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 sufferings were necessary, that the people of the United States, powerful by their freedom and free by the principle of national independence, that common right of all humanity, should stand up, a new Moses upon the new Sinai, and shout out with the thundering voice of its twenty-five millions—"Hear, ye despots of the world, henceforward this shall be law, in the name of the Lord your God and our God.
Ye shall not kill nations.
Ye shall not steal their freedom.
And ye shall not covet what is your neighbour's."
Ohio has given its vote by the resolutions I had the honour to hear. It is the vote of two millions, and it will have its constitutional weight in the councils of Washington City, where the delegates of the people's sovereignty find their glory in doing the people's will.
Sir, it will be a day of consolation and joy in Hungary, when my bleeding nation reads these resolutions, which I will send to her. They will flash over the gloomy land; and my nation, unbroken in courage, steady in resolution, and firm in confidence, will draw still more courage, more resolution from them, because it is well aware that the legislature of Ohio would never pledge a word to which the people of Ohio will not be true in case of need.
Sir, I regret that my illness has disabled me to express my fervent thanks in a manner more becoming to this Assembly's dignity. I beg to be excused for it; and humbly beg you to believe, that my nation for ever, and I for all my life, will cherish the memory of this benefit.
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