pppppp ‘"9 "! W: M‘ , .~ 9 " « UR,:%_TI@N’ D)'.~‘.LIVERED JULY 4, 1811, "'}‘Ii'£. i?E"%.EQ§'_TES"i[‘ 01?‘ 'fl'~M'.i‘. OF BQSTQN, 9?} Q M E M 0 A T E O N 5",} F 3%. MERICAN 1NDEPENDENfCEa. "H mm. W M;MEE'-3 ‘.'""“‘4h\>DuIlI-I4-v..~W_ -... flak“ ...., SEECOND EDITIO.N.. BOSTON‘; ~;:::m:m THE PRESS me“ Jam»: Emcm Jury, — MM” '“‘ ~‘~—--« _ , -..‘_ ,0 as "I ‘W m y ,4 /4.1" “ =|- - - . , - “ , °‘ :' ¢9w‘ " ' f5s9‘:’)"M“;’?‘ Sf~”“:;flfl u" ‘H "" "‘ 14 Av , , ” F % w A»; 4/ ,- ‘V * » ",5, ~,_ ;. *”’M:I¢’f - fir» VOTE OF THE TOW’./N‘. AT a meeting of the freeholders ‘and other inhabitants of the town of BOSTON, duly qualified and legally warned, in publick towmmeeting, as» sembled at Faneuil Hall, the 4th day of July, A. D. 1811. On motion voted, That the Selectmen be, and hereby are appointed, a com- mittee to wait on JAMES SAVAGE, Esq. in the name of the town, and thank him for the elegant and spirited oration, this day delivered by him at the ‘request of the town, upon the anniversary of American Indepen- dence, in whichwere considered the feelings, manners, and pxjinciples, which “produced the great national event ; and to request of him a copy for the press. .. ./Ittcsf, THOMAS CLARK, To-wen C‘le2r‘i¢_. W V... ...,a:--""”" AN ORATION, ac. Ir the accidental advantage of generous birth may Well be a cause of congratulation to an indi- vidual, hovv greatly ought We to exult, my country- men, on a review of the circumstances of our na- tional origin. Descended from the only people, to Whom Heaven has afibrded the enjoyment of liberty, with a well balanced government, the means of se- curing its continuance, in an age of general refine. ment, in a season of universal peace, our fathers be- gan the controversy which ended in the glorious event that we this day celebrate. The felicity of its termination will allow us to consider it a fulfilment of the interrogative propliecy : A “ VVho hath heard such a thing ? Wlio hath seen such things? Shall a A nation be born at once ?” The right of Great Britain over these colonies was admitted to comprehend every branch of exter- nal regulation. She might make war or peace for them. She might, and, like other European na- tions, she did, confine her plantations with the fet- ters of comrnercial monopoly. But the rights that had alvvaysbeen -claimed and e:«:ercised by the in» habitants, of superintending the interiour economy of their commonwealths, rights in some instances » o . s’.-3:’ guaranteed by charters, in others implied troni the British constitution, of personal freedom, of overs looking the expenditure of their own revenue, of representative government coextensive with taxa-» tion, our patriots could never resig;n but with their lives. It was for the pi*ivileges of Englishmen, for the liberties of our ancestors, for the customs assur-v ed to us by inheritance, not torany fantastick inno- vations ingovernrnent, nor for any speculative ex- tension of the rights of man, that We contended. We wanted no change, but petitioned the king and rernonstrated to parliarnetit against it. at Fort ’£W'€lVe years the miserable system of ralter.-' nate enforcementand relaxation of measures, adopt- A ed by errour and supported by passion, founded in no views ofpractical policy of the mother country, opposed to the habits, injurious to the feelings, and adverse to the dearest rights of the colonies, was re- sisted With the sagacity, moderation, unanimity, and iirinness of a people who respected themselves too much to burst lightly or suddenly the ties by Which they were bound to the land of their fathers. An acute statesman, penetrating with a prophet’s eye theoperation of natural causes, might indeed have foreseenthe separation; but it would have been long retarded, had the prudence of the parent equalled the afiectioii of the child. A t M The independence of our country was not declar- ed from any ambitious project of its authors. It was forced on them by unwise rulers of the nation‘, 5 whose sovei-eignty was allowed, until it would pass every liniit, and afiect to bind us “ in all cases wliat» soever.” Our patriots felt no enmity to the aristo- cratical balance of the British constitution, for his- tory informed them, that the great charter of their liberties was extorted by the barons from the crown, and they daily heard that some of the most strenu4- ous and intelligent asserters of colonial rights and freedom adorned the peerage. .Wit1i the regal pre- rogative they had no quarrel, for all their complaints of grievances were addressed to the king, and they would not easily despair of his attention to the most faithful of his subjects. They contended not for forms, but for substance. They acknowledged no sacred duty of insurrection; they vindicated no holy right of rebellion. The feelings, vvhichproduced the event of this day, were those of the most enlarged philanthropy, that made all sympathize with the sufferings of bone. - They Were quick in apprehending danger, and an- ticipated the exercise of arbitrary power from the mere assertionof its rnaxirns. Srzgaciozzs of their‘ gzzarryf7'~om so fin", they sent out their faculties up- on discovery, and “ snufied the approach of tyranny A in the tainted breeze.” , v The mamzer.s' of our fathers sprang from the en»- joyment of property in nearly equal divisions, from a strong sense of the value of civil liberty and the frequent exercise of personal rights, from an un» bounded commercial enterprize, from a general dif» u‘ w ,4 fl 6 ifusion of information, and a higher standard of mor. als than had obtained in any other country. They i would gradually have meliorated a bad form of in» ternal polity into a system that should, like their own, admit every practical enjoyment of freedom, as they had changed the barren Wilderness into a tiuitful field. Their prirzczpvler of religion had characterized them throughout the World- A For conscience sake they had givenevery thing that man could With. hold, and the same untameable, spirit modified and exalted their principles of governniient. Their re- ligiousisystem . was not, as in most countries‘, made subservient to the political, butlegal authority was subjected to the predominating influence of a future life. Trhese notions, governing all their conduct, made them fearino greater evil than slavery, affect no greater good than liberty, aclmowledge no human power greater than the law. Such feelings, manners, and principles require no farther developement before this audience, who would e:»:hibit,the same in similar emergencies, at this time when the daily agitation of questions that must be settled by them has rendered them familiar, in this sacred temple, the altar on which the fire of inde» pendence was kindled, and Wl1€1‘€ it cannot be ex» tinguished. light by ‘comparison upon their history, the most prominent points. in our revolution may derive the purest illustration from a contrast with the French. If liowever it be necessary to shed ‘f Uurstwas a revolution not only of right, but of the strictest necessity. As We were cut oil‘ from all trade to any part of the world, we ceased to be a portion of the empire that thus put us beyond pro- tection. As the mother country refused to defend herchildren, we were obliged to defend ourselves. As she levied War upon us, We could only resist. . The overthrow of’ the ancient constitution A of France was neither necessary nor just. At its head was one of the most pious, benevolent princes that ever adorned a throne, Whose patriotism yielded to every’ suggestion tending to increase the happi- ness of his people. If reform was requisite, reform was promised; reformvvas attempted,and his prom- ise fulfilled. hr The several orders of the governrnent might have so improved the machine, so regulated and Watched its motions, that no reasonable corn. plaint should remain. a . a T * T » s ; a Our revolution was Wholly defensive, all the early measures of A it were strictly proportionate to the agw gressions, and they would at any moment have ceasm ed as of course iwith the attacks from abroad. From its_cornmencen1ent the French was an of- fensive revolution. The rights of the diflereiit or-it ders of the legislature were almost instantlysviolated. The constitution of the church, the privileges of the nobility, the sanctity of the monarch, all which had i been protected by oaths, were outraged without any other provocation, than that the sulierers had been injured and had forgiven the Wrong. 8 "We neither desired, to pull down the old li;1l)1'lCl~'; of government, nor to erect a new one. No aboli- tion of ancient customs, no violation of prescriptive rights, no forfeiture of personal privileges, no denial of general or special duties, no confusion of public}; or of private property was declared or projected. In France the fierce revolutionists and their head. long followers, the few Wicked, uniting with the ma- ny Weak, impelled by no desire of exteiiding the it generalblessings of government and theenjoyment of national liberty, but stimulated by vanity as eager as their design was execrab1e,°overthrew without distinctiori the consecrated forms V of A A their lanciient polity, violated thepimmutable principles of justice, bade defiance to the sanctions of oaths, rostrated the , ‘ l P A universal landimarltsr of property‘, beat down all the institutions that benevolence had erected or had employed to mitigate the miseries of man, scorned all the affections that bind the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the wise, the great and the humble to each other, and proscribed even the natural c/zcm'a‘z7e.s~ cffizz‘/pzer, son and éroz‘/7267'. A _ The movers and directors of the popular will in Americawere, a sober, calculating assembly, satis- fied with Whatiwas feasible, and governed in its at— tainment by mazrimsof ancientwisdomt. They re- sembled the farmers and the merchants Whom they ,, represented, inthe adaptation of means within their power, and in the expectation of happy results fl‘On’;t prudent experiments. 9 All the observations of political experience, on the contrary, were derided by the French reforniers. No extravagance of paradoxical novelties could pre- vent their adoption; arrdi they might have safely“ preached, that whatever is impossible is right, in consistency with their conduct, vvhich proved that Whatever was right was impossible. l VVithout as- certaining What the habits of their constituents, What the temper of the age, what the condition of the world required, they borrowed the severe simplici- tyof Lacedaemon to unite with the utmost refine- ments of their own luxury. Nor would they be less original in government than in manners. At one time the checks and balances of the English constitution, at another the representative oligarchies of Holland or Switzerland to were preferred, and both were combined with the discordant materials of the stormy democracies of Athens and of Rome. One shape after another was exhibited fora govern- ment, which rose, like the airblown bubbles of childish sport, and glittered for an hour, till its fee- ble consistence was scattered by the concussion from the very shouts of admirers. In this country the same men who originated the revolution, fixed its limits. VVe had but one change. The people felt little alteration in their private rights and dornesticl: enjoyments. No higher degree of civil liberty was acquired, for it was not sought; but We gained, What the Wise consider of géeater raltre than any single blessing, 10 the security of all. Power was Witliclrtnvn ii‘orn rulers at a thousand leagues distance, and deposited in hands of our own choice. Personal violence was perpetrated only by stealth; it was generally pre- vented, and always disapproved. A ” By the anarchists of Iiraiice no limit to the rev- olution was settled in the juclgrnent, or conceivecl by the imagination. Every thing was to be changed today, rechanged tomorrow, and changed again the third day. The multitude feared qtiiet as sub- jection, and order as tyranny. Lil{€ intoiticated slaves, they kept up their first insanity by continual drauglits of the »fieiryispirit,‘tsupiplied by the leaders oto£:."s‘"‘"“r:»1&:tion,”‘ they followed “over reek- ing boiiclies of the leaders of another. Any other people would have been exhausted, if not sobered ; biiithey, constantly supplying the vacancies i of massacre, held on for years their rnelancholy march of madness. A t " ii i i Through many a dark and dreary vale They pass’d_. and many a region dolorous, O’er many a frozen, niany a fiery Alp, 'Rocks,lcaves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades ot‘,deiath,r p A. universe of death.. . . The representative powers of " our Congress were iexecn'ted with a sacred l regard to their authors ; i, no thotrght of t encroaching on another’s right, any more than of surrendering its own. ' t In France the bands of assassins that governed Paris in quick succession, usurping all the powers tel‘ the empire, and decreeing havoclt and murder in 11 the name of the people, seemed to triumph in their emulation of a democracy of infernals. In our revolution every object was definite, ev- A ery project sober and attainable, every means honest and judicious. The result was happy. Our people obtained every thing that their imaginations could desire, or their virtues deserve. 4 it Every object of the other revolution was undefin- ed, and undefinable as chaos; every project foolish or impracticable; the means inadequate, outrageous, ’ and bloody. In its course it respected neither the innocence of ilifimiicy, the tenderness of Woman, nor the feebleness of age. Of its end no human hand can draw, no mortal eye could endure the picture, The pitiless grasp of despotism, , to gratify its fe~ rocious ambition, drags the parent from the circle of his children, the husband froin the bosom of his Wife, the child from the arms of its mother, the lover from, the eniibrace ,of_ mi"s,tress.t, , The people“ have no voice in the prosecution of this War, as endless, as, thanks be to Go 1:, its purpose is unata tainable.ii They have no rights. The simple vir» tues, the amenity of manners, the A chivalrick honour, the activity of enterprise, that characterized France, and of old supported her fame, have all fled. H11, man forms indeed remain ; but their moral desola- tion resembles the black and blasted -1 forest that has been swept of its ancient honours by a universal eonfiagration. 12 It is an interesting inquiry, my fellow citizens, whether we have asserted the principles of our rev. olution, and maintained our independence, on every subsequent occasion. . l V j r At the close of our War We were in no less~dar1— ger from allies, than We had been from enemies. France had made herself a party in the conflict rath- er to gratify her hatred of an old rival, than to V3lI1—i dicate our independence; and, if a reunion could be prevented, she a would have M made us surrender many points in negotiation, to obtain from England more favourable terms for ,herself. Before her acourtt declared - openly; in our favour, » a ‘few; ‘members of Congress, in a momentot” despair, suggested the project of transferring to her the same monopoly of ourtrade, which had been enjoyed by the mother country; but our guardian genius remembered that independence required us to consider all :na- tions alike, enemies in War, in peace friends. The base surrender was at that time prevented. Heaven grant that it may not enter the contemplation of our future rulers I I r r i A The English had almost universally apprehended great injury or total ruin from the separation of the colonies but they soon «began, to observe, that our prosperity, as a nation, would be equally beneficial to them as when We were only subject plantations. The extension of their commerce has been coma- inensurate with the markets America, has opened; it it has grown with our growth and strengthened '13 with our strength. The jealousy t of Franceex» tended to us more than to England; she would ‘gladly have seen us nominally independent, de- prived of the fisheries, and czzrtailed qf/zayourflzir proportion of territory. The greatest perils, however, to which our na- tional existence has ever been exposed, arose some time afterwards from ourselves. VVe had no gene» ral government with the attributes of sovereignty, with the power of aifording justice to other nations, and requiring it for our own. We neglected to fulfil our parts of the treaty of peace; and the other contracting power did not admit the excuse, that Congress was too weak to enforce its requisitions. Abroad we lost in peace all the respect thatwe had acquired in the war. it At home the jarring interests, the different degrees of publick virtue and intelli- gence through the thirteen states, were proceeding in a strait and swift course: itoiiitmalte them first for.» eign, andl,the1‘iiiihostile to each other. Individual ambition was in our own, and the other great states, the chief obstacle“ to union. We had a long proba- tion of folly and misery, before happiness was re- covered by the wisdom of the federal constitution. Never were a people so truly preserved from them.- selves. Some romantick spirits, in pursuance of maxims, of which the gloss of novelty charmed A away all apprehensions of falsehood, had deluded a majority with representations of the simplicity, and beauty, and strength, and justice, and happiness of 14 executive rnagistracy Without restraint, and govern- it ment without subordination. The people were ad» vised to retain all power in their own hands, and not to put it out at interest even to men chosen by themselves. They were called sovereign, and thought competent to govern themselves Without the intervention of checks and balances, the trouble- some combination of negative limits and positive definitions. A a Melancholy experience convincedi us, that the doom of man was not reversed in it favour even of our republicks. ,So long as “by the; sweat of his brow he wilshallliziieat bread,” so long will liberty need to be guarded by power. She is in less danger from open enemies than from indiscreet or false l friends. A Our national constitution acknowledges not the sovereignty of thepeople in any other sense, than as the origin of power, which they can retain to no useful purpose, and must therefore delegate. They have a right to be Well governed; and the most perfect security of this right is in their own htlilds, A A t In the present condition of the World our inde- perxdence cannot be preserved Without a strict conu- federation between the states; and the general gov; ernment must be corrupt or stupid beyond endur- ance, before the people of a“ single section will gen.» erally believe that any good is to i be preserved to them by theisacrifice of union. We canriot how» ever but regret that the aggregate Wealthand power 15 of the United States aflbrcls less protection to our citizens than might be received from a proper cle- velopernent and exercise of the resources of absin- gle member of i the confederacy. I will not name Massachusetts, lest eafiection for my native land might be thought to have magnified her capacity and exaggerated her Virtues ; but who will not be- lieve that a judicious adniinistration of a powerful cornmonwealth, like lN’€‘W-Y01‘l{ or Pennsylvania, could better maintain peace at home and dignity abroad, could by a competent naval force better vindicate the rriglitst and assert the privileges of commerce, than our national rulers‘ have done for years. The purposes of the union will be respect- ed by all the true friends of union. They are uni- worthy to govern, who will not defend the comrnue nity. We have too long paid more as the "forfeit oi‘ ; cowardice, than would: have ]31"CV£11t€d or aaveiiged our injuries, Witli nearly four times the. ;popula»- tion a andgwealthg ~-sofa (Denmark, We were, in one year, ‘by that power a1one,robbed of thrice as much as our whole expenditure for a V navy. In the last ten years our revenue has amounted to one hundred and twenty millions ; and an eco- nomical administration has built one sloop of War, three or four brigs,“ and uncounted gunboats. In- stead of llghtlllg‘ up and cherishing the fire of na- tional honour, the course of our policy has appeai~ed to subdue or extinguish it. Nothing can tend more to degrade a government than to be wholly 16 occupied in proposing alternatives to foreign na- tions; and when one is rejected to offer anoth- er, and another, until propositions become the only weapon of Warfare on one side, and retalia- tion returns only the alternative of injury or con- tempt. Who does not feel that We have degene- erated from t the principles of our independence ‘s’ that as We have increased in power, We have dimin- ished in spirit? Can We expect to maintain our dignity abroad, before our rulers learn to respect themselves ‘.9 ‘We havemuch, very much, to recov~ er, before we regain that sublime height on vvhich our infancy was passed; The emblem of A our sov—~ ereignty, the eagle of our mountains, attempts in vain his accustomed excursions; some malignant influence hangs on /22': flig/n‘, and confines him to regions that his aspiring wing" spurned when he first left his nest} He could once expatiate with unvvearied pinions in the fields of heaven, bearing the thunder in his talons, pouncing with vengeance on his adversaries, and soaring With undazzled Vis- ion towards the sun ;—-——how is he tamed and dispir» ited now! Quench’d in dai-kl clouds of slumber lie A i The terrour of his beak and lightning of his eye. A is it asked, What is the cause of this degradation of a high.-spirited and free people 5.’ Theansvver is, Fncrton-——Faction, which overthrovvs every thing established by its predecessors in power; faction, whose pride , will not permit it tobe instructed by t t rivals, whose meanness subjects it to every threat from its friends ;i faction, which sharpens the hatred of all majority, and banishes the Weaker party frond every situation of publich usefulness; faction, Whose energies are solely devoted to provide or to secure office for its friends, regardless of the Wishes or the welfare of the people; faction, which denounces diversity of opinion as sedition, and remonstrance as rebellion; faction, which pretends to bevvail the influence of party spirit, while it adopts every means of increasing and gratifying its malignity. It is the same vice in a single state, as in the ad- ministration of the federal government ; but we be- hold its operations on the great theatre with stronger A emotions than those of pity. What sacrifice of our national honour has not been made in the fluctuating management of our commerce, Instead of the embargo, the derision of those whom it was designed to ruin, the terrour of those it pretended to protect, We adopted another spiritless “ municipal regulation,” executing verbal revenge upon the great belligerents. By one the punishment is received with silence ;---is it of deispair---or of indifference 5.’ By the other our preu sumption is punished With a decree of universal confiscation, under the name of reprisals. This is equivalent to War, but has it been resisted? has it been remonstrated against ? was not an apology made for the aggressor by the supreme executive T I ,3, 18 of our country on the most solemn occasiorfél Wlieri France declares a “ municipal regulation” which destroys almost all our trade with the contiu nentof Europe, she is permitted to retain our im-l mense Wealth as a pledge of good behaviour, as se- curity for our fulfilment of a contract for commer- cial hostility with England. But she had proclaim- ed on the fifth of August, that her hostile decrees are repealed, and that, on certain inadmissible conditions, they should cease to have effect on the first of No- vember. On our side was required “ as satisfacto- try provision for *restoring a the property ’’ which had been seized, as “ indispensable evidence or the a purpose of France,” andta preliminary to our non.- intercourse with Great Britain. This satisfactory provision is not made ; this indispensable evidence is dispensed VVll‘.l1;Vfl’llS preliminary is not waited for. In November restitution is postponed to Feb» ruary, in February to May’, in May to doomsday. The ’ hour when our wealth will be restored is marlted only in the apocalyptick vision, when the" sea gives up the (lead which are in it, and death Md hell deliver up the dead which are in them. Yet vve seem to submit to the requisition of Naps»- leont; and to assume efetterrs, as if they « were orna- ments. "When we are tempted with promises of “‘tmodi'fications’i" of trade, as “ the result of meas- ures” by us i to be adopted in conjunction with France against “W the common enemy,” and pea mess» . -......._.,.,.w urertisi forthvvith adopted forbiiddiligl all irnportation 3 from that country, i“ the common yenemy, Mwitli which we had the greatest commerce, who does not feel as if the spirit of independence were dozing ordying atVVashington ? Who does not ask with gloomy solicitude, V are we betrayed, or are We tie- luded ? , Can we be deluded, my countrymen, out of our liberties by him, who announces, that A “i the Ameri— cans cannot hesitate as to the part which they are to take,” who declares, ,tl1atwe,“ ought either, to tear V topieces theact of our independence” or coincide with his plans, who implicitly calls out administra- tration “ men Without just political views, Without honour, Without energy,” and who threatens them “ that it will be necessary to fight for interest after having refused to fight for honour.” Shall the Em- perour, Who isnolleiss "versedtacticks of deso- ylation thaI}in,,Lth¢=i7r0€Lab1‘t1 i rr~rl0f»>ins1i1ti a;1<,1t11erpnj>m- r‘ ises of‘p;er’fi"dy,"iide;ceive our government by assertions, that“ his majesty loves theAmericans,” p“ their pros- perityiianditheir commerce are within the scope of his policy We knew before that his political magazine contains rattles for babies as Well as whips forpcow-» ards. Our commerce has, indeed, long been within a the scope of his policy, as our merchants and mari- Hners will forever remember. r H His majesty, no doubt, does love the Americans; as the butcher delights in the lamb he is about to slaughter; as the tyger :20 courts the kid he would mangle and devour. For such promises the sacrifice of honour, of interest, of peace, of liberty, and of hope is required. For such promises some are willing to stir up former national antipathies; and when these are too weak for their purpose, to employ new artifices of treach- ery to excite the passions of those who are slow to reason; While others promote the design by re-A proaching opponents With idle Words and , threaten- ing them with empty menaces. If Heaven has abandoned us to be so deceived into ruin, on some a future anniversary of our national existence We may exclaim, with Anthony,in” the bitterness of despair , They tell us ’tis our birthday,‘ and we’ll keep it it \~’Vith double pomp of sadness. _ it ’Tis what the day deserves that gave us breath. ‘Why were we rais’d the meteor of the world, i Hung in the skies, and blazing as we travel1’d, ., Till all our fires were spent, and then east downwards i To be trod out by Caesar 3 V ’ ‘Without adverting to the political questions of our own government, We have, my fellow citizens, a criterion by which to distinguish the supporters of American Independence. They who behold with indifference the freedom of other nations pros- trated, are no friends of our own. One country after another, in melancholy and rapid succession, is ab- sorbed in the imperial Vortex ; and some of our citi- zens are led, by the enmity against England Vvhich it they are instructed to cherish, to exult in these fore-« warnings of our destruction. Shall the delusion be corrected ‘.9 Shall We feel that our own e Xistm encel liazardecl, when Holland, and Switzer» lanthiand aples, and Spain, and A'List1*ia dis- solve into the heated mass of Freiich power, like the towering i;C€?-,l’t1OUi'3'lC£lll’lS of the pole, as they float towards the south ? Shall our rulers “ suffer scorn, till they merit it ;” and lose the inheritance of val- our by the expedients of imbecility la’ Shall they ad- here to errour, till it becomes treason .9 Ardent as is my execration of the cowardly policy that sub- mits Without. resistance to degradation, I should more earnestly abhor the alliance, in which many apprehend that we are irrevocably bound. Every part of our body that was sensible to pain has smart- ed With the lash of French enmity ; but the sighs and groans of Europe, from the Baltick to the Hel- lespont, Witness the exquisite torments inflicted by their friendship. Let the spirits of our fathers bc evoked from their tornbswto pp recall their posterity tc the recollection of their honoinrable origin, to the T vindication “of ‘theiri ancient glory. There is, We hope, a redeeming spirit in the people, which will restore dignity to government and prosperity to the country, which Will bring us back to the principles of better times and the practice of Washington, which will assert our independence Wherever the enterprize of our commerce has been exhibited, and make it lasting and incorruptible as the private virtues of our countrymen.