But to men
truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and master principles which, in
the opinion of such men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are
in truth everything, and all in all. Magnanimity [Footnote: 76] in politics is
not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill
together. If we are conscious of our station, and glow with zeal to fill our
places as becomes our situation and ourselves, we ought to auspicate [Footnote:
77] all our public proceedings on America with the old warning of the church,
Sursum corda! [Footnote: 78] We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of
that trust to which the order of providence has called us. By adverting to the
dignity of this high calling our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into
a glorious empire, and have made the most extensive and the only honorable
conquests--not by destroying, but by promoting the wealth, the number, the
happiness, of the human race. Let us get an American revenue as we have got an
American empire. English privileges have made it all that it is; English
privileges alone will make it all it can be.
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