us and of the curtii and decii， and the people assembled in the forum， not， as in the days of camillus and the scipios， to cast their free votes for annual magistrates or pass upon the acts of the senate， but to receive from the hands of the leaders of the respective parties their share of the spoils and to shout for one or the other， as those collected in gaul or egypt and the lesser asia would furnish the larger dividend. the spirit of liberty had fled， and， avoiding the abodes of civilized man， had sought protection in the wilds of scythia or scandinavia； and so under the operation of the same causes and influences it will fly from our capitol and our forums. a calamity so awful， not only to our country， but to the world， must be deprecated by every patriot and every tendency to a state of things likely to produce it immediately checked. such a tendency has existed——does exist. always the friend of my countrymen， never their flatterer， it becomes my duty to say to them from this high place to which their partiality has exalted me that there exists in the land a spirit hostile to their best interests——hostile to liberty itself. it is a spirit contracted in its views， selfish in its objects. it looks to the aggrandizement of a few even to the destruction of the interests of the whole. the entire remedy is with the people. something， however， may be effected by the means which they have placed in my hands. it is union that we want， not of a party for the sake of that party， b
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