted beyond ordinary nature, if not inspired by its universal author for the advancement and dignity of the world, though divided by distant ages, and by the clashing opinions, distinguishing them from one another, yet joining as it were in one sublime chorus, to celebrate the truths of christianity, and laying upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of their immortal wisdom.

Section V.

ON THE CHARACTER OF A JUDGE.

EXTRACT FROM MR. MARTIN'S SPEECH IN THE TRIAL OF JUDGE CHASE.

Before judge Chase went from Baltimore, to hold the circuit court at Richmond, he knew that the sedition law had been violated in Virginia. I had myself put into his hands, The Prospect Before Us. He felt it his duty to enforce the laws of his country. What, sir, is a judge in one part of the United States, to permit a breach of our laws to go unpunished, because they are there unpopular, and in another part to carry them into execution, because there they may be thought wise and salutary? And would you really wish your judges, instead of acting from principle, to court only the applause of their auditors? Would you wish them to be what sir Michael Foster has so correctly stated, the most contemptible of all

characters, popular judges: Judges who look forward in all their decisions, not for the applause of the wise, and good; of their own consciences; of their God; but of the rabble or any prevailing party? I flatter myself that this honourable senate will never, by their decision, sanction such principles ? Our government is not, as we say, tyrannical, nor acting on whim or caprice, We boast of it as being a government of laws. But how can it be such, unless the laws, while they exist, are sacredly and impartially, without regard to popularity, carried into execution? What sir, shall judges discriminate? Shall they be permitted to say, "this law I will execute, and that I will not; because in the one case I may be benefited, in the other I might make myself enemies? And would you really wish to live under a government where your laws were thus administered? Would you really wish for such unprincipled, such time serving judges? No, sir, you would not. You will with me say, "Give me the judge who will firmly, boldly, nay, even sternly, perform his duty, equally uninfluenced, equally unintimidated by the "Instantis, vultus tyranni," or the "ardor civium prava jubentium "-Such are the judges we ought to have, such I hope we have and shall have. Our property, our liberty, our lives, can only be protected and secured by such judges. With this honourable court it remains, whether we shall have such judges !

Section VI.

BURR AND BLENNERHASSETT.

AXTRACT FROM THE SPEECH OF MR. WIRT, ON THE TRIAL OF AARON BURR FOR HIGH TREASON.

A plain man who knew nothing of the curious mansmutations which the wit of man can work, would

It

be very apt to wonder by what kind of legerdemain Aaron Burr had contrived to shuffle himself down to the bottom of the pack as an accessory, and turn up poor Blennerhassett as principal in this treason. is an honour, I dare say, for which Mr. Blennerhassett is by no means anxious; one which he has never disputed with Colonel Burr, and which I am persuaded, he would be as little inclined to dispute on this occasion, as on any other. Since, however, the modesty of Colonel Burr declines the first rank, and seems disposed to force Mr. Blennerhassett into it in spite of his blushes, let us compare the cases of the two men and settle the question of precedence between them. It may save a good deal of troublesome ceremony hereafter.

In making this comparison, sir, I shall speak of the two men and of the part they bore as I believe it to exist and to be substantially capable of proof; although the court has already told us, that as this is a motion to exclude all evidence, generally, we have a right, in resisting it, to suppose the evidence which is behind, strong enough to prove any thing and every thing compatible with the fact of Burr's absence from the island. If it will be more agreeable to the feelings of the prisoner to consider the parallel which I am about to run or rather the contrast which I am about to exhibit, as a fiction, he is at liberty to do so; I believe it to be a fact.

Who then is Aaron Burr, and what the part which he has borne in this transaction? He is its author; its projector; its active executor. Bold, ardent, restless and aspiring, his brain conceived it; his hand brought it into action. Beginning his operations in NewYork, he associates with him, men whose wealth is to supply the necessary funds. Possessed of the main spring, his personal labour contrives all the machinery. Pervading the continent from New York to New-Orleans, he draws into his plan by every allurement which he can contrive, men of all ranks, and all descriptions. To youthful ardour he presents

danger and glory, to ambition, rank and titles and honours; to avarice the mines of Mexico. To each person whom he addresses, he presents the object adapted to his taste: his recruiting officers are appointed; men are engaged throughout the continent civil life is indeed quiet upon the surface; but in its bosom this man has contrived to deposit the materials which with the slightest touch of his match produces an explosion to shake the continent. All this his restless. ambition has contrived; and in the autumn of 1806, he goes forth for the last time to apply this match.On this excursion he meets with Blennerhassett.

Who is Blennerhassett? A native of Ireland, a man of letters, who fled from the storms of his own country to find quiet in ours. His history shews that war is not the natural element of his mind; if it had been, he would never have exchanged Ireland for America. So far is an army from furnishing the society natural and proper to Mr. Blennerhassett's character, that on his arrival in America, he retired even from the population of the Atlantic States, and sought quiet and solitude in the bosom of our western forests. But he carried with him taste and science and wealth; and "lo, the desert smiled." Possessing himself of a beautiful island in the Ohio, he rears upon it a palace and decorates it with every romantic embellishment of fancy. A shrubbery that Shenstone might have envied, blooms around him; music that might have charmed Calypso and her nymphs, is his ; an extensive library spreads its treasures before him; a philosophical apparatus offers to him all the secrets and mysteries of nature; peace, tranquility and innocence shed their mingled delights around him; and to crown the enchantment of the scene, a wife, who is said to be lovely even beyond her sex, and graced with every ac-complishment that can render it irresistible, had blessed him with her love and made him the father of her children. The evidence would convince you, sir, that this is but a faint picture of the real life.

In the midst of all this peace, this innocence, and this tranquility, this feast of the mind, this pure banquet of the heart-the destroyer comes-he comes to turn this paradise into a hell-yet the flowers do not wither at his approach, and no monitory shuddering through the bosom of their unfortunate possessor, warns him of the ruin that is coming upon him. A stranger presents himself. Introduced to their civilities by the high rank which he had lately held in his country, he soon finds his way to their hearts by the dignity and elegance of his demeanor, the light and beauty of his conversation, and the seductive and fascinating power of his address. The conquest was not a difficult one. Innocence is ever simple and credulous, conscious of no design itself, it suspects none in others, it wears no guards before its breast: every door and portal and avenue of the heart is thrown open, and all who choose it enter. Such was the state of Eden, when the serpent entered its bow

ers.

The prisoner in a more engaging form, winding himself into the open and unpractised heart of the unfortunate Blennerhassett, found but little difficulty in changing the native character of that heart and the objects of its affection. By degrees he infuses into it the poison of his own ambition; he breathes into it the fire of his own courage; a daring and a desperate thirst for glory; an ardor panting for all the storm and bustle and hurricane of life. In a short time the whole man is changed, and every object of his former delight relinquished. No more he enjoys the tranquil scene; it has become flat and insipid to his taste; his books are abandoned; his retort and crucible are thrown aside; his shrubbery in vain blooms and breathes its fragrance upon the air-he likes it not; his ear no longer drinks the rich melody of music; it longs for the trumpet's clangor and the cannon's roar; even the prattle of his babes once so sweet, no longer affects him; and the angel smile of his wife, which hitherto touched his bosom with ec