50 



ubiquitous activity and unceasing progress. We be- 

 lieve that our purposes are good, that our actions 

 are honest, that our work deserves, on the whole, 

 the commendation of men and the favor of Provi- 

 dence ; " and then referring to the mutiny in India, 

 he added, " This day we have learned that the fan- 

 tastic fabric of barbarous empire, supported by de- 

 lusion and despair, has crumbled under the thunder 

 of the British guns, and that the Indian mutiny, with 

 all its associations of terror and anguish, of faith, 

 of tenderness, of glory, is vanishing away, leaving 

 to us the duties of mercy and the task of restora- 

 tion. God forbid, gentlemen, that I should exten- 

 uate the cruelties which have been committed, that 

 I should undervalue the sufferings which have been 

 endured. We will never forget the young, the in- 

 nocent, the fair, the brave, who have trodden the 

 darkest road that leads to immortality. Our loss 

 has indeed been grievous, but our consolations have 

 been great. We possess the virtues of the departed, 

 we possess those examples of piety, fidelity, patience, 

 and heroism which will be laid up in the brightest 

 treasures of time ; and we possess a friend in the 

 hour of tribulation. When the gloom had gathered 

 most thickly, then a voice of comfort and encour- 

 agement burst from the American people. That 

 was a fraternal voice, and its tones will not soon 

 expire in the grateful memory of England." 



