w 
 
 u 
 
 AN 
 
 ORATION 
 
 PRONOUNCED AT LITTLETON 
 
 JULY 4, 1806 } 
 
 THE THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY 
 
 I 
 
 S t ■ 
 
 OF 
 
 Zmtvicm 3ntitptntimtt. 
 
 By EDMUND FOSTER, A. M. 
 
 MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT LITTLETON, 
 
 CAMBRWGE : 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM MILLIARD. 
 1806. 
 
I'iOtp 
 
 T^^in^ 
 
AN ORATION. 
 
 .4>M„<>....4>.-<>- 
 
 X O celebrate, annually, any remarkable deliv- 
 erance ; the conquest over an enemy ; or the tri- 
 umph of political principle is conformable to the 
 customs of most civilized nations. On these sub- 
 jects orators and poets have been equally emulous in 
 displaying their talents. They have recorded im- 
 portant events, embellished the history of them, and 
 rendered the heroes and statesmen of their times 
 immortal. Their example is worthy of notice, and 
 is imitated by the sons of Columbia. Causes, which 
 involve the liberties and lives of a people must deep- 
 ly interest them ; and when successfully terminated 
 will forever be recollected with pleasing sensations. 
 To private reflections on the dangers they have es- 
 caped, and the blessings they have secured, they 
 will join a more public celebration of these events, 
 that they may be proclaimed in the audience of all 
 the people. By such public exercises, a knowledge 
 of our country may be diffused among all classes of 
 
its citizens. While the most experienced in the his- 
 tory of this nation will only feel their recollection 
 assisted, and their memories refreshed, their chil- 
 dren will be newly taught the valor and patriotism 
 of their worthy ancestors ; will catch the spirit of 
 liberty, and become ambitious to maintain and im- 
 prove the blessings, purchased by their fathers. 
 
 Liberty ought to be valued in proportion to the 
 hazard and the price by which it was first obtained. 
 Estimating it by this rule, who can prize it higher, 
 or who will guard it with more jealousy, than the 
 people of America ? To them it is the price of la- 
 bor and suffering, of treasure and of blood. While 
 contesting the claims of our mother country, and 
 struggling in defence of our just and unalienable 
 rights, we were poor and yet oppressed. Our weak- 
 ness and poverty, which ought ever to excite com- 
 passion and forbearance in the breast of a generous 
 enemy, served only to invite insult and injury, and 
 to inspire the invaders with full confidence of suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Recollection will place in the view of many the 
 lengthy struggle, the unparalleled dangers and 
 hardships to which the Americans submitted in de- 
 fence of their civil liberties ; and a brief history of 
 them must give to all an exalted idea of the spirit 
 and fortitude of the American people. The weak 
 were provoked and urged to contend with the 
 strong ; the undisciplined soldier with the skilful 
 warrior. Yea, when destitute of resources within 
 ourselves, and without a friend or ally abroad, w^e 
 
were attacked by a nation, which had made all Eu- 
 rope tremble and yield to her power. Their op- 
 pressions filled us with indignation and zeal against 
 them. The voice of liberty inspired us with enthu- 
 siasm and boldness in its defence. Conquer or die 
 was the order of the day. A people thus wrought 
 up in their minds cannot be subdued ; and our suc- 
 cesses were owing more to the spirit and feelings of 
 the times, than to any other individual cause. 
 A sense of common danger ; a mutual care and 
 concern for each others' safety and happiness form 
 a stronger bond of union than can ever be expe- 
 rienced from the best code of civil laws where the 
 people's views and affections are divided, and their 
 passions are at war. 
 
 The effects of these fellow feelings, and the secu- 
 rity they afford to property and to life, were realiz- 
 ed by all, who witnessed the American Revolution. 
 Then we had order without law ; security without 
 courts of civil justice ; and credit without cash. If 
 we had not found the philosopher's stone, which is 
 said to convert all other substances into gold, v/e 
 could turn our rags into money as fast as it was 
 needed ; and if this measure proved injurious in the 
 end, it was of great temporary use and importance. 
 If it ruined many individuals, it saved a nation. 
 The measure was dictated by necessity ; and it ex- 
 alted the genius of America, by shewing, that it 
 was ready at invention and equal to any difficulty 
 which stood opposed to her cause. Press a na- 
 lion hard iind it will brighten its genius and sharp- 
 
en its mental powers. Insult It, and its resentment 
 will kindle into a flame. Oppress it, and it will 
 arm in its own defence and brave the greatest dan- 
 gers. 
 
 When the energies of a people are called forth 
 and directed to a point, they will devise the best 
 possible means for their own safety ; and execute 
 their plans to the admiration and astonishment of 
 every beholder. 
 
 The rise and progress of the American war will 
 verify these remarks. Then we looked to our wis- 
 est and best men for counsel, and placed our young 
 men in the field. Wisdom and prudence charac- 
 terized the one ; fortitude and resolution the other. 
 Exercise improved our councils and increased our 
 martial vigour and alertness ; till success turned in 
 our favour, and the tumults and distresses of war 
 gave way to the reign of peace. This little, op- 
 pressed band of Americans was crowned with lau- 
 4-el, and stood forth a spectacle to the whole world 
 of man. They taught the tyrants of the earth 
 how dangerous and fruitless it was to attempt to en- 
 slave a nation determined to be free. They had 
 gained the victory. They held the prize of liberty 
 in their hands ; and it remained for them to provide 
 a deposite for its safe keeping, that they and their 
 children might enjoy it forever. 
 
 Liberty may be gained by the sword; but it 
 must be preserved by law. Civil regulations are 
 the sacred inclosure which must guard it from being 
 encroached upon by the ambitious and powerful ; 
 or polluted by the violence of the wicked. 
 
Our government was now to be of ourselves, 
 and our rulers to proceed from among the people. 
 To organize the body politic, and fit it to perform 
 its various functions was a labour, which required 
 great talents and virtue. But who should perform 
 this needful and important pubhc service ? Might 
 an individual, or any particular number of men as- 
 sume the exclusive right to dictate and give laws to 
 all the rest ? Or ought the men to be appointed 
 and empowered by the whole body of the people ? 
 This is the true point from which we should take 
 our ideas of liberty and equality. The people then 
 possessed an equality of rights, and were called by 
 motives of duty and interest to provide laws for 
 their own safety and happiness. No superiority, in 
 this respect, was then either claimed or acknowl- 
 edged by any, but what was founded in talents 
 and virtue. Such superiority ever has and ever will 
 exist and become visible in all communities of men. 
 But this superiority is natural rather than politicaL 
 
 Power and right are distinct things. However 
 well qualified a man may be by nature and acquire- 
 ments, to be placed at the head, and to direct the 
 concerns of a people, yet he can become their legit- 
 imate ruler only by their consent and sufifrages. 
 This was, unquestionably, the prevailing sentiment 
 in America at the close of her revolution. 
 
 Notwithstanding some have endeavoured to ri- 
 dicule and explode the principle as unfounded and 
 dangerous, it is correct to say, that the power to 
 originate government and laws was then inherent in 
 
8 
 
 the people. If not, where and with whom did It 
 reside ? Government must proceed from some point ; 
 and from what source can it proceed with equal jus- 
 tice and safety, as from those for whose mutual 
 advantage it is instituted ? This doctrine early ob- 
 tained universal consent in the American nation j 
 and the practice of our wisest and best men sanction- 
 ed the theory. No one thought or presumed to 
 make himself dictator. The public mind would 
 have revolted at the idea ; it would have been 
 alarmed at the first attempt, and quickly have frus- 
 trated the ambitious and wicked design. 
 
 If any had acquired a weight of character and in- 
 fluence sufficient to encourage such an attempt, it 
 was the man, who had led on our armies to victory, 
 and with whose character and public services the 
 people were enamoured to excess. Yet Wash- 
 ington, to his immortal honor, having accompHsh- 
 ed the end of his mihtary appointment, in the most 
 handsome and engaging manner, resigned his com- 
 mission into the hands, which gave it, and retired 
 to the rank and life of a private citizen. He was 
 in the number of those, who respected and support- 
 ed the rights of the people ; and he never after ap- 
 peared in any public or official capacity until called 
 by their suffrage. 
 
 Interesting and important was the duty resting 
 on those who were first appointed to devise and set- 
 tle a form of civil government. To lay a safe and 
 permanent foundation, and give dimensions and pro- 
 portion to the political fabric, required great wi?- 
 
dom and circumspection. For the manners and hab- 
 its, the private comfort of individuals, the public 
 peace and prosperity of a people, depend much on 
 their civil regulations ; and not only their own in- 
 terest and happiness, but the destiny of millions was 
 involved in the work. In consulting the general 
 interest they had the wisdom and experience of ages 
 before them. The various forms of government, 
 which had ever been devised and put in operation 
 presented themselves to their consideration. They 
 wisely gave a decided preference to a republican 
 form. While it is not without its defects, it is, on 
 the whole, more congenial to the feelings, and better 
 suited to the nature and happiness of man, than any 
 other. It merits our esteem and preference from a 
 variety of considerations. It secures to us the pos- 
 session and enjoyment of civil liberty j guards us 
 against oppression ; affords the easy and certain 
 means of obtaining a redress of any grievances to 
 which we may occasionally be subjected ; encourag- 
 es industy by the hope of honest reward ; gives 
 scope to enterprize ; is friendly to the arts and sci- 
 ences ; leads to free enquiry ; excites in all a gener- 
 ous emulation to excel in useful knowledge, and to 
 recommend themselves to public notice and favour. 
 These are advantages which never can be equally 
 enjoyed under a monarchical or aristocratical form of 
 government. 
 
 As civil liberty is uncircumscribedby laws,andmay 
 be enlarged or abridged, as they shall vary, it may 
 be equally enjoyed, for a time, under any form of 
 
10 
 
 g6Ternrtl€!ftt ; bdt <!annot be equally secured to the 
 people. 
 
 A law i« just the same in its nature and opersu 
 tion whether it be made by one man, by a select 
 AuiAber, or by all the people in general convention. 
 But should a despot give a law, friendly to the lib- 
 erty and happiness of his subjects, where is their se- 
 curity for its continuance ? They are entirely de- 
 pendant on his arbitrary will for all their civil bles- 
 sings ; and when he changes his measures and op- 
 presses them they can have no remedy against the 
 evil. They must ever be the sport of his pas sions 
 and the victims of his resentment and revenge. In 
 all monarchies, whether simple or mixed, where an 
 undue proportion of power is vested in the king and 
 his liobility, the people of the realm are exposed td 
 similar evils and sufferings. By looking over the 
 nations where such governments are established, and 
 noticing the conduct of those in power, and the con- 
 dition of the people, we find ourselves presented with 
 a disgusting spectacle. If admiration is excited, 
 ambition raised, and the senses of the spectator 
 gratified at viewing the splendor of the court, this 
 pleasure must soon be abated by turning the eyes, 
 and beholding the miseries and sufferings of the 
 people. They occasionally, at least, feel the weight 
 of tyranny and oppression ; the burden of enormous 
 and useless expenses ; taxes which absorb the great- 
 er part 6f their hard earnings, and which are demand- 
 ed perhaps in support of wars unnecessarily and 
 wantonly waged. To utter a complaint is vain, and 
 hazardous ; for a military force is at hand to silence 
 
II 
 
 the murmer. Men thus humbled by poverty, and 
 bound as in fetters of iron, will generally be tame 
 and manageable. Habit may render their conditioi* 
 familiar and easy to them 5 but to men of indepeu* 
 dent feelings and habits it would be intolerable. 
 
 Comparing the condition of a people under one 
 form of government, with that of another, may be 
 advantageous. Those w^ho gain by the comparison 
 will find their feelings gratified^ They will feel in 
 their own breasts a settled contentment and a warm 
 attachment to those civil institutions, which prQ- 
 cure for them these favourable distinctions. 
 
 With a view to these good effects in the breasts 
 of my fellow citizens and countrymen, I have intro* 
 duced the foregoing remarks, and briefly sketched 
 a comparison between different forms of civil gov* 
 ernment, which is applicable to ourselves and to the 
 occasion. The civil regulations of this country are 
 founded in so much wisdom and fitness, and have 
 such a friendly aspect on public and private happi- 
 ness, that there is no nation on the earth but must 
 suffer by a comparison with us. Our federal con- 
 stitution defines the powers of our public rulers, and 
 marks the bounds of their authority in visible lin^§. 
 It describes the duty of every branch of the gov- 
 ernment, that no one may intermeddle with or en- 
 croach on the rights of the other. It guarantees to 
 every state in the union a republican form of gov- 
 ernment. They have independent and separate 
 powers. They may manage their internal concerns 
 at their own discretion and will. They enact their 
 «wn laws ; establish courts gf justice ; ^nd give 
 
12 
 
 support and maintenance to institutions of learning 
 and religion. The power is reserved to the people 
 of electing at fixed periods all the rulers in their 
 own state and in the government of the union. Un- 
 der such constitutions, where the people by their 
 representatives enact their own laws, and levy con- 
 tributions or taxes on themselves, they cannot long 
 be burdened and oppressed. And in proportion as 
 a people have an agency and influence in the govern- 
 ment, they must feel an attachment to its interests 
 and a zeal for its support. In providing for its con- 
 tinuance they will naturally adapt the means to the 
 end. They will give every encouragement to edu- 
 cation ; cherish a spirit of free inquiry, that knowl- 
 edge may be diffused, and the whole body politic 
 be full of light. They will also form in themselves 
 and in their children habits of industry and econo- 
 my, knowing, that these simple manners and virtu- 
 ous habits lead directly to wealth and honour, to 
 comfort and usefulness. If we reflect that in a 
 free elective government, the first honors and emol- 
 uments of a nation are not hereditary, that they 
 are not so properly at the disposal of a few as they 
 are the gift of the whole ; and that they are de- 
 signed to be conferred on those of greatest merit 
 whereever found ; it will be easy to perceive the 
 effects, these considerations will produce in noble 
 minds. When the prize is held forth on such libe- 
 ral terms, it will command attention and raise de- 
 sire. If all cannot succeed, many will become ad- 
 venturers. The stronger the incitement, the more 
 vigorous will be the pursuit. Men will spare no 
 
»3 
 
 pains in informing their minds and improving their 
 manners, if hereby they can but merit the esteem 
 and possess the confidence of their fellow citizens 
 and countrymen. Parents will have different 
 views in educating their children, and bringing them 
 forward into life ; and they will engage in various 
 pursuits. But, as knowledge and virtue form the 
 character of the private citizen, as well as of the 
 statesman, they will attend with diligence to the 
 cultivation of their minds, and to the improvement 
 of their hearts. 
 
 Knowing that ignorance and vice degrade the 
 man, and fit him only for a slave ; that the wise and 
 virtuous only can be free, parents will, if possible, 
 be more careful to provide their children with the 
 means of maintaining their liberty, independence, 
 and importance in society, than to inculcate upon 
 them prudence and economy, that they might pre- 
 serve their estates. 
 
 For these reasons we look for a more general 
 diffusion of knowledge among a people living un- 
 der a free government, than in any other j and may 
 expect, that such a nation will produce some of the 
 greatest scholars and statesmen in the world. 
 
 Causes and effects go together. Change the con- 
 dition of men and you reverse the scene. Leave a 
 people nothing to preserve, but just their lives j 
 nothing to labour and seek after but a morsel of 
 bread from the hand of a lord and master ^ give to 
 their ambition no other object, and to their pursuit 
 no higher reward, and they will become careless, 
 indolent, and stupid ; will resort to the most trifling 
 
and insipid amusements j will give themselves up to 
 mere animal gratifications ; will plunge themselves 
 into debaucheries and excesses, and sink in igno- 
 rance, vice, and misery. 
 
 The very structure of our government promis- 
 es farther advantages to the whole community. Re- 
 serving to the people the right of suffrage has a 
 friendly effect on the public sentiment and manners. 
 It guards against that pride, overbearing insolence 
 and contempt with which men of superior w^ealth 
 and power are wont to treat the commonality of the 
 people. They who have something to give will al- 
 ways meet with attention and respect from those, 
 who hope to receive and participate in their favors. 
 This mutual dependence among men will produce 
 in the more opulent a civility and courtesy of man- 
 ners never to be expected from men in absolute pow- 
 er. Whereever power belongs to a few, and is fix- 
 ed and uncontrolable, the possessors quickly be- 
 come domineering masters, and the rest cringing 
 slaves. 
 
 There is nothing in which men are more apt to 
 deceive themselves and err from the truth, than in, 
 estimating their own importance, and in depreciating 
 the usefulness and worth of others. A man of 
 wealth and ease, who gives employment to many, 
 is apt to think, that those, in his service, are a par- 
 cel of useless and troublesome dependants, who are 
 every day of their lives indebted to him for their 
 support y whereas they are daily lessening his la- 
 bors, and increasing his wealth. It requires the la- 
 ^a^s and servi-ces of many poor, to minister to tjhe 
 
wants and gratifications of one, who is rich. And 
 it is not so true, that the rich supply the poor with 
 bread as, that the poor support the rich in their 
 splendor and luxury. Mutual wants and mutual 
 dependance among men are founded in nature ; and 
 the design was wise. If this truth was properly re« 
 alized and improved, it would soften the asperity of 
 some, and mitigate the sufferings of many. Pov- 
 erty may be softened and made supportable by at- 
 tention and kindness ; but its miseries are increas- 
 ed by insolence and contempt. Nothing so much 
 imbitters the lives of the most needy and depend- 
 ant, as the neglect, abuse, and affronts to which 
 their condition exposes them. Those civil regula- 
 tions therefore, which set the strongest guard 
 against these evils, and which are best calculated to 
 mitigate or remove them, deserve to be remember- 
 ed among the wisest and most benevolent labors 
 of man.* 
 
 A republican government is also friendly to the 
 peace and internal improvement of a nation. Wars 
 have often been wantonly and wickedly waged, and 
 the lives and property of millions consumed, to 
 gratify the pride, ambition, and revenge of an indi- 
 vidual. But in a nation, where the power of de- 
 claring war is vested in the legislature thereof, the 
 people are secure from these vile and ruinous prac* 
 tices. So long as they value their lives, liberties, 
 and possessions, they will never put them to hazard 
 without a sufficient cause. Against invasions they 
 will keep a vigilant eye, and be ever ready to make 
 
 ♦ Vide Paley'3 Mor. Phil. 346, 347, 
 
i6 
 
 a vigorous defence. Instead of intermeddling 
 and involving themselves in the broils and conten* 
 lions of other nations, they will be attentive only to 
 their own interests and concerns. While other na- 
 tions are distressed, impoverished, and humbled by 
 wars ; they will give beauty and strength to their 
 own, and furnish themselves with the means of pub- 
 lic tranquility and private happiness. 
 
 To those advantages of our republican form of 
 government we may add the friendly and patriotic 
 feelings, which it is calculated to excite between 
 the members and the head of the body politic. By 
 our social compact a covenant relation is formed be- 
 tween the people and their rulers solemnized and 
 sanctioned by an oath. This bond stipulates mu- 
 tual duties and directs them all to the public good. 
 It ought therefore to inspire them with mutual con- 
 fidence and respect* 
 
 Our rulers do not usurp any civil authority, nor 
 are they imposed upon us by others. They derive 
 authority from our consent and suffrage, and must 
 therefore receive these tokens of honour and es- 
 teem with sentiments of gratitude and respect* 
 Their responsibility will check in them the spirit of 
 pride and ambition ; and their independence will 
 give full scope to their best exertions for the public 
 good. They will listen attentively to the real griev- 
 ances of the peopie, while they will be deaf to the 
 unprovoked clamors of the restless and discontented. 
 They can have few if any temptations to burden and 
 oppress the people. They must ardently desire, that 
 the nation should be free, prosperous, and happy, 
 
17 
 
 to whose interests they devote all their talents and 
 labour ; and, if successful, they must feel a peculiar 
 pleasure in reflecting, that their administration pour- 
 ed health and vigor into the whole body politic. 
 
 How wisely are the members of a republic fit- 
 ted and joined together ? What mutual honor and 
 support do they give to each other ? A go- 
 vernment thus constructed and constituted will, 
 by its designed operation, produce the greatest 
 sum of pubHc and private happiness. A true re- 
 publican then, has no more cause to be ashamed of 
 his politics, than a christian has of his religion. The 
 one dignifies the citizen ; the other perfects the 
 saint. The one secures the blessings of liberty and 
 order in this life ; the other of peace and joy in the 
 life to come. 
 
 To these advantages however, some dangers 
 and evils stand opposed. Free governments are lia- 
 ble to instabihty ; to dissentions, divisions, and tu- 
 mults. In great bodies there will be a variety of 
 opinions, and opposite interests. From party in- 
 terests arise party names ; and these names may be 
 used, more to stigmatize and reproach, than to dis- 
 criminate. They excite hurtful prejudices, alienate 
 the affections of men from each other, and set their 
 passions at war. These measures have already 
 been carried to criminal excess by the people of 
 these United States. Such evils proceed not so 
 much from liberty, as from the abuse of it. We 
 are taught by these examples, that the richest bless- 
 ings may be perverted to the worst of purposes, 
 c 
 
r8 
 
 Sufficient has been this kind of abuse ; and fruit* 
 less many of the designs intended by it. And we 
 ought ever to guard our minds against this delusion 
 and political witchcraft. Our privileges are too inw 
 portant to be thus trifled away. 
 
 Americans boast, that they are republicans ; that 
 the appellation is derived from the very form of 
 their government. Let them adhere then strictly 
 to the principles of their constitution, and they may 
 preserve their liberties, and render the name repub- 
 lican respectable. 
 
 To whom much is given, of them the more will 
 be required. And in proportion as the government 
 originates in, and flows from the people, they are 
 responsible for itsrontinuance and prosperity. Let 
 us then study our duty as citizens, and mark its 
 boundaries, that we may know how far to proceed, 
 and where to stop. It is the privilege of the peo- 
 ple to elect their own rulers ; and it is for the hon- 
 our of the nation at home and abroad and for their 
 own safety and happiness, that they select men pre- 
 eminent for wisdom, integrity, and patriotism. In 
 the discharge of this duty the powers of the whole 
 are committed, for a season, to a chosen few. What 
 we have delegated to others, we do not retain. All 
 dispute concerning who shall rule is now at an end. 
 It is as much the right and duty of the legislature 
 to enact laws according to their best wisdom and 
 discretion, as it was for the people to appoint the 
 legislature. 
 
 In the act of election, a perfect unity in senti- 
 
19 
 
 jnent and suffrage cannot reasonably be expected 
 A majority of votes, fairly and legally taken, is 
 the rule of decision. By this rule let the citizens 
 abide peaceably. If men will not give up their 
 opinions, yet they ought to resign their wills. 
 If individuals are not pleased, the majority are ; 
 and the lesser must yield to the greater. Our 
 rules are founded in our own agreement, and are 
 excellent. It remains to be proved, from time to 
 time, how far we will govern ourselves by them. 
 Happy would it be for this people, if they would 
 peaceably conform to them, and suiFer no tempta- 
 tion to lead them astray. 
 
 As the people are not so properly the govern- 
 ment, as the source of it, it is of importance, that 
 elections be free and uncontrouled ; that the act 
 be performed with deliberation and prudence, and 
 guided by wisdom and pure patriotism. If the 
 fountain be pure, the streams will be healthy. 
 If the root of the tree of liberty be sound, the 
 branches will be flourishing and fruitful. 
 
 When the government is organized, let us res- 
 pect it as the work of our own hands, and strengthen 
 its operations. We are bound by motives of duty 
 and policy to be tender of the reputation of our rul- 
 ers, and to defend their characters from vile asper- 
 sions. To dishonor the head is virtually to dishon- 
 or the members of the whole body. Slander is a 
 poison, which vitiates the blood, and eifects the vi- 
 tal parts of the community. It excites jealousy, 
 and produces fermentations, which tend to the des- 
 
20 
 
 truction of order and harmony. He, who has been 
 the object of slander, knows the power of its malig- 
 nity, and how it must effect men in every condition 
 in life. Would the people receive from their rulers 
 the treatment, which some men give to them ? If 
 public rulers should express against the whole peo- 
 ple a small portion of the slander and abuse, which 
 they often receive from them, they would probably 
 excite insurrections, and endanger their heads. 
 
 But this is not the work of the whole people, but 
 of a few ; of men, possibly, who may have been 
 disappointed in their political pursuits, and have 
 sworn revenge ; or who have some point of inter- 
 est to gain. Fruitless will be the attempts of any 
 to rise to public importance by falshood, and to 
 build themselves on the ruins of the innocent. They 
 who have never learned to respect others, will not 
 long be respected themselves. 
 
 Let us turn our attention to our own duty and 
 interests. This day, fellow citizens, is friendly to 
 the best feelings of the heart. To feelings social, 
 liberal, and patriotic. It is the thirtieth anniversa- 
 ry of American Independence ! The day on which 
 our venerable patriots had the boldness to assert 
 those civil rights, which their fellow citizens have 
 had spirit to maintain and secure. We will 
 mingle our mutual congratulations on this oc- 
 casion. The child may now look up to the parent 
 with veneration and thankfulness for the precious 
 fruits of his labors, which he hopes ever to enjoy. 
 The parent will feel grateful to providence, that he 
 
21 
 
 has been enabled to procure for himself and for his 
 children so rich an inheritance. The waste places 
 are repaired, and our nation is in peace and pros- 
 perity. 
 
 When the aged, warworn soldier reflects on his 
 labors and sufferings for his country, he may feel 
 anxious for its future protection and safety. But 
 he may be ready to close his eyes in peace, at be- 
 holding our young men all clad in armour, and in 
 readiness to defend what he has purchased. We 
 are prepared for war only, that we may have peace. 
 Under its reign shall America prosper, and be for 
 a name and a praise in all the earth. 
 
TOASTS, 
 
 Given at Littleton on the celebration of the ^th of 
 Julyy 1806. 
 
 1. The day we celebrate. May the principles which 
 guided the asserters of our Independence be found 
 in the breast of every American. 
 
 2. The President of the United States. May wis- 
 dom, integrity, and true patriotism ever guide his 
 administration. 
 
 3. The Governor of Massachusetts. May his mo- 
 deration and prudence be imitated by the violent, 
 and applauded by all. 
 
 4. The United States of America. May a union of 
 political sentiment more generally prevail. 
 
 5. The memory of George Washington. '' The po- 
 litical saviour of our country.'* 
 
 6. Thememory of general Warren, and all those 
 heroes, who fell in defence of their country. 
 
 7. General Eaton. The pride of our country, 
 and the terror of its enemies. 
 
 8. The people of Massachusetts. May they be 
 less influenced by party names, and more by correct 
 political principles. 
 
23 
 
 9* The memory of yohn Avery. Whose integri- 
 ty and virtues procured him the confidence and es- 
 teem of all parties. 
 
 ID. Agriculture, manufactures y and commerce. 
 The three permanent sources of wealth and com- 
 fort. 
 
 1 1 The Federal Constitution, Wise in its struc- 
 ture ; happy in its tendency ; may Americans cher- 
 ish a warm attachment to it. 
 
 1 2. The freedom of the press. May it never be 
 prostituted to the vile purposes of scandal ; but be 
 made the channel of correct information. 
 
 13. The freedom of elections. May undue influ- 
 ence meet the frowns and contempt of every true 
 American. 
 
 14. " Union of all honest inen.^* 
 
 15. The arts and sciences. May they ever be 
 encouraged in this western world. 
 
 1 6 The fair daughters of Columbia. May we 
 have the patriotism to protect them, and their 
 smiles be our reward. 
 
 17. The rights of mankind. May they be enjoy- 
 ed throughout the globe peacefully.