Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task
they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to
nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a Gubernatorial or a Presidential
chair; but such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the
eagle. What! think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a
Caesar, or a Napoleon? Never! Towering genius disdains a beaten path.
It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding
story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of
others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It
scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious.
It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it,
whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freemen. Is
it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed of the loftiest
genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost
stretch, will at some time spring up among us? And when such an one does
it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the
government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate
his designs.
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