9. This series may be concluded by other words, general in character, but deeply prophetic, showing a constant sense of the unfolding grandeur and influence of the Republic.
The first is from the concluding chapter of the work last cited, and in harmony with the Preface:—
“A prospect into futurity in America is like contemplating the heavens through the telescopes of Herschel. Objects stupendous in their magnitudes and motions strike us from all quarters, and fill us with amazement.”[378]
Thus, also, he writes to Thomas Jefferson, November 15, 1813:—
“Many hundred years must roll away before we shall be corrupted. Our pure, virtuous, public-spirited, federative Republic will last forever, govern the globe, and introduce the perfection of man.”[379]
Then, again, in a letter to Hezekiah Niles, 13th February, 1818:—
“The American Revolution was not a common event. Its effects and consequences have already been awful over a great part of the globe. And when and where are they to cease?”[380]
The prophetic spirit which filled the “visions” of youth continued in the “dreams” of age. Especially was he constant in foreseeing the widening reach of the great Revolution he had helped at its beginning; and this arrested the attention of his eloquent eulogist at Faneuil Hall.[381]