mendous as the forces, indomitable as the will of the
gigantic north. It would set the inheritance of the Byzantine Emperors
in the diadem of Peter the Great. It would make the Sea of Marmara and
the ridges of the Caucasus, paths to illimitable empire and
uncompromising despotism. It moves down the map of the world, as a
glacier moves down the Alps, patient and relentless, startling the
jealous rivals that watch its course, and granting contemptuous peace to
the allies that shiver in its shadow.

In considering, therefore, the symbols which prove that we also are a
great people, having great power, we should select those which indicate
the possession of a _peculiar_ power. This peculiarity is not in our
geographical extent or material greatness. But it _is_, I think, in our
institutions, in the tendency of our national ideas, and in the
legitimate result of these. It is in conceptions and elements the direct
opposite of those that work in the destiny of the mighty empire just
referred to--and for this reason I _have_ referred to it.

In taking up a subject, then, which is especially connected with the
conditions of humanity in the city, because in the city the conception
of a people--of a public--is especially illustrated, let us
inquire--What _are_ the symbols of our republic; the signs and agents of
our greatness as a nation? And, for the sake of avoiding too many
specifications, I propose to consider these under two or three general
classes.

In the first place, then, I would select as a symbol of the Republic,
_Whatever represents the privilege of Free Thought_. As to whatever
gives full play to the intellect, whatever diffuses the intelligence,
whatever wakes up and assists the entire spiritual nature of individuals
and communities, I think there is really more opportunity here than
anywhere else on the face of the earth. And, as a sign and instrument of
this, I would point to some _District School-house_; rough,
weather-worn, standing in some bleak corner of New York or New
Hampshire; through whose closed windows the passer-by catches the
confused hum of recitation, or at whose door he sees children of all
conditions mingling in motley play. Of all conditions, so far as
external peculiarities go; for the laws of nature and the ordinances of
Providence cannot be dispensed with even here; but of one condition as
the recognized possessors of immortal _mind_. Those who have helped
mould the Republic have clearly se