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does any man dissemble, or seem to be that which he is not, — but because he thinks it good to have the qualities he pretends to? Now the best way for a man to seem to be any thing, is to be in reality what he would seem to be:, besides, it is often as troublesome to support the pretence of a good quality, | as to have it :\ and, if a man have it not, it is most likely he will be discovered to want it; and, then, all his labor to seem to have it, is lost. There is something unnatural in painting, which a skilful eye will easily discern from native beauty and complexion.

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Therefore, if any man think it convenient to seem good, let him be so indeed: and then his goodness will appear to every one's satisfaction. Particularly, as to the affairs of this world, integrity hath many advantages over all the artificial modes of dissimulation and deceit. It is much the plainer and easier,-| much the safer, and more secure way of dealing in the world; it has less of trouble and difficulty, of entanglement and perplexity, of danger and hazard in it. | The arts of deceit and cunning continually grow weaker, and less serviceable to those that practise them; whereas integrity gains strength by use; and the more and longer any man practiseth it the greater service it does him; by confirming his reputation, | and encouraging those with whom he hath to do, te repose the greatest confidence in him; which is an unspeakable advantage in business and the affairs of life. I

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But insincerity is very troublesome to manage. | A hypocrite hath so many things to attend to, as make his life a very perplexed and intricate thing. | A liar hath need of a good memory, lest he contradict at one time, what he said at another; but truth is always consistent, and needs nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and sits upon our lips; whereas

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a lie is troublesome, and needs a great many more to make it good.

In a word, whatsoever convenience may be thought to be in falsehood and dissimulation, it is soon over; | but the inconvenience of it is perpetual; because it brings a man | under an everlasting jealousy and suspicion; so that he is not believed when he speaks the truth; nor trusted when, perhaps, he means honestly. | When a man hath once forfeited the reputation of his integrity, nothing will then serve his turn; neither truth nor falsehood. |

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Indeed, if a man were only to deal in the world for a day, and should never have occasion to converse more with mankind, it were then no great matter | (as far as respects the affairs of this world) if he spent his reputation all at once; or ventured it at one throw. But if he be to continue in the world, and would have the advantage of reputation whilst he is in it, let him make use of truth and sincerity in all his words and actions; for nothing but this will hold out to the end. | All other arts may fail; but truth and integrity will carry a man through, and bear him out to the last.

THE UNION OF THE STATES.

(WEBSTER.)

From an Address delivered at Washington City, on the Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Washington.

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There was in the breast of Washington one senti ment deeply felt, so constantly uppermost, that no proper occasion | escaped without its utterance. From the letter which he signed in behalf of the con vention, when the constitution was sent out to the people, to the moment when he put his hand to that last paper, in which he addressed his countrymen,, the union was the great object of his thoughts. |

In that first letter, he tells them that to him, and

his brethren of the convention, union is the greatest interest of every true American; and in that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity of government, which constitutes them one people, as the very palladium of their prosperity and safety, and the security of liberty itself. He regarded the union of these states, not so much one of our blessings, as the great treasure-house which contained them all. I

Here, in his judgment, was the great magazine of all our means of prosperity; here, as he thought, | and as every true American still thinks, are deposited all our animating prospects, all our solid hopes for future greatness. He has taught us to maintain this government, not by seeking to enlarge its powers on the one hand, nor by surrendering them on the other; but by an administration of them, | at once firm and moderate, adapted for objects truly national, and carried on in a spirit of justice and equity. I

The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the union, at all times manifested by him, shows not only the opinion he entertained of its usefulness, | but his clear perception of those causes | which were likely to spring up to endanger it, and which, if once they should overthrow the present system, would leave little hope of any future beneficial reunion. |

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Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous man, | that is one of the rashest, which looks for repeated and favourable opportunities, for the deliberate establishment of a united government, | over distinct and widely extended communities. Such a thing has happened once in human affairs, and but once: the event stands out, as a prominent exception to all ordinary history; and, unless we suppose ourselves running into an age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition.

Pâl-la-dè-um, [Lat.] a statue of Pallas, pretended to be the guardian of Troy; thence any security or protection.

Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard, nothing as of paramount political interest, but the integrity of the union itself. With a united government, well administered, he saw we had nothing to fear; and without it, nothing to hope. | The sentiment is just, and its momentous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. [

If we might regard our country as personated in the spirit of Washington; if we might consider him. as representing her, in her past renown, her present prosperity, and her future career, and as in that character demanding of us all, to account for our conduct, as political men, or as private citizens, | how should he answer him, who has ventured to talk of disunion and dismemberment? Or, how should he answer him, who dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every kindling flame of local prejudice? | How should he answer him, who would array state against state, interest against interest, and party against party, careless of the continuance of that unity of government which constitutes us one people? |

Gentlemen, the political prosperity which this country has attained, and which it now enjoys, it has acquired mainly through the instrumentality of the present government. While this agent continues, the capacity of attaining to still higher degrees of prosperity exists also. We have, while this lasts, | a political life, capable of beneficial exertion, with power to resist or overcome misfortunes, to sustain us against the ordinary accidents of human affairs, | and to promote, by active efforts, every public interest.

But dismemberment strikes at the very being which preserves these faculties; it would lay its rude and ruthless hand on this great agent itself. It would sweep away, not only what we possess, but all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions. | It

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would leave the country, not only bereft of its prosperity and happiness, but without limbs, or organs, or faculties, by which to exert itself, hereafter, in the pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. ¡

Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If disastrous war sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it; | if it exhaust our treasury, | future industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It were but a trifle, even if the walls of yonder Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley.

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All these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government? | Who shall rear again the well proportioned columns of constitutional liberty? Who shall frame together the skilful architecture which unites national sovereignty | with state rights, individual security, and public prosperity? |

No, gentlemen, if these columns fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Colise'umb and the Par'thenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they will be the_remnants of a more glorious edifice | than Greece or Rome the edifice of constitutional American

ever saw

liberty. I

But, gentlemen, let us hope for better things. | Let us trust in that Gracious Being, who has hitherto held our country as in the hollow of his hand. | Let us trust to the virtue and the intelligence of the people, |

* Köl'lůmź. COLISEUM, an amphitheatre at Rome, in which the people assembled to witness the combats of gladiators and wila beasts. It is said to be capable of containing 60,000 spectators. • PARTHENON, a celebrated temple at Athens, sacred to Minerva.

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