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 AN 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 ST. ANDREWS CHURCH, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 BEFORE THE ST. ANDREW'S COMPANY, 
 
 AND AT THEIR REQUEST. 
 
 BY JOHN GEDDES, Jon. 
 
 ** 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 independence ; the support of your 
 tranquillity at home ; your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of 
 your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly prize." 
 
 Washington's Valedicfry Uddrest* 
 
 t. B. STEPHENS, PRINTa 
 182L 
 
■ Ct'S 
 
©IB^^I2®S?< 
 
 Friends and Fellow-Citizens. 
 
 At a period of perfect tranquillity at home, and 
 d peace almost universal among the nations of the 
 earth, we assemble to keep the birth day of our 
 Country's emancipation from tyranny. An American 
 on this occasion feels a pride to which the rest of 
 mankind are comparatively strangers. He is animat- 
 ed by the remembrance of the proud df^fiance showa 
 by his Ancestors to a King and Ministry and Parlia- 
 ment, who dared venture to treat them as slaves. He 
 ici>ls a glory in recollecting the more than Roman 
 valor and Spartan fortitude, with which, the Revolu- 
 tionary Patriots fought through countless dangers 
 and surmounted difficulties seemingly endless. He 
 is almost amazed, at the adventure so bold and 
 hazardous, of a people at once, changing their old 
 habits and prejudices, and passing from a foreign 
 yoke and kingly domination, to a state of self con* 
 troul and free-government. If he is dazzled at the 
 brilliance of the attempt, and delighted with the 
 originality of its conception, he is more rejoiced at 
 the extraordinary success which crowned the en-^ 
 deavours of its projectors. The blessings flowing 
 from that abundant source, he is experiencing in all 
 their excellence. No human being like himself 
 claims him as property. No homage is due from 
 him to the chief of a nation, who inherits its inhabi- 
 tants, as they do their lands and flocks and herds. — 
 Tribute is not exacted from his industry to supply 
 
4 
 
 coffers, whose overflowings are not to enrich the 
 poor, not to help the weak, not to diffuse benefits 
 among those who pay it, but to support indolent 
 magnificence, ruthless ambition, and unfeeling des- 
 potism. The rights which God and nature have be- 
 stowed on him, are not measured out by a parsimo- 
 nious hand, as a boon and grant from an earthly su- 
 perior. The sanctity of the laws, the spirit of equali- 
 ty, both the cause and the effect of the Constitution of 
 his Country, infuse into his heart and his mind, the 
 proper estimate of man's nature. He is born for 
 himself and his Country. He knows no Governors 
 in it, but those whom he and his Fellow Citizens 
 choose to make so. He is taught no abject venera- 
 tion for rulers. He looks at the public magistrates 
 of his free Government through no false medium. — 
 He considers them but as men, and no longer deserv- 
 ing the regard of the nation, than they exhibit inte- 
 grity, talents and patriotism ; a capability to dis- 
 charge their duties, and a just sense of the rights of 
 those, who placed them in station. 
 
 Fellow-Citizens, near half a century has passed 
 away since our forefathers waged the war, which 
 established their Independence. The fortunes of the 
 United States were singularly prosperous from the 
 commencement, to the termination of this undertak- 
 ing, then so novel, if not impracticable in the judg- 
 ment of mankind. A great experiment had been 
 already made by the very nation, of which this 
 Country was a part, to overthrow monarchy, and 
 institute a Government reconcileable with the equality 
 of human rights. Success had attended their high 
 minded efforts. The Throne had lost its mighty in- 
 fluence. A long line of royal ancestry, a sacredness 
 of personage, a birth right to rule, bestowed by the 
 Constitution of his Kingdom, could not save their 
 Monarch ftom being brought to the block. \Vhen 
 
the charm was broken which made them look at 
 regal magesty as something divine, it was no difficult 
 task to root out the aristocracy of their system. The 
 Lords were abolished as a useless body, and the tre- 
 mendous hierarchy levelled to the dust. A Com- 
 monwealth and a Protector, w"ere substituted for 
 hereditary prerogative and a crowned head. But 
 how long did this departure from ancient institutions 
 last ? Only little more than twelve years. The death 
 of Cromwell, was followed by the restoration of the 
 very family, whose right to reign, was now main- 
 tained, with a zeal commensurate with the violence 
 by whicbJt had so shortly before been denied. With 
 this ex£^)!e, in their own history before them, the 
 enemies of our revolution, looked to the existence of 
 a republic here or elsewhere, as short lived. The 
 United States might succeed in throwing off the yoke 
 which they complained of as oppressive, but like the 
 mother Country, would soon be weary of a new 
 or^er of things, be glad to revert to monarchical rule, 
 and submit again, to the dominion of the King, whose 
 allegiance they had renounced. Some too, who 
 wished well to the noble cause in which oui- Country 
 was engaged, timid in their views, fearful only from 
 historical analogy, might despair of a permanent con- 
 tinuance of a new Government built up on the foun- 
 dations of the old one. 
 
 Without contrasting the difference of the age with 
 that in which the commonweahh of England was in- 
 troduced ; without reflecting on the more enlighten- 
 ed state in which mankind are in modern times ; 
 drawing no comparison between those subjects of 
 tyrannical sway, immediately under the eye of their 
 Sovereign, and the inhabitants of America who hved 
 remote from the sphere in which the terrors and 
 splendor of royahy are displayed, and the power of 
 despotism, ready to act against its opposers in an 
 instant ; not reflecting that the American contest was 
 
exclusively a political one, unmiiigled with the ec^ 
 centricities of a fanatic Army and Legislature, whosq 
 wild excess must naturally exhaust its own efforts ; 
 these fearful, but well disposed reasoners, would have 
 avoided a struggle originating in rebellion, in the ap- 
 prehension, that tlie accomplishment of their object 
 would be but temporary. This dread which was 
 conjured up in weak minds, anterior to the declara- 
 tion of our Independence, and which continued its in- 
 fluence to the triumphant close of the war, might in 
 minds so organized, have been again revived, when 
 at a very recent period, and long after our revolution 
 had been achieved, the successful trial .jnade by 
 France to disenthral herself from the tyranlpof Kings 
 and Nobles and Prelates, eventuated in the recalling, 
 after little more than twenty years, of the brother and 
 relatives of the Monarch, whose decapitation, and the 
 destruction of his dynasty, were hailed as the era, 
 whence to date, the anticipated happiness of the 
 French Republic. Even in the progress of our late 
 struggle with Great Britain, the idea however exr 
 travagant seemed to be entertained, that a conquest 
 of the United States was neither impossible, nor im- 
 probable, The allusion to such an event, became 
 familiar to the bitter enemies of our republican sys- 
 tems. Their hopes and desires, met no obstacle, 
 which might not be surmounted. The capture of the 
 Capital, they ignorantly and maliciously identified 
 with a reduction of the Country. In their wild re- 
 joicings at an act, which barbarous and gothic, as it 
 was, shoujd have caused them to blush with shame 
 at so outrageous a violation of the laws of nations, 
 they imagined for a moment, that the conflagration 
 of the dwelling house of our Chief Magistrate, and of 
 the Halls of the National Legislature, was to strike 
 such a panic, as to put down opposition, and effect a 
 4'eturn to the arms of a " Legitimate Sovereign,"— 
 if the thought, or the suggestiouj had been cpafined 
 
to the enemy alone, it could be easily attributed td 
 the deadliness of revenge, the jealousy which the 
 enormously increasing power of this Country, was 
 exciting in a rival, and the inveterate hostility to any 
 Government, not founded as theirs is, on monarch- 
 ical and aristocratic principles. But if it seriously oc- 
 cupied the attention of some, who appeared to pro- 
 mulgate it with a credulous pleasure, and operated 
 on the fears of others, who w ere too blind to perceive 
 its fallacy, we have only to regret, that treachery 
 lurked in any bosom in this land, and that pusillani- 
 mity could ever be predicated of an American. — 
 How completely Fellow-Citizens, have such reason- 
 ings, such fears, and such predictions been exposed 
 as idle, by the unshaken stability of a Constitution, 
 created by freemen, having Liberty for its guardian 
 genius, Sovereignty, Independence, and the rights 
 of man for its foundation, the union, strength, and 
 safety of the nation, and the happiness of the people 
 lor its superstructure ! Those seem regardless of, if 
 not insensible to, the blessings they possess, and in- 
 different to the advantages which fortune has extend- 
 ed to them, in casting their lot in this happy landj 
 who after our glorious success, now institute or pur- 
 sue the enquiry doubtingly, as to the duration of our 
 republican system. Their opinions if any such, are 
 actually formed, and their alarms if any such, are in 
 reality excited, may be attributable in some measure, 
 to the motives and causes already shown to have in- 
 fluenced the minds of^ thos^e, who considered as 
 questionable, the uninterrupted effects of our revolu- 
 tionary change. But besides these views, such 
 politicians too fond of precedents in history, fancy sn 
 principle of self destruction, or necessary end in our 
 republic, because the Grecian democracies perished^ 
 and the grandeur and glory of Roman Liberty, end- 
 ed in a military and heriditary empire. The systems 
 ^f these nations had lasted for centuries. Under 
 
flieir genial influence, men had been raised from ob- 
 scurity, to the first honors of their Country. By 
 their spirit, the arts and sciences, literature and phi- 
 losophy, had been advanced. Their annals are 
 pregnant with the biography of Heroes, Orators, 
 Patriots, Statesmen and Generals, who are models 
 for the imitation of eviery age and quarter of the 
 ■world. In latter times also, a republic which had 
 withstood the commotions and convulsions of suc- 
 cessive ages, sunk under an overwhelming force, and 
 surrendered their internal regulation, to an exotic 
 pov\er. Switzerland, which had disencumbered 
 herself from the supremacy of Austria, had succumb- 
 ed to the conquering genius of Gallic ambition. It is 
 the misfortune of such political prophets as I have 
 refered to, that they do not understand the applica- 
 tion of the tenets or doctrines, which they extract 
 from the chronicles of various ancient and modern 
 communities. Our government is one of its owa 
 species. It may truly be asserted, that nothing Vikff 
 it in pohtics is known. The representative principle 
 was reserved for the discovery of North America 
 alone, and it did verily ennoble its authors, as the 
 discovery of the new Continent, has immortalized 
 the name and fame of Columbus. In none of the 
 ancient republics, w^re the people justly represented. 
 Their controul or check on the men in office, was 
 merely nominal, if even so. Aristocracy, was a pro- 
 minent feature of the Roman Republic. The Patri- 
 cians were a distinct order, and the Plebeians were 
 but subordinate to them, in right and privilege.— i- 
 The Consul or Dictator, had powers perfectly incon- 
 sistent with what an American Magistrate would be 
 allowed to hold, or acknowledged to be entitled to. 
 In the institutions of Greece, the Governments sa* 
 Voured both of mobocracy and oligarchy, and it is 
 rather matter for wonder at this sta?^e of the experi- 
 ence of mankind, particularly of the American 
 
people, how these ahnost anarchial Governments 
 lasted so long, without systematic order, or constitu- 
 tional limits to the prerogative of the rulers ; with- 
 out ascertaining the exact authorities of the Gover- 
 nors, and the necessary obedience to the laws, of the 
 great mass of the populace. In every Government 
 of this kind the mixture of orders will be found 
 totally inconsistent with the principle of the popular 
 sovereignty. When the will and actions of the 
 people can be directed by lawgivers and functiona- 
 ries, in whose appointment they have no voice ; 
 when there is a hereditary branch of the Legislature, 
 or a Senate for life, or a Military Magistrate entrust- 
 ed with absolute authority over the destinies of the 
 Country ; it is in vain to contend that such Govern- 
 ments are pure repubhcs. There must be discon- 
 tents and jealousies, where among some classes a 
 haughty superiority is assumed and encouraged by 
 iiie genius of such a Constitution, and a correspond"- 
 ing inferiority is felt by others. This state of things 
 engenders animosities, which breaking out into civil 
 commotions and internal wars, must in its conse- 
 quence expose the Country to foreign invasion and 
 conquest. The ambition of a mighty potentate is 
 soon avyakened, when he beholds a neighbouring 
 people incensed among themselves. He sees that 
 their contentions tend, but to weaken their own 
 power. He watches the progress of their passions, 
 and when the crisis arrives at which, in their mutual 
 angry hostilities they seem to invite foreign interfer- 
 ence, he seizes the occasion and annihilates their ex- 
 istence as an Independent Nation. Whether it is a 
 confederacy, or a single State, the fatal result is the 
 same. The heterogeneous frame of the one, the ex-^ 
 hausted strength of the other, and the distractions of 
 both, soon offer a ready prey to the ambition 
 of a conqueror. No such seeds of corruption 
 
 B 
 
J'ellovv-Citizens^ exist in our Government. The 
 Constitution of the Union, and of every member of 
 it, is purely republican. The nature of each is the 
 same. The temperament of our people is peculiarly 
 congenial with liberty. As the General Government 
 emanated from the people, it was not only entrusted 
 with the power which was to guard them against 
 perils from abroad, but invested with the preserva- 
 tion of liberty at home. " The United States shall 
 guarantee to every State in this Union, a Republi- 
 can form of Government,'' is the grand principle on 
 which oiir Government will last, " while the earth 
 bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves." — While in- 
 dulging the enthusiasm excited in our bosoms by the 
 return of this eventful day, how^ naturally my country- 
 men, we feel mingled with it, a grateful remem- 
 brance of the services and greatness of the man, to 
 whom under the favor of heaven, the Congress of the 
 revolution confided the direction of their armies. — 
 In the character of this distinguished hero, there was 
 a combination of virtues and qualiues, which seemed 
 almost to Ufthim, above human nature. Valor claim- 
 ed him as her darling offspring. Liberty boasted of 
 him as her brightest votary. The genius of war, en- 
 raptured with such a disciple, appointed him his 
 Vicegerent on this side of the Globe. When fortune 
 presided over our banner^, he never in exultation lost 
 the fruits of victory. In the darkest adversity, he 
 never despaired of his Country. A succession of 
 calamities, never made him tremble for her freedom. 
 As he was the accomplished General and fortunate 
 soldier in war, so he was the splended and wise 
 Statesman at the head of the Government, which the 
 glorious work of the revolution, enabled his com- 
 patriots to establish. He had fought the battles, 
 which created another nation on earth. That nation 
 looked to him as the ornament of her councils. The 
 illustrious commander who had thus wielded the 
 
II 
 
 sword, was called with an ecstatic unanimity, to the 
 Chief Magistracy of his Country. Let it be our 
 pride, next to the love we have for God and our 
 Country, to hold his principles sacred. Let every 
 successive generation venerate his name. Let him 
 be the object of their admiration, and the model for 
 their imitation ; and the United States will perpetu- 
 ate their liberties in immortalizing the memory of 
 Washington ! — The character of our revolution, was 
 of itself a sure earnest of its success. A hostile resis- 
 tance to the authority of Great Britain was at first 
 scarcely dreamt of. The American people presum- 
 ed that a candid statement of the injuries which they 
 suffered, from the mal-administration of the Govern- 
 ment, whether arising from ignorance of their inter- 
 ests, or envy of their condition, would obtain them 
 ample redress. They appealed to the throne. They 
 called upon the justice of their Fellow-Citizens in 
 England, to interest themselves in their behalf, warn- 
 ing them that in protecting the rights of the inhabit- 
 ants of America, they were but guarding their own 
 from encroachment. If the Constitution was violat- 
 ed in the persons of subjects on this side of the At- 
 lantic, those who were at home had no better secu- 
 rity for their hberties, their lives, and their fortunes. 
 The will and caprice of a privy council or prime 
 Minister, with corruption as their instrument, and 
 the gratification of a sordid ambition as their aim, 
 might enrich their satelhtes with the spoils of the 
 Nation. 
 
 To temperate remonstrances, petitions and solici- 
 tations, repeated with patience, and addressed to 
 every generous feeling of the heart, and every dictate 
 of the understanding, the constituted authorities and 
 the people of England were deaf. They scorned 
 with contemptuous disdain, every application for the 
 relief of American wrongs, which had not unconditi- 
 onal submission for its basis. When argument became 
 
12 
 
 exhausted, physical strength was the last resort ioi 
 men, who were willmg to sacrifice every earthly 
 consideration, rather thap. crouch to a master. As 
 their minds were gradually perpared for opposition, 
 their ultimate views extended, far beyond their origi- 
 nal prospect. Just dissatisfaction, and a long suffer- 
 ing of evils, in the daily hope of their removal, had 
 increased by degrees, to open enmity, and a firm re- 
 solve, to punish with their own hands, the insolence 
 of their aggressors. The day of reconciliation 
 w as passed. If peace ever came, it was to be, not 
 between a parent State and Colonies, but between 
 distinct Sovereignties. 
 
 When applicants for justice were denounced as 
 rebels, and armies transported to crush them, it was 
 time to convince the unwise court and its merciless 
 ministers, that men who avoided the last extremity, 
 with such sincere solicitude, w^ere the fittest to meet 
 it, with stout hearts and unconquerable courage. The 
 empire of which the United States had been a com- 
 ponent part, was now dismembered for ever. 
 
 The blow which was struck at Lexington, could 
 never be revenged, but by an eternal separation from 
 the savage invaders of human rights, whose hands 
 were reeking with the blood of the innacient, 
 martyred in support of the first law of nature, the 
 principle of self-preservation. And how thorough the 
 retribution which our forefathers made, to the authors 
 of their grievances ! how full was the satisfaction 
 which their heroic exertions gained, from the instiga- 
 tors of murder, the instruments of cruel warfare, and 
 the myrmidons of despotism. Through a war of 
 seven years, their previously unskilled valor, aston- 
 ished the civilized world. The vast force which ad- 
 vanced from Canada, soon changed their ostentati- 
 ous vaunts, into tribulation and repentance. 
 
 Burgoyne found his orders obeyed too literally. — 
 '^ This army must not retreat," was the injunction 
 
15 
 
 which was strictiy complied with at Saratoga, The 
 gallant defence of Fort Moultrie, animating the ar- 
 dor of the nation and the Congress which had just 
 shaken oiT the yoke of the ruthless foe — the brilliant 
 exploits of Trenton and Princeton, the battles of the 
 Cowpens. the Eutaw Springs, King's Mountain and 
 other numberless displays of discipline, chivalry and 
 Irresistable fortitude and finally the surrender of 
 Cornwallis, whose boasted army was to subdue the 
 spirit of the South, and extinguish the sparks of re- 
 |3elIion, opened the eyes of his Britannic Majesty to 
 the prowess and patriotism of the American people. 
 He lived to see them fulfil their solemn protestation, 
 and redeem their pledge, to die or be free. He lived 
 to acknowledge the rights and independence of a 
 country, whose inhabitants he had outlawed as sedi- 
 tious, and branded as traitors. He lived, to behold 
 America, her Washington, and her Congress, humble 
 the pride of his Kingdom and his parliament, and to 
 feel the feebleness and insignificance of royalty, 
 when opposed to the genuine vigor of liberty. — After 
 such an experience of the resources and principles of 
 this Country, it might well have been hoped, that 
 the pacific relations follow ing the recognition of our 
 Sovereignty, w ould have been studiously preserved 
 by the English Government. They had roused a 
 people, who in defence of their freedom were terrible 
 to their enemies, and mighty in their strength. All 
 the objects for which these people had fought and 
 bled, had been attained. They had asserted the 
 dignity of their race, upheld the pride of 'men, born 
 to inalienable immunities. They had honorably taken 
 vengeance for the imposition of their oppressors, by 
 compelhng them to renounce their pretensions, ta 
 govern this part of the Universe. They had settled 
 their National Independence, and established person- 
 al liberty and equal rights on solid foundations. — - 
 They were reposing in the enjoyments of the bless- 
 
14 
 
 ings their valor had won. They were happy in the 
 glorious certainty, that they would transmit them un- 
 impaired to a posterity, worthy of such an inherit- 
 ance. Such a people it might easily have been fore- 
 seen, would be peculiarly tenacious of an acquisition, 
 purchased with precious blood ixnd immense treasure, 
 It would be guarded and watched, with unsleeping 
 vigilance, like the golden apples in the gardens of 
 the Hesperides. Their sons imbibing the tenets of their 
 fathers, would prize the palladium handed do wn to them 
 as incapable of an equivalent. To its intrinsic value, 
 would be added the sacred remembrance, of the an- 
 cestry who obtained it. They would be feelingly 
 alive to the slightest effort, to pollute its excellence, 
 or tarnish its beauty. They would resent, even a 
 look which the eye of the spoiler, would insultingly 
 give it. This expectation of peaceable policy on the 
 part of Great Britain, was however, soon disap- 
 pointed. Prudence which would have dictated that 
 course, had abandoned her counsels, and Jealousy 
 and resentment, it was too evident, had survived the 
 cessation of hostilities. As her scheme to enchain us 
 as colonies was frustrated, a wish to insult and un- 
 derrate us in consequence, as a nation, seemed her 
 ruling passion. Her conduct presented the appear- 
 ance of an armistice, rather than a peace. From the 
 ratification of the treaty of '83, to our second appeal to 
 arms, a succession of provocations, and a repitition 
 of injuries, exhibited on her part, a most hostile envy 
 of the rank which the Independence of our country, 
 had enabled it to assume, among the nations of the 
 earth. And my countrymen, what a lesson, has she 
 been taught in the late conflict ! If the war of the 
 Revolution, lost her a prodigious and wealthy portion 
 of her empire, that of 1812, has wrested from her a 
 glory, which for ages she had haughtily proclaimed 
 to be confined to herself. Her repeated defeats on 
 the ocean J have startled her from the (Jelusion — that. 
 
u 
 
 of that element, she was Mistress. — Our wonderful 
 victories on the Lakes, have shown her that not only 
 ship to ship, but squadron to squadron, America,* 
 can vanquish in combat. — Here my friends the name 
 of Perry comes both with dehght and sorrow across 
 our memory — His country is mourning for her berea- 
 vement, of so gallant a hero, so accomplished a cham- 
 pion of her honor, so valuable a protector of her 
 rights. Her tears for his loss, are mingled with the 
 conscious joy, and glorious pride she indulges, — 
 while reviewing the catalogue of the illustrious orna- 
 ments, who are identified with her greatness, and 
 reflect a brilliance on her character. — Such displays 
 of comsummate skill in naval warfare, have satisfied 
 the world fully, if it had before been doubted, that 
 America can protect her sovereignty and her com- 
 merce on the seas, as easy as she defends her freedom 
 on the land. As the trident has been snatched from 
 the hands of Britain, and the wooden walls of Old 
 England, have been proved no impregnable rampartj 
 let her look to her national existence. 
 
 A Conqueror established his dynasty in her Island — 
 A formidable Armada may not always be disper- 
 sed by a storm. — When the spell of fancied invinci- 
 bility is dissipated, there are powers, whose ambition 
 of conquest supposed never to exist, may awake, as it 
 were from its slumbers. — As the actions of our 
 Navy overturned the faith of Britain in her unri- 
 valled supremacy on the ocean, so the performances 
 of the Army undeceived her as to the suspicion, that 
 we had degenerated from our Ancestors j and were 
 unfit to encounter the enemy whom they had humbled. 
 With the spirit of Montgomery hovering over the 
 Star-spangled-banner, the war was carried into Ca- 
 nada. York beheld the Eagle "sailing with supreme 
 dominion," and perched upon her ramparts. The 
 roar of the Republican cannon, and the triumphant 
 shouts of its victory, were mingled with the thunder- 
 
16 
 
 ing sounds of Niagara's falls. Fort Erie and Chip- 
 pewa, witnessed the '' feathered King" of America j 
 scattering the forces of their transatlantic Monarch, 
 by '' the terrors of his beak, and the lightnings of his 
 eye."— Had the war been prolonged, another cam- 
 paign might have found our Army, imder the frown- 
 ing battlements of Quebec. — To attempt again, what 
 has once been achieved, could not be called, a ro- 
 mantic Expedition. That " a Victorious Army finds 
 no difficulties,"-— Wolfe proved to an admiring world. 
 His ascension of the heights of Abraham, wrested 
 Canada from the mighty monarch o[ France. In the 
 destinies of fate, it might have happened, that the 
 intrepid Pike, in an enterprize which would have 
 called forth all the energies of his war-like genius, 
 should " meet death" hke him, not only in the arms 
 of victory, but, in the very scene of his imperishable 
 renown. — Not only in the advancement into the ene- 
 mies' territories, did the American army exhibit thtf 
 highest evidences of discipline and patriotic valor^^^ 
 but in resisting invasion, they made such lasting im- 
 pressions on the fears of their antagonists, that it may 
 safely be calculated, that no hostile footsteps will 
 again tread our soil. The occupation of Louisi- 
 ana, was the aim of the most formidable armament 
 collected during the contest. But the gigantic ef- 
 forts of Jackson, soon shattered into pieces this 
 vaunted adamantine mass. Against this great and 
 celebrated General, and his hardy soldiers, the tac- 
 tics and experience of Europe w ere exercised in vain. 
 His rapid operations and extraordinary judgment^ 
 soon discomfited the invading Brigades. In disgrace 
 and flight they abandoned the project which was to 
 confer by its inevitable success, glory on its promo- 
 ters, and distinguished rewards on its executioners — |] 
 Inhabitants of St. Andrew s — The pleasure of com- ' 
 memorating our Country's Birth-Day, is heightened 
 by the satisfaction I feelj in a, festive intercourse with 
 
17 
 
 I «iitizens so patriotic as yourselves. I cannot refraiii 
 from expressing to you my grateful acknowledge- 
 ments, for the honor you have conferee! on me.— 
 
 ^ Your Parish ranks high in the esteem of Carolina, 
 
 ' As long as this day is dedicated to the remembrance 
 of our valorous forefathers, the spirit which ani- 
 mated them to oppose a tyrant, w ill prompt their 
 sons to imitate their example. As long as w ith a 
 holy enthusiasm, the American people throughout the 
 country, annually offer up to Heaven thanks for the 
 bliss and favors which are so plentifully showered on 
 them, they w ill be the dread of despots, and the safe 
 
 , depository of the Liberties of Ma^nkind. — Fellow- 
 Citizens, it is pleasant on this day to turn our atten- 
 
 I tion to the noble efforts which are made in the cause 
 of Liberty, in different parts of the world. In the 
 possession of its sweets, we do not selfishly wish to 
 
 I appropriate them to ourselves. The participation of 
 them, belongs to the human race. Nations who are 
 groaning under bondage, have but themselves to 
 blame, when they see before them a bright example 
 of the effcciency of the people, to be their own rulers. 
 Our brethren of South America are persevering in 
 their opposition to the oppressive dominion of Spain. 
 They have ignorance and bigotry to contend with— 
 Their progress is interrupted by these difficulties, but 
 their final triumph will be certain. When they ac- 
 complish the vvork of Lidependence, may they re- 
 ceive instruction from us, how to perpetuate its bene- 
 fits ! — There is another revolution, which peculiarly 
 attracts the attention of mankind — it interests the 
 philanthrophist and excites the most enthusiastic emo- 
 tions in the classical mind. Greece is resuscitated 
 from the lethargic repose of ignominious slavery.— 
 The shade of Leonidas has revisited his country, 
 
 I Inspired by the recollection of their ancient glory, 
 Athens, Lacedemon, Corinth, may again be identi- 
 fied with the polish of science, the refinement of the 
 
18 
 
 ^rts, and the influence of Liberty. — One Nation has 
 unfortunately failed, in a valiant struggle against a 
 most detestable attack on her sovereignty — Naples^ 
 to which Italy and the world were lookhig for a revi- 
 val of the courage and patriotism of the old Republic 
 of Rome, has yielded shamefully to the foul interference 
 of an Emperor, who in this enlightened age declared, 
 ^- that he does not like learned men.'' Humiliating 
 to human nature, as is the alternative, it is preferable 
 to assign treachery and gold, as the causes of this 
 unexpected and sudden deUvery of their country 
 into the hands of a foreign despot, rather than suspect 
 or believe that the spirit which promised a desperate 
 resistance was but a vapor, if it exists in reality, 
 in the hearts of the people, it will burst forth, as soon 
 as an opportunity offers of breaking their fetters on 
 the heads of their oppressors. — With the hopes Fellow 
 Citizens, we entertain for the success of some, and 
 the fears we have for the fall of others, who are 
 fighting to save all that is dear to them, how grateful 
 ought Americans to be for the abundant felicity which 
 prevails throughout their Republic ! Our national 
 wrongs have been amply revenged on those who in- 
 flicted them, by this righteous war of the Revolution, 
 and the late cause in which the present generation 
 embarked. If Great Britain is now desirous in sin- 
 cerity, of a lasting friendship with the United States, 
 there is every feeling and reason on our part, to reci- 
 procate kindness and to interchange an amicabk 
 communication. Harmony between such Nations, 
 is '' a consumation devoutly to be wished." It can- 
 not but contribute to the prosperity of both. But if 
 this power or any other, forgetful of the past, and 
 regardless of Justice, should ever pretend to treat us 
 with insult, if the memorials of American glory, 
 should in the lapse of time be faintly remembered by 
 the enemies of Liberty, and they be tempted to ap- 
 proach our shores in the attitude of hostility, then 
 
19 
 
 xiiay we be sure that the exalted dignity of our Coun-^ 
 try will be maintained spotless as ever,— that the 
 majesty of the people will rise in hs resistless impe- 
 tuosity, that the fires of Freedom blazhig on her 
 sacred altars, will illuminate the w orld wuh their lus- 
 tre and consume the idolaters of tyranny, who dare 
 venture with sacrilegious steps, within the sphere oi 
 thpir coflagration, 
 
I