286 422 ; 1 It A. T I N DELIVERED BY THE HON. HENRY S. FOOTE, ON THE Fourth of July, 1850, ^tl.cO* 53QCg}JKy'QSrESGtEffiEar EP £53£ka^®aaaa with AN INTRODUCTION. Published by the National Monument Society WASHINGTON : PRINTED FY HENRY POLKINHORN. MDCCCL, mo INTRODUCTION. The Board of Managers of the Washington National Monumekt. Society, having deemed it expedient to celebrate the anniversary of our National Inde- pendence, appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. Watterston, Smith , and Crawford, to make the necessary arrangements for the celebration. The honorable Henry S. Foote, of Mississippi, was requested to deliver an Oration or Address on that occasion, to which he kindly assented; and the neces- sary preparations were made for the celebration at Monument Place, by an exten- sive awning, and other accommodations, for those who might attend. The exces- sive heat of the weather prevented the formation of a military and civic procession, as was at first contemplated by the Board of Managers, but a large number of ci- tizens and strangers attended, to participate in the ceremonies on that occasion. A spacious and commodious platform was erected at the east front of the Monu- ment for the accommodation of the orator and invited guests ; and at the appointed hour the Rev. Mr. Butler opened the ceremonies with an appropriate prayer, and was followed by Walter Lenox, Esq., Mayor of Washington, who read the Declaration of Independence in a clear and distinct voice, and was succeeded by the honorable Henry S. Foote, in an eloquent Address suited to the occasion. The Rev. Mr. Morgan pronounced the benediction ; and the company were then in- vited to witness the ceremony of hoisting and laying the large block of marble presented by the Corporation, to be deposited in the Monument, at its west front. General Walter Jones, on behalf of the Councils of the city, delivered an eloquent Address on the occasion, and G. W. P. Custis presented, with some feeling re- marks, a box of sand, sent by Dr. LiEBER,and taken from the tumulus of Kosciusko, in Poland, to be mixed with the mortar used in laying one of the stones of the Monument. The ceremonies on this occasion were very interesting and imposing, and at their conclusion the company retired highly gratified with the ceremonies they had witnessed. The President of the United States, with a portion of the Cabinet, united in the ceremonies of this interesting occasion, and manifested a deep interest in the success of the patriotic undertaking of the Society. It was the la3t celebration he was destined to attend ; for, a few days afterwards, he departed this life, after a short and fatal illness, to the profound regret and sorrow of his countrymen. A short time before his death, he uttered the following sentiment in relation to the magnificent Monument now being erected in this city, which it is hoped wil* be reciprocated by every American who venerates the character of the great bene- factor of his country. "Let it rise !" said he; u let it ascend ivithout interruption; let it point to the skies; let it stand forever as a lasting monument of the gratitude and affection of a free people for the Father of his Country/'' PRAYER Delivered by the Rev. Mr. Butler a* the commencement of the ceremonies. Almighty ami most merciful Father ! King; of kings and Lord of Lords, wliose wise providence ordereth all things in hea- ven and earth, Thou art a strong tower and defence to those who (rust in Thee ; Thou art the giver of every good and perfect gift. We adore Thee as the God in whom our fathers trusted, and were delivered. We have heard with our ears, Oh Lord, and our fa- thers have declared unto us, the noble works which Thou didst in their days in the old time before them* Thou didst give them a goodly heritage ; Thou wert with them in their hour of peril ; Thou didst crown them with victory in the day of battle; Thou didst break the rod of their oppressors; Thou didst bestow upon them the unspeakable blessings of civil and religious freedom. We thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for all these thy mercies be- stowed upon them and upon us their children. We praise Thee that we are still permitted to hail this anniversary of our National Independence as a prosperous and united people. May we recall Thy mercies which have been ever of old ; may we remember that it is not for our righteousness that Thou hast brought us in to pos- sess this good land. Not unto us, Oh Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the praise. Now that our flocks and our herds are multiplied, and our silver and gold are multiplied, and all that we have is multiplied, let us not say in our hearts that our power and the mightiness of our hands have gotten us their wealth, but let us remember the Lord our God ! We confess before Thee, Oh God, with shame and humilia- tion, that many sins testify against us. We have abused thy gifts ; we have been lifted up with pride; we have boasted of our strength; we have been ungrateful for Thy mercies; we have not been devoted to thy service. We beseech Thee mercifully to look upon our infirmities, and turn from us those evils that we most justly have deserved. Turn Thou us, Oh Lord, and so shall we be turned. Make us to be a nation fearing Thee, and working righteousness. Teach us to realize that it is righteous- ness that exalteth a nation, and sin only that is a reproach to any people. Make us a wise and understanding nation to know and do Thy will. Then shall our land give forth her increase, and God, even our own God, shall give us His blessing, and all the ends of the world shall fear Him. We pray Thee, Heavenly Father, to avert from our beloved land every impending evil, and to withhold from us Thy just, and desolating judgments. Perserve us still as a peaceful and united people. Remove from us all alienation, wrath, clamor, and evil speaking. Let us not be visited with the unspeakable woes and horrors of disunion, anarchy, and war. We pray for Thy special and abundant gifts of wisdom, forbearance, justice, and paternal love to all our magistrates, lav/givers, and public officers in this crisis of our country's history. Bless the President, the Vice Pre- sident, and the Congress of these United States : give unto them wisdom to devise and fidelity to execute such measure as shall restore harmony and love, and promote the public prosperity and peace. May the ties which bind us together as a people be, by the exercises and influences of this day over all the land, mightily strengthened and closely drawn. We entreat Thee by the me- mory of Thy mercies in the past; we implore Thee by all the blessings of the present, and all the hopes of the future, that Thou wouldst stretch forth the right hand of Thy power to help us, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. O God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech Thee, for all men, that thou wouldst be pleased to make Thy ways known unto them, Thy saving health to all nations. Let Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it in heaven. Hasten the period when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountain, and be ex- alted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it. We ask these blessings in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen ! ORATION. Friends and Fellow- Citizens : Once more have we assembled upon this, the natal day of American Independence, formally to manifest the respect and gratitude which we feel for those wise and patriotic ancestors to whom, under Heaven, we are indebted for the priceless blessings of civil and religious liberty. Almost two-thirds of a century have now passed away since the adoption and signature of that solemn declaration which announced to the civilized nations of the eaith that the British colonies in America were free, sovereign, and in- dependent States ; and the particular day in the calendar upon which this important declaration was made, has ever since been set apart as a day of peculiar sacredness, whose annual recurrence has uniformly called forth in all countries under the sun, where the principles of republican freedom are held in respect, those sentiments of gratulation, and rejoicing, and profound thankful- ness which I am sure now animate the hearts of those by whom I am surrounded. It would be a great error, in my judgment, to suppose that the sage and philosophic statesmen who were assem- bled in Independence Hall upon the fourth day of July, seventeen hundred and seventy-six, were induced to undertake the high act of State which has given to them all a deathless immortality, by a desire merely to relieve the colonies which they represented from the burden of illegal taxation. The signers of the Declaration have themselves formally pronounced the great and salutary truth, that " Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;" and in assuming for those whom they re- presented " that equal station among the Powers of the earth to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitled them," they conceived " that a decent respect for the opinions of man- kind" required them to make known "the causes which con- trolled their action. It was no grievance, either menaced merely 6 or' which (hey had reason to apprehend might in future be experi- enced hy the colonies ; it was not a feeling- of mere local jealousy, nor a desire for sectional aggrandizement, which brought about the separation of the colonies from the paient country, but " a long train of abuses, pursuing invariably the same object, evin- cing," as they thought, " a design to reduce them under absolute despotism," which stimulated them to that noble assertion both of the "right" and "duty" of those subjected to injustice to "throw off the government" which had become tyranically oppressive to them, and to " provide new guards for their future security." The solemn recital of those wrongs and usurpations which is to be found in that sacred instrument which has this moment been read in our hearing, must ever be regarded by all unprejudiced minds as more than justifying the men of the Revolution in re- sorting to the God of Battles for deliverance from thraldom ; for we find in this black catalogue of grievances almost every enor- mity that has ever yet disgraced the annals of tyranny, among which are the following : I. The refusal on the part of the Bri- tish Sovereign to give " his assent to laws most wholesome and necessary to the public good." 2. " The obstruction of the laws of naturalization," so important to the inhabitants of a newly settled region. 3. The interruption of the administration of jus- tice, " by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers." 4. The erection of a "multitude of offices" by a self- assumed power, and " sending into the colonies swarms of new officers to harass the people and eat out their substance." 5. The keeping up of standing armies in time of peace without the con- sent of the colonial legislatures. 6. The attempt to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power. 7. The overthrow of the right of trial by jury. 8. The abdication of all government in the colonies, by declaring them out of his protec- tion, and actually waging war against them. These, together with the most odious and annoying restraints upon trade, the most selfish and illiberal interference with the domestic industry of the colonies, and the imposition of unconstitutional taxation, made it indispensable that our colonial forefathers should forever terminate ■SET ° F INGRESS 011 460 189 3 . their "allegiance (o the British Crown," and secede from (heir connexion with (he British people, holding them, as they held " the rest of mankind, enemies in war — in peace, friends " It will not be expected that I shall descant at present upon ihe incidents which marked the progress of our revolutionary struggle, as they are doubtless already familiar to all whom I now address. Yet may it be more or less profitable to us to notice for a moment a few of those incipient movements in the colonies, which, looking at first to nothing beyond securing the repeal of British enact- ments deemed unjust, in some regularly parliamentary mode, were fated soon to eventuate in the establishment of a solid confedera- te organization of sufficient potency to break to pieces the solid fabric of British power, and forever to sever from the British em- pire the fairest colonial domain over which king or potentate has ever yet been known to wield the sceptre of authority . 1 . Among the colonial movements alluded to, we find legislative resolutions against acts of Parliament regarded as unconstitutional in their character, or felt to be oppressive in their operation. 2. Articles of agreement, called associations, " by which those who subscribed them were bound not to purchase or use the manufactures of England, except in cases of the most urgent necessity. 3. Efforts to bring about concert of action between Virginia and the colo- nies of the North. 4. Plan of a general Congress. Thus far did the people of the colonies proceed without any apparent desire to dissolve that union which had so long subsisted between them- selves and the parent State ; nor can it be asserted that any ex- pectation was generally entertained that such an event would fi- nally take place, before the first actual collision of arms between the regular soldiers of Britain and the undisciplined militia of the colonies, which occurred in the neighborhood of Boston, upon the 1 7th day of June, 1775. That this was the condition of the pub- lic mind in America up to the period specified, isalike testified by authentic legislative acts, and by the well known declarations of prominent individuals who were shortly to participate in the scenes of revolutionary strife which were, in fact now almost at hand. In the address of the first Congress to the people of Great Britian, 8 the following si liking language was held : " You have been told that we are seditious, impatient of government, and desirous of in- dependence. Be assured that these are not facts, but calumnies." General Washington himself, though endowed with a sagacity as lo the future which few men have ever evinced, was far from look- ing with confidence lo the commencement of civil war, though he seems never to have doubted that if blood should be once shed, in such a contest of opinion as was then in progress, it would be wholly impossible to prevent the colonies from asserting and achiev- ing their independence. Whilst attending as a member of Con- gress from Virginia, he responded to a letter which he had received from a British officer at Boston, between whom and himself re- lations of particular friendship existed, in part as follows: "Al- though you are taught to believe that the people of Massachusetts are rebellious, setting up for independence and what not, give me leave, my good friend, to tell you that you are abused, greatly abused. This I advance with a degree of confidence and bold- ness which may claim your belief, having better opportunities of knowing the sentiments of the people you are among, from the leaders of them in opposition to the present measures of the ad- ministration, than you have from those whose business it is not to disclose truths, but to misrepresent facts, in order to justify them- selves, as much as possible, to the world for their own conduct." It may be, indeed, most safely asserted that, had the British gov- ernment, even at that late period, consented to do justice to the colonies, and refrained thereafter from unjust and insulting legis- lation, the great event of American independence might have been postponed at least for another generation. But Britain was inex- orable. Profoundly blind to all the consequences, likely to ensue, totally misunderstanding the character of a portion of her own people — not supposing it even possible that less lhan three millions of colonists would venture to engage in a war with one of the most powerful nations of Europe — and never doubting that if even the spirit of rebellion should display itself in a few quarters, North and South, it would be an easy task to repress it at once, and bring the offenders to justice, she persevered in her course of unjust ag- 9 gression, and ultimately ordered the commencement of hostilities. The result is before the world — a perpetual lesson to tyrannic rulers, and to freemen unwilling to be despoiled of their dearest rights! Thrice fortunate was it for our colonial ancestors that there was among them at this critical period such a personage as George Washington, in whose illustrious character were blend- ed all the great qualities which so pre-eminently fitted him for the performance of those arduous duties which were about to be de- volved upon him. No one has ever lived concerning whose merits as a public man so much has been said in just commendation as of General Washington ; and yet may it be well doubted whether the language of eulogy has quite come up to his un- equalled virtues and his exalted capabilities. Of his admirably balanced intellect, judgment was the leading and predominating attribute. Cool, considerate, unprejudiced ; firm, conscientious, persevering ; pervious to the counsels of those in whom he con- fided, yet resolute, fearless and energetic in action. Modest, but dignified in his manners, to a degree at times almost bordering upon sternness — yet kindly affectioned, sociable, and susceptible of the strongest personal attachments. As ambitious of true glory as a wise man could well be, yet profoundly indifferent to the voice of contemporaneous applause, and utterly regardless of the delu- sive tokens of mere transient admiration. Free from all appear- ance of envy, selfishness, or " that weakest weakness vanity," he on all suitable occasions admitted and extolled the merits of others, whether inimical or friendly to himself — was never in his life sus- pected of intriguing for his own advancement to public honors, or for the prostrati( .1 of a rival ; and he is believed on no occasion to have indulged even for a moment in indelicate self-commendation. His early education was of a very limited character, indeed , but he amply supplied his deficiencies in this respect by a close observation of the world, and by a free and unreserved intercourse with men of learning. His extensive and varied experience both as a military man and as a colonial legislator (having served continuously for fif- teen years in the House of Burgesses of his native State) particularly qualified him for the career which destiny seems to have opened be- 10 fore him; as, in pursuing this career, he was to be called upon alike for sage counsel in regard to the high exigencies of State, and to meet the enemies of his country in the field, as commander-in chief of the armies raised for the maintenance of freedom and independence. It is generally conceded that there was one ingiedient in the character of General Washington which distinguished him pie- eminently among the statesmen and heroes whose fame has been committed to authentic history. I allude to that astonishing self- control exercised by him on all occasions, even amidst the most trying circumstances of his public life. " He that is slow to an- ger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city;" and of Washington has it been truly said, " His highest ambition was for the happiness of mankind; his noblest victory the conquest of himself ." Though endowed with sensibilities of more than ordinary sus- ceptibility, and exposed for many years of his life, in a peculiar manner, to causes of irritation and excitement, he is not known ever to have given way to a public exhibition of passion, or intem- perate feeling of any kind : and, though bitterly assailed during his second Presidential term by a portion of the newspaper press of the country, yet did he bear up and sustain himself under coarse revilement, caustic denunciation, and even the low ridicule of carping censurers, with a patient dignity and unfaltering per- formance of duty which justify me in saying of him, in the lan- guage of poetry : The man whose mind, on virtue bent, Pursues some greatly good intent With undiverted aim, Serene beholds the angry crowd, Nor can their clamors, fierce and loud, His stubborn honor tame. Not the proud tyrant's fiercest threat, Nor storms that from their dark retreat The tameless surges wake ; Not Jove's great bolt that strikes the pole, The firmer purpose of his soul With all its power can shake. 11 Should Nature's frame in ruins fall, And chaos o'er the sinking ball Resume primeval sway, His courage, chance and fate defies, Nor feels the wreck of earth and skies Obstruct its destined way. Fifteeen years after the death of Washington, one who would not be suspected of being inclined to do him more than justice, said : " He was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest uncon- cern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence, never acting until tvery circumstance, every consideration, was maturely weighed ; refraining if he saw a doubt ; but when once decided, going through with his purpose what- ever obstacles offered. His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexi- ble I have ever known — no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred being able to bias his opinion." Mr. Jefferson adds : " He was, indeed, in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man." Impartial history will record that General Washington was not less successful in administering the civic concerns of the Re- public, as I he Chief Magistrate of a free and enlightened people, than he had been as a Commander-in-Chief in the war that esta- blished our national independence. Twice was he unanimously elected to the Presidential office, in opposition to his own ardent wish to escape that distinction ; and it is remarkable that eminent statesmen, of the most dissimilar opinions, and cherishing for each other the fiercest political rivalry, agreed in urging him to continue in public life. For thus did Mr. Jefferson write to General Wash- ington in 1792 : " The confidence of the whole Union is centred in you. Your being at the helm will be more than an answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession. North and South will hang together, if they have you to hang on; and if the first corrective of a numerous representation should fail in its effect, your presence will give time for trying others not inconsistent with the Union and peace of the States. I am per- fectly aware of the oppression under which your present office lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for retirement to domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence of character on which society have such peculiar claims as to control the predilection of the individual for a particular walk of happiness 12 and restrain him to that alone, arising from the present and future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law imposed on you by Pro- Tidence in forming your character and fashioning the events on which it was to operate ; and it is to motives like these, and not to personal anxieties of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, that I appeal from your former determination, and urge a revival of it, on the ground of a change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority result from the new and enlarged representation — should those acquiesce whose principles or interests they may control — your wishes for retirement would be gratified with less danger, as soon as that shall be manifest, without awaiting the completion of the second period of four years. One or two sessions will determine the crisis ; and I cannot but hope that you can resolve to add one or two more to the many years you have already sacrificed to the good of mankind." And thus wrote Mr. Hamilton on the same subject : " It is clear that, if you continue in office, nothing materially mischievous is to be apprehended — if you quit, much is to be dreaded; that the same motives which induced you to accept originally ought to decide you to continue till matters have assumed a more determinate aspect; that indeed, it would have been better, as re- gards your own character, that you had never consented to come foward, than now to leave the business unfinished, and in danger of being undone; that in the event of storms arising, there would be an imputation either of want of foresight or want of firmness ; and, in fine, that, on personal and public accounts, on patriotic and prudential considerations, the clear path to be pursued by you will be again to obey the voice of your country. I trust, and I pray God that you will determine to make a further sacrifice of your tranquillity and happiness to the public good." Two years ago, a distinguished son of New England, in deliv- ering an impressive and instructive Address in connexion with the imposing ceremony of laying the corner-stone of that noble monu- ment whose grand proportions and soaring majesty begin already to attest the generous fullness of a nation's gratitude to her greatest benefactor, uttered language which J am proud to have an op- portunity of now reiterating. He asked : " Who ever thinks of Washington as a mere politician ? Who ever associates him with the petty arts and pitiful intrigues of partisan office seekers or partisan office-holders? Who ever pictures him canvassing for votes, dealing out proscription, or doling out patronage?" I con- fidently answer, No one ! There was too much of true eleva- tion of sentiment and disinterested patriotism in his lofty soul, to allow him to play, for a single day or a single hour, the con- temptible part of a partisan President. Indeed, I am perfectly 13 persuaded that it would be grossly unjust to recognise him as hav- ing been, at any period of his life, a partisan at all, in the sense generally attached to that term. No man deplored parly ex- cesses more than he did, or was more inclined to condemn those illiberal prejudices which the warfare of party is so well calculated to engender. In confirmation of what 1 have ventured to declare upon this point, allow me to read a short extract from a letter written by him to Mr. Jefferson, in the year 1792 : " How unfortunate and how much to be regretted is it, while we are encom- passed on all sides with avowed enemies and insidious friends, internal dissensions should be harrowing and tearing our vitals. The latter to me is the most serious, the most alarming, and the most afflicting of the two ; and without more charity for the opinions and acts of one another in governmental matters, or some more infallible criterion, by which the truth of speculative opinions, before they have undergone the test of experience, is to be forejudged, than has yet fallen to the lot of fallibility, I believe it will be difficult, if not impracticable, to manage the reins of Government, or to keep the parts of it together; for if, instead of laying ou r shoulders to the machine after measures are decided on, one pulls this way, and another that, before the utility of the thing is fairly tried, it must inevitably be torn asunder ; and in my opinion the fairest prospect of happiness and prosperity that ever was presented to man will be lost, perhaps forever. " My earnest wish and my fondest hope, therefore, is that, instead of wounding suspicions and irritating charges, there may be liberal allowances, mutual forbear- ances, and temporizing yieldings on all sides. Under the exercise of these, matters will go on smoothly, and, if possible, more prosperously. Without them every thing must rub ; the wheels of Government will clog ; our enemies will triumph ; and, by throwing their weight into the disaffected scale, may accomplish the ruin of the goodly fabric we have been erecting." At the close of his last Presidential term, in his memorable Farewell Address, he again expressed himself as follows : " I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with par- ticular references to the founding them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. " This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists in different shapes in all Go- vernments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popu- lar form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. " The alternate dominion of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which, in different age3 and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this 14 leads, at length, to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and. miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and re- pose in the absolute power of an individual ; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. " W fiout looking; r orward to an extremity of this kind — which, nevertheless, ought not to be entirely out of sight — the common and continual nvschiefs of the spirit of party are srfficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. " It serves always to distract the pihlic counci's, and enfeeble the public admin- istration ; it agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasional riot and insurrection ; it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the Government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." Fellow-citizens, such was the life, character, and public ser- vices of George Washington ; such his claims to our respect and gratitude; such his title to be remembered by all the vota- ries of liberty who shall inhabit this fair land in all future time. Owing to the melancholy shortness of human life, and the de- plorable imperfeciion of individual memoiy, the greatest and most glorious nf those achievements, which are calculated to at- tract the admiration and call forth the plaudits of mankind, would cease in a few years to be recollected upon earth, but for the pious diligence of those whose generous ambition it is to rescue the fading memoiials of renown from the gulf of oblivion, and to transmit the light of illustrious example to the remotest genera- tions of posterity. This monument, erected in honor of him " who was fust in war, first in peace, and first in the heaits of his countrymen," will remain, I trust, a durable memorial of the re- spect and gratitude of the nation to him who, more than all others, contributed to bring the nation itself into existence; and a thousand years hence, the passing traveller, who pauses here to survey the goodly fabiic, shall kindle with enthusiasm as he is reminded of the glories which encircle the name of Washington, and thank us who are now here for the generous recollections which, by our agency, may be then awakened in his bosom. But let me ; fellow- citizens, in conclusion, call your attention 15 for a moment to a subject which was a source of more solicitude to the mind of this great man, when returning (o the shades of private life, than all others connected with the future honor and welfare of the republic. I allude to the apprehension which he so eloquently expressed in his Farewell Address, that geographi- cal parties might spring up among us by whose instrumentality the harmony of the nation might be interrupted, and the union of the States be subverted. I refer to the warning which he left on record for the future guidance of his countrymen against the effects of " characterizing parties by geographical discrimina- tions, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western." Let me repeat his own solemn words : " The unity of Government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real inde- pendence; the support of your tranquillity at home; your peace abroad ; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to fore- see that, from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth — as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly esti- mate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attach- ment to it ; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and prospeiity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together its various parts." May these parting admonitions of the illustrious Washington sink deep into the hearts of his countrymen of the present gene- ration ! May his solemn words of warning be treasured up by all who desire the peace, the happiness, and the perpetuity of our free institutions ! May sectional jealousy, fanatical rage, the ac- cursed ambition for notoriety and power, the low appetite for place and its emoluments, and the spirit of political rivalry, be banished forever from the council halls of (he nation! Let jus- tice, brotherly feeling, and true courtesy restrain the turbid cur- rent of angry and mischievous debate, and compose the discordant 16 elements of party strife, which have so long and so discreditably disturbed the public quiet, and obstructed all wholesome and ne- cessary legislation ! Here, in sight of the magnificent Capitol of this great Republic, whose pillared strength is beautifully typical of that grand federative fabric from which " no part can be removed Without infringement of the general symmetry" — in view of the majestic river whose waters, in their course to- wards the ocean, alike lave the tomb of Washington and whis- per their murmuring homage to his memory as they flow by the place of his nativity — here, in the midst of the assembled wisdom of the nation, and in presence of this vast multitude of my patri- otic countrymen, I urge you, and all of you — I entreat you, I be- seech you, at this moment of awful peril to the Republic — that ye do your duty, and nothing but your duty, to the Constitution, to the Union, and to the sacred cause of Liberty itself! ABB1E BY GEOBGE W. P. CUSTIS, OF Arlington, MR. CUSTIS'S ADDRESS. At the request of the Managers of the Washington National Monument Society, the veteran orator, George W. P. Custis, of Arlington, addressed the audience, as follows : He said that he appeared before them a man of the past. It was verging upon half a century since he first mounted the rostrum and addressed an audience on the ever to be venerated Fourth of July. He thanked God that he had been spared to his sixty-first celebration of the National Birth Day, commencing with our present happy Government. He had not the remotest idea of being called upon on the present occasion, but as he never spoke from written docu- ments, but simply from the impulses of the heart, he should address Americans from the heart of an American. Mr. Custis observed, we celebrate this glorious day under auspices peculiarly happy ; our ceremonial being held at the base of the Monument erecting to the fame and memory of the PATER PATRIAE, may it continue to rise in colossal grandeur, the work of the People of a mighty empire— the marble memorial of the Father of his Country ! When Napoleon led his legions to the conquest of Egypt, as he marched by the Pyramids of Cheops, he cried to his soldiers, " Comrades! from the height of that pyramid forty centuries behold our actions !" So when in long distant day the chief of the great Western Empire shall lead forth our embattled host to combat for the mastery of the world, he will halt before this towering structure, and exclaim, " Soldiers ! from the cloud-capped summit of that Monument the spirit of Washington beholds our actions !" [Applause.] Proud and venera- ble are the recollections which this glorious Anniversary calls up to the Ameri- cans from the brave old days of the heroic age to the present time. Among the most touching of the memories of the past are the deaths on the day of Inde- pendence of two of the most illustrious of the Conscript Fathers of the Fourth of July, seventeen hundred and seventy-six. Jefferson, rejoicing in the success of the great experiment of self-government, to the rise and progress of which he had so nobly contributed, expired with the calmness of a philosopher, at peace with himself and all mankind ; while Adams, made of sterner stuff and a more heroic cast of character, displayed "the ruling 20 passion strong in death." He had arrived at patriarchal age when the morning sa lute told of the return of the National Anniversary. As the discharge of artillery shook the couch on which the venerable statesman was reposing, he asked his at- tendants, " What mean those sounds ?" and was answered, 'Tis the morning salute for the Fourth of July. The lamp of life, then flickering in the socket, flared up for the last time, as the dying patriot, raising himself up on his couch, emphatically ex- claimed, " The Fourth of July! why that means independence! Independence forever! !" and died. Peace to thy ashes, hero as well as statesman of Independence, honor to thy memory; for well did thy great political rival term thee "the Ajax Telamon of her cause in the House and out of the House." " With thy latest breath, " Thou felt the ruling passion strong in death, "So in that moment, as in all the past, " Oh ! save my country, Heaven, it was thy last." The orator continued : I hold in my hand a portion of earth from the stupend- ous mound erected by the people of Poland, to commemorate the virtues and ser- vices of their illustrious patriot and hero Thaddeus Kosciusko. Kosciusko *' fired by Freedom's cause, fought to make that freedom ours." Having gal- lantly contributed to found the Empire of National Liberty in the New World, he returned to his native land, and struggled to emancipate Poland from her thraldom, and to place her in the rank of nations. He was cloven down in a disastrous bat- tle, " and freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell." In homage to the memory of an apostle of Liberty in two worlds, let the earth of Poland, from the mound of Kosciusko, be mingled with the marble of America in the Monument of Washing- ton. [Applause.] Mr. Custis observed : While with joyous hearts we assemble to celebrate this anniversary, how comes, it my countrymen, that we hear the ill- omened sound of Disunion so rife in the land ? Of a truth, in my life's young day, it would have been a bold man who would have dared to utter the word disunion to the dear glorious old Thirteen. A standing sentiment at the 4th of July celebra- tions of the olden times was, " Palsied be the tongue that would utter Disunion of the States." What an example does the events of the present day offer to the rising genera- tion of Americans ! Ourforefatherstaughtus to believe that in union there is strength, that " united we stand, divided we fall." It was to give union and strength to our government and laws, that our admirable Constitution was formed. It is only by union and strength that the constitution can be preserved and the Republic per- petuated to remote generations. And let me ask you, Americans, have we not un- der the pure and benign influences of the Constitution, risen to Empire with a speed and glory unknown before in the history of nations ? Has not the American Re- public burst upon the world with a meteor glare that dazzles while it astonishes mankind? Look aiound you, and behold a spectacle unique in the history of as;es ! 21 You see the work of centuries, in other countries, accomplished in three score years in your own. An Empire of liberty and laws, comprising twenty millions of free and happy people, occupying a territory bounded by oceans, and more vast than that o'er which the Roman Eagle ever flew, or on which the Roman sandal ever trod. European nations say there is magic in this thing. True, the magic consists in three words, Liberty, Union, and the Constitution. [Applause.] And will Americans dare with unhallowed hands to destroy a fabric, the master-work of patriots and sages, the great and renowned of the land ? Beware, lest in committing so monstrous a crime, you disturb not the slumbers of the tomb of Mount Vernon, and cause the sarcophagus to " ope its ponderous and marble jaws," and the shadowy form of the Father of his Country to appear among U3. It would appear " more in sorrow than in anger," and) would say, What is it you would do, my chil- dren, " a deed without a name?" Was it for this that, with my brave compatriots, we toiled, we fought, and bled, that we might leave to you as an inheritance the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty, the Constitution and laws ? Was it for this that we struggled through long years of privation and blood, to found an empire that should serve as an asylum for the oppressed of all nations, and an example to those who would throw off the yoke of the oppressor, and strike for the natural rights of mankind ? But if you will destroy a government, the purest, the wisest, the best, that ever was bestowed upon man, let our memories, and our ashes, be buried in its ruins. We wish not to be remembered in a dishonoured land. Pause, my children ! pause in your mad career ! pause and reflect upon a warning from the grave. Return to your allegiance to the Union, the Constitution and the laws ; restore harmony and good fellowship among brethren of the same family. Be free, be happy ; let the Republic be immortal. The orator continued: If Disunion, that now rears its hated form among us, proceeds in its mad career, then