28 ORATION. founded in the knowledge of our resources and in the assurance of right, which is among the chief of our resources; that abiding hope, which in adversity and prosperity, through good report and through evil report, follows the fortunes of the country, and trusts in God for its triumph. I find a motto for patriots in the phrase, which a brave king gave to the statesmen of Great Britain, when foreign war and civil dissension threatened the existence of the nation, and when the people too readily gave themselves up to unreasonable elevation and depression of spirits. He wrote to a friend, that crossing the German Ocean on a stormy night, with a head wind and a heavy sea, he heard the captain calling out every minute to the helmsman: “ Steady, steady, steady.” And he gave this to be the watchword of every loyal Englishman, until the day of peril should pass away. So, it might be our watchword now, — “ Steady.” No slacking of effort in the moment of success; no dejection in the hour of danger. “ Steady ” for the Union and the right. If I could be heard by him who holds the helm of state, I would say to him, even, — “ Steady. The ship you steer is freighted with the best hopes, of man. The destinies of generations unborn depend upon you. At last, the ship is steering for the North Star. Now, steady, steady, steady.” I find grounds of hope in the devotion with which
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