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CITY OF BOSTON.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, July 6, 1874.
Resolved, That the thanks of the City Council be presented
to the HoD. Richard Frothingham, for the eloquent and patriotic oration, delivered by him; before the municipal authorities of Boston, on the ninety-eighth anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence, and that he be requested
to fulrnish a copy thereof for publication.
Passed. Sent down for concurrence.
JOHN T. CLARK,
Chairman.
IN COMMON COUNcIL, July 9, 1874.
E. O. SHEPARD
P?resident.
Approved, July 10, 1874.
SAMUEL C. COBB,
Mayor.
Concurred. 
I 
0 RAT I 0 N.
MR. MAYOR, GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNCIL, FELLOW    CITIZENS: -
The annual town-meeting, held in Boston in 1783,
voted "that the Anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence should be constantly celebrated by the
delivery of a public oration, in which the orator shall
consider the feelings, manners, and principles which
led to this great national event, as well as the important and happy effects" that " shall forever continue to
flow from it."  From that time there has been a succession of utterances giving expression to the love
and veneration in which successive generations on
this historic soil hold the memory of the sages and
heroes of the Revolution. The men of Boston of
that era, by their unswerving devotion to principle,
won the admiration of their brethren in all the colonies, and the gratitude of posterity.
We meet to-day, not as citizens of a town, or of a
city, or of a State, but as Americans. From the time
of the morning guns and bells to eventide, when the
sky is brilliant with illuminations, the thought is fixed 
ORATION.
on the country.  What a spectacle of progress it has
presented, as the three millions who began the national life with the aim of planting here the seeds of
Christian civilization, grew to forty millions! Commonwealth after commonwealth rose and took their
places by the side of the thirteen original States, and
thus as co-equals entered into the great inheritance
of liberty and law,-each, by planting the school and
the church, aiming to keep active those safeguards
of our institutions, public education and religion.
Boston presents a type of this progress.  Its poptulation was but sixteen thousand when it did the great
service in behalf of the principles of the Revolution;
a population of three hundred and seventy-five thousand rejoices in the happy effects that flowed from
the triumph.  To-day, with the addition of Brighton,
Charlestown, Dorchester, and Roxbury, there may be
said to be a new Boston. Hence, the community
dwelling in the beautiful natural scenery in which
Joseph Warren was born, the communities around
Bunker Hill and Faneuil Hall, join now, for the first
time, to celebrate the gloirious Fourth. As their
famed " Committees of Correspondence" met of old
in council to promote the cause of liberty and union,
so may their descendants be ever ready to stand forth
in their defence.
The work of to-day is a work of peace. Boston is
6 
JULY  4, 1874.
growing. On every side we see life and vigor. The
way in which enterprise is covering with solid
structures the recent desolation by fire, and the activ ity in the marts of trade, show how alive business
men are to their opportunities. May the inhabitants
of the places recently incorporated with Boston catch
something of the spirit of the original town, and become sensitive to its interests and honlor. Unquestionably it is destined to be a great city. There cannot be
a wiser policy than to take every step with such a future
in view. Indeed, nothing is surer than a continuous
growth of Boston, because nothing is surer than that
its priceless privileges, its noble educational and
charitable activities, its commerce and its arts, will
ever have, what is essential to them, the protective
shield of a great nation.
We are here to celebrate the day in which the birth
of the nation was announced to the world. The
Saxon, the Celt and the Norman, the Scot, the Swede
and the Huguenot came here, encountered the hardships of the wilderness, and began a new civilization.
They brought with them old ideas and principles; but
here they assumed a significance they never had before.  They brought here the Christian idea of man;
on it they built their superstructure, and the individual took his proper place in the political system.
They brought with them the idea of the municipality;
but in their hands this primordial political unit be
7 
ORATION.
came a new creation.  They brought with them the
great discovery of modern times, representation; and
in their hands, as applied in the municipality and to
the general assembly, it was a representation of every
community.  In  this way was  produced the free
and independent AmeIican. It was a new growth.
It was the greatest American product.  Power attempted to checkthis development. Oiriginal methods
were devised to meet  the demands and wants of the
hour.  The thirteen communities grew into union.
They became the United Colonies.  At length a mnajority of the people of these colonies instructed their
representatives in Congress assembled to dissolve
their connection with the crown. This was done by
the resolution passed on the Secolid day of July,
1776. Then the United Colonies became the United
States.  The form'of proclaiming this fiact was then
matured.  On the Fourth day of July the Declaiation announced that the people had assumed, " among
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station
to which the laws of Nature and of Natnire's God
entit]ed them."
Prophecy then became reality.  It is remaikable
how far back there were prophetic voices concerning
this continent.  They are met with before it was discovered,- before even the voyages of the Northmen.
I have not time even to quote these sayings.  Columbus knew of them, and used them to induce monarchs
8 
JULY  4, 1874.
to engage in costly enterpiise.  Thus the unknown
quantity in America, like the unknown quantity in
algebra, helped to solve the problem of its own existenice.
In the early days of colonization, Herbeit wrote
the well-known lines,
"Religion stands on tiptoe in our land,
Ready to pass to the American strand; "
which Archbishop Tillotson, in 1703, interpreted to
mean, that, when vice should overspread England, the
Gospel would pass into America, and that vast colonies had been transplanted out of Europe into these
parts on purpose to make way for the chainge. The
idea that these colonies were looking to the establishment of a republic, that they designed independence, and would become independent, was discussed
in the Cabinets-of Charles the Second and of James,
and ill the Parliament of Queen Anne.   It was a
constant allegation of the royal governors throughout the colonial age that they were devising plans for
dissolving their allegiance to the crown.  During
this period the rising glory of America was the theme
of many an American pen.  It was common to piedict that here would be a great nation. I can think
of no prediction so distinct as that of Nathaniel
Ames. the father of Fisher Ames. His little almanac
of 1758, full of information in regard to the condition
of the country, burns and glows with the thought of
2
.
.
9 
ORATION.
the rising glory of America.    As," he says, "the
celestial light of the Gospel was directed here by the
finger of God, it will doubtless finally drive the long,
long night of heathenish darkness from America.  So
arts and sciences will change the face of nature in
their tour from hence to the western ocean." Having dwelt on the prospect of progress, he says,' O ye
unborn inhabitants of America! should this page escape the destined conflagration at the year's end, and
these alphabetical letters remain legible; when your
eyes behold the sun after he has rolled the season
round for two or three centuries more, you will know
that in Auno Domini 1758 we dreamed of your
times."
This was printed on the eve of the aggressions on
the rights of the colonists, by successive British administrations.  They elicited a continuous strain of
animating prophecy concerning America. It was
computed, in 1765, that in seventy-five years the population would number sixteen millions; that in one
hundred years it would increase to thirty-two millions; and it was said that America would be the
greatest empire the world had ever seen. It was
averred, in 1773, that, if the ministiry persisted in its
policy, it would not be fifteen years before the Americanswould form an independent nation; and all were
enjoined to prepare to act as joint members of the
grand American Commonwealth. In this way a sen
.  I..
*     i ~ * a  o 
10 
JULY  4, 1874.
timent of nationality mingled instinctively in the
utterances with the idea of independence; or the
thought that the colonies would not only throw off
their allegiance to the crown, but would become a
political unit, - -a nation.  This sentiment was miuisteried to by the nature of the country:    a vast, connected, and fertile land; the absence of impassable
barriers between the sections; a climate uniting the
productions of the torrid and the temperate zones;
majestic rivers invitilng iiiland commuiiication; an imperial line of coast, stimulating maritimne enterprise.
It-seemed, to the thoughtful, that the Almighty had
formed it for the abode of a people that should stand
pie-emiinent in the world.  Their ideal of what should
constitute a country was not simply hills and valleys,
land and water, but spiritual things as well; and as
they mused  on the establishment, in this land, of
American liberty on the basis of Americaii law,- on
the Christian idea of man that was shaping their civil
and religious institutions,  they reached the faith
that progress was about to receive a fresh impulse,
ais if the New World was to surpass the Old, and
the gloiy of the human nature was to receive its
highest perfection near the setting sun."
But there is an unfair way of presenting even
truths, as when all the facts are gathered on one side
of a subject, and those on the other side are
ignored.  The critical have a right to ask the salient
11 
ORATION.
question, Is there not to be found as much argument
in favor of forming the thirteen colonies, each entirely
independent of each other, into so many nations, as
there is in favor of establishing one American Republic? The conviction in relation to the power
which might be justly exercised by the several colonies was remarkable. There was in the public
mind an ideal of a line of limitation, in relation to
local rights, which they never allowed the imperial
power  to  invade  without  a protest.   From the
earliest period of the colonies, down to the controversy on the Stamp Act, there was not a single
assembly which had not been called upon, at one
time or another, to defend their free exercise of
political rights against the aggressions of the prerogative.  In each instance the same manliness in
standing in defence of this ideal line was ever seen.
There was a oneness of political ideas in all the
colonies on this point. The positions thus maintained with respect to local rights induced the royalists to charge upon their opponents, that, logically,
they would make each town, or each county, or each
colony, an independent nation.  The whigs would
indignantly repudiate this, and would aver that they
claimed no rights which were inconsistent with any
obligation which the individual the municipality, or
the colony owed to the crown or the common country.  They revered the British Constitution, because
12 
JULY  4, 1874.
they viewed it as a protector of their civil and
religious institutions. Especially did they look upon
their municipalities and their general assemblies as
the fields in which the individual was trained in the
duties of self-government.  But I have not met, in
all the files of newspapers which I have examined,
prior to 1776, a single essay, written by a whig,
urging the establishment of thirteen nations.
Thus there is found, in the political thought of
that era, the idea of a nation.  It was not merely
speculation by the scholar in his closet.  It was
a distinct aim urged in the press.  It was the talk
in the marts of trade, in the workshop, in the fields.
The thought was grander than Greece ever attained.
"That the Greeks could be united into one political
community, never came into the mind of any Greek
statesman, or Greek philosopher. The independence
of each city was the one cardinal principle from
which all Greek political life started. The city was
the Greek idea of a nation." In America it was
not merely public opinion, but it was a conviction
that the civilization which had been planted here
demanded for its future development the protective
power of a common country.
The Declaration of Independence was the joint act
of a people acting on such ideas.  It was mnatured,
announced, and ratified, under circumstances that
Americans on this day canilot tire of remembering.
13 
ORATION.
The war had continued, with various success, from
the hour of the rattle of the musketry on the glorious morning of the nineteenth of April, 1775. During the summer succeeding perils were multiplying
on every side.  The Indians in the settlements on
the frontiers were indulging their merciless play of
scalping; Carlton was driving the continental army
out of Canada; the Howes, at the head of a powerfull land and naval force, were threatening  New
England and moving on New York; Parker's fleet
was approaching Charleston; the loyalists were
arming, enirolling and rising in Delaware, New Jersey
and New York.  " Armies," it was said in the press,
composed of Hessians, HIanoverians, regulars, and
Indians, were plundering and murdering, while the
king was amusing a distressed people with the sound
of commissioners crying,'Peace, peace,' when there
is no peace! "  " Anxiety and apprehension," a contemporary  says,    invaded  every breast.   Every
public assembly, every religious coigregation, every
scene of social intercourse or domestic privacy and
retirement, was a scene of deliberation on the public
calamnity and impending da,nger." There was moturning in many a home on account of the fall of the
" beauty of Israel on the high places." What though
the land was poor, and the future all unknown?
The people felt that the time which the prophets had
predicted had  come.  There was  a sentiment of
14 
JULY  4, 1874.
nationality. There was a fMesh emotion of love of
country, and that country America.  It was inspiration; it was power.  Their words  wele: " May
America rise triumphant, blossom as the rose, and
swell with increasing  splendor, like the growilng
beauties of the spr'ing, bearing in her right hand the
great charter of salvation, the Gospel of the heavenly
Jesus, and ill the left, the unfolding volumes of
Peace, Liberty, and Truth."  They were confident
that their cause would  raise  up  delenders;  and
though the cloud of wai made their horizon as the
night, yet a living faith in the providence of God
looked up in trust, and in the darkenied sky saw
golden hues that gave the promise of the mnorning.
Every newspaper of this period that I have seen
contains the following lines:
"From NORTH though stormy winds may blow,
To blast fair Freedom, fragrant flower,
And urge the seas to overflow
The banks, that shield it from their power;
Yet, planted here by God's own hand,
Be not, dear fugitive, dismayed;
The winds shall cease at His command,
The sea's proud waves shall soon be stayed."
In this devoted  spirit there was great political
action. The whole land was alive with meetings,
called to take into consideration the subject of inde
penldence.   The people  mnet in the towns, as in
15 
ORATION.
Massachusetts; in the counties, as in Virginia; or
they sent delegates to act for them in conventions,
or in general  assemblies;  and  resolutions  were
adopted to stand by Congress, in case Congress
made a Declaration of Independence. Such was
the action of Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown,
and Boston. The noble town which the British
army had just left put forth a plea for independence,
that is a fit crowning of their revolutionary action.
It might have been read by every member of Coiigress during the first debate onl independence, for it
was printed in the Philadelphia papers of that date.
After such action, the Congress, sitting in Independence Hall, matured the Declaration.  This was
printed at once in the newspapers.
The press pronounced it the greatest event that
ever happened to the Ameriican colonies.  It predicted that it would be celebrated through a long
succession of fiuture ages by anniversary commemorations, and be considered a grand era in the history
of the American States.  The people of the Old Thirteen colonies, in every form of rejoicing, received
the Declaration with exultation. There were spontaneous meetings in hundreds of villages, towns, cities
and counties.  Communities rested from thteir daily
toil as on gala days. There were processions; the
Declaration was read amidst the acclamations of the
people, mingled with roll of drums and the roar of
16 
JULY   4,  1874.
artilleriy.  Then followed feasts and toasts.  In the
evening there were bonfires on the hills and illumninations in the towns. Such were the scenes along the
line of the colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia.
There was also official action by the assemblies as
they convened.  They gave pledges to stand by the
Declaration. The Assembly of Massachusetts expressed their entire satisfiacetion with it, and with
the general approbation it elicited.  They pledged
their fortunes, lives and sacred honor to support it.
The ratification was hearty and unanimous.   The
Declaration was ordered to be published in form in
every locality,- by the selectmen of the towns, or
by the sheriffs in the counties, or by the clergy fi-oom
the pulpit.
Such was the spectacle which the people of the
United         States presented,' of joy and of sorrow, of
suffering and of heroismn, as they entered into the
solemn covenant of country. It requires imagination
to give actions past a life-like image as though they
were present. How vividly has the poet embodied
i    n     immortal song the feelings of that generation as
they  launched the ship United States!
"Sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
3
17 
ORATION.
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock, -
'Tis of the wave and not the rock;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In spite of false-lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee,- are all with'thee! 7
It is simple justice to the illustrious builders of this
ship to say, that they did not launch her until they
had devised means to meet the storms she might be
destined to encounter.  The band who had entrusted
in her their all of life and fortune had covenanted
with each other to malke her safety their paramount
object.  They had provided a Council to guide her,
and they had pledged themselves to abide by its
decrees. They had chosen as their commander
WASlINGTON, - the deai and venerated name, which
the American mother will never cease to pronounce
to her children with every tender expression of love
and of gratitude-whose star will forever l)e a light
and guide to the sons of liberty over the civilized
18 
JULY  4, 1874.
world.  They had fixed at her mast-head The Union
Flag.  Having done all that their wisdom  could
suggest, they had invoked Almighty God to smile
upon their efforts, and guide her into a haven of
safety.
This Council was the Continental Congress.  It
met in 1774. The present year is the centenary of
memorable political action. I do not purpose to review the proceedings of that remarkable body, but
only to emphasize some of the things that make that
year an epoch in our history.
The method adopted by the popular party, to obtain
a repeal of the Townshend revenue acts, was by
entering into an agreement not to buy merchandise
imported from England until the obnoxious law was
repealed.  Fidelity to the non-importation covenant
was a test of patriotism. The result was a repeal of
all but the duty on tea.  Then  the merchants of
New York, in a circular letter, proposed to reopen
trade with  England in everything  except in the
single article of tea.
A  venerable ination  has just celebrated hei one
hundred and fifth birthday. She was born in 1769.
She was living when this proposition from New
York was submitted to the colonies. What was the
Union, what this country, then?
A few items of intelligence, in that mirror of the
passing time, the newspaper, will supply the outline,
19 
ORATION.
which the imagination can fill up.  This was the
news in Boston:  " At a great meeting in Faneuil Hall a circular
letter from the city of New York, in token of abholrence, was ordered to be torn in pieces, and scatteired
to the winlds."
The students ill Princeton College, arrayed in
black gowns, gathered ill the college yard (James
Madison is one of them), and while the bell tolled,
this letter was committed to the flames."
-   A great meeting in the City of Charleston, South
Carolina, of which Charles Pinckney was chairman,
voted that the people of Georgia ought to be amputated from the rest of the birethren, as a rotten part,
that might spread a dangerous iiifection."
~ At a meeting held in Faneuil Hall, it was voted
not to hold intercourse with the merchants of New
Hampshire, or with any who hold intercourse with
them."
The  merchants of  Philadelphia, Boston  and
Charleston have decreed nlon-intercouirse with New
York."
" Captain Whitman, lately arrived in Philadelphia
from Newport, was not allowed to land his cargo, but
was compelled to turn back."
" In Wyoming, Pennsylvania, the Connecticut men
have kept up an almost continuous fire on the blockhouse from four entrenchments."
20 
JULY   4, 1874.
"There has been a raid from New York into
sundry towns granted by New Hampshire, ill which
blood was shed."
This was the Union that eyes saw which see the
Union of to-day. The patriots were bitter towards
each other on account of the breaking of the non-imnportation agreement.  Colonies were fighting each
other on questions of jurisdiction. America seemed
destined to reproduce the petty autonomy of ancient
Greece, and, as a penalty, to suffer from border warfare, chronic impotence, and subjection to foreign
sway.
Two years after this disLinion the tax on tea was
annutlled.  The bold strike of the Boston Tea Party
elicited the Boston Port Act, by which the trade of
the town was cut off and its municipal privileges
were annulled; the act altering the charter of Massachusetts, by which its local government was overthrown; and the act foi the administration of justice,
by which persons charged with offences might be
removed to England for trial.  The presence of all
army and a fleet attested  that the hand of the
greatest power on the globe was laid heavily on
Massachusetts.
The people of the twelve colonies saw, ill this
action, their own rights and liberties menaced. Then
the separate interests, the rivalries, the contentions,
the prejudices, the antagonisms of the colonies seemed
buried and forgotten  -the only thing remembered
21 
ORATION.
was, that one of them had been stricken down by
the hand of power. Pathetic appeal, party manipulation, personal influence, were not required to arouse
a general indignation. This instinctively welled up
from every American heart. The blow, like a wound
uponl a single nerve, convulsed the whole body politic.
On the Fourth of July, 1774, what unbounded
congratulations must have been heard in this community as the journals of that morning announced,
"Every post brings advices of the action of towns,
cities and counties, containing assurances of their
sending deputations to assist at the grand Congress
of representatives of all the colonies, to whose wisdom,
firmness and virtue, the liberty, property and whole
interest of this fiee and august continent are to be
delegated!"
The action here' described as going on in July
continued until the meeting of the Congress in September. The foremost men of the Revolution participated in it. It was fai'r more than the choice of
members to the proposed Congress. For illustration: Baltimore adopted this significant resolution:
_Resolved, unanimously, that the inhabitants of this
county will, and it is the opinion of this meeting that
this colony ought to, break off all trade and dealings
with that colony, province or town, which shall decline or refuse to come into similar resolutions with a
majority of the colonies." The pledge to abide by
22 
JULY  4, 1874.
the decision of the Congress in relation to dealing
with the mother country was universal. No colony
was more decisive in its action than Virginia; and
no resolves were more explicit than those which Jefferson penned, or of the meeting in which Washington was the chairman. In this colony a convention
of delegates from all the counties decided that those
who refused to abide b)y the decisions of the Congress ought to be regarded as inimical to the country. These meetings had the quality of regularity.
They were composed of persons qualified to vote
under the laws.  They collected and expressed definitely and authoritatively the will of the majority.
It was to the effect, that, in the matter of procuring
a redress of grievances, the way marked out by the
Congress should be looked upon as a paramount rule
of action. Further, it was declared that those who
did not submit to the decisions of the majority should
suffer pains and penalties.
The inhabitants of Massachusetts in the same way
were enjoined to annul the acts of Parliament which
altered their charter. This injunction was universal.
Thus it was decided, before the Congress met, or
before the act was attempted to be executed, that it
should share the fate of the Stamp Act, even though
the shedding of blood might be the consequence.
And the pledge was given to support Massachusetts
in this resistance. In maturing this action, Wash
23 
ORATION.
ington said, in the Virginia Convention, "I will raise
one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense,
and march myself at their head for the relief of
Boston."
This Congress met on the fifth day of September,
1774. Their first great act related to Massachusetts.
It was passed on the eighth of October: "Resolved,
That this Congress approve of the opposition made
by the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay to the late
acts of Parliament; and if the same shall be attempted
to be carried into execution by force, in such case all
America ought to support them in their opposition."
This pledge was but the echo of hundreds of localities.
After great difficulty Congress agreed to Articles of
Association.  On the twentieth of October, fifty-two
members signed them. This instrument begins with
these words: "We do for ourselves, and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent,
firmly agree and associate under the sacred ties of
virtue, honor, and love of our country." The instrument consists of fourteen articles. It contains rules
in relation to the non-importation and non-exportation and non-consumnption of merchandise from Great
Britain. One article provides that the parties to the
Association will not import nor purchase any slave
imported after the first day of December, and will
wholly discontinue the slave-trade, and refuse to deal
24 
JULY  4,  1874.
with those concerned in it.  Another stipulated not
only for non-intercourse with the inhabitants of any
colony that did not accede to or might hereafter violate this Association, but for holding them " as unworthy the rights of freemen, and as inimical to the
liberties of their country."  Another provides that
"a committee be chosen in every county, city, and
town, by those who are qualified to vote for the representatives in the Legislature, whose business it
shall be attentively to observe the conduct of all persons touching this Association;" and these committees were instructed to publish in the " Gazette" the
names of violators of the Association, to the end that
they might be "universally condemned as the enemies of American liberty." The Committees of Correspondence were charged to inspect the entries at
the custom-houses. Thus the Association was virtually law bearing on the individual; and a penalty
was affixed to all violations of it.
The close of the labors of this Congress was thus
announced   in the journals: " Last week, the grand
Continental Congress ended, they having, in a manner h    ighly honorable to themselves and their constituents,      and serviceable to their country, finished the
important business on which they were appointed
an d            met -to deliberate and determine for a great
and increasing nation. The world has hardly ever
seen any      assembly that had matters of greater conse
4
25 
ORATION.
quence before them; that were chosen in a more honorable mannier, were better qualified for the high
trust reposed in them, executed it in a more faithful,
judicious, and effectual manner, or were more free
and unanimous in their conclusions than this."
There remains the crowning action. This Association was ratified or adopted by every colony but
Georgia and New York, and in these colonies by
some of the parishes and towns.  The Connecticut
Assembly approved of the Association, and directed
the towns to comply with the recommendations of
the Congress. In Virginia the freeholders met in
their several counties and voted that the Association
should be their sole rule of conduct, and pledged
themselves, " by the sacred ties of honori, virtue, and
love of country," to observe it.  Some of the towns
of New Jersey instructed their committees "to follow the direction of the Association as much as if it
were a law of the province." The action was similar
in all the colonies. It was to the point, as expressed
in the resolves of one of the counties, that the Association ought to be considered as the rule of their
conduct in all matters respecting their political engagements. This adoption of the Association virtually installed a new and independent authority,- a
government through congresses and committees. In
these proceedings the spirit exhibited in the municipalities was the same, whether they had grown up
26 
JULY  4,  1874.
under charter, proprietary or royal forms of government, and whether the individual or denominational
sympathies were Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Quaker. Underlying all were Christian
brotherhood, sympathy in fundamental political ideas,
and enthusiasm for the rights of human nature.
The Association has been termed "A compact
formed for the preservation of American rights;" "A
league of the continent, which first expressed the sovereign will of a free nation in America," and'The
commencement of the American Union." It was
substantially the first enactment of a general law by
the American people.  It was termed " The Association of the United Colonies." To Congress was then
delegated the power to deal with Great Britain, so
far as the matters of peace and war were concerned.
This power may be said to have been renewed, rather
than to have been revoked. The British administration, on several occasions, attempted to deal with the
colonies separately by appealing to the assemblies;
but, from this time down to the peace, in every case
the advances were indignantly repelled. All propositions relating to national affairs were referred to the
Continental Congress.
This year, therefore, is the centenary of the embodiment of mighty forces in our political system.
The sentiment of union rose paramount over all
provincialisms and antagonisms.  It was  made  a
27 
ORATION.
reality. It Was as much a fact as the connected
land. Its behests were obeyed as though they were
the law.  On the flag of that day was the mnotto
" Union and Liberty." It denoted forces working
together. The feeling was union and liberty now and
forever. That generation realized that there could
be no union without liberty, and no genuine liberty
without the power there is in union to protect it.
There was also the dawn of our nationality. It
appears everywhere in the political utterances. It
imbues the great proceedings that united all hearts
in the ties of a common fraternity.  It is seen in the
pledges of fidelity to fundamental political ideas. It
culminated in the great determination to support the
people of Massachusetts in resisting by force the
overthrow of her liberties. The hour for the use of
national power had come, and it found an American
manhood prepared to meet the highest duties of the
citizen.
Durinug a period often months there was a continuous stream of donations flowing into Boston for the
relief of its poor. The spirit that dictated this action is
seen in the letters that accompanied the gifts. They
remained in manuscript more than three-quarters of
a century.  They show how deep the conviction of
that generation was that American liberty should have
the protection of American law. This record is as a
window admitting a view of their inner life; reveal
28 
JULY   4,  1874.
ing their thought, their hope, their faith, their passion, their love; showing how they felt as countrymen, and what they regarded as their country.
Nothing could be more generous than the expression
of admiration, or more tender than the offerings of
sympathy, or more free from calculation than the enthusiasm for principle, olr more solemn than the
pledge of fortune or life, or more reverent than the
trust in Providence. The noble record portrays the
brotherhood that constituted the real union of the
colonies.  It admits posterity into the heart of the
Revolution.   It is a Christian  prologue  grandly
spoken on the entrance of the United Colonies into
the family of nations. This constitutes the rarity
of the spectacle. The love and tenderness and sympathy were as conspicuous as the political action was
sublime.  This was the Union, this was our country,
as it came from the hand of God.
Let all who would know our history pause long on
this great year.  Dr. Ramsay felt the luxury of the
hour, and has described it simply and beautifully.
He says that "A noble spirit spread from breast to
breast, and from colony to colony, beyond the power
of human calculation. The time having come for the
people to pass from the control of the mother
country, the Governor of the Universe, by a secret
influence on their minds, disposed them to union."
The same influence impelled them all to march on
29 
ORATION.
one way, and to give to this Union the strength of
law. In the stern resolves of the people before the
Congress met, in the Association it matured, and in
the ratification of it by the people, ideas and principles were marshalled into political order. It was
made certain that the construction of a new foundation for Liberty and Law would go side by side with
the dissolution of old ties. Anarchy was rendered impossible. It is not easy to overrate the importance
of this result. It is safe to say that it influenced the
whole future course of American history.
The Congress shrunk from the question of Sovereig,nty.  The hour to deal with this profound question
had not come, and this body stood in the attitude of
loyal subjects petitioning the crown for a redress of
grievances.
Six months of war passed, when the king by procclamation declared the parties in arms to be in rebellion.  This forced on the popular leaders the question
of Sovereignty. It was held to reside in king, loids,
and commons. To question this, was the unpardonable offence.   The definition of sovereignty by the
jurists of the Old World was colored by customs,
ideas, and prejudices which time had rendered venerable. It had sometimes been viewed as a star,
which eluded our investigation by its immeasurable
height; sometimes it- had been considered as a sun,
that could not be distinctly seen by reason of its in
30 
JUI,Y   4,  1874.
sufferable splendor."  It was regarded as something
more than human, and held in mysterious and profound awe.  As such, it had been the dispenser of
political rights, and especially when a nation, however diversified as to race, was regarded as one community, and was ruled from a single central point.
It was the tory theory, that the colonies, as bodies
politic, held their privileges as a special grace firom the
sovereign.  This view was substantially questioned
ill the discussions during the period from 1764 to
1776, and the " happy effects" of independence callnot be accounted for without taking into account
these  discussions.   By  them  the  people  became
familiar with the greatest questions in politics.  In
this way the public mind reached certain convictions
as to what should be made fundamentals ill an Amierican system.   Then there was the triaining, in the
municipality and in the general assembly, of the exercise of self-government. In this way, the people became qualified for the practical solution of the problem
of Sovereignty.  WVhen they were obliged to grapple
with it,  -to trace the dread and redoubtable Sovereignl to his ultimate and genuine source, - he was
found, as he ought to have been found, in the Free
and Independent Man."  Sovereignty is in the people.  In them are "those inherent powers of society,
which no climate, no time, no constitution, no contract, can ever destroy or diminish."  In them, as the
31 
ORATION.
supreme power, resides the right of command, or the
rightto institute organic law, -to establish public
authority, and to compel obedience to it.  On this
foundation rose the American superstructure of government.
The architects of this superstructure, however, did
not feel themselves called upon to cut loose from the
past, or to deal with man according to any untried
theory of natural rights; but, regarding him as a political being, they dealt with him as he stood related,
by the cumulative law of ages, to the institutions of
family and society, and as related to the commonwealth by a polity which he had moul(led.  They regarded him as thus entitled to a great inheritance of
order, but subject to correlative obligations of duty.
Hence, instead of yielding to the demands of amiable
enthusiasts, or of confident theorists, or of merciless
iconoclasts, and trying to cast society into a new
mould, on the flattering but deceitful promise that in
the process every wrong should disappear, they dealt
with man on the basis of existing facts. They concentrated their efforts to preserve what had been
gained, in the faith that time would bring whatever
was wrong in existing law nearer to that justice
which  is  the only true sovereign and supreme
majesty on earth."
Thus, throughout their work, the founders of the
republic recognized the fact that the people had not
32 
JULY  4, 1874.
been ruled from a single central point, but were divided into communities, or bodies politic, each of
which had exercised a share of political power. Each
community occupied a territory of definite boundaries;
each had a regullar government and a distinct code of
laws; each was a unit.  In changing the base of the
sovereignty, or in effecting a revolution, they used, in
each, so far as it was practicable, existing forms of
law. Hence the political action which brought about
this change was determined by those qualified under
the law to vote in elections. They were summoned
to act on test questions through the regular forms of
proceeding in the municipalities, and transmitted
their views by representation to the larger bodies,
expressing the voice of the unit, called the Colony or
State. The will of the majority, collected and declared in this manner, was' held to be binding as the
law, whether it related to the domestic concerns of
the Colony or State, or to the general welfare of the
Colonies or States in union, or the Nation. This
fidelity to a vital principle in republics - submission
to the regularly collected will of the majority - may
be traced through all the confusion and turmoil unavoidable in the transition from the old to the new,
during which influence had necessarily to supply the
place of established public authority. The period of
transition was brief in the case of the local governments, which, in each community, were developments
5
33 
ORATION.
gradually adjusted to their circumstances and wants;
but to adjust the powers of a general government
adequate to the needs of a nation composed of independent States, required the experience and deliberations of several years. The basis of both governments was the same,- the people.   The qualified
voters, it was assumed, expressed the will of the
whole people.  This will was embodied in written constitutions, or organic laws. These were acts by which
the Sovereignty prescribed the spheres and degrees
of the power which officers chosen periodically should
exercise in the unit of the State, or of the States in
union, or United States, -in other words, the rules
that should govern the conduct of the executive,
legislative, and judicial agencies in the functions of
government.   The formative process was  termed
taking up, ordaining, instituting, government. In
doing this, the qualified voters were, practically, the
sovereigns. The result which they reached - a republican government-was a solution, practically,
of the profound question of Sovereignty; and the
infant nation was saved from being offered up by
enthusiasts as a sacrifice on the unsettled shrine of
political ideas.
In this way the founders of the republic wrought
out the American system of government. In their
creative acts, the people simply exercised the sovereign power. They limited their own action, as well
34 
JULY   4,  1874.
as the action of their agents, State and National, in
the discharge of political duties.' The constitutions
were by no mneans finalities.  They were not ends,
but means devised to promote the public good and
to preserve the public life. They were "a government of the people, by the people, and for the people." They are sacred obligations upon all, but
they are valuable only as they contribute to this
object.  When they no longer embody the results of
progress, the power that made them has the power
of altering them; for the sovereignty remains intact,
and has the right to exercise its power whenever
society demands it.
This Republican Government is the original political contribution of the American Revolution to
mankind. Of all who have written on this system,
perhaps no one has been better qualified to pronounce
a judgment upon it than the late Lord Brougham.
In his work reviewing the governments of the world,
he dwells long on that of the United States. He
examines the method devised of keeping the action
of the local and national legislatures within the
spheres of power allotted to them,- the authority
vested in the courts of the States and of the nation,
to declare void acts violative of the organic law; and
pronounces the means devised "the very greatest
refinement of social polity to which any state of
35 
ORATION.
circumstances has given rise, or to which any age has
given birth."
The criticism on the founders of the republic has
been most severe, because, in setting up a general
government, they did not interfere with the domestic
policy of the several States to such an extent as to
abolish and prohibit slavery. How different is the
judgment of that noble fiend of our country, John
Bright!  His words are: "Colonial weakness, when
face to face with British strength, made it impossible
to put an end to slavery, or establish a republic free
firom slavery. To meet England, it was necessary
to be united; and to be united, it was necessary to
tolerate slavery. The American people dreaded the
destruction of their country even more than they
hated the evil of slavery."  Fortunately the founders
of the republic did not attempt an impossibility and
fail. Now that party heat on this question is gone,
let justice be done to these founders. They did as
well as they could. They did not admit the word
slave into the Constitution. They left the responsibility for the continuance of slavery entirely with the
States.  One State after another, after the Constitution was ordained and established, abolished slavery;
and had every State followed their example, there
would have been no obligation left in the Constitution in relation to it. But how different it is with
the permanent things in our system, - with trial by
36 
JULY   4,  1874.
jury, the habeas corpus, freedom in religion, freedom
of the press, and the rich cluster of sister liberties!
These know neither race, nor color, nor time, nor
fiontiers; all these are provided for.  Indeed, all are
comprehended ill the great guaranty securing to the
people of each State a republican form of government. They were the living forces that prepared
the Americans for their great work. They are the
things  that have  grown  with  our growth, and
strengthened with our strength. They moulded the
glorious Old Thirteen. They moulded the great
States that grew up, entered into the inheritance of
the fathers, and adorn our land. They are the living
forces to-day. They will continue to mould fiuture
commonwealths. All honor to the founders of the
republic for casting over them the mighty shield of
this supreme law. In doing this they did all they
could to transmit these priceless blessings to posterity.
It was for these great things that the battles of the
Revolution were fought, and to secure them that the
Republican Government was instituted.   The decision in the late awful appeal, in the only tribunal
having full jurisdiction between nations and fragments of nations, gives full significance to the preamble  under  which  this  government  acts.   It
reads: -
" We, the people of the United States, in order to
37 
ORATION.
form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence,
promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America."
Amendments to the Constitution prohibiting slavery
are by the side of the prohibition of any title of
nobility. There is now all over this land fealty to
the common bond. The seats of our national halls,
that were vacant for years which seemed ages, are
now  filled.   Thus  all constitutional  duties  are
performed. The expressions of fidelity to the old
flag have been such as to warrant the remark, that,
should there be war between this country and a foreign nation, none would be more prompt to maintain
our cause than those who fought in the Confederate
ranks. That there is not real peace between all the
sections, or even fraternity, is not owing to the soldiers who fought North or South. They wished the
war to end when the war was over. If the spirit
which they have manifested had been the spirit of
the whole country, we all should be now not merely
countrymen, but friends. There is a fresh illustration of this fact. We had hardly ceased to admire
the generous and lofty strain of eulogy ol  the lamented Charles Sumner, by the gifted General
Lamar, of Mississippi, when he but yesterday thrilled
38 
JULY  4, 1874.
the national halls and the country with the words,
" The doctrine of secession, the right of withdrawing
from the Union, is extinct. The institution of slavery, with all its incidents, is dead, extinguished, and
sunk in that sea which never gives up its dead. The
enlightened people of the South would not, if they
could, identify the interests of the country with an
institution which stood utterly antagonistic to all the
elements and living forces in modern  civilization.
They regard the three last amendments of the Constitution as inviolable and sacred as the articles that
were written by their fathers."
Among all the wonderful things of the last hundred years, - the extension of knowledge, the discoveries in the arts and sciences, the triumphs of
enterprise, the marvels of the telegraph, the wars,
the changes in the fate'of kingdoms, - there is
nothing more wonderful than the preservation of this
Republican Government. It is a triumph for the
whole of our country.   This government stands
to-day stronger than ever. The party is not larger
than an omnibus could hold who would go back to a
monarchy or an order of nobility, or who would exchange this government for any other that the sun
shines upon. It is the strongest government upon
the face of the earth, because, at the call of the law,
millions stand ready to fly to the standard of the law,
39 
ORATION.
and to meet invasions of public order as their personal concern.
And never, if we may credit  European thinkers,
was the moral influence of the republic on the nations
so great as it is to-day. One says, "Next to the
Christian religion, the American government and
Constitution is the most precious possession which
the world holds, or which the future can inherit."
Another writes "Republican government, with all its
noble associations and inherited advantages, is, as I
believe, the last word in human political institutions.
Without any need for impatience, Europe is moving
towards it."
Testimonials like these speak powerfully to this
people of their responsibility and their duties. They
have the noblest inheritance ever bequeathed to a
generation; it is their duty to adorn it and transmit
it to posterity. In what way can they better do this
than by giving full effect to the great ideas of the
Revolution?
When in all is seen fidelity to the common bond, it
is a high duty to cultivate harmony in the nation. In
the colonial age there were fierce feuds on account of
boundary lines. Wars between some of the colonies
were so bitter that the peril of the revolutionary hour
did not bring peace.  And when a long-existing controversy was settled under the Confederation, a distinguished statesman predicted that " the day will
40 
JULY   4,  1874.
come when all disputes in the great Republic of Europe will be tried in the same way, and America be
quoted to exemplify the wisdom of the measure."
The House of Representatives have just adopted a
resolution in favor of international arbitration, declaring that "the people of the United States are
devoted to the policy of peace." Peace is the normal
condition of this republic; and the duty of promoting
peace on earth is the high injunction of Christianity.
The great result of the Geneva arbitration is acknowledged universally as one of the triumphs of
the age.
With what force do all the considerations in favor
of peace, as between our country and foreign nations,
apply to the promotion of peace in this union of free
commonwealths! There are few who do not admit
that in the recent past, while working for the preservation of the national government, the sphere of the
local rights of the States has been encroached upon,
and that now there is a tendency to a centralization
of power. No one can desire to see the civic privileges that this Commonwealth enjoys abridged, or a
just right abrogated. All will cheerfully accord to
other States the same rights that are enjoyed here.
Our country needs first the correction of enormous
wrongs.   It needs a recognition of the idea that
intelligence should guide the destinies of great commonwealths.  They have a community in each other's
6
41 
ORATION.
interests.  The Union between them ought to be " a
partnership in all science, a partnership in art, a partnership in every virtue and in all perfection; a partnership not only in those who are living, but between
those who are dead." It is manifestly in the order of
Providence that the people in this Union are to live in
the relation of countrymen; it should be the desire
and aim of all to live in the relation of friends.
Welcome in behalf of the Union everything just,
that promises to restore the old fraternity! Welcome
the words of President Grant, "Let us have peace!"
Welcome the Executive Proclamation of General
Amnesty! Welcome the Proclamation commending
to the people, in the interests of peace and civilization, the international exposition at Philadelphia on
the centenary of the birth of the nation!
Fitting is it that Philadelphia should he designated
as the place for such an exhibition.  Here is Carpenter's Hall, having in it the generous inscription,
" Within these walls Henry, Hancock, and Adams
inspired the delegates of the colonies with nerve and
sinew for the toils of war, resulting in national independence." Here is Independence Hall, rich in memorials of the illustrious men who matured the
Declaration. All over the city are grateful memorials of the Englishman, Penn, the benign influence
of whose religion made it the    City of Brotherly
Love," and of Franklin, the great Bostonian.  Here
42 
JULY  4, 1874.
the representatives of every community, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, may fitly assemble around the
old altar, and express allegiance to one country as
the common mother of all.
It would be well if there is also a celebration of
the great centenary by the political units in our system, -the towns, cities, counties, and States. The
presentation of the feelings and principles of the
Revolution, the happy effects that will forever flow
from their triumph and the responsibilities of the
hour, would be the natural theme.   Such celebrations could not fail to imbue ingenuous youth with
the desire to know our noble history. It would bring
before them the venerable forms of the founders of
the republic, and tend to rouse the spirit of Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Four. This would be
reconciliation, peace, reconstruction, civilization.
In the Meg Merrilies of the stage, the crone suddenly confronts the travellers. One trembles and
shrinks out of fear; the young laird stares in astonishment, if not in dread. The crone bends forward
and repeats the strain which she sung to the heir in
his childhood.  There was power in those words.
They revived old memories. The heart of the laird
was touched, and he yielded himself up to the spell.
The great centenary will revive memories of the
days when the people of thirteen colonies, under
the lead of great ideas, marched one way. Union
43 
ORA-TION.
was ever before them as their cloud by day, and their
pillar of fire by night. What a galaxy of sages and
heroes bore this banner on!   There were  Gadsden, and the Pinckneys, of South  Carolina; the
Adamses, and Hawley, and Hancock, and Warren,
of Massachusetts; the noble band in Pennsylvania,
with Franklin at their head;  Patrick Henry, and
Jefferson, and Wythe, the Lees, and Madison, and
Washington, of Virginia, and  a host of others.
They all spoke and acted as Americans.  They were
for one country, one Constitution, and one flag.
Their ideas and aims were comprehensive enough for
this day, for filture days, for all time. They prompted "thoughts that breathe and words that burn."
There is power in them. Let these memories toueh
the heart, as they did in the infitncy of the nation,
and they cannot fail to do something to revive the
old fraternity.
Should this be the result of the celebration of the
great- centenary, it will be worth all it may cost.
Wonderful as it will be to see what a hundred years
have done in the line of material prosperity, this will
pale before a revival of the springs of the national
life firom the fountain-head. This would be a reconstruction on the right basis. This would be the best
guaranty of the perpetuity of the republic, and that
this great government will continue to shield the
priceless blessings of Liberty and Law along the line
of the generations.
44 
A P P E NDIX.  
THE ACTION OF BOSTON, CHARLESTOWN, DOR  CHESTER AND ROXBURY ON THE QUESTION
OF INDEPENDENCE.
In Massachusetts, both branches of the Legislature, onl the
1st of May, 1776, agreed to anl Act providing that all civil
processes, instead of being issued in the name of the king,
and bearing the date of a reign, should be issued in the name
of the government and people of Massachusetts, and bear the
date of the year of the Christian era; the act to continue in
force until a recommendation of" Congress or act of a general American Legislature, or the local legislature, should
otherwise prescribe."
On the 10th of May the lower branch adopted the follow
ing   resolve:
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 10, 1776.
Resolved, as the opinion of this House, that the inhabitants of
each town in this Colony ought, in full meeting warned for that
purpose, to advise the person or persons who shall be chosen to
represent them in the next General Court, whether that, if the
honorable Congress should, for the safety of said colonies, declare
them independent of the kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said
inhabitants, will solemnly engage, with their lives and fortunes, to
support them in the measure.
SAMUEL FREEMAN, Speaker.
Attest,    WILLIAM STORY, Clerk pro tern.
The following proceedings constituted the response to this
vote by the towowns now Boston:
BOSTON.
BOSTON, SS:  TO THIE CONSTABLE OF THE TowN OF BOSTON EACH
AND EVERY OF THEM-             GREETING: -
-In the name of the Government and People of the MIassachulsetts
Bay, you are required forthwith to warn all the Freeholders and
other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston (within your respective 
APPENDIX.
Precincts) that have an estate of forty shillings p annum in Freehold in Land within this Province or Territory at the least, or
other Estate to the value of Fifty Pound, Sterling, to Convene
at Dr. Chauncy's Meeting House on Thursday the 23d Day of May
Instant at 10 O'Clock Fore Noon, then and there to Elect & Depute one or more Persons (being Freeholders & Resident in the
Town) according to the number set and limitted by an Act of the
General Assemby to serve for and Represent them in the Great &
General Court or Assembly appointed to be convened, held and
kept for the Government's Service at the Meeting House in
Watertown, upon Wednesday the 29th Day of May instant, and so
De Die in Diem during their Session or Sessions, according to a
Precept under the Hand and Seal of William Greenleaff, Esq.
Sheriff of the County of Suffolk bearing date the 29th Day of
April in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and
seventy six.   You are alike required to Warn all the Freeholders
and other Inhabitants of said Town qualified as the law directs to
meet at the same time and place: To consider whether they will
in conformity to a Resolve  of the late Honble House of  Representatives, for this Colony, advise our Representatives, "' That
if the Honbie Continental Congress should for the safety of the
Colonies, declare them Ildependant of the Kingdom  of Great
Britain, they the said Inhabitants will solemnly engage with their
Lives and Fortunes to support them in the measure "- as also
what farther Instructions may be necessary for the Representatives that may be chosen,- Whether any measures shall be taken
for the borrowing a Sum of Money to answer the present
necessities of the Town: To choose such officers as may be wanting, and to act upon all those matters and things that stand referred over to said Meeting.
Hereof fail not and make return of this Warrant  with your
doings therein'unto myself one Day at least before the said time
of Meeting:  Dated at Boston the 20th Day of May, Anno que Domini 1776.
By order of the Selectmen,
WILLIAM COOPER,
Town Clerk.
48 
APPENDIX.
BOSTON, May 22d 1776.
Pursuant to the within Warrant we the Constables of the Town
of Boston have notified the Freeholders and other Inhabitants
within our respective wards, to meet at the Time and Place mentioned in said Warrant for the purposes therein expressed.
JOHN WELLS Wards  1, 
2,
5.
GEORGE THOMAS 3, }
4.
SAMUEL GREENLEAF 6, 
10,
11. ).
JOHN FOYE 7, 1
8.
JOHN BENNETT 9, }
12.
At a Meeting of the Freeholders & other Inhabitants of the
Town of Boston, duely qualified & legally warned, in public
Town Meeting assembled, at The Old Brick Meeting House, on
Thursday, the 23d day of May, Anno Domini 1776.
That Article in the Warrant, Vizl " To consider whether the
Town will, in Conformity to a Resolve of the late HIonble House of
Representatives for this Colony, advise their Representatives
" That if the Honble Continental Congress should, for the Safety
of the Colonies, declare them Iadependent of the Kingdom of
Great Britain, they, the Inhabitants, will solemnly engage, with
their Lives and Fortunes to support them in the Measure "- was
read & duely considered, & the Question being accordingly put
-Passed in the Affirmative unanimously.
That Article in the Warrant, viz.: "To consider what farther
Instructions may be necessary for the Representatives that may
be chosen "- was read - whereupon,
Voted that Mr. William Davis, Joseph Greenleaff, Esq., Perez
Morton, Esq., Mr. Benjamin Hitchburne, Dr. Charles Jarvis, be a
Coiiittee to prepare a Draught of Instructions for the Representatives chosen, and to make Report as soon as may be.
7
49 
APPENDIX.
Monday, May 30th. Met according to adjournment.
The Coffrittee on Instructions reported the following Draught,
viz.: -
Instructions to the Representatives of the Town of Boston:
GENTLEMEN, - At a time when, in all Probability, the whole
United Colonies of America are upon the Verge of a glorious
Revolution, & when, consequently, the most important Questions
that ever were agitated by the Representative Body of this Colony,
touching its internal Police, will demand your attention; your
Constituents think it necessary to instruct you, in several Matters,
what Part to act, that the Path of your Duty may be plain before
you.
We have seen the humble Petitions of these Colonies to the
King of Great Britain repeatedly rejected with Disdain.  For the
Prayer of Peace he has tendered the Sword; — for Liberty,
Chains; -for Safety, Death!
He has liceneed the Instruments of his hostile Oppressions to
rob us of our Property, to burn our Houses, & to spill out
Blood.
He has invited every barbarous Nation, whom he could hope to
influence, to assist him in prosecuting these inhuman Purposes.
The Prince, therefore, in support of whose Crown and Dignity,
not many, many years since, we would most cheerfully have
expended both Life and Fortune, we are now constrained to consider as the worst of Tyrants; Loyalty to him is now Treason to
our Country.
We have seen his venal Parliament so basely prostituted to his
Designs, that they have not hesitated to enforce his arbitrary
Requisitions with the most sanguinary Laws.
We have seen the People of Great Britain so lost to every
sense of Virtue and Honor, as to pass over the most pathetic and
earnest appeals to their Justice with an unfeeling Indifference.
The Hopes we placed on their Exertions have long since failed.
In short, we are convinced that it is the fixt & settled Determination of the King, Ministry, & Parliament of that Island to
conquer & subjugate the Colonies, & that the People there
have no Disposition to oppose them.
50 
APPENDIX.
A Reconciliation with them appears to us to be as dangerous as it
is absurd. A Spirit of Resentment once roused it is not easy to ap pease. The Recollection of past Injuries will perpetually keep
alive the Flame of Jealousy, which will stimulate to new Imposi tions on the one side, & consequent Resistance on the other; &
the whole Body politic will be constantly subject to civil Fermentations & Commotions.
We therefore think it absolutely impracticable for these Colonies
to be ever again subject to, or dependent upon Great Britain, without endangering the very Existence of the States.
Placing, however, unbounded Confidence in the Supreme Council of the Congress, we are determined to wait, most patiently to
wait,'till their Wisdom shall dictate the necessity of making a
Declaration of Independency. Nor should we have ventured to
express our Sentiments upon this subject, but from the Presumption, that the Congress would choose to feel themselves supported
by the People of each Colony, before they adopt a Resolution so
interesting to the whole. The Inhabitants of this Town therefore,
unanimously instruct & direct you, that, at the Approaching
Session of the General Assembly, you use your endeavors, that
the Delegates of this Colony, at the Congress, be advised,
that in Case the Congress should think it necessary for the
Safety of the United Colonies, to declare them independent of
Great Britain, the Inhabitants of this Colony, with their Lives &
the Remnant of their Fortunes, will most cheerfully support them
in the Measure.
Touching the internal Police of this Colony, it is essentially
necessary, in Order to preserve Harmony among ourselves, that
the constituent Body be satisfied, that they are fully & fairly
represented. The Right to legislate is originally in every member of the Coriunity; which Right is always exercised in the infancy of a State; But when the Inhabitants are become numerous,'tis not only inconvenient, but impracticable for all to meet
in One Assembly; & hence arose the necessity & Practice of
legislating by a few, freely chosen by the many. When this Choice
is free, & the Representation equal,'tis the Peoples Fault if they
are not happy;   We therefore entreat you to devise some means
to obtain an equal Representation of the People of this Colony in
the Legislature.
51 
APPENDIX.
But care should be taken, that the Assembly be not unweildy;
for this would be an approach to the Evil meant to be cured by
Representation. The largest Bodies of menii do not always dispatch Business with the greatest Expedition, nor conduct it in the
wisest manner.
It is essential to Liberty, that the legislative, judicial and executive Powers of Government be, as nearly as possible, indepenldent of, & separate from each other; for where they are united in
the same person or number of persons, there will be wanting that
mutual Check, which is the principal Security against the enacting of arbitary Laws, and a wanton Exercise of Power in the Execultion of them. It is also of the highest Importance that every
Person in a Judiciary Department, employ the greatest Part of his
Time & attention to the Duties of his Office. We therefore farther instruct you, to procure the making such Law or Laws, as
shall make it incompatible for the same Person to hold a Seat in
the legislative & executive Departments of Government at one
& the same time; That shall render the Judges in every Judicatory thro' the Colony, dependent, not on the uncertain Tenure of
Caprice or Pleasure, but on an unimpeachable Deportment in the
important Duties of their Station, for their continuance in Office;
and to prevent the multiplicity of Offices in the same Person that
such Salaries be settled upon them, as Will place them above the
necessity of stooping to any indirect or collateral means for Subsistence.
We wish to avoid a Profusion of the public Monies on the one
hand, &  the Danger of Sacrificing our Liberties to a Spirit of
Parsimony on the other.
Not doubting of your Zeal & Abilities in the common Cause
of our County, we leave your Discretion to prompt such Exertions,
in promoting any military Operations, as the Exigency of our public affairs may require; And in the same Confidence in your
Fervor & Attachment to the public Weal, we readily submit all
other matters of public Moment, that may require your Consideration to your own Wisdom & Discretion.'
1 This paper will be found very nearly word for word in the Pennsylvania " Evening Post," of Saturday, June 8, 1776.  On the 7th, Richard
Henry Lee submitted resolutions respecting Independence. They were debated on the 8th and on the 10th, when the resolution on independence was
postponed until the first day of July.
52 
APPENDIX.
The foregoing Draught of Instructions to our Representatives,
having  been  read  &  considered,  the  Question  was   put'"Whether the same shall be accepted & given to our Representatives, as their Instructions." Passed in the affirmative unanimously.
CHARLESTOWN.
WARRANT FOR TOWN MEETING IN CHARLESTOWN,    1776.
To THE CONSTABLES OF THE TowN OF CHARLESTOWN OR TO EITHER
OF THEM, GREETING: -
In the Name of the Government and People of the Colony of the
Massachusetts Bay -You are hereby requir'd forthwith to Warn
the Inhabitants of Charlestown aforesaid to assemble & meet
together at the House of Mr. Jeremiah Snow, Inholder in said
Town, on Tuesday, the 28th of this month of May, at 2 o'clock,
afternoon. Then & there to act upon the following articles.
1. To know the mind of the Town whither they will in conformity to a Resolve of the Hon. House of Representatives at a
meeting call'd for that purpose, ADVISE our Representatives, That
if the Hon!' Continental Congress shou'd (for the safety of the
Colonies) declare them INDEPENDANT of the Kingdom of Great
Britain, They the said Inhabitants will solemnly Engage with their
Lives & Fortunes to Support them in the measure.
2. To choose a Committee or Committees (if they think proper)
to transact any matter or thing that may be judged necessary for
the Benefit of the Town or advantageous to the publick.
3. To hear the Report of any Committee that may be offered,
& to act thereon as shall be thought proper.
Hereoffail not and make Return of this Warrant with your Doings therein to the Select Men or Town Clerk of Charlestown
aforesaid one hour at least before the time prefix'd. Dated in
said Town May 16th 1776.
By order of the Select Men,
SETH SWEETSER.,
Town Clerk.
*...
I *I.  *  w         * A.g.
53 
APPENDIX.
CHIIARLESTOWN, May 28th. 1776.
By virtue of the within Warrant I have Warnd as many of the
Inhabitants as I coud find to appear at the Time & place & for
the purposes within mention'd        ISAAC MUNRO, Constable.
N. B. - The Meeting has been advertis'd
in the public Prints.
Town Meeting, May 28th, 1776. Warrant Read.
Capt. Nathan Adams Voted Moderator, but refusing to Serve,
Mr. Nathaniel Frothingham was chosen..
Voted unanimously That it is the Mind of the Inhabitants That
our Representatives be advis'd - That if the Continental Congress
should (for the safety of the Colonies) Declare them INDEPENDENT
on the Kingdom of Great Britain, They will in that case solemnly
Engage with their Lives & Fortunes to Support them in that
mneasure.
Voted unanimously, That the Town Clerk serve our Representatives with a Copy of this Vote for their Direction.
Voted Not to act at present upon the Second Article in the
Warrant, g. v.
Then the Moderator dissolv'd the Meeting.
SETHI SWEETSER,
Town Clerk.
ROXBURY.
MAY the 22d 1776.
At a Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the Town
of Roxbury, Duly Warned, Doct. Jonathan, Davis: M. Aaron, Davis: and MIr Increase, Sumner: were chosen by the Maj. part of
the Electors Present, to Represent this Town, In a Great and
General Court to be Convened held and kept, for the Governments Service, at the Meeting House In Watertown, upon Wednesday the twenty Ninth Day of May, Instant, at Nine O'Clock in the
Morning and So During their Session and Sessions.
Also To Know the Minds of the Inhabitants of this Town
whither they will Instruct and Advise the Persons chosen to Represent them in the Great and General Court, if the Honourable
Congress Should for the Safety of the said Colonys, Declare them
Independant of the Kingdom of Great Brittan, they the said In
." " *:.  
54 
APPENDIX.
habitants, will Solemnly Engage, with their lives and fortunes to
Support them in the measures.
Voted and Pasd. in the affirmative.
DORCHESTER.
Att a Meeting of the Freeholders & other Inhabitants of the
Town of Dorchester, Qualified as the Law directs for Voting in
Town affairs, May Twenty-Third, Anno Domini, 1776, Legally
Warned,  Voted, That if the Continental Congress should think it best to
declare an Independency with Great Britain, we will Support them
with our Lives and Fortunes.
55