awning
DELIVERED IN SCHENECTADY, ‘N. Y“

:mL‘i M», 18951.

By HOOPER CUMMING, D. D.
If§’.M‘S'1‘O1{ OF TIIE THIRD PIZESBWFERIAN CHURCH IN THE‘:

CITY 01*‘ ALBANY.

SCHENECTAD 1/"; _
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY ISAAC megs.

Selzenectady, 10th July, 1821.
Rev. Hoornn. CUMMING, i A  
Dear Sir,

We present you with a Resolution,
passed by the committee of arrangements, appointed
by the corporation and military ofiicers of this city,
and beg leave to add our z'mlz'm'dual wishes, that you
will comply we'll» their request.

“ Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this
committee be presented to the Rev. Hooper Cum--
ming, for his eloquent, impressive and interesting
Oration, delivered in this city on the forty-fifth Anni»-
versary of our Independence, and that he be solicit»-
ed to furnish a copy for publication, and that J. Bro-
derick and J. B. Duane, be a committee to carry this
resolution into effect.”

Extract from the minutes of the proceedings of the
committee of arrangements.-———-6th July, 1821.

J. BRODERICK,

J .. B. DUANE,
On Ziehalf of the Committee of .£lrra72g'e7n.e7zt$.

 

., Albany, July 25th, 1821.
Maj. J. Baonmucx and A r
Lieut. J . B. DUANE”.
Gentlemen, up
I did. not receive your polite note until
last evening, owing to my absence from the city. I
send you, in compliance with the request of the com-—
mittee of arrangements, 3. copy of the Oration pro-
nounced by me on the 4th inst. 

{Most respectfullyy A , my a
HOOPER CUMMING.

 

 o A

EVERY civilized nation, has some day consecrated
to patriotism and the deeds of heroes. Marathon and
Therrnopylee, Bannockburn and Boyne, Agincourt
and Poictiers, the overthrow of the invincible Arma-
da; the heights of Bunker, the plains of Trenton,
Princeton, Saratoga, Monmouth, Yorktown; the Nile
and Trafalgar, Lodi and Marengo, Badajosand Sam-

lannanca, Vittoria and St. Sebastians, Virniera and

Almeida, Leipsick and Waterloo, are all held in high

and glorious remembrance. But that day which

above every other, except the hallowed dayof God,
calls forth the gratitude, and inspires the zeal, and
nerves the arm, and fortifies the resolution of the pa»
triot, is the anniversary which we have now met to

commemorate.

The 4th of July, 177 6, isthe proudest period in the
annals of human liberty. It was then, that sages who
surpassed the boasted models of .antiquity--—--that sol-
diers fired with the spirit of L das--y--that a whole

  

nation spurned the fetters of monarchy, and vowed,

6

by the God of Justice, that they would befree or pew-
rish. The venerable matron poured her blessings on
her first-born, as he girded himself for battle: fa--
thers stimulated their sons bytheir own example:
beauty’s tear glistened as the dew-drop, and urged
decision and a quick return: Even the sanctuary sent
forth its streams, and ministers of the Lord invoked
the spirit of the Highest, and grasped the sword of
Gideon.   it

An event so solemn and portentous, deserves to be
traced to its first causes, and weighed in its results.

F ellow--Citizens!‘ The settlement of our country, is
a subject on which we may dwell with the most dew-
lightful sensations. Whether we contemplate the
magnitude of the enterprize, the decisive intellectual
energy that prompted it, or the humble resignation to
the allotments of divine providence, with Whichit was

effected, we shall be alike lost in admiration, or over...

rwhelmedby gratitude. i We are nothere cosmpellu
ed to search the impenetrable caverns of antiquity;
nor do we roam, without a guide, through the wilds
and mazesof fableiand conjecture. The firstnadvena
turers arenot like thefatheref the Roman people,

A handed torus as the sucklings of a Wolf; nor were

r they miserable fu

 

vets, t escaping from the rernains
of some ruined Troy,'nor did they i«ii1ikerthe ‘barbarous

Mr W 
gt’?

7

Goths and exterminating Vandals, leave their abodes
in quest of plunder, and rapine, and devastation.-—-----
Smarting ‘under the lash of persecution in the old
world, they chose rather, like the ancient patriarch,
peaceably to remove from their brethren, than to con-»
tinue subject to endless strife and collision---«and fix-
ing on a spot which had in a measure been abandoned
by its former inhabitants; by fair and honorable pur-
chases and treaties, they obtained an amicable pos-
session: and though their names have not reached us
as the destroyers of mankind------though the clarion of
conquest has not Waited the glory of their actions
over seas of human blood; yet with honest exultation,
we can dwell on their christian graces, their unpa-~
ralleled patience under suffering, their heroic forti-
tude, their generous imagnanimity.

Liberty, a celestial goddess, whose footsteps may
be discovered on the misty hills, and Whose most den
lightful haunts may be traced to the mountain top,
though she does not unfrequently refuse her presence
to the plain and the valley---who had for ages receiv...
ed the homage of philosophers, and poets, and states»
men in Greecem-—‘to whose divinity splendid altarswere
consecrated, and who had been driven by the rnth-»
less hand of tyranny from her loiterings on the shores
of the Adriatic, was about to take her departure for
ever from the abodes of civilized man, whenshefound.

A 8
an asylum in America. Here, she erected her terme
ple: here, multitudes crowded. its vestibule: under
her steppings, these deserts burst into bloom and Vera

dure, and the whole face of creation assumed a fresh»
er, a more delightful loveliness.

This country was discovered by the light of the re-at
formation. Wicklifl', and Huss, and Jerome had been
persecuted to heaven—-—-but their doctrines remained
on earth: and when Luther, and Calvin, and Knox:
arose, usurpation and bigotry were struck dumb. No
longer could the monstrous tenets of the Pope’s in--
fallibility, and the divine right of kings, rule (fer the
nations with A unlimited sway. Mankind began to
think: they reflected on their origin and their desti--
nation. Stung by remorse for their past supineness,
and ashamed of vassallage, they resolved to assert
their native dignity, and if others were ennobled by

titles, that they would be nature’s noblemen. Alrea»

i dy had J ohn"s trembling and reluctant hand present»

ed the magna charta. Already had the churches of
Geneva taught, that “where the spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty.” yr Already had the towers and domes

«of Protestant Europe, reflected the effulgence of truth...

l3ut ecclesiastical tyranny, notwithstanding she had

received a mortal’bloW,had not expired. She erect-«
eds once more herhydra-head, and began to revel, in
imagination, over the downfall and desolation of man’s

9

best hopes.‘ False idea! The very controversy ex-m
cited research, and produced the developement of still
juster principles of government, both in the church
and state. And the colonists of Raleigh, the puritans
of Plymouth Rock, the Swedes of Jersey, the Dutch
of Manhattan Island, and the adventurers of Ogle-—
thorpe, brought with them the germ of attachment
to freedom, which before the close of the eighteenth
century, produced precious fruit, that was for the
healing, in due time, of all the nations.

It was not to be rationally expected, that men
Whose minds were thus organized and illurnined,

I Whose principles were thus disciplined and chastened,

and who in the school of suffering had been taught
the most wholesome lessons of experience, would
ever submit to the goadings of oppression. Accord-
ingly, for years before the declaration of indepen-
dence, again and again was the energetic voice of
American rernonstrance heard. It declared in tones
of thunder, that freemen should not be taxed but by

z theirlown Assemblies, and with their ownconsent.--—-—~

It denounced subjection to a British parliament in
which theywere unrepresented. The Britons,haugh--
ty as they were ignorant, spurned at the suggestion of

the fatal consequences which would grow out of their

encroachments on the Rights of Man. “ QuemDeus

in vult perdere prius dementat.’,’, Never was this maxim

E2

10

more lifully verified. ‘That liberty might exist nu»

_ shackled by conditions, and unterrified by the pos-

sible approach of danger, the God of nationsdeliver-»
ed to the counsel of Ahithophel, North and his coed-
jutors. He permitted the cup of conciliation to be
drained to its dregs. Then the noble hearts of thir-

” teen colonies, resolved themselves into free and inde-

pendentstates. Forlthe defence of freedom, which
was their birth--right—~»-—for the protection of the pro-
perty acquired by their honest industry----for the pre-
servation of pure morals, uncontaminated by the ap-
proach of Eriglish luxury-—-«against violence actually
offered-W-against the myrmidons of oppression, and in
defianceof the execrations of‘ eleven millions, they

raisedw to Heaven the imploring eye, and giaveithei

watch-word , onward , on ward...

That a people, without a well-tried and establish»

ed system of government----withoutarmies and with-at

out a navy---—-without experience in war----with annex-e
tended and unprotected frontier; should with such
promptitude, unanimity and energy,srise to meet,
nay, to court approaching danger: should unhesitat-~
ingly laugh at the vengeance of at monarch whose

7 friendship andialliance were sought with eagerness

by the most powerful nations-—--whose armies, com-
rnanded by the most experienced generals, were a

terror tothe ivorld‘-wewihosognaviies rode triumphant l

11

on every sea, and whose resources were incalculably
great, is almost incredible. This day may return,and
return, and return, but every year will bring with it
increasing surprize and admiration. Howe, Cornwalu
lis, Gage, Burgoyne, Rodney, came to strangle the
infautrebel---but it was an infant Hercules. Every
loreath gave a scope the most unbounded, to the dew
velopement of the human faculties. Then was pre-»
sented to the world, a catalogue of patriots, who dis»
played far rnorethan Roman and Grecian virtue---of
legislators infinitely superior to Numa and Lycurgus
—-——and of statesmen, the most erudite, comprehensive
and profound, that had ever been beheld. A more
august assembly never convened under the canopy of
yonder skies, than the “first American Congress, at
Philadelphia. The consequences of the severance by
them proclaimed, in relation to the character, condi-»
tion and happiness of the human race, the interrvenm

tion of ages will he required to disclose.

You are familiar with the history of the alternate
depressions and elevations which distinguished the
struggle of the revolution. in America. I perceive in
my audience, some hoary heads who partook largely
both of the exultation and sufferings of that glorious
period. Peace to your spirits, philanthropic and viru-
tuousmen l W It is an honour to address you.  The prim
viatiousf which you suffered, shall bind closely to our

12

hearts, our country and its cause. The success which
crowned your disinterested and almost superhuman
efforts, will encourage us in the darkest days. The
gloomiest hour will not dishearten us; for We will re»
member your devotion, and hear your shouts. On the
altars which you built, We will sacrifice‘ every selfish
purpose. ‘And, by the spirits ‘of our sainted sires, We
will swear to transmit to our children, untainted and
without infraction, the blood-bought eharterof our

  liberties.

, When our nation, like its leader, had onlyto take
counsel from its courage, the most acute sufferings
were anticipated... For more than seven years, the

‘ savage foe--man and the fiend-like Hessian, exhaust»--4

ed their murderous propensities. The old man treme-
bling beneath a weight of years; the infant smiling
on the glittering bayonet, pointed at its bosom ; and

  the tender female svvooning amidst her fears, were
alikedisregarded. Then beneath ahurning sun, or

through almost impenetrablesnows, the father was
torn frornyyhis shrieking family; and traitors and hires
lings applied the torch which drove from the peaceful

cottage itsinmates, whose flight was facilitated by

the flames and by the orash,   2 ‘

[Bathe who pitiesthe calamities, oftheinnocent,

,a.ndisrtri;kes off the raters -or the   prisoner,inspired with

13

a lofty and unyielding patriotism, the band who rais-
lied around Washington. _ Under his auspices, a civil
war was conducted with blended mildness and ener--
gy, and a revolution with perfect order, and with

V splendid and unparalleled success.

Great--Britain had been indeed elate with her for-4
mer victories. All Europe stood in awe of her. Her

arms made the thrones of the most powerful unstea-- A A

dy, and disturbed the tranquility of their states, with
an agitation more extensivethan an earthquake. “As
the giant Enceladus is fabled to lie under Etna, and
to shake the mountains when he turns his limbs, her
hostility was felt to the extremities of the earth.”

It is not then surprizing, that the signal defeats she
experienced in America, were regarded by the old
world, as somany miracles; and that our final suc--

cess exalted to the highest point their admiration. . It

does so still. For the consequences which grow out
of the establishment of our independence,are the most
important and extensive which ever resulted from an

A appeal to arms.

The first that I shall notice, is the sound judgment
which the revolution in America has enabled man-

kind to form, respecting the motives which should“

prompt the leaders of armies, while in actual service, i

l4

and magistrates in a time of peace. It presented in

the father of our country, lineaments of character,
which, all who wish the public confidence, aspire. to
imitate. It now holds him forth, of whom a soldier
and philosopher, who fought by his side, has truly
saidfit “Brave without temerity, laborious without
ambition, generous without prodigality, noble vvithw
out pride, virtuous without severity, he seems always
to have confined himself within those limits where the
virtues, by clothing themselves in more lively but
more changeable colours, may be mistaken for faults.
Let it be repeated, Conde was intrepid, Turenne
prudent, Eugene adroit, Catinet disinterested. It is
not thus that Washington will be characterized. It
will be said of him, at the end of a long civil war,
that he had nothing with which he could reproach
himself. If any thing can be more marvellous than
such a character, it is the unanimity of the public suf»
frage in his favour. Soldier, magistrate, people, all
love and admire him: all speak of him in terms of
tenderness and the highest veneration.” His exam»
ple is before us. It attracts and fixes the gaze of his
countrymen, like a newly discovered star, whose be»
nign light will travel on to the worlds” and times’ far»
thest bounds. , The deeds of his heroism and virtue,
are told round many a fire-side. Over his grave the

widow weeps, the orphan sheds a tear; while in the

*The Marquis of Chastelleux,

15

hearts of all his countrymen, his memory is embalmu
ed. His name cheers, and guides, and in every dan-‘
ger saves. Already is it hung up by history, as‘con--
spicuously as if it sparkled in one of the constella-‘~
tions of the sky. “Some future Plutarch ‘will search
in vain for a parallel to his character. Epaminondas
ishperhaps, the brightest name of all antiquity.--—
Washington resembled him in the purity and ardour
of his patriotism ; and like him, he first exalted the
glory of his country. There the parallel ends-—---for
Thebes fell with Epaminondas. But such compari-
sons cannot be pursued far, without departing from
the similitude.” For, as the prince of American ora...
tors'* hasdeclared, “We shallfind it as difficult to
compare great men as great rivers. Some we admire
for the length and rapidity of their course, and the
grandeur of their cataracts; others, for the majestic
silence and fulness of their streams. We cannot bring
them together to measure the difference of their
waters. The unamhitious life of Washilngton, de-
clining fame, yet courted by it, seemed like the Ohio,
to choose its long way through solitudes, difihsing fer--t
tility ; or like his own Potomac, widening and deep-
ening his channel, as he approaches the sea, and dis-
playing most the usefulness and serenity of his great.»
ness, toward the end of his course.”  A

“’* Hon. Fisher Ames.

l6 i
The principles of his character, and the devoted—««

A ness of his patriotism, are held in such high esteem,

that an essential departure from them will soon con-
sign to infamy and a private station, any aspirant for
oflice. Demagogues may revile the useful magistrate
-.---appeals may be made to the profiigate---and arts
practised for awhile on the unwary. But the people
of this country cannotalways be deluded.

« Truth shall restore the light by nature given,
And like Prometheus, bring the fire from Heaven! ii
Prone tn the dust, oppression shall be hurled,

Her name, herynature, withered from the WOI'l(l-3’

If it be questioned, whether the hallowing influence
of the American revolution, has alighted on the sons
of those patriots who achieved it, ponder the unani-
mity with which our constitution was adopted--y-—the
trivial amendments which have been made to it----the
almost universal enthusiasm with which it is now
hailed : reflect on Chippewa and Erie, on Bridgewa-
ter and Niagara,on New--Orleans and Baltimore : and
on the shouts which rent the air when the victories of
Hull and Jones, of Decatur and Perry, of Bainbridge
and Burrows and M‘Donough, were spread through-«
out the land. Why is it, that Jackson is almost idol-—

s ized‘? Because he is devoted to his country. In many

respects, he resembles Washington. The father lives
in the son. And the same patriotism which crown-»

17

ed the former chief} awards the laurel to the living t A

hero. Opposition indeed he has received. “To be
great, is to be envied.” Traitors and squeamish po-.
liticians would have prescribed to him the same mode
of Warfare---the same tedious, protracted endurance
--4-the same system of traces for savages and chris-
tians. But his principles were properly humane.---
He struck the blow with such promptitude, as to expel
his enemy, and prevent in the issue, the effusion of
rivers of blood. His conduct toward the Creeks and
Seminoles, I have always regarded as perfectly jns--
tifiable, under the peculiar circumstances by which
he was surrounded. But at New-Orleans, he be»
came pre-eminently entitled to the character of De---
ldeerer. '

'“ He said, and on the rampart heights arrayed,
His trusty warriors, young but undismayeidz
Firm-paced and slow, a horrid front they form,
Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm. r
Low, murmuring sounds along their banners fly,
Revenge or death-—--the watch-word and reply:
Then peeled the notes omnipotent tocharm,
And the loud tocsin to1l’d their last alarm.

On Mississippi’s waves, the ruins glow,

His blood-dyed waters murrnuring far below.
Hark! as the invader’s hopes despairing fall,

A thousand shrieks for hopelessmercy call! y
Earth shook-w--red meteor-s flashed along the sky,
And conscious nature shuddered at the cry!”

23

18
No nation is more brave and patriotic than our
own. From the American revolution we receive our
principles. It taught eiiectuall y, that a people shall
be free, who resolve on liberty. A

But the effects are still more benign and extensive.
Throughout the civilized World, the representative
system is regarded with such reverence, that nothing
but the hireling legions of despots, prevents its uni-»
versal reception. The blasphemously entitled Iloly
Alliamce, that league contrived by Satan, and upheld
by his emissaries, the tyrant Alexander, the bloated
Lewis, the selfish Francis, the debauched George,
shall not always thrive. The principles of the Nea-~
politans andrSardinians only sleep to be refreshed:
and the time shall come, when the successful strug-
gle of America, will emancipate the; universe. Com»-
merce, science, the arts, religion owe to her eternal
gratitude. Ye ministers of the altar! as ye unmo-
lestedly pursue your high and holy calling, remember
your obligations to the champions of your liberties,
and exclaim, “If we forget you, fathers of our coun-
try, who bled for the cities of’ our God, may our right
hand forgether cunning. If We do not remember
you, let our tongue cleave to the roof of our mouth.”
Seminaries of learning risein the wilderness: and Ye,
precious youth, the solace of your parents, the pride
of genius, the hopes of your country, are indebted to

19

the disintergstetl and devoted efforts of such men as ‘

Warren, Montgomery, Knox, Hamilton, Schuyler,
Lincoln, Gates, Putnam, Maxwell, Ogden, F orman,
Sterling, Dayton, Clinton, Morgan, St. Clair, Sulli-
van, La Fayette, Pickering, De Kalb, Steuben, Pinck»
ney, Willett, for the lights of science which now pour
on your literary researches, and for all that serenity
and pleasure which you enjoy in this seat of the mu-«
ses. Letters are more durable than marble. Long
since, the monuments of Trajan and Agricola, have
perished ; but the glory of A the one and the virtues of
the other, shall exist for ever ernbalmed by the genius

of Pliny and of Tacitus. Egypt, by her panegyrics,

first taught the world the influence of posthumous glo-
ry, to create wise Magistrates, illustrious heroes, and
virtuous citizens. Greece, by the aid of her laurel
and her ivy, of her statuaries and her painters, and
above all, of her historians and her orators, rendered
her citizens, the admiration and the envy of the uni-
verse.

My Fellow-Citizens! imitate then the example of
the Deliverers of your country. Among the very first
lessons which you practice, regard the whole Union
as your parent, and frown into annihilation, the ac-
cursed spirit of party. It is a foe that sooner or later
destroys every valuable principle of civil liberty, and
saps the foundation of’ every free government. To

20

prove this, We need only unfold the page of history,
and instance the fate of the three most celebrated re»
publics of antiquity. Ifwwe examine into the causes
which either immediately or remotely led to their des-«a
truction, we shall trace them, as all arising from the
influence of party feuds. Athens, the cradle, if not
the birth-place of the arts and sciences, fella victim,
not so much’ to the ambition as to the fears of indiviw

I duals. Her heroes found no safety, but by becoming

the masters instead of the servants of thepeople, hem
cause of the introduction of the fell spirit of yparty.-----
The populace were taught that their best benefactors
had become the enemies of their liberty. Hence
sprung ealousies, heart-burnings, and all these wild,
ungovernable passions which form the many-headed
monster of civil dissension. Wild uproar stalked in
the face of day: both sides resorted to arms: and the
victor became the tyrant of the very instruments of
his elevation.

Carthage, which succeeded Tyre in the commerce
of the globe, rose rapidly in Wealth and power, and
disputed with Rome, the empire of the world. Led
by the immortal Hannibal, her armies lorded over the
fields of Italy, and threatened her proud capital with
swift destruction. Already the Roman Eagle clap-
ped his Wings for flight-walready, her proud towers
nodded to their fall--.——when in thecentrerof Carthage,

21

arose jealousies and animosities. which saved Rome;

The mighty Carthagenian chief was stopped short in

his career for want of appropriate supplies: he re»
treated: was overpowered; and in a few years Car-
thage was no more.

The liberties of Rome, the pre-destined mistress of
the World, were often martyred at the shrine of party
rage. It was this that effected the banishment of
Camillus. Her guardian hero now no longer there,
Rome sunk beneath the fury of the Grauls, and be-
came a prey to the devouring flames. It was this
which generated the struggle of Sylla and M arius---a
struggle that terminated in the domination of one of
the bloodiest tyrants that ever disgraced the name of
man : and at last, the dissensions of Pompey and Cae-
sar led to the firm establishment of an absolute mona
archy. On the plains of Pharsalia, lies buried the ge-
nitis of ancient Rome, On that memorable day, the
sun of her liberty went down, never to rise again.

With such awful examples before him, of the fatal

« effects of disunion, every honest American must de-

precate an undue party-spirit. Those who expect to
be gainers by Working on the malignant passions of
mankind, and who hope to rise on the wreck of civil
liberty, those only have dared to infuse into the
hearts of my countrymen the deadly poison. “The

22

very lexistence of free [government depg:pds;‘on an on»-

“ion of principle in the mass of the people. This, this,

is the master-column which supports the fabric. That
once gone, the edifice lies prostrate in the dust,
or trembles the sport of every breath of popular opi-
nion. Unite then, my countrymen, and be for ever

happy, It is only internal division that can wrest T

from you the blessings you enjoy. The sword of a
foreign enemy we dread not. Secure in the bonds of
union, invincible is our strength----our peace and
freedom are immortal. The World may confederate
its powers, and proudly threaten our destruction :---~-----

We laugh them to scorn. Strong in the bulwark of

millions of united freemen, the guardian genius of our
native land, high towering on a rock of adamant,
shall scatter the accumulated host, and vindicate the
independence of his country. A A A

On a day like this, let usvow to be brethren»-«to
banish“ all selfish pnrposesm-to forget all former ani-
mosities, and live alone for our common country.

‘? America! my dear,”my native soil,» p
Forwhom my warmest wish to heaven is sent 1
Long may thy hardy sons of irustick toil
Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet content!
‘T And oh! may lieaventlieir simple lives prevent
From 1uxury’s contagion, weak and vile! '
\ Then howe’er crowns and coronets are rent,

23

A virtuousiihpulace may. rise a band,
And be a wall of fire around their much—1oved land.

Oh thou who poured the patriotic tide %
That streamfid through Wasl1ington’s undaunted heart,
Who dared to nobly stem tyrannick pride,

Or nobly die the second glorious part:

(The patriot’s God peculiarly thou art,

His friend, inspirer, guardian and reward !)

0 never, never, our blest realm desert,

But still the patriot and the patriot bard

In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard!”

Thus with little alteration, adapted to our local
circumstances, Burns prayed for Scotland. Be his
sentiments engraven on our hearts! And oh, may his
patriotic fervour dilate our hosom !

Soldiers! The vale of the Mohawk witnessed the A
glorious deeds of your fathers! They said, “ we have i

met the enemy, and they are ours.” Victory perch-~
ed on their standard, for it was the banner of unyieldw
ing courage. A The savage yell was hushed to silence,

and the tomahawk no longer afirighted the frontier

settlements. Imitate their heroism: and whenever

your country calls, look at the declaration of inde- A

pendence, and in the language of the immortal Wal--»

lace, “ Remember that God armeth the patriot E?’