lost nothing, either in rights, territory, or honor; nothing, for which we
ought to have contended, according to the principles of the gentlemen on
the other side, or according to our own. Have we gained nothing by the war?
Let any man look at the degraded condition of the country before the
war,--the scorn of the universe, the contempt of ourselves, and tell me if
we have gained nothing by the war. What is our present situation?
Respectability and character abroad; security and confidence at home. If we
have not obtained, in the opinion of some, the full measure of retribution,
our character and Constitution are placed on a solid basis, never to be
shaken.

The glory acquired by our gallant tars on the sea, by our Jacksons and our
Browns on the land is that nothing? true we had our vicissitudes: there are
humiliating events which the patriot cannot review without deep regret; but
the great account when it comes to be balanced, will be found vastly in our
favor. Is there a man who would obliterate from the proud pages of our
history, the brilliant achievements of Jackson, Brown, and Scott, and the
host of heroes on land and sea whom I cannot enumerate? Is there a man who
could not desire a participation in the national glory acquired by the war?
Yes, national glory, which, however the expression may be condemned by
some, must be cherished by every genuine patriot.

What do I mean by national glory? Glory such as Hull, Jackson, and Perry
have acquired. And are gentlemen insensible to their deeds, to the value of
them in animating the country in the hour of peril hereafter? Did the
battle of Thermopyla preserve Greece but once? While the Mississippi
contributes to bear the tributes of the Iron Mountains and the Alleghenies
to her delta, and to the Gulf of Mexico, the eighth of January shall be
remembered, and the glory of that day shall stimulate future patriots, and
nerve the arms of unborn freemen, in driving the presumptuous invader from