M
 £~k“£E'fl®§§i9

ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1821,

é AT THE
REQUEST‘ OF THE IN!-IABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON’,

IN COMMEMORATION 0|?‘

THE ANNIVERSARY

OF

 m/wm©mm mmmmmmmr@T.:;2Q

BY

CHARLES Gr. LORING.

PRINTED AT THE) REQUEST 01*‘ T1113} TCIVVN‘ OF BOSTOIVL.

1ms'1'0N : %
PUBLISHED BY CHARLES CALLENDER,
No. 25, Suhool-Stz~ec:t..

H Q I I I I I II

"VOTE OF THE '1‘OW'N 013‘ BOSTON.

 

Boston, 4th of Juiy,1821.

VOTED, That the Selectmen be,Va.nd hereby are appointed atlommittee
to wait on CHARLES G. Lonme, Esq. in the name of the town, and thank him
for the elegant andspirited Omtiou, this day delivered by him at the request
of the town, upon the Anniversary of American Independence, in which
were considered the feelings, manners, and principles, which produced the
great national event, and the important and happy effects, general and do-—
mestic, which have already, or will forever flow from that auspicious epoch ;

and to request of him a copy for the press. ,
A’-ITEST. THOMAS CLARK, Town-- Clerk.

®h”%A“£“li@EWq.

TIlE political situation of the world renders the Cele»
hration of this anniversary of our independence pecu-
liarly interesting to us as citizens, and as freeman who
feel that the cause of humanity and civil liberty is every
where the same, and every where our own. At no period,
since our revolution, lrneve the advanitages of our civil in-A
stitutions mod the principles of republican government
enjoyed 7a, triumph so brilliant, as now arises from con-

trasting the condition of thepeople of the United States of

America with that of any other on the globe.

"While one nation is striiggling with conw*11lsireene!rg,'y
to free itself from the grasp of despotism, and another
overwhelmed in crime and bloodshed, is alternately the
victim of anarchy and oppression 3 While one is trembling
beneath an uncertain and hazardous form of government,
and in another, the balance of power between the crown
and the people is avowedly maintained by corruxption;

while in all, hereditary and a1r~hitra'1.ry clisltinctiolnsgl alike A
derogatory to human nature and destructive of public:

4 I

morals, are perpetual sources of injustice, jealousy
and discord; and a varying contest is continually ra-
ging between subjects and rulers: We are enjoying, in
tranquillity and security, the exercise of every civil and
religious privilege. While other nations are kept in slavish

ignorance of their rights and their strength, we boast a~

liberty of the press requiring no other censorship than the

purity of public morals, and the enlightened strength of pub;

lic opinion ; and while a fearful combination has been form-

ed by the monarchs of Europe to perpetuate the slavery ‘

of their subjects, and protect their mutual usurpations;

against the encroachments of increasing intelligence, our t

, government, respected abroad and revered at home, alone i

stands firm upon the principles and aifectlions of its citiaj
zzens, llunshaken amid the tempests that agitate the
world. i i

These peculiarities in our national situation are not
:referred to, merely as subjects of pride and exultation 3
we have, indeed, great cause to exult, and the commemoe
ration of this day should excite lofty and joyous feelings; ,7
but our privileges are of a nature too solemn and impor-
tant to constitute themes of ostentatious declamation gr

they should not be contemplated but with deep emotions of »

gratitude, and a corresponding sense of the duties they
impose. l A it ~ i it o i l

were we inclined. to make this anoccasion of national
boasting, themes would jnotjbe wanting ;no other people
can trace so heroic and enlightened an ancestrpy ; none
can boast so unsullied an history, or a more brilliant
register of‘ statesmenfiind patriots: our “annals are un.,
stained; with records of wars of ambition or ‘usurpation,

of public crimes andjmassacres _;_ andlrthe heroes whom,

I

5

We delight to honour, would claim no wreaths but those
which Liberty, rather than Victory, should bind around
their brows. I    

This day should not pass Without a tribute ofyveneration
and gratitude to the illustrious men who achieved our In-
dependence, and of honour to those who have since so
nobly maintained our national reputation : hut, proud as
we are of the military and naval fame of our country, we
should do injustice to the Inemory of the dead, did
we suppose they would rather be commemorated as
ponders of national vanity, than as defenders of our
freedom 5 and should offend the patriotism of the living,
did we think. they would rather listen to panegyrics
of their own exploits, than unite in the common
cause of celebrating our national libenty and hap-
piness. i  

Let other nations ”’celehrate their jubile-es by de-
clamatory uboastings of their «national greatness and
military and naval renown; let their citizens be fascina-

A ted with the imagination of their glory ; they have little

else to exalt in: the sober realities of their condition
would afford scanty cause for rejoicing: but let us

celebrate this hirtlnday of our Independence as freemen, l
with a joyous and dignified estimation ofour civil and

religious privileges, and with an impressive sense of our
obligation to transmit theme unimpaired to posterity. o

  To develiope the rzexnetrnns, rnsnxtwes and Mannnas of i

our fathers, would require a recurrence to their??h,i§tory?y from

   the introduction of theReformation into Eniglatidl’ aineriod

6

\ peculiarly illustrative of the revolutions necessarily occa~—

sinned by the developement of’ mind. Liberty of Cion-
science, as it is the most obvious and forcible of human
rights, was the first attainment of man emerging from the
slavery in which during the dark ages he was enthralled ;
and religious toleration once secured, political freedom,
with which it is essentially connected, soon followed.

These principles and feelings are founded in that in-
stinctive love of freedom which God has constituted an
element of the human soul ; which, under the influence of
increasing intelligence, is new exciting the nations of Eu-3

  Wrope to throw oil‘ the chains they. have so longignobly;

worn 5 and which, wetrust in Heavemwill lead them grad»
ually to abolish those institutions which have been for ages
the scourge and degradation of our race. They are the
same principles,which, in their origin, produced the glorious
revolution of 1688, of which Englishmen so proudly and

so justly boast ; the same which have excited and upheld
them in the gradual suppression of arbitrary power, and
the establishment of that system of civil liberty and se-

curity that now raises them so high above every nation in
Europe 5% andpwhiclulwe doubt not, would have aroused
them to ya fearlessand unyielding resistance of their own
government, had it attempted toimpose in upon them the
lawlessyauthority with which it endeiavoured to shackle
these colonies. . A l t

Brouglit by ourfathers into this wilderness of Liberty,

A «and left to work theiroiwn way to perfection,--m-with no
” i prejudicesto warp, nfloarbitrary power to My resist, and no.

7

antiquated institutions to crush their growth, these prin-
ciples gradually expanded, under the influence of educa-
tion and religion, into that system of civil and religious
freedom and we'll—te1npered political equality, on which
has been erected the noblest temple of liberty the world
has ever seen. A

The situation of our ancestors was peculiarly calculated
to strengthen and confirm these principles and to pro-

n duce corresponding feelings and manners :—-—The diflicul-

ties and dangers of their undertaking, the poverty of their
soi.l and hardships of their condition, were conducive to
the establishment of the freedom We now commemorate ;
had a fertile land rewarded their industry, or golden
treasures been the fruit of their enterprise, the protec-
tion and assistance of the mother-country would have
been early extended over them 5 and, with her foster»
ing care, would have been ‘blended the gradual in-
troduction of the abuses as well as the advantages of her
civil institutions,andl the firm establishment of her maternal.
authority. But, thanks to the sterility of the country,
the horrors of the climate, the terrors of the wilderness
and dread of its savage inhabitants, our fathers were
left to protect and defend themselves; till habits of tse1f-

government, a proud sense of personal independence, and

that political equality necessarily created by a community

of hardships and calamities, had become interwoven With‘

all their principles and feelings 5 till theybecame too fond
of their freedom and too conscious of their strength,
“ to bear a yoke they were able to break.”

lWe may trace the influence of these principles, feel»-
ings, and manners throughout A‘ their whole history;

8

we behold it, in their establishment of a representative
assembly so soon after i their emigration, though their

. charter contained no such privilege; in their firm and

manly reply to the order in council for the surrender of
their charter in 1638 ; in their fearless opposition to
the commissioners of Charles the Second ; and in
their persevering refusals to conform to the royal instruc-—
tions in 1720, to establish a permanent salary for the chief
magistrate, who would thereby have been rendered inde-
pendent of the people he was appointed to govern ; we
trace it in all the various intermediate oppositions teen»
croachments upon their cllarter 5 in their spirited I-emon~
strances and resistance against the various navigation
acts, writs of assistance,- and other engines of arbi-
ti-airy power :---and at last, wlien every appeal to justice,
to honour and to met-cy,had failed them, and when further
obedience became a dereliction of their principles and a
sacrifice of their freedom, we behold our fathers retreat»
ing to these principles, as the rock of their safety, throw
off the allegiance to which, till then, they had so faithfully
adhered, and defend by force, the rights they could no
longer peaceably enjoy. Theirs were principles, feel.»

ings and manners, which, it required not the spirit of 

prophecy to foretell, would soon cause them to acknowl-
edge no other government than that erected by themselves,
and the exercise of no authority independent of their

own 5:» andistrange indeed was the infatuation that led the    

governmentof  Gr-eat-Britain to suppose that our fathers
would yield those riglits, which they had been taught to
hold as conditions of ezxzistence.    c n y   

    A 0111' revolution wasifof a nature altogether peculiar ;it
"was not the effect of internal dissensions and domestic

9

discord ; it was not a contest between subjects and rulers,
in which the feelings and principles of one portion of the
citizens were arrayed in hostility against those of anoth-
er ; it was rather a contest for national than individual
rights 5 rather resistance to foreign aggression than re-
volt against abused authority. It terminated in the peace-
able establishment of a free government, because it was
effected by an enlightened people, acting in reference
to rights well ascertained and understood ; by men who
were able to appreciate and adjust that compromise of in-
dividual, for the sake of social liberty, which is the last

acquisition of man in a state of society, and which an ed- ‘

ucated people can alone acquire or retain.

The study of our country’s history is not only interest-
ing from the grandeur and variety of the events and the
heroism of the achievements it records, but is essential to a.
right understanding of our civil institutions, and of the
only means of preservingthem. In that of nootl1erpeo-
ple are the grand principles of political equality, and of
government’s being founded on the consent of the people, to
be administered solely for their benefit, completely devel-
oped ; or those of private and public justice, of religion
and morality, so amply illustrated ; almost every page

breathes forth their feelings, displayed in an ardent love i

of liberty, a fervent patriotism, a zealous attachment to
their civil and religious institutions and a generous re-
gard for the welfare of posterity: and almost every event
is illustrative of the simplicity, moderation and energy of
their manners. A

It is a subject of great congratulation, that we can, this
day, record an event in the history of our Commonwealth,
B 1

10

which assures us that the influence of the principles, feel-=
in_e;s and manners of. our fathers is yet with their chil-
dren. The proceedings and result of the convention lately
assembled for the revisal of our constitution, afibrd con-
vincing proof of the stability of a government, which
they so impressively proclaim to be founded in the aii‘ec-
tions and confidence of its citizens.---Let the advocate of
the dGgl'adll1gl11aXilYl, that man is incapable of self-gem
ermnent, contemplate the scene of moral grandeur which
this event unfolds ; let him behold the reverence and a'l’f'ec-
tion with which the numerous delegates of a free people
approach the institutions of their ancestors, to effect those
alterations which a change of political situation had ren-
dered essential .3 let him observe the impressive sense of
responsibility, the unity of design, the solemn earnestness,
which pervade their deliberations : the dignified and man-
ly deference with which prejudices and preconceived opin-
ions are yielded to the force of truth and reason ; and the
feeling-s which prompt a voluntary and simnltaneousho ma-
age to that revered patriot, who happily remains to see,
in the pride of its strenfggtli, the temple he assisted to raise 5
let him view, in the result of their labours, a confirmation
of all the essential principles of our constitution; and fol-
lowing them to their homes, let him see them diffusing; an
increased love and veneration for the institutions of our
country, without carrying with them one feeling of party
animosity or local jealousy to disturb the tranquillity of
the republic; let him look still further, and contemplate
the submission of the recommendations of these delegates
to the decision of their constituents, and, instead of the
eafrerness for chan_0*e characteristic of every other than a
free people, let him view our fellow citizens, rejecting most

of the proposed amendments, clinging withfond venera-e

11

tion to the institutions of their fathers, scarce willing to
touch, even with a sparing hand, the edifice in which

they had so happily and securely dwelt :--—-and then, i

let him renounce a doctrine so insulting to our race and
to God.

Our thoughts naturally turn from reflecting upon the
tranquillity and security of our own country, to a contem-
plation ‘of the peculiarly interesting and momentous situa-
tion of those nations now agitated with the contest be»
tween natural right and arbitrary power :----»and where,

instead of a free people calmly deciding upon the best:

mode of governing themselves, we see a combination of
monarchs lanlessly imposing upon nations a form of gov-
ernment alike the object of their hatred and contempt ;,
and where, instead of mutual confidence between subjects
and rulers, We behold, on one hand, a standing army,
ready, at the command of a tyrannical master, to shed
the blood of 'l"£l.l§l7l(‘,I“S and brothers to perpetuate their com-—

mon slavery; and, on the other, an outraged people,

awaiting with breathless anxiety, the decree altecting
their liberties and lives, or seeking, in exile or death, a
refuge from ignominy and oppression. It is not, however,

a merely a scene of fear and anxiety ; liope and exultation

mingle largely with the feelings excited in contemplating
the efforts of humanity striving against tyranny, by the
general prevalence of which, the pr'ogress of intelligence
and freedom is so strongly evinced. And,surely,the cause
of liberty, wherever asserted, cannot be an unwelcome
theme in celebrating the independence of those, whose

tatliers first sounded the alaruin that is now ringing“

throughout “)6 WOI“l¢L.

12

There is a peculiar gramleuri in the present aspect of
Europe ; the general stt*11ggle agi.tati,nfr its inhabitants is
not between rival monarchs contendling; for empire, nor
between nation war'rin,;~ against nation,i'or trifling rights or
imaginary wrongs ; the commotions we witness, are those
necessarily created by the developement of the mind, at-
tempting to rise from beneath the enormous load of super»
stition and despotism under which it has been for com
turies buried : we behold the great and glorious contest
between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood,
between the general cause of humanity, on one side, and

the general cause of usurpation, on the other 5---«and who
can feel doubtfulf of the result 3.’ A

The reformation, in breaking the fetters of religious
despotism, loosened those of political tyranny with which
they were entwined, and, thus, gave the first impulse to
that spirit of liberty which has recently effcctecl such im-
prove-ments in most of the European govermnents. And

in the successive triumphs of principle over oppression

and gradual compromise of prescriptive pl-ivilegos and
popular rights which mark their history, We behold the
safe and certain progress of freedom ; whose advocates,
hitherto, too often rushing with heedless impetuosity to
overthrow the tyrannical institutions of their country, and
leaving none other under which to shelter themselves, have
fallen breathless and exhausted victims to a yet sterner
power, A

The modern system of international law, established
since the French revolution, by which the sovereigns of

13

Europe are leagued together for the mutual defence of
their respective prerogatives, and to perpetuate existing
institutions by interference in the domestic concerns of
nations.-_-wliile it proves the advance of reason and of the
principles of civil liberty, which renders such a combina-
tion necessary, has an immediate tendency to increase the
spirit it is designed to crush.---«It impressively proclaims
to their subjects, that the Holy Alliance is not established
for the preservation of national peace only, but to perpetu-
ate domestic tyranny and check the progress of that
amelioration of man’s condition which it is the spirit of
the age to promote : opposition to it is aroused. therefore,
not only by hatred of oppression and love of individual
liberty, but by every national and patriotic feeling. Let
the citizens of those nations realise that their rulers rely
upon foreign aid for the support of their authority,-—-that
they hold it, independent of the welfare of their subjects,
and not as resting upon their principles and affections,

and the foundation of their power is destroyed. In}

deed the change, which this despotic league is form-
ed to prevent, has already in great measure taken place 5
----the silent progress of knowledge, has been accomplish-
ing a gradual revolution in public sentiment, a.nd awe»
kened mankind to a sense of their dignity and rights 5 and
never have the friends of humanity had such cause to
exult, as is now found in the extended means of education
and diffusion of that religion which no people can enjoy
in its purity Without becoming essentially free. i

The tremendous events which have recently convulsed
Europe, have renovated principles and feelings which had

been too long stifled. The overthrow of governments

14

and disinemherment of l{ll’lgtl0l'l]§§ the annihilation of'pre-
scriptive priivileges and distinctions; and the facility and
imlignity with which clieiite riglzts of kings have been
trampled upon by human power, have imparted activity
and ener5,>,*y to the mind and giveninations a knowledge of
their strength ; have dispelled that excessive reverence for
ancient institutions by which the most l'earful and gloorny
usurpations have been so longgr; consecrated and preserved,
and excited men to an anxious and bold inquiry into the
o1'ig;in and principles of the authority so cruelly exer-
cised. Even standing armies, the first eng;iriesei'n1)l<iy—
ed by kinf~*s and subjects to crush the power of feudal no»-
bles, and afterwards converted by sovereigns into instru»
ments of establislning and per[ietuati1ig their own despo-
tism, have new espoused the cause of popular freedom.
Men are beginning; to feel that their liberties and lives
are not the property of a liamily, nor the right of _g'ove1"n«-
ing;- them an indefeasible inheritance. 'I‘he spirit of
liberty is abroad in the world, the fire is kindiling; upon
her altars in every civilized country ; in Italy and Grreece
she is revisiting the scenes of her former glory ; Spaimhy
one of the noblest and grandest revolutions the world ever
witnessed, has thrown off most of the coils which Despotu
isin and Superstition have been, thr three centuries, binding
around her ; France has etnerged from alternate anai--
chy, revolution and despotism, to a comparatively free
existence; the States of Germany are filled with enlight-~

ened and zealous advocates of the riglits of man; the r

governnient of Prussia is shaken to its foundation 5 and,
even in the armies of i Russia, the liglit is begin-—
niizg to break forth. The mind has received an impulse
which it is too late to resist: the Emperor of Austria
may amuse the world by his mandates for the suppression

15

of learning and dictate a reverence for absurd and antique.
ted institutions, as‘ if his decree could fetter the soul go the

Holy Alliance may rear its terrific form and unfurl the

banners of despotism :--»-it is in vain,»-—the cause of free-
dom is “ the cause of God, and will not be deserted?’

My countrymen, we are not merely spectators of this
eventful struggle ; we also, have a. great and solemn duty
to perform. In us is reposed the lligh trust of displaying
to the world the operation of the principles of enli_g;l1t-
ened freedom, and, by our failure would the grand
question of man’s capacity for sell‘-government be, at least
for centuries, decided. The patriots of other countries
are looking to us for the confirmation of their principles,
and appeal to our Itepublic as illustrative of the doctrines
they advocate; and if we, whose government has been
erected with so much wisdom. labour and suffering, de-
lemled with such heroic sacrifices of blood and treasure;
and consecrated with such fervent piety and pure morality ;
it‘ we, who have been blessed with all of freedom that the
most sang-uine friend of humanity ever wished; who
Oflglit to be animated by every i'ecling~ of national pride,
lenligghtened patriotism and devotional gratitude, and actu-
ated by every interested and every lofty and generous
sentiment; if we shall suffer‘ the institutions of our coun-
try to be weakened or destroyed by our negligence or
corruption, we shall most miserably fail, not only in our

duty to the memory of our fathers, to ourselves and our v

posterity, but to the vvh ale human race. If our repub-
lic fall, well may it be said that man is incapable of self---
government 5 for none can ever again be raised on deeper

16

or broader foundationsrerected with xnolecare or more
securely defended by all that wisdom, virtue and religion
can devise. In no. nation is the maxim, that all govern-
ment is founded on opinion, so necessary to be thoroughly
understood and extensively known, as in this. In those
countries, indeed, Where the authority of the rulers do-
pends upon factitious notions of hereditary and divine
right, the truth of this doctrine must be cautiously con-
cealed; for, should their subjects once realise the tenure
by whirh the tyranny they feel is held, they would spurn
the authority which now rests only on their ignorance
and superstition. With us, power, theoretically and prac--.
tically, resides in the people ; the periodical return of it
into their hands, to he reinvested at their pleasure, pla-~
ces the whole character of our laws and institutions, upon
the foundation of their sentiments. The establishment,
therefore, which rlernantls our chief and unremitted atten-
tion, is that system of public education which was the
pride of our fathers, is still the glory of our country, and

is essential to the continuance of our national freedmn :u‘ul

happiness. This, alone, can perpetuate the grand princi-
ple of Political Equality, upon which rests the whole (‘ah-«
ric of our government ; for it is in vain that our Consti-«
tution proclaims that all men are born free and equal, on-
less we enable them to continue so, by throwing open,
equally to all, the doors to honour and promotion 5
and this alone can perpetuate the security and free»
dom of our republic 5 for if the people he ignorant, no
form of a government, however perfect in its theory or ixn-
partially administered, can long remain unshaken. The
power of the few will soon be esteemed a usurpation oi.‘

17

the rights. of the many, and Political Equality, instead of
Consisting in the enjoyment of equal l'lf§lllCS m;idep1"ivileges,
will degener-ate into 21 ])l“0lIllSCll0l'lS leil'elling of all, even
the meswt necessary distinctions, till aristocracy or ¢.les-:pe-
tism wrest the Sceptre from 3. cle;.,=;'ra<zled am} eniheblerl pep-
ulaee. Let us ever remember tlmt new imlzimiel ‘ll'eedm’¥1
was effected, and can alone be 'll1€t‘ll1l3€l.ll’l(3(l,.l)y the mural
sti*en§;tl1 and l’l’l’lM”ltE-i,l eiiergy ml’ the people; mail let us;
C‘.l”H;‘-l"lSll with anxieus solicitmle, tl1eseilite1i*a:*y aml l*(;‘-l'l."_1..§*,‘~
iiOllSlIlSlLl.l£lll§l011S by wl*xich the C‘-lfl«‘c1ll"{?l.Cl(‘3K' «if our fetlme
was f'uI"'n1e('l, and by wlxicl1only,ii; can conisinue the ili"lll(3ll"-~
itance of their children.

at

In all ages an(.lc01.11’itries, l§i}’ll)‘\\‘l0(.l§.';;C has been the ll(3.l‘{lll.l.
and frieml 01' liberty; in xmiulei‘-vi‘: Em-ope lner n"me‘t 5503.].

one mlvoeetes are found in SGi'll:ll'l€U“"l(3S of lear1ii:~:g; _z;‘

and in the llistery of the werld, we "liml that the most de-
voted lnamtyrs in lier cause lieve been tlmse who felt‘ the
pliysiwl derwatlatiori of (le.e:petlisi‘n least, but wlmseen-
lig;l1te1’ied minds spurned at its existence, as cle1*w;;loz-y to
our race. i

In this country, we have iiotliingg to fear fmm the pro»!

gr-ess of learning; lJl'lGW3 is liere, no ar'bii;mi~y power" to
control her‘ ell'o1'ts or purcliiese l15GI"' pmiees ; no lxez*e(liter*y
1"anl«:. to be gilded by l1(L‘.»l"' ll0l"l0lilT'S, pei*petuateil by l1eI'sepl1—
istriee or vimlieated by her eicxquenceg our poets will cel-
ebrate the achievements el’ blur l‘e'l:l:e1*e; our l1isto1*~iemsi
will perpetuate the principles, l:'eelir1;fs end mmmers upon
which our republic lies been erected ; our stateemien and
111o1'alists, tmfoldlngg; the system of our gevermnent, will

display the inseparable C()l‘ll“l0Cl'.lOll between private morals ’

C!

18

and public happiness; and the refinement of literature,
dill"'used tl'll‘0tlgll(}llt society, will add beauty toythe
sti‘-eiigth and g -andemc of national character.

Another institution, which necessarily grrew out of the
condition of our ancestors and is essential to the presen-
vation of our liberties, is em system of national militia.
Those who consider it intended merely for de.l’ence agaiiist
fet'ei_e;n ag,~g,~r*ession or the suppression of domestic turnnlts,
have mflected little upon its tendency or use['nlness ;; at-—
gnments, lxowevev, need not be S0l,lf_"ll'l3 fmé, to pr-eve that
1nen,pet'i0dically accustomed to the use of amis and to
habits of tnilitary obedience, will be better prepared to
constitute an army for national defence than those who
had seen weapons only in the hands of a PGgl.llt1l‘ soltliery,
and consitleretl every exercise of at-liiti-any authority a
a violation of their liberties. This nliilitary system is, in
fact, the theory of our golvetonnent carried out into actual
operation; that, by which the sovereign power, which
the Constitution proclaims to be in the people, is actually
placed in their hands; whereby their rigrhts and liberties
are left to be preset-veil and defended by their own velour
and discretion, against domestic as well as For-eigti osux-‘pa-»
tion. It is the peculiar armour of a free people, for, no-
bounded as is our conlidence in the patviotistn of those who
now compose our national troops, history and reason alike
demonstrate that no nation can long retain its liberty, in
which aims are borne only by a standing army.

l I know not. Fellow Citizens, in what terms to speak of

“ the peculiar privilteges we enjoy 5 the simple enumeration
of our political blessings has the appearance of ostenta-«V

19

tious exultation. Living under a form of government in-
visible as the air we breathe, and felt only in the protec-
tion it alfm-ds; with Commerce, Agriculture and Manu-
factures affording full scope to genius and industry, a
brave army and a gallant navy; with a system of
literary and religious education, the common property
of all classes of the people, difiusing throughout them
an enliglntenetl love of freedom and social: order}. and a
military institution, which planes the ultimate power in the
hands of the people, and throws upon themselves the re-«
spoesibiliyty of maintaining‘ their liberties; we seem to be
1*ealizing one of those splendid scenes of national grand-
eur and’ happiness which had, before, been esteemed the
delusive dream of the political enthusiast. Language
would fail me, were I to attempt the appeal in behalf of
yourselves and posterity which the contemplation of our
situation seems to demand :-lmtlnat you realise these ad!-
vantages is enough, I trust, to animate you to adhere to
those principles, feelings and manners in which they

‘ originated, and by which alone, they can he perpetuated

to your ehildrem

 

Printed by Munroe 8: Francis.