Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/259

 without them — those heavy forests of valuable timber, under which your lands are groaning, must be cleared away — those vast riches which cover the face of your soil, as well as those which lie hid in its bosom, are to be developed and gathered only by the skill and enter- prise of men — your timber sir, must be worked up into ships to transport the productions of the soil, from which it has been cleared — then, you must have com- mercial men and commercial capital, to take off your productions and find the best markets for them abroad — ^your great want sir, is the want of men; and these you must have, and will have speedily, if you are wise. Do you ask how you are to get them.^ — Open your doors, sir, and they will come in — the population of the old world is full to overflowing — that population is ground too, by the oppressions of the governments under which they live. Sir, they are already standing on tip- toe upon their native shores, and looking to your coasts, with a wishful and longing eye — they see here, a land blessed with natural and political advantages, which are not equalled by those of any other country upon earth — a land on which a gracious Providence hath emptied the horn of abundance — a land over which Peace hath now stretched forth her white wings, and where Content and Plenty he down at every door ! Sir, they see some- thing still more attractive than all this — they see a land, in which Liberty hath taken up her abode — that Liberty, whom they had considered as a fabled goddess, existing only in the fancies of poets — they see her here, a real divinity — ^her altars rising on every hand, throughout these happy states — her glories chaunted by three mil- lions of tongues — and the whole region smiling under her blessed influence. Sir, let but this our celestial

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