The American Union SpeakerPhilbrick, John D. (John Dudley)
General
The American Union Speaker
Philbrick, John D. (John Dudley)
Recitations
Who is Blennerhassett? A native of Ireland a man of letters, who fled from
the storms of his own country to find quiet in ours. On his arrival in
America, he retired, even from the population of the Atlantic States, and
sought quiet and solitude in the bosom of our western forests. But he
brought with him taste, and science, and wealth; and "lo the desert
smiled!" Possessing himself of a beautiful island in the Ohio, he rears
upon it a palace, and decorates it with every romantic embellishment of
fancy. A shrubbery, that Shenstone might have envied, blooms around him.
Music, that might have charmed Calypso and her nymphs is his. An extensive
library spreads its treasures before him. A philosophical apparatus offers
to him all the secrets and mysteries of Nature. Peace, tranquillity, and
innocence, shed their mingled delights around him. And, to crown the
enchantment of the scene, a wife, who is said to be lovely even beyond her
sex, and graced with every accomplishment that can render it irresistible,
had blessed him with her love, and made him the father of several children.
The evidence would convince you, sir, that this is but a faint picture of
the real life. In the midst of all this peace, this innocence, and this
tranquillity, this feast of the mind, this pure banquet of the heart,--the
destroyer comes. He comes to turn this paradise into a hell. Yet the
flowers do not wither at his approach, and no monitory shuddering through
the bosom of their unfortunate possessor warns him of the ruin that is
coming upon him. A stranger presents himself. It is Aaron Burr. Introduced
to their civilities by the high rank which he had lately held in his
country, he soon finds his way to their hearts, by the dignity and
elegance of his demeanor, the light and beauty of his conversation, and the
seductive and fascinating power of his address. The conquest was not
difficult. Innocence is ever simple and credulous. Conscious of no designs
itself, it suspects none in others. It wears no guards before its breast.
Every door and portal and avenue of the heart is thrown open, and all who
choose it enter. Such was the state of Eden, when the serpent entered its
bowers!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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