O  A T I O N
DELIVERED ON THE
FOURTH OF JULY, 1861,
BEFORE
THE MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES
OF THE
CITY OF BOSTON.
BY THEOPHILUS PARSON'.
-itt   an  appcnbix
BO S'K   N:
J. E. FARWELL & CO., CITY PRINTERS,
No. 32 CONGRXESS  STREET.
1 8 6 1. 
a
i
I
II=- 
ST ORTIFA
NIBIT-AA
11630.
0 
CITY OF BOSTON.
In C'ommon Council, July 5, 1861.
RESOLVED  That the thanks of the City Council are hereby
presented to the HON. THEOPRILUS PARSONS for his very eloquent and patriotic Oration before  the Municipal Authorities
of the City of Boston on the occasion of the Eighty-fifth Anniversary of the Declaration of the Independence of the United
States of America, and that he be requested to furnish a
copy for publication.
Sent up for concurrence.
JOSEPH H. BRADLEY, President.
I,n Board of Aldermen, July 8, 1861.
Concurred.
STLAS PEIRCE, C'hairinan.
Approved, July 10, 1861.
JOSEIPH M. WVIGHTMAN, Mayor.
0
.7
i,
II
a 
0
6 
6
0 
K
a 
ORATION.
OUR fathers, in acquiring at great loss of life and
treasure, their independence from England, had no
intention and no desire to escape from government.
They knew, for they were wise, that the absence of all
government from masses of men is an absolute impossibility. They knew that anarchy itself is government; the government of passion, of selfishness, of
folly intensified into madness; of wickedness developed to its highest power, and given up to the fearful
work of self-punishment. They knew that government was not only necessary, but inevitable. And all
their efforts were bent towards establishing the best
government.
They were wise men. The annals of human
thought exhibit nowhere a more profound, acute, farreaching, and all-embracing sagacity on the subject of
human government, than some of the writings of that
day. But, if it was of Divine Providence that at this
most   Portant juncture in the history of mankind
there should be wise and faithful men, able to cast 
8
upon the great topic before them all the light to be
derived from the continued efforts of powerful minds,
prepared by a careful study of the past, and invigorated by a deep and constant sense of the immeasurable importance of their work, that was but one of
the means which that Providence employed for a
great end.
I do not forget that the recognitions of our peculiar advantages which the return of this day invite, are
apt to run into boasting and harmful self-glorification.
I would remember this and avoid it. But I must not
refrain from expressing to you my belief, my most
deliberate, long and carefully considered, and most
profound conviction, that it has been, and is, the
purpose of Him who holds in His almighty hand
the destinies of men and nations, to establish, here,
a prosperous nation, under a better form of government than has ever before existed, or now exists
elsewhere. But all the purposes of Providence which
are wrought through the instrumentality of men, are
to a certain extent delivered to their free agency,
and may therefore be retarded and obstructed by the
wrongful exercise of that free agency. And it will
be my endeavor t-day to direct your attention to a
few, and only a few, of what seem to me the footsteps
of Omnipotence aloig the pathway to the great purpose I have indicated; to point out to you some of the
obstacles which resist, and some of the perils which 
9
threaten this great purpose, and some of our duties
in relation to them.
Let us begin with the inquiry, what the best gov ernment must be; and the answer may be, in one
word, self-government. On this topic, as on so many
others, we may be helped by remembering that as a
nation is composed of men, it cannot contain any
other elements of national character than those which
are contributed by the men of the nation. And when
we look at men individually and from the study of
human character, reach certain definite laws and conclusions concerning human life in the individual, we
may well hope that these laws and conclusions will
throw some light upon analogous questions as they
exist in reference to a nation.
What, then, is the best government for the individual?  If I put the question in another shape
if I ask whether he is best governed who is surrendered to his own fantasies and proclivities and lusts,
and exasperates all these by utter unrestraint, and
makes no reference to right or wrong, or the law of
God or the law of man, the question answers itself.
I am describing a man who has done all that he can
do to become only a wild beast. Better were it for
him that some arm of power should hold him, some
fear restrain him, some Irresistible command control
him, and all these influences compel him to decent
conduct. Then, it might at least be possible that his
2
I.''"
.! I 
10
lusts and follies, because they were repressed, would
be enfeebled. Then it might again be possible that
the severity of external control could be safely relaxed; that some acknowledgment of law, some
thought of right, would begin to exert a power
within him, and thereby facilitate the entrance of yet
better thoughts and higher motives, and that this
advancing and ascending progress might go on, until
a control from within accepted and welcomed a control from without as a necessary help.  And the consummation of all this would come when the law of
truth, of right, and of instructed conscience was all
the law he needed, all the law he felt; and this law
put him at ease with the system of law prevailing all
around him, and the man stood and lived in perfect
peace with the law and perfect peace with himself.
This is but an ideal picture; far from the reality
existing in the best of us. It is, however, a picture
of that last result towards which we are led by all
moral improvement, all elevation of motive, all recognition of the authority of right, and all confirmation of our love of goodness.
I have ventured to present to you this picture,
because I cannot but think that the history of the
past and the condition of the present lead to the conclusion that a law Atnd method of progress, somewhat
analogous at least, prevail in the growth of nations.
History is but the biography of Man; and the lessons
,.: * "':. 
11
which are taught by the life of Man cannot be altogether remote and diverse from those we may gather
firom the lives of men. 
To see how the progress of mankind has accorded
with these principles, we must go far back towards
the beginning, and in an address like this it is of
course impossible to give more than the most cursory
glance at the evidence which the pages of history
offer.  But even this glance will show us that while
government was known only as unmitigated despotism
in the Eastern and ancient world, it received important modifications as it passed through Greece; and
that the despotism of the central power of the vast
Empire of Rome was accompanied with a singular
amount of freedom and seIf-government in the cities
and boroughs and lesser provinces into which the
Roman Empire was divided. In this way some preparation was made for the feudal system, which was,
in theory, a government of laws and not of men, for
it assigned his own place and his own rights to every
man. And so the possibility of deliverance from a
wholly external control, from a power which was
over him and againstehim, instead of within him
and his own, grew from age to age. At length this
new world was discovered.- Near enough to the old
world to receive colonists with no more hindrance
and difficulty than wpre needed to sift out the weak
from the strong, that the seed of a new nation might
I 
12
have due vitality. Far enough from the old world
to prevent an immediate and controlling influence
from stretching across -the waters and causing the
future to be but a repetition of the past; far enough
to permit the germs of nations planted here to grow
up into the great possibility which awaited them.
And then the hour came, and the last word of God's
providence in human government was uttered when
he said to a great nation, "Go forth, be free, and
GOVERN YOURSELVES.
The last word? Yes. I so believe, if we are
not deaf to it. In the infinite future there may be
and will be vast changes and infinite improvements.
These will lessen, or remedy, or prevent many evils
which we already discern, and many more which
we do not yet discern, in our republican institutions,
and whatever good has yet come, or may now be
hoped for from these institutions, will be increased
a thousand fold, as they are changed for the better.
But the nations will never again regard as the only
possible or desirable government, that of a power
distinct from the people, and deriving no force and
no life from their consent and voluntary recognition.
The work we have begun will not be suppressed and
extinguished. It will live, and it will grow into the
fulness of its stature; and that it may live and grow,
the wants, the deficiencies, and the errors of any age
will be disclosed by whatever lessons may be necessary 
13
to teach them, and will be remedied by whatever
means are then found best for that purpose.
Govern yourselves!  But how?  This great work
may be done well or ill. It may be so done that the
influences of evil which mar it may gradually be
discovered, resisted, and suppressed. And then the
future of this country will be one of gradual improvement, which will be on the whole constant, although
subject to alternations; to periods when evil will seem
to be in the ascendant; to nights so long and so dark
that for the time they extinguish the hope that day
can come again. And yet a new day will dawn, the
brighter for the preceding darkness.   Or this work
may be so done that these influences of evil will
more than mar it,- will prevail against it, and it
will be taken from our hands and those of our children, and given to others who will profit by our
example and by its fearful consequences.
Of the perils which beset us in this point of view,
I would speak of one only, for that seems near to us,
already obvious, and possibly growing.   It is that
which comes from the enormous fallacy that the will
of the people constitutes and determines right and
originates the authority of law. But what is law if
it be not truth in its application and its power; and
how else can the right be determined but by the
truth! Can any man, can any nmen, make truth'?
What thien is left for us'?  To  rejoice that it is 
14
given to us, to search in freedom for the truth, and
for the right which the truth teaches, to find it, to
make it our law, to reverence it, and to obey it.
Precisely that form and system of political government is then the best which is best adapted to guide
and facilitate the inquiry after the right; to insure
with perfect freedom of inquiry, sufficient deliberation, and the absence of obscuring passion and personal fantasy, and all the advantage of mutual counsel,
and all the security we can have that the law, when
it is duly made, shall express the common judgment
of the people, and promote their common interests,
and deserve their respect and win their love.
This is the great end of republican institutions.
And I have now to say to you, not as the expression
of an opinion called for by the day, but, again as a
deliberate and profound belief, that the peculiar constitution of this country in its essential feature, in the
fact that it is a sovereignty formed of sovereignties,
is a frame of government better adapted to accomplish the work of republican government than any
other which has been devised by human wisdom.
Nor, indeed, do I say all that I think when I use
these words, for I do not think that our present form
of government was altogether devised by human wisdom. On the contratry, I suppose its most essential
characteristic was accepted from necessity; was received  because  it was prepared  by the course of 
events, and as it were forced upon the framers of our
constitution. They did not choose it, for they were
not at liberty to reject it. They took it, they used it,
for it was there in their hands, and they could not
lay it aside. We could become nothing else than a
State formed of States; a Sovereignty formed of
Sovereignties.
This very peculiar feature in our national constitution is wholly without precedent. There have been
leagues and alliances and confederacies all through
history. But our own constitution attempted something more than this, - something more than ever
was attempted before. It endeavored to constitute a
nation out of political elements which still retained
to a great extent, and in most important particulars,
their own independent sovereignty.
I am not aware that European political writers
have ever regarded this as anything but a source of
weakness and danger. A necessity, perhaps, which
there was no way to avoid; which was still, under
favorable circumstances, as our history proves, compatible with great prosperity, but which was always
a source of weakness and of danger, which the first
powerful assault sould fatally reveal. Nor have our
own writers expressed different sentiments. It is well
known that some or iirdeed many of the ablest of
the men who framed our Constitution were full of
fear on this very ground, and some in public and
15 
16
some in private, spoke of it as the best they could
make, and as something which might at least last
for a time, and open the way for a better.
No such opinion, no such feeling have I; for, on
the contrary, precisely this peculiarity of our constitution, that it makes us a nation composed of States
which preserve watchfully and wisely their own
rights and powers, seems to me the corner-stone of
our prosperity, and the foundation on which our
hopes may rest.
It is my belief that the system of government
formed by the Constitution of the United States,
is not to be regarded as, upon the whole, the best
thing which circumstances permitted our fathers to
construct, but as in itself, near to the perfection of
a republican government.
For this belief, I am well aware that I can quote
no authority and rest upon no precedent; and I
should be glad to give all my reasons for it. But, in
the time which I may occupy to-day, this is impossible. Let me try however to intimate some of the
grounds for my belief, by a reference to our own
State Constitution; and I use the word now as including not only the written Constitution, but the
complex  of  all  the  institutions  of  our  beloved
Commonwealth.  Ading  you then for the moment
to forget, what,we ought not always to forget, the
faults and errors, the perversions and corruptions 
still existing among us, let us look at our whole
polity, as if it were precisely all that it should be.
The first form of union -for a common regulation
is in the family. And all our citizens who are not
exceptions to a prevailing method live in families;
and it is there that the work of government begins;
there its first lessons are formed; there its habits are
formed; there its first fruits are gathered; and there,
if that government is wise and good, those fruits
are peace and happiness and mutual assistance and
universal improvement.
But families need that duties should be performed
and advantages secured which demand combination,
and the strength and support of united counsel,
and united action; and to this end, families combine into townships or cities. To the town or city,
as an organization, are committed all these duties
and utilities the need of which has called them
into being, and to the town or city is freely intrusted all the power requisite to a full and complete discharge of all those duties.
And then the same principle is further applied.
Beyond  those  of the  towns  and  cities  are again
common duties aid utilities which are all those of
a certain district; and within this district the towns
coalesce into counties, tb which again as separate
organizations are confided the duties which can be
best discharged in this way and by this means, and
3
17 
s18
with these duties goes all the power requisite to the
best performance of them.
Nor is this principle then arrested. For the cou.nties are gathered into one body, and this is the State.
And who are they who then form the State - who
constitute the State? The people, and the whole
people. They who first form its families, and then its
towns and cities and counties, finally, in their widest
assemblage, form the State. And for what do they
form it   Precisely for all those duties and all those
utilities which embrace the whole people, which require for their due performance a due regard to the
whole people, and which may serve not only to cement
us all together by a common interest, a common safety,
and a common prosperity, but may use the strength
of the whole for the protection of each, and for the
preservation of all personal rights, and family rights,
and all the rights of those lesser and larger communities into which families and persons are gathered.
And then what power do the people who constitute
the State give to it? Abundant power to discharge
all its duties; to do the whole of its work of legislation for the whole, and of common defence and protection through all the departments of government
but nothing more. This, then, is the theory of our
State polity; and st far as we are wise, this it is in
active operations; and so far as we are truly prosperous, this prosperity is its effect. 
19
And now let me ask if the thought ever entered into
the mind of a human being, that it would be wise for
Massachusetts to abandon  to-morrow  all town and
city and county lines and organizations, and commit
all the duties now performed by their means to the
central power of the State. There is no one of you
who can imagine such a thing. And he who should
desire it must, if he would be consistent, go yet farther, and propose also to obliterate all family lines,
all family organization and authority, and ask of the
central power to determine what food shall be placed
on every table and what clothes every member of the
household shall wear.
The  absurdity of such a supposition is so enormous that it seems almost equally absurd to think
about it or to speak of it.  And yet I will ask you
to pardon me while I state why the supposition of
such  a change  in our form of government is so
absurd.  It is because we all feel instinctively, if not
consciously, that our present form of government is
perfectly adapted to the great end of all republican
government, and that is, a wise self-government; and
the reason of this adalptation is, that it leaves to the
individual, with te, least possible control or interference, the freedom of voluntary choice and action.
And  it gathers  individuals  into  communities, the
least, the larger, and at length the largest, only so
far as a common necessitv' and a common good reqliri(' 
20
this. And then it seeks so to form these communities and so to provide for them, and so to act by its
common legislation upoh individuals and the bodies
into which they are gathered, as to lead and guide
each and all into that conduct which shall be best for
each and for all, with the least possible compulsory
action upon any. I have endeavored to illustrate my
theory by a reference to our own Commonwealth, and
to give a reason for my opinion, because I wished to
prepare -you for the question I have now to ask. It
is, when Massachusetts and her sister States came
together and formed a nation, what else did they but
take a step further forward upon the same pathway,
which our own State does so well and so wisely in
treading for herself? It seems to me that it was precisely this step and no other which was taken when
the Constitution of the United States was formed,
and this nation was born.
I know that I may be met at once by the objection
that our general government is, after all, but a qualified and imperfect government.  I may be reminded
that it was from Massachusetts that the amendment
came which expwssly declares that all powers not
given, are withheld.  And then it may be asked is
there not here a manifest division of sovereignty and
of power, and does not this show that much is wanting
-that all which is retained at home is wanting- to
constitute the full strength of a national government? 
21
My answer is twofold. First, I say, the national
government has at this moment, by force of the Constitution, all the strength-:absolutely all- which it
needs, or could profitably use, as a central national
government. I answer next, that by the admirable
provisions of our Constitution, the reserved powers
of every State may be, and, so far as that State does
its duty, will be, prepared and developed to their
utmost efficiency, and then imparted to the nation
in its need.
Do we want a proof and illustration of all this?
Verv recent events have supplied one, which history will not forget, if we do. How happened it
that, a few weeks since, when the general government seemed to be feeble, and was in peril, and the
demand - I may well say the cry - for help came
forth- why it was that Massachusetts was the first to
spring to the rescue'?  Why was it that she was able,
in four days from that in which this cry reached her,
to add a new glory to the day of Lexington?  Why
was it that she could begin that offering of needed
aid which has  since  poured itself in  a full, and
swollen, and rushing steam, into the war power of the
national government? Even as I ask the question, the
answer is in all your minds.- It is, that Massachusetts
could do this because  she had done her own duty
beforehand.  She could do this because, within her
own bounds, she had prepared and organized her own 
22
strength, and stood ready for the moment when she
could place it in the outstretched hands of the government.   And other States followed, offering their
contributions with no interval- with almost too little
of delay; with a haste which was sometimes precipitation; with an importunate begging for acceptance
-all of it yet far behind the earnest desire and demand of the people of these States, until at length
we stood before an astonished world the strongest
government on the face of the earth.
I used this very phrase three months ago, when
all was dark enough. I said so then, and when
perils thicken and reverses come, (and come they
must, for no human government can wholly escape
them,) I shall say so still, because my theory of our
constitution, and my  understanding  of its purpose
and its adaptation to its purpose, lead me to hope
very confidently that our national government, as
the organ of a nation endowed  with  self-government, will prove to be invested with the nation's
might, to be used for the nation's good, in whatever
way may prove to be the best.
Stronger therefore for all the purposes to which
our national government should apply its strength,
stronger for all the good it can do and all the harm
it can prevent, that government is, as it is now constructed, and because it is so constructed, than it could
be if it were the single central? consolidated  p)ower 
23
of other nations. And it. will show its strength, not
by preventing all checks and reverses, for that is im  possible; but, as I believe, in a prompt and thorough
recovery from them.
When we remember that our government is a new
experiment, let us remember that a new work was
to be done, and for that work a new instrument was
required.  The  period in the progress of mankind
had been  reached, when  a government was to be
formed, which should possess and in time of need
be able to exert, the force of the nation for national
purposes, and the combined power of its component
parts for all these purposes which embrace the in terests of all, and yet leave each of these parts,
States, cities, families, and individuals, in the utmost
possible freedom to enjoy the blessing and discharge
the duty of self-government.
When before, where else has this ever been the
design of government?  And  now, after nearly  a
century of experience, where lives the man who will
dare to say that he could devise for the accomplishment of this design a frame of government better
adapted in its essential Xrinciples and in its general
forms, than that wlhich we possess?
A  failure!  One must know far more  of history
than I have been able to barn, who can point to me
one instance where a new political instrument for a
new work was created and put in operation, with no 
24
direct help from experience; and this instrument
bore, in its operation, such testimony to the sagacity
of its firamers. 
We hear the outcry of "State rights," and we reply
with our watchword of "national unity;" and it is
difficult to believe that there is not between the principles implied in these phrases something of discordance, something of antagonism. But when did our
own city, or any of the communities of our Commonwealth, lamenlt that the central power of the State
could not come within their precincts, and exercise
their specific powers for the discharge of their specific
duties? Who has ever imagined that our Commonwealth was weak because its families, towns and cities
and counties were well ordered communities, within
their own spheres independent, or, if you please,
sovereign?  W~ho has ever imagined that a county,
a city, a town, a family, because it has reserved rights,
which the central power is bound to respect and preserve, has therefore a right at its own pleasure and
in its own way to separate from the rest and dissolve
the unity of the whole? Who, that has ever given a
thought to the subject, has not known that our Commonwealth is. none the less One because it is thus
composed of distinct elements, and is, for this very
reason, irresistible in the might which it can exert
in its own wide sphere for the good and the safety
of all? And I insist that the great Commonwealth, 
25
formed of all the States, is also One, and also strong
and irresistible within its own all-embracing sphere,
because it is formed on precisely the same principles,
and for this reason, and in this way, possesses of right
all the force of its united sovereignties; and possesses
this in fact, where there is not rebellion.  If this
seems too trustful, too hopeful a faith in the Constitution which our fathers have given us, glance with
me for a moment at the long course of antecedents
by which it was prepared and built up, and possibly
we may find there also some grounds upon which the
faith may rest.
The colonies of North America were formed in
rapid succession, and were scattered all along our
seaboard.   They were formed, to some  extent, by
different kinds of people, who came not all from one
country nor moved by the same impulse, and they
brought with them different characteristics.   They
were planted at distances which permitted them, independently, or, at least, without much assimilating
influence of one upon another, to grow up, each in
its own way, each under its own circumstances, and
each to develop its own peculiarities. And yet they
were near enough, and similar enough, to seek and to
have much intercourse, and to render to each other
much assistance. As time passed oil, they found it
desirable, in some instances, to unite and coalesce
under a common government, and in others, to form
4 
26
alliances for mutual assistance and protection.   And
in this way some unity of feeling. and of interest,
and some tendency to community of action, grew up.
And these experiences undoubtedly facilitated, and
perhaps I might say made possible, their united action
in their efforts to obtain independence.
As the feeling that independence must be won, and
would be worth all that it might cost, grew stronger
and more general, it became evident to the far-sighted
and the patriotic that there must be some concert of
action. In June, 176a, James Otis, of Boston, advised
the  calling  of  an  American  Congress.   But  this
measure met with much opposition, and for a time
it seemed as if there could be no union.  Then South
Carolina responded to Massachusetts, and declared for
union!  In New York, those who held similar views
established a newspaper, called the Constitutional Cott)rant, which had much influence. It bore for its motto
the words, first used by Franklin nearly ten years
before, "Join or Die."  Never was the guiding truth
of a great emergency expressed more emphatically or
in fewer words. Join or die. This was indeed the
great truth of that day, of every day since then, and
of the very lour in which we  live.  Other States
acceded, and on the 7th of October, 1765, the first
Congress, consisting'of delegates regularly appointed
from six States, with others, representing three more,
assembled at New York. Of the doings of this Con 
gress I have only time to say, that they strengthened
and diffused the desire for united action.  And as the
necessity became greater and- more apparent, at length
what is called the Continental  Congress, assembled
in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774, and
then on the 10th of May, 1775. Still, so great was
the jealousy of a central power, that nothing but the
peril of impending war, and its pressure when it came,
held even this Congress of delegates together. But
they did hold together; and it was  this Congress
which, on the 15th of June, 1775, appointed Waslhington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental army,
and on the 4th day of July, 1 776, declared our
Independence.
In that declaration these two elements of the unity
of the whole and the sovereignty of the parts were
mingled.   It begins, "WVhen  it becomes necessary
for ONE PEOPLE to dissolve the political bonds which
have connected them with another," and at its close
declares that the former colonies are "free and independent States."   There they stood, free from  all
external dominion, and as independent of each other
as of England.
In eight davs from the 4th of July the articles
of confederation were reported to Congress by a cornmittee of the delegates, but were not adopted by Con,gress and proposed to the States for ratificationi until
the following year; nor wer( tlhev inly l r(tifed l)+
27 
28
the States until March, ]1781: or until five years had
elapsed.
And yet, in 1777, Washington, when, at Morristown in New Jersey, he found himself in the midst,
if not of treason, of an indifference which was hardening into treason, by proclamation required all who
had received protections from the British commander
to surrender them and take an oath of allegiance to
the UNITED STATES! United, when and how were
they united?  In Congress he was censured.  In the
legislature of New Jersey it was declared that the required oath encroached upon the prerogatives of the
State, and that it was absurd to swear allegiance to the
United States before even a confederacy was formed.
But even then Washington was justified by the language of the Declaration of Independence; even then
were these States united in the contemplation of the
good and the wise, and most of all in the heart of him
who was best among the good and wisest among the
wise.
The articles of confederation did not even purport
to make of us a nation. If they are studied, they will
prove the earnest desire of some at least of those who
drew them, that we might become a nation. But they
stopped so far short Qf this as to form of the States
onlv a confederacy   These  articles were skilfully
drawn, and gave to the Central Government all the
power which the States could then be induced to part 
29
with.   Some  semblance - something indeed of the
substance of national power was given; although
there was no regular legislative, executive, or judi cial department. Probably all the power was given
to Congress that it was thought necessary that it
should possess to do the work that lay before it.
This work it did, well and thoroughly; for while the
thirteen States were held together by the presence
of a common enemy, a common war and a common
necessity, the articles of confederation sufficed to
make that war triumphant; but they sufficed for this,
because the sagacity and singleness of purpose of
the men who wielded the powers of government, the
patriotism of the people, and the wisdom and con stancy of Washington supplied- so far at least as
was needed for success-all deficiencies.
Then came peace, and it was soon apparent that the
want of unity in the nation, and of power in the government and its organs, not only prevented the deep
wounds of the war from healing, but seemed even to
aggravate all the mischiefs which followed, and which
made the first years of peace no years of returning
prosperity. The central government no longer sustained and invigorated by the war, found itself utterly
unable to prevent or to avenge insults and outrages to
our flag: it could not eves repel the incursion of the
savages on our borders; it could not pay the interest
of our national debt; it had no credit, no force, no 
vital energy, and it may well be said to have died of
inherent weakness, for in 1787 it abrogated its own
functions, declared its inability to act as the governmnient of a nation, and it appealed to the ultimate
source of all political power-the people of the whole
country.  And  then came  the convention of 1787.
When they met, there was in that assembly as much
of sagacity, of varied intellectual accomplishment and
resource, and of earnest devotion to duty as ever cooperated- in a great work.   And with all these mingled
as little of folly and weakness, as little personal ambition, as little self-seeking of any kind, and as little of
the disturbing force which these ignoble qualities
would exert, as was possible under the conditions of
hlumanity.
If, in saying that the articles of confederation
carried this country successfully through the war of
independence, I give them high praise, I believe that
I give them still higher when I say that they made
the National Constitution  possible.   These articles
familiarized the minds of the whole country to the
idea of united action and a central government.   They
proved indisputabk  the immense  (advantages which
might be obtained thereby; and they proved as certainlv that to secure -all these  advantages, it was
absolutely necessary that the nation should  have a
greater unity than they gave to it, and the central
goveernment more power.   And, -lided (a1,1d illustrated
30 
31
by the course of events, they produced a general
impression, especially among leading minds, every where, that there might be'a stricter national unity,
and a stronger central government, without absorbing
or imperilling those State rights which were de servedly dear to the people of every State. Thus it
was that this jealous love for the sovereign rights of
the several States wielded slowly, reluctantly, and only
step by step, to the inevitable necessity for closer
union.   It  was, at the beginning, paramount  and
absolute. But it yielded, not, I rejoice that I can say,
until it was suppressed or overcome, but until it stood
in just equilibrium with the prevailing sense of the
need and the good of a national existence and a
national government. Then these two sentiments, or
principles, met and co-operated;  and the result was
the Constitution of the United States.   And this, I
again declare, I regard not merely as the best which
could then have been made, but as, in itself good,
and very good, and the best for the good of the
whole nation which could have been made, by any
men, under any circumstances.
Are you to understandme as saying that I consider
that this Constitution came into being in itself perfect,
and in itself able to go foirvard forever, the instrumnent of a great nation's growth, prosperity, and hal)piniess, with no more hclp, with no new influences to
bear upon it and give to it added life and energy, 
32
and efficiency? I mean no such thing. It needed
more, a vast deal more, before it could become-what
I think it is to be - a'permanent instrument of the
greatest, the highest, and the completest political
good.
The problem to be solved in the establishment of
this government, or as it may be better said, in the
formation of this nation, was to create the best possi ble form of a republican government by the perfect
reconciliation of the' two elements of central power
and reserved rights.
In other words of the same meaning, the problem
was to create a system of government which should
arm the central power with all the force which it could
usefully exert, and yet leave to all whom it gathered
within its wide embrace the utmost possible freedom
for self-government, and the strongest assurance that
this freedom should be guarded but not weakened,
protected but not impaired.
This was done by the Constitution, as far as written
words could do it. For after all our experience, at
this day no words could mend that Constitution in this
respect; none could make this balance of forces more
perfect. But another thing could be done, and re -mained to be done. It was to fix the meaning of this
Constitution by practical construction. To fasten on
the public mind the conviction, and fill with it the
public heart, that our Constitution meant, on the one 
33
hand. a preservation of State rights, and on the other
indissoluble National Unity. To root this conviction
into the public life firmly,,so that no  storm could
shake it, so that no devastating force could rend it away.
It may not be possible to prevent these two elements
from sometimes, during the ages that will come, rising
separately into undue prominence. At one time, or by
one body or class, the national unity may be urged
until it threatens consolidation, and at another time
the principle of State rights may again assert itself
too strongly.  But their reconciliation is hereafter to
be so established not by the written Constitution only
but by the constitution of the public sentiment and
the public will, that it will stand, even as our continent stands upon its rocky base, no more to be moved
from its foundation than our continent is moved by
the two great oceans which beat upon its shores.
And it is precisely this work which the war that
is upon us has come to do.
These two elements stood there, as I have said,
ready to be combined by the framers of the Constitution. The one, that of a jealous regard to State
rights, had grown with the growth of the colonies.
e
The other, the desire of nationality, had arisen from
neccessity, and, generally, I think, was accepted only
as a necessity.  And at tlLt time, these two principles
were diffused in about the same proportion in one
part of the country as in another. It is well known.
5 
34
for example, that the Constitution was adopted with
as much reluctance in the North as in the South.
Those who are conversant with the history of those
days know that in our own Commonwealth the public
sentiment was strongly against it, and that it was
finally carried through only by the strenuous efforts
of those who desired its acceptance.
The Constitution was adopted, and soon began to
justify itself. I will not dwell upon the prosperity of
every kind which it gave to the nation. From day to
day, from age to age, it went on, far more beneficial in
its influence and operation than the most sanguine of
those who framed it had dared to hope. It ministered
to our pride, it advanced our position among the
nations, it filled our hands with wealth and our hearts
with rejoicing, until, at last, there were perhaps none
left in the Free States who did not ascribe to our
nationality this marvellous prosperity.
Whv was it not so elsewhere  and. everywhere'
Had not the Slave States prospered also, and grown
from a handful to a multitude, and risen as we had
risen from poverty and depression into wealth? Yes;
but not as we had grown. In the race we had gone
far beyond them.e And forgetting all that they had
gained from the common nationality, they felt that
they gained less thlan we had. Their actual gain
was thus a comparative loss; and then they made,
or many among them made, the enormous mistake 
35
of attributing this loss — this comparative failure
in the race of prosperity- to this common nationality.
It was an enormous mistake, for this failure was
but to another cause. North and South entered upon
national existence, with a clog or hindrance common to both; the hindrance, the misfortune of slavery.
There was undoubtedly, from the beginning, a difference between the two sections of this country in the
prevailing sentiment and belief concerning slavery.
And upon us, slavery pressed more lightly. We not
only felt it as an impediment, but were sure that it
was an evil, and favored by climate, and soil, and
the nature of our productions, we gradually but
rapidly cast it off.
They were not so favored. The influence of circumstailces with us operated to make the slave
worthless, and left in full force the moral sentiment
which demanded his liberation. With them this
influence of circumstances made him valuable, and
soon very valuable, and conflicted with this sentiment, and overcame it, and at length, absolutely reversed it. And thus this evil thing, this mischief,
this misfortune, wvas fastened upon them.
May I not call it a misfortune?  May I not remember that the fetters of the slave chain the master to
the slave? And that while they held fast the negro
in his bondage, they accepted their own?  They ac 
36
cepted it with all its disastrous consequences; all its
effects upon their material interests; upon their political and social condition; upon their personal life;
upon their very souls. They accepted it and more,
for at length they came to love it. And now because
they love it, they cannot see that it is the cause of the
inferiority they deplore, and therefore they cast all
the blame of this upon our common nationality.
I know, and thankful am I that I know, that what
I have said does not apply to all who live in the
South. I know there are some, and I hope there are
many, even among the owners of slaves, who are not
led away by this delusion; who do not love the slavery
of their fellow-men, nor their own slavery; and who
find in the duties which grow out of this relation,
culture and nutriment for the sense of duty, and for
watchful kindness. And some there must be among
them who had hoped that our national unity would
exert a healthy influence, and would gradually make
slavery less evil, less mischievous, and finally remove
it altogether in whatever way might prove to be the
best.
Whatever may be now the sentiment of the South,
we have all pgssible evidence that there was no general. no prevailing des!re for disunion a short time
since. The incendiaries who kindled the fire in dark
corners, which had been skilfully prepared for the
torch, have  fed  it with  falsehoods  and  delusions 
unparalleled in the history of fraud. If they have
succeeded in making the conflagration general, they
have done so only by a craft which long practice has
made perfect, and an audacity seldom recorded in the
annals of crime. But their craft governs their au dacity-, and they have never, to this day, at any point,
dared to present the question of rebellion to the
decision of an unfettered popular will.  Assuredly
this fact has some significance.  Assuredly it justifies some hope, that when these fetters are broken
and the reign of terror ended, it will be found that
the breath of life is not wholly crushed out from the
patriotism of the South.
Be that as it may, we have our own work to do.
Through the influence of slavery in preparing the
mind of the South for the falsehoods and abuses
which  have  been practiced upon  it, and through
the maddening influence of these abuses, the principle of State Rights has been severed from the
principle of National Unity, and because so severed,
has in its excess and perversion produced treason
and rebellion, and thus these two principles instead
of co-operating in a harmony which would cause
each to strengthen. the other, are now face to face,
at war.
At open war, now, fox the first time, and for the
last time.
For the first time, because He who orders human
37' 
events has not permitted this conflict until our national unity has existed long enough to give to that
part of the nation which maintains it a deep sense
that it is the source and the safeguard of all our prosperity, and is worth all the price we can pay for it,
be that price what it may; and not until it has also
given to that part of the nation a vast superiority
of power.
For the last time, because our just appreciation
of the value of that for which we fight will insure
our bringing to the conflict all the force we possess,
and therefore will make it certain that the great
principle for which we contend will, in the end,
be victorious.
Through  whatever  vicissitudes  may  await  us,
through successes which will strengthen if they do
not deceive us, through reverses which will help us
if wc learn their lessons, through all the alternations
of war, we may pass, but, in the end, to victory.
I am sure that I express but the common  sentiment, the prevailing and habitual sentiment of all
around me, when I remind you that in every one of
the great exigencies of life, whether public or private, we may be  sure that it comes  to teach its
lessons and do its good work. And that it is always
wise  to  endeavor  to learn  these  lessons  and  cooperate with this work'.
One thing which we have to learn from what is
38 
39
now going on, is the need of a government- the
blessing of a government if it be a good one, the
inestimable worth of the poaver we possess to make
our government what we would have it, and the dutof every man, in every place, to use every power that
he possesses, in making that government what it
should be, in placing the powers of government in
fitting hands, and in rendering obedience to, and
cherishing a reverence and a love for, that authority
and that law, which we should make the embodiment
and the instrument of the public wisdom  and the
public virtue. Are we not learning this lesson?
But there is yet another thing. It is to learn the
value of national unity. To fill our hearts with a
living and a wakeful sense of the great duty, the inestimable good of loyalty to our admirable Constitution.
Can we be blind and deaf and dead to this great duty?
When I ask this question, do I not ask whether we
can forget our fathers, whose blood is in our veins;
our children, to whom we shall transmit a life not
worth the having, if we suffer this Constitution, our
Constitution and their Constitution, to be  weakened,
disgraced, and broken into fragments; our God, who
has laid on us the trust of leading nations yet unborn
along that glorious way upon which our footsteps
were the earliest?.
No, this cannot be;  I cannot look at it as possible; I cannot fear it; but if I could fear such a 
40
calamity, my fear might spring from the  apprehllension, not that we can be ultimately defeated, but that
as the conflict goes on,, in our painful sense of the
wrongs inflicted upon us and the wrongs threatened
us, in our exasperation at the insults we have to
endure, in the fever heat of our anger at the cost
and sacrifice and suffering caused by the persistent
madness  and  wickedness  we  resist, we  may forget
that our chief aim and purpose, our first and
strongest hope, not to be abandoned so long as it
can possibly be held, and not to be defeated by ourselves, is to defend and preserve our nationality in
its entireness. Are we not fighting for our Constitution, fighting for our national existence, fighting to
restore, to re-establish, to re-consecrate our UnionS?
It is one of the excellent characteristics of this very
Constitution and Government that, while they make
all possible provision and organize all necessary
strength for all the purposes of government, there
is in it no desire, no purpose, no provision, and no
place for conquest and subjugation. If ever there
was a nation fighting in self-defence, we are that
nation now. And there are those who are now most
earnest in that cause, not in the North only, but in the
South.  We at the N9rth, by the outpouring of our
treasure, by organizing our men, and sending them to
battle; and some, at the South, and again I say many,
as I hope and believe, by their sympathy, which can 
41
not be altogether paralyzed, although its voice is now
stifled, and by a conviction that we are fighting for
them and not against them; by earnest wishes that
we may succeed, and so succeed that we may soon
give that voice freedom of utterance, and enable those
wishes to spring forth into concerted action.
Then let us do our work. Let us do it without
stay or stint, without one moment's thought of stay
or stint, until it is all done. Let us organize and send
forth our soldiers until the strong hands that guide
our armies can hold no more.  Ijet us pour forth our
money until all who arm in our cause are supplied
with all possible means of efficiency, of safety, and
of comfort. Let us pour forth our very hearts and
souls in the combat until that combat ends in victory.
The more thoroughly this work is done, the more
beneficial it will be to us and to those with whom we
are now contending. And let us so do this work, that
when it is fully and completely done, when rebellion
has, with its last breath, called itself by its true name,
and every thought of secession lies buried in a grave
from which there can' be no resurrection, then our
own Massachusetts, as she was the first to spring to
the battle, so, when se  can sheathe the sword, by
which, faithful to her chosen motto,* she has sought
for the repose and peace of liberty, then will she be
the first to hold forth an unarmed hand to returning
* Ense petit plaeidam si'b libertate quieter.
(; 
42
brethren; and will cordially invite them to take and
hold their full share of all our constitutional rights
and unite with us in fovming a great nation, which
shall be the home of freedom and the hope of the
world.
m
0 
APPEII)IX.
0
6 
6
a 
APPENDIIX.
SPEECHES AT THE REVERE HOUSE COLLALTION.
Ix view of the state of the country, it was thought wise by the City
Council  to dispense with the City Dinner  at  Faneuil Hall, which  had
been customary for so many years, and to substitute therefor an informal
social gathering at the Revere House. Accordingly, at the conclusion of
the Exercises at the Music Hall, the City Council met the Orator of the
Day, the Chief Marshal, and his Aids and Assistants, the Officers of tie
Military Escort, and a few other invited guests, at the Revere House, where
a collation, well suited to refreshl the active 1)irticil)ants in the celel)ration
after the fatigues of the day, was served.
After the Collation His Honor the Mayor, Hon. Joseph M. Wiglitmian,
claimed the attention of the company, and addressed them as follows:
FELLOW-CITIZENS:  In accordance with long established custom, we are this day commemorating the eighty-fifth anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America. We
are again listening to the voice of eloquence, to the joyous
chilmes and merry peals of the bells, and to the loud salvos of
the thundering cannons troclaiming another anniversary of
our National Birthday; and if, in the present condition of our
country, there is a shadow of anxiety or doubt which throws a
cloud over the bright picture of the future, let us take courao'e
and rest our hopes on the wisdom of that Providence which has
so far guided and preserved us as a nation. 
46
Let us remember that less than a century has elapsed since
this great Republic dlawned like a star on the verge of the
political horizon, with scarcely light enough to penetrate the
gloom, or twinkle through the darkness which surrounded it,
and that that feeble star, which every cloud seemed destined
to obscure forever, has risen higher and higher, and grown
brigohter and brighter, until it has become glorious as one in
the mighty constellation of (ivilized nations.  What has been
the secret of her greatness, the mainspring of her success and
power'.?  The  universal  intelligence  and  education  of her
people.
History has portravy(d the rise, decline, and fall of all the
P,,qpublics in other quarters  of the globe,  and  our country
. alone has the high privilege to solve this great problem of
self-governmient.   Established  by  the mastrter minids  of  the
Revolution,-  based  upon  a Constitution  of which  popular
representation and mutual  confederation are the sustaining
pillars, are not the benefits we have so long enjoyed under
this system  so palpable  and evident as to receive the holmage
of an intelligent people.'  Do we desire a chauge?  Doweask
to have that Constitution, in which, as it were, the beauties
of the rights of all other nations have been combined in one
grand  Charter  of Liberties,  aniiull((ed?   No!  A  thousand
times no!
If selfish ambition and disunion assail it, let patriotism, ever
warm in the hearts of our citizens, defend it.  And in this hour
of trial, let us, ainimated with the spirit of our fathers on this
anniversary of their Declaration of Independence, renew  the
soleimn vow to sacrifice own the altar of our country, "our lives
and fortunes," and  ledge "our sacred honor" to support and
sustain that Union which has given so proud a position to our 
native land.  And, fellow-citizens, let our prayer be, that peace
may be restored, and that for ages yet to come her glorious
title, as  " The  Great  Republic," may  be preserved, with  no
monarch but the sovereign people, with no nobility but mind;
and that it may  continue to sta(l, self-poised and firm, uponii
the rock of the Conistitution, the  wonder  and  admiration of
the world.
The Mayor's remarks were received with much enthusiasm. Professor
Parsons, being toasted as the Orator of the  I)ay, responded in a brief
speech.
The next toast was to the "President of the United States," and Alderman
Thomas C. Amory, Jr., being called upon, responded as follows:
That, Sir, is a sentiment to which all parties ecan respond.
For though some of us preferred  can(lidates more  centrally
placed in abode or political opinion, and believed that their
election would avert, or at least postpone this controversy until
it ceased to be daingerous, since it has come upon the country,
the President, by his prudence, energy, and also by his moderation, has gained the confidence of all.  Still I feel, that on
this occasion another should have been called upon to pay the
respect due to our Chief Magistrate, and that had our wonted
prosperity admitted of our assembling in our historic hall, and
with our usual numbers, that among them would have beeni
found many to do more appropriate justice to the theme tlhan I
can.  But that sacred edificeas reserved for happier days, or for
sterner duties, and assembled here under this roof, the honored
name it bears, as also that of the'President himself, closely coiinected as they both are withl our great revolutionary epoch,
remind us that our fitting subject now is the historic past.
And on this festal celebration of the most important event in
47 
48
the history of our country, perhaps in the annals of our race
to be permitted to participate in the expression of sentiments
glowing in every heart, springing spontaneously to every lip,
is a privilege which should be dear to every American, and
especially in Boston, where we have been accustomed to regard
the day as one of peculiar sanctity. Here were sown the seeds
of that yearning for equal rights and national independence
which culminated in the Declaration, which we this day commemorate.  Here Otis, Quincy, and Warren rocked the cradle
of liberty, till, animated by their patriotic ardor, that infant
Hercules strangled in  his ograsp the demons of tyranny and
arbitrary power and gaining, fresh vigor from another Quincy,
and  another  Otis, and  from  the  soul-stirring eloquence of
Webster, Choate, and Everett,  developed into maturity,  and
spanned this mighty continent.   Here onil this day, have our
fathers  gathered in their  joy and triuillpll, taken counsel
amidst their trials and perplexities, and it is well for us, now
that clouds have for a time obscured the brightest political
promise ever vouchsafed to a nation, that we also should come
for hope and cheer to these revolutionary altars.
And  what  higher privilege  have  we  as  a people, what
stronger cement to bind  us together in national fellowship,
than the associations of the past which make this day sacred?
So longi as we continue true to the principles which separated
the colonies from  the  mother country, while we deserve to
possess the rich inhritance purchased by the blood and sacrifices of that glorious struggle, on each annual return of this
great natal day of our national existence we shall render homage to the fathers of the republic, reflect upon their virtues,
wreatlie new garlands for their fame. And, if we may derive
a lesson from experience, the future is full of hope. The 
49
fourscore years that have tested the strength and excellence
of their political fabric, have but added intensity to our
attachment to free institutions, given a warmer glow to our
affectionate veneration for their founders, proved that no gov ernment is more formidable to a foreign foe, better able to
vindicate its own authority, than that which we owe to their
sagacity and foresight.
On this great festival, when every heart is swelling with
gratiude for the blessings we enjoy, no sectional jealousies, no
party contentions should ever be permitted to intrude. Our
country-our.whole country-from  the point that earliest
glows with the rising sunbeams to the most distant peak by
the Western sea that parts with their setting splendors- from
the Northern lakes, aye Sir, even to the Southern gulf, should
be alike the object of our love, and all who hold allegiance
to its flag be equally entitled to affectionate regard. Whatever
elements of discord may have part in our political disputes,
whatever differences of interest or opinion have engendered
animosities and deadly strife, on this Sabbath set apart for
the contemplation of our common nationality, that sentiment
should alone have place.
But on this day it especially behooves us to be just. We
all realize the elements of grandeur in the character of
Washington.   We  recognize  him  as rightly first in war, in
peace, and in the hearts of his countrymen.  We would not
pluck a leaf from  his wtOl  earned  laurels.  All glory  to
Virginia that gave him  to the army of the lRevolution.  All
honior to the men of Massachusetts who, to secure freedom
Q
for America, laid aside their own pretensions and preferences
to place him at its head,  But while we cherish  his memory,
let us not be indifferent to theirs, or dazzled by the halo
7
-    I'll,    n 
50
that surrounds that beloved and immortal name, be insensible
to the claims of our own patriots, who by their sagacious
counsels, generous devotion, and effective service, alike contrib uted to the great result. All praise to the noble spirits who
have rescued Mount Vernon from the ravages of time. Let
not this generation bear the stain of suffering the abode of
Hancock, hallowed by its many memories, to be blotted,
without an effort, from the earth.
When other States and cities raise the votive bronze or
marble to Henry and Laurens, to Jefferson, Hamilton, and
Greene, let us also remember what we owe to Samuel Adams
and Joseph Hawley, to Gerry, the Cushings, and to Paine,
Ward, Prescott, and Heath, to Benjamin Lincoln and Henry
Knox. it is true, Sir, we have James Otis and John Adams
at Mount Auburn and Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill. Other
heroes and sages, on the walls of'our public edifices, greet us
as we gaze; but until we have perpetuated their memory by
more enduring  monuments,  our filial labors  are  but half
complete.
And this, Sir, brings me  to the sentiment which I would
ofifer to you now. For on the roll of our distinguished citizens
who have made Boston what it is, no name should be more
fondly cherished than that of Paul Revere. It was enough for
him to know our chartered liberties, our privileges as British
subjects, our natural and inalienable rights as men were treated
with contempt by Parl1ament, the monarch, or his cabinet. He
had wisdom to perceive the only alternative, would we continue
free, was resistance unto deatli.  And laying aside all private
ends and aims, indifferent to the dangers he incurred, through
all that gloomy period, when our revolution was a rebellion,
not a war, he was ever where his services could be most useful 
51
to the cause. Well known to his fellow-citizens, his probity,
manliness, and generous views of right and duty inspired respect, and they willingly followed' where he chose to lead. If
too young and inexperienced to take a prominent part in debate, his peculiar influence and chivalric daring were still
indispensable to success. But this is not the time for lengthened panegyric, and his fame is too familiar to need such
tribute. Republics are said to be ungrateful, but if they
admit no hereditary claim to power or place, Boston has ever
shown herself ready to pay homage to ancestral virtues transmitted in the blood.  The character of our late honored chief
requires, indeed, no reflected lustre, but his devotion to the
public service, and his firm hold upon the confidence and love
of his fellow-citizens, convince us that the merit of descendants is the most honorable monument  to the memory of the
distinguished dead.
I give  you,  Sir,  our late  chief  nmagistrate  of this  city,
ex-MIayor Lincoln, the grandson of Paul Revere.
A toast to the "Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements," brought
the following response from Alderman Elisha T. Wilson: -
I think, MIr. President, that one result of this pleasant, and
I trust by no means extravagant celebration of what I deem
a somewhat important anniversary, will be, that however
some may have differed upon the matter elsewhere, we  shall
all agree that it is good to be here, -that we shall pass this
day with our patriotism strengthened, with our loyal ardor
more brightly burning, and tith a redoubled devotion to the
Constitution, the Union, and the Laws.  Whatever may be the
disastrous condition of the country, we must  not regard the
Fourth Day of July as a dark one in our calendar.   It was
I... 
52
consecrated, Sir, in more desperate times than these, when
skies were blacker and the future more dubious, when we
were weak as we are now, strong,- when we were poor as
we are now rich, -when we were few as we are now many,
-when we were contending, not against a few disaffected
States, but against the power of an empire mighty upon the
land, almost invincible upon the sea.
After that memorable declaration, when all we had was
staked upon the wager of battle, I do not know that our
fathers disregarded the advice of John Adams, and so neglected the observance of this day.   Nor was the President of
the United States wanting in affectionate recognition of its
associations, when he summoned Congress to meet to-day in
extraordinary session; and I am sure that when we, the representatives of this great patriotic nmetropolis, meet to break
bread together upon this glorious day, our purpose will hardly
be misunderstood by our intelligent constituents.  What, pray
Sir, are we to do? Are we to sit down with folded hands, and
with streaming eyes, and admit that final ruin. is upon us?'
-that the Union that we have loved so well, is gone forever!
that you, Sir, and I, and all of us, have no country to love
and  to live for! no government to obey! no laws to shield
us! nothing between us and anarchy!  No, Sir, we are not
in any suchi humiliating position! I have faithl in the power
of our good old government to deal simply and surely with
crime;  and  I have With in the power of the people to support the government.
The ordeal, I    admit' is terrible -  the trial must task all
our honor and manliness; but if the Constitution  can bear
this, as I think it can, then it can bear anything for a thousand years to come.   Sir, as a nation we  must  take our
: -.-I:::".::
I 
53
chances, and encounter, as best we may, our political misfortunes.   I am  not aware  that we  present a very singular
spectacle. Revolutions in the old world have sent monarchs
to the scaffold and others into endless exile- the murder of
one and the flight of another, and the flight in turn of the
citizen king, and the restoration of the Bonaparte family. In
my day, I have seen whole empires convulsed by revolution.
No nation, Sir, has a right to expect perpetual security.
Great privileges bring great dangers; and it is because we
have so much to loose, that we cannot quietly submit to any
loss.  Why, Sir, let us restore this Union, if only that we
may look each other in the face on the Fourth of July without blushing!  Let us preserve  this Union, if only that we
may consistently keep this ancient anniversary, and our chil- 
dren after us! - that we may be reminded of the priceless
legacy committed to our charge.
He concluded with the following sentiment: -
Our Flag - Though its stars may set, they shall rise again;
though its stripes may fade, they shall be repainted; and
those who in a moment of mtadness have swerved from their
fidelity, shall return to join with us in the old reverence and
in a new affection.
Brief speeches, patriotic and felicitous, were afterwards made by Major
Newton, the Chief Marshal, andithers.
a 
a
0 
EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION.
m 
6
a 
EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION.
THE following, brief summary of the )proceedings of the day is embodi((ed ill this voltine as a permanent record of the manner in which the celebration was conducted.
Thle day opened as usual with the firing of salutes and the ringing of bells, and the
first formal event under the auspic(es of the City Coiuncil, was the
MtOR NIN(   CONClIIIlT.
This occurred on the Conmmon, and was listened to by nmany thousands of people with
the greatest pleasure.  Under the direction of Mair. B. A. llurditt, the Brigade, Germania,
tlall's, and Fla,gg,'s l,laids, as one grand musical association, performed tlhe national airs
of Aieric   d of several of the natiolns of Europe, the chlords of the opening tnd coneluding pieces beiiig eilphasized by guns of thle Light Artillery (Cobb's Bittery).  The
'fl'cot wis gr.tid  iand exaltiiig in the extreme, and as in previous years, the "3 orniing
('oil(-ert " was gratifyiiigly successful.   At  its conclusion, the vtst  and constantly
au'i en*+tintg asseniblag,e of people nmoved to the parade ground of the Common  to
'-itness tli(
MIILITAIIY  IEVNIE, V.
BIefore e1ig.gilig in the escort of the city procession, the three military organtizations
selected to perform that duty, came upon the Common to be reviewed by the Matyor and
City Comii( il.'They formed as ~! regimental line in the followiing order: The Fourth
Battalion of Rifles, (4 companies,) Capt. N. IV. Batchelder, conimandin,g, onl the rig,ht;
the Second Battalion of Infantry, (30,ompaiiies,) Capt. C. O. IRogers, commanding, in
th c(entre; and the Fourth Bgttalion of Infantry, (2 companies,) Maj. T. G. Stevenson,
comnmanding, on the left; - the whole beiing under the command of'a.tjor Samuel H.
Leconard, of the Rifle Battalion.  All of these commands being newly uniformed, and all
l.hig been recently in garrison for dril, they presented at once a more attractive and
nmore soldierly appearance thin,any resident military body which had been on parade
in the (city fo)r many years.  The areview was in every respect  most satisfactory, and
inlii(,(iaitely i Ul)on its conclusion, the liBttalions iimrcledl to the (ity IItall to take oup
thle esc)ort f')r tlle
s 
(CITY PROCESSION.
This wVas composed of the militarytescort, the City Couneil, an(l thle niembers of its
subordinate departments, the invited guests of thle day, citizens generally, and thle Fire
Department of the city.  Thle latter paratded thle Steiam Fire Ellg,illes, fose, and H-look
and Ladder carriages, and formned a prominent felaturc of the proe(ssion.  Thle route of
march wvas throu,gh  Washingt,ton and Essex Streets, liarrison Avenue, I)over Street,
Shawvmut Avenue, Chester Park, Trinioit, Bloylston, Clihailes, lBea(oin, I'i'k, 1an(1 Winter
Streets, to the Mtusic Hall.    t thle I llill o(irr(ed thli
ORATION AND SER VICEIS.
The Oration, by  Ir. PAI,SONS, wvas received wvith great favor, id(I the othier patrti(ipanuts in the services performed thleir appropritte parts of the duties of thle occa(.sion wvith
a((ceptance.  The Prayelr was by lcev. A11. l(ep)ortlI, otil the l( I(ling of the D)eclairatioil
of' Indlepelndenclee by  Ir. 1I. (r. Sturtevwlit.  ttndler M[r. Chlitrles  litler's direction the
choir of school  children, hvlio sang the lIlyninis aiid  patrioti( odles  prepared for  the
o(casion,  t(hieved llU stlal sucl ess,.te  l s eti hev(,r( iiredl wvithli uniil)oll(le(l  lpplause.
Took place on Charles River-, at ten o'clo(k in thli( forenoon.  It was w viti(essed( l)y
imimense crovwds of people, anl as it passed off witlhout accident,  tand was in other
respects eqtal to any contest of the kind ever witnessed in these waters, the inlterest
rmaiiifested( in this branch(  of tlhe cele i-bration by the City  Cotucil  wvts  fully r(ewivtrded.
The prizes (anlolntini' in all to $i'i,O) were   iw trd(led as follows: -
For NVherries- 1st, To Joslitia Wart1, of Ncwli'rlh; 2d, to Tlionias I)oyle, of Boston.
I)oul)le Scull-boats —ist,'To J.  1). Parkerl,,Itr.,  i(d W.  11. Carpenter, of Blostoii
2c, to J. Biglin, and Josliua Ward, of Nevwbtrg,li, N. Y.
Four-oared Boats-1st, To  the "Strantger,"  rowe(-l  by  Westmaii alnd(l otliers, of
Poug'hkeel)sie;  2d, to tihe "Georgi,.1.'iowvii," ro-(wed  )y 1).,leary aodl otihrs
of New York.
" Six-oired loats -  1st,'To the "Amlli)ritrite(," riowv(l by  V. Bluriiett atii(I othlers, of
lBoston; 2d, to thle " Fort  lil] l,," rofwi  lly.1. J Ib rrly a.iiil otihers, of Ilostoii.
\ Ir,I,O()N  tS('ENSlI()NS.
About  five o'clock in tlhe.it't('i'iiooi   two  large l;illooios weri(  s(ent up from  tli' ('oiiitioii,
iiler the (lire(tion of  SImel.. l           iiig'.  lBotli l1)illooiis stlirt(edl oll tleiir voyt,(g'  suc(essfully, beii  fr'igltel withl  sev('r. tlassengers, vwhIo \vwer(i'  li(''rel on their  wavty  hy a vsist
:isseiiil)lige ol' peop)le.   t-fiortiiiittIly ti(  vi(l wi Is  lfroni ti(he sottliiward, atiil( lter r-eachilig.1 considueable       h l eight thle  teroii.titts, li(liilig thlit  tlhe(y woull be swel)t sieaward, witlhout hlopl)e( of a fitvoriug brei(z(i  to ivif't tlih          g'au.l i  towards  land, opened thli  isi.ape- vlves
58
']'IIE Cl'l.'A' 
of the balloons, and they both fell speedily from their lofty height, one upon the sand at
WVinthrop Beach, and the other on the sea some miles from shore.  The passesngers wvere
all safely delivered from whatever peril they encountered.
THE  F'IRENO()RKS,
MIore elaborate and patriotic in their design than in any previous year, were successfilly exhibited upon the Common in the evening.   No  dissent  was  heard from the
opinion that the manufacturers, Messrs. J. G. Edo-e & Co., achieved much  credit for
themselves in this closing entertainment of the day.
a
59
0 
6