tice of those principles
which it is my mission to plead in my injured country's name, declares
that the mighty and flourishing commonwealth of Ohio is resolved to
resist the eternal laws of nations to their due sway, too long contemned
by arbitrary power.

It was indeed a sorrowful sight to see how nations bled, and how freedom
withered in the iron grasp of despotisms, leagued for universal
oppression of humanity. It was a sorrowful sight to see that there was
no power on earth ready to maintain those eternal laws, without which
there is no security for any nation on earth. It was a sorrowful sight
to see all nations isolating themselves in defence, while despots
leagued in offence.

The view has changed. A bright lustre is spreading over the dark sky of
humanity. The glorious galaxy of the United States rises upon oppressed
nations, and the bloody star of despotism fading at your very
declaration, will soon vanish from the sky like a meteor.

Legislators of Ohio, it may be flattering to ambitious vanity to act the
part of an execrated conqueror, but it is a glory unparalleled in
history to protect rights and freedom on earth. The time draws near,
when, by virtue of such a declaration as yours, shared by your sister
States, Europe's liberated nations will unite in a mighty choir of
Hallelujahs, thanking God that his paternal cares have raised the United
States to the glorious position of a first-born son of freedom on
earth.

Washington prophesied, that within twenty years the Republic of the
United States would be strong enough to defy any power on earth _in a
just cause_. The State of Ohio was not yet born when the wisest of
men and purest of patriots uttered that prophecy; and God the Almighty
has made the prophecy true, by annexing, in a prodigiously short period,
more stars to the proud constellation of your Republic, and increasing
the lustre of every star more powerfully, than Washington could have
anticipated in the brightest moments of his patriotic hopes.

Rejoice, O my nation, in thy very woes! Wipe off all thy tears, and
smile amidst thy tortures, like the Dutch hero, De Wytt. There is a
Providence which rules. Thou wast, O my nation, often the martyr, who by
thy blood didst redeem the Christian nations on earth. Even thy present
nameless woes are providential. They were necessary, that the
star-spangled banner of America should rise over a new Sinai--the
Mountain of Law for all nations. Thy suffering