aspirings of men--where the mind rises; where the heart expands;
where the countenance is ever placid and benign; where the favorite
attitude is to stoop to the unfortunate, to hear their cry, and help
them; to rescue and relieve, to succor and save; majestic from its
mercy, venerable from its utility, uplifted without pride, firm
without obduracy, beneficent in each preference, lovely though in
her frown."

This same spirit fired the enthusiasm of Samuel Adams and James Otis
to such a pitch of eloquence that "every man who heard them went
away ready to take up arms." It inspired Patrick Henry to hurl his
defiant alternative of "liberty or death" in the face of unyielding
despotism. It inspired that great-hearted patriot and orator, Henry
Clay, in the first quarter of this century, to plead, single-handed
and alone, in the Congress of the United States, session after
session before the final victory was won, for the recognition of the
provinces of South America in their struggle for independence.

"I may be accused of an imprudent utterance of my feelings on this
occasion. I care not: when the independence, the happiness, the
liberty of a whole people is at stake, and that people our
neighbors, our brethren, occupying a portion of the same continent,
imitating our example, and participating in the same sympathies with
ourselves. I will boldly avow my feelings and my wishes in their
behalf, even at the hazard of such an imputation. I maintain that an
oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and
break their fetters. This was the great principle of the English
revolution. It was the great principle of our own. Spanish-America
has been doomed for centuries to the practical effects of an odious
tyranny. If we were justified, she is more than justified. I am no