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GOVERNOR CLINTON’S SPEECH
At the opening of the New-York Legislature in January, 1825.
o Tallmadge95 of the Upper House,
And Crolius96 of the lower,
After “non nobis, Domine,”
Thus saith the Governor:
It seems by general admission,
That, as a nation, we are thriving;
Settled in excellent condition,
Bargaining, building, and beehiving;
That each one fearlessly reclines
Beneath his “fig-tree and his vines”
(The dream of philosophic man),
And all is quiet as a Sunday,
From Orleans to the Bay of Fundy,
From Beersheba to Dan.
I’ve climbed my country’s loftiest tree,
And reached its highest bough, save one.
Why not the highest?—blame not me;
“What man dare” do, I’ve done.
