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ORATION,  
DELIVERED AT DEDHANL,
,mL=sr 4m, 4323,,

7~1T~‘0'R'I‘Y-SEVEN 'I‘~Ci~I ANNIVERSARY

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BY HORACE MANILA,

 

M ‘ DEDHAM 1
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Mr. Hanson MANN.

DEDEAM, ATE JULY, 1893.
Sm-—-The Subscribers, appointed for the purpose, by the Committee
of Arrangements, present to your their thanks, for your spirited and pat-
riotic Onsurxon this day delivered, in commemoration of our N etional
Independence, and request a copy of the same for the press.
With sentiments of respect, we are, sir,
Your obedient servants,
"GEORGE DIXON.
EBENEZER FISHER, Jr.

,JUmz‘ Scan, 1825.
~GnN*rLlMnN-—-In the Oration, which have done me the honor
to request for the press, Lheve attempted an  lication of the leading
principles, which constitute the basis of the governments of the Old World.
This course was adopted, in the hope that my auditors, by contrasting the
nature and consequences of those political Institutions, with the nature and
consequences of our own, might be led to a juster appreciation of the value
of the letter. If you think it productive of such an effect, and that the effect
might be extended by its publication, it shall be submitted to your disposal.
Accept, Gentlemen, the assurances of my respect and esteem,
HORACE MANN.

     
 

  

Messrs. Gnomes DIXON.
EBENEZEB. F1sn:nn,J_r.

@,R&fl”E@Ns

IN the past evolution of that vast series of events,
which the Almighty has enohained together, for the accomplish-
ment of his wondrous purposes, the American Revolution eon».
stitntes one of the most transcendently important and glorious.
It is not, therefore, without reason, that the people of this coun-
try, forgetting the varied pursuits and avoeations of life, annually
assemble together to hallow the natal day of their liberty. It is
not without reason, that a great nation, extending from the Eas-
tern even to the Western ocean, and peopled by almost ten mil-
lions offreemen, forms, on this day, but one vast temple, ‘vocal
with the praises, of our heavenly Father, and adding another

shout to that peal of applause, which must rise, forever, to the

memory of our revolutionary, patriots. V l‘

, To that great Bpeirig, who presides over the destinies of I13."
tions, we, as at people, on this, day, owe peculiar homage. For,
as from his eter-not throrie, he now, suprvleysithe variedjoonditions
of the human thrniigv, end, with a glance of his omniscient eye,
takes in the whole eornpess ofthe globe ; he heholtls more than
three fourths of its inhehitenpts,p silent and motionless in the para!-4‘
ysis of despotism, wpliile others, just rousing themselves from cen-
turies of oppression, seem “struggling to loose their fetters, with
despernte but unavailing energ;y._ One verdant spot alone, amidst
this i..l0l.lIl(iit-383 desolation, meets his eye----one spot alone, where
the heart of men is not pwithering end oorrnpting, beneath the

pestilence of tyranny, and where no élespot dares lift his hand to
pluck a leaf from the tree of liberty. That spot is our eounitryig,

those hearts are our own.

(1,.

Next t'o Him, by whose fiat empires rise and fall, we wilt"
celebrate, with pious recollections, that band of patriots, by whose
unequalled wisdom and magnanimity, by whose countless toils
and sufferings, we were redeemed from the thraldom- of British

, domination. Appalling, indeed, were the difficulties, they had to

encounter; agonizing the privations they had to endure; but,
with a devotion to their cause, which rose higher than their at-—
tachment to every oLhe'rearthl“y interest, and with a love of lib-
erty, which was stronger than death-, they nobly dared to engage
in the unequal? conflict. How different the duty, they performed-,
from» that, which the present happy" situation. of our country de-
mands of us. We, like them, come up to the altar of “liberty, but
“we come, surrounded by the ensigus of hilarity, and feel our bo-
soms lieiaving-wi~tl1 festivity and joy. They came, with step no-
less firmrend unfalteringwstlieirr eye quailed not, when it looked
on death--—t~hey came in-all that- awful majesty of the human soul,
when, witha full view ofconseqnenccs, it dares to pursue a glori-
ous object, by righteous means. We come to offer up our joyous
oblations of thanksgiving and praise. They came and poured
out upon the altar, their-"own lil'e"s blood for the sacrifice. As»
setnbledaround this altar, we should not prophane the sanctity oi‘:
their memories, by a liorgetfurluess of the principles which guided,
and of the motives-liwhicli impelled them, in» that perilous conflict.
We should-' be penetrated with the same rational conviction of the

rights of man; we should‘ glow with the same ardent devotion to»

the cause of liberty; we should burn with the same inextinguish-~«
able wrath against the oppressor, wherever, upon the face of the
earth, he is forging the fetters of bondage for his fellow men.
'When we cease to hate vice, we shall cease to love virtue.

The single fact, that the American people, as it‘ moved by»

one common soul, annually throng their temples, to rejoice togeth-
er in the immunities of -freedom,‘ forms a commentary on the dark

character of the tyrant, which no strength of eixecration can equal.“

Du nohuman being, do mankind deem themselves dependant for-

the light of day or the privilege ot'breathiug the common air; yet’
these rightsare not more emphatically their own, than those of‘

which they have been despoiled; and had they been within.

the grasp of tyranny, experience has terribly demonstrated, at

what price they must have been purchased.  = ~  ‘
Were it possible for mankind, unbiassed and unintimidateei,

5
to have yielded their assent to those systems of oppression, which
have been exercised over them, they would, in some degree, have
merited the miseries they have suffered. But, to a proposition

so preposterous, credulity itself, could not, for a moment, listen.--
Had it been ordained by an inexorable decree of Heaven, that

mankind should not have selected their rulers from their lovmt

species, but from the beasts that prowl the forest, or even from
the fabled regions of despair; they surely would not have chosen
the hyena nor the tiger, nor placed their triple crown on the heads
of the Eumenides. Yet a little blood would have sufliced for
the tige-r’s daily repast; a few human hearts would have been
sufficient to sate the hyena‘s appetite, and poets have painted the

Furies as sometimes relenting. But what “intinite of agonies” t

can melt into compassion the adamantine heart of the tyrant;
-"what nations, immolated at the shrine of conquest, can gorge his
appetite for power, or what oceans of blood can stake the
thirst of his ambition! When he has rode in triumph over the
-suhjugated nations of “the earth, he has wept for other worlds to
eonrpier and to desolate; and when he has racked the body to the
last three of mortal agony, he has mourned, that the powers of
hurnan endurance could not sustain the poignancy of fiercer
torture. i

In the name of God, then, why is it, that a few monsters of
our race have been permitted to acquire this unlimited power,
and to exercise its tremendous prerogatives? Why have they
been suffered to spread, far and wide, this desolation of p human

happiness; to till thisbeauteous world with the groans of despair,

and make it red with the blood of innocence ?r

The causes, which have led to this perrnanent violation of
the laws of nature, and to u this ‘inversiouof the great objects of
social existence, it is iucurnhentrou us to understand,and, un-
derstanding, to avoid. , l l r

A clrr2'.liotr'on_from that fundamental ma:rz'm qf natural lam), that
“all men are born free rind equal” was the first in the long series
of political causes,’which has made the history of our world, like
the roll of the prophet, a record of lamentation and woe. ’i‘his

cause, too, has been the natural support of all those thousand _
subordinate institutionsef despotism, whichthe ingenuity of ty-

rants has accumulated, from age -to age, to aggrandize their own.

power and perpetuate their subjects vassalage. The great con-~

dition in the charter of liberty was broken, when, in selecting the V

rlepositnries of public. trust, the accident of birth was substituted
for the possession of merit.  For, no man is born with the qualifi-
cetions, necessary to n mler, and few, very few, with ability to
acquire them. The station of a civil ruler, indeed, requires_high-

er talents, more extensive acquisitions, powers of mind, better

fitted for comparison, combination and analysis, a comprehension
that can embrace more of the present, and a foresight that take...
in a wider grasp of the future, than any other situation resulting
from the social compact. A poet may write, or an orator may
declnim,but the great mass of mankind will be neither more wise,
nor rnorelhappy for the tignientsof the one, nor for the rhapsodies
ct‘ the other. Not so with the acts of the civil. ruler. - A breath
from, his mouth, will contlagrate a city, or desolate a. nation, or
fasten the chains of bondage on at hundred igeneretions. ‘Yet
where the doctrine of ilierediteryi right has irprerailed, these pow-~
ers,.incalculab_ly<irnportaniytyyaso, they are,‘ l1awe,been.exercised,, lit;-
erallyi speaking, more than ninety-nine, tirnesiin 3. humireti, try‘
some monster in wickedness, or some abortion in intcilect.i°“
Mental, imbecility, however, in pa hereditary monarch isitnlxvngas
desirable. It weakens, the genie-rntriing principle ofnzxtionnl ca-

lamity. And hence it is, that, though a succession of illustrious

talents in the chief magistrates of a government, wisely consti-
tuted, will “confer strengothd, prosperity and glory on the nation .3.
yet, if there is any one favor, for which the suizgjects of a mon-
archy owe peculiar gratitude to the Deity, it is when he has
blessed them with a long line of royal ideots. ,

The criterion of birth, however, could not have been estab-
lished in the most primitive and simple states of society. The
father of a royal race must have owed his own elevation to quail»

it The reason is obvious. A prince has so many stimulants to vice and

so many facilities to gratification, with so few restraints, that, if he has any
natural buoyancy of spirits, any native ardor of feeling, he becomes a villain,

ofcourse. The desire of establishing endypreserving a character, and the

dread of forfeiting our respect and standingin sooiety,_if we abjure the prac--
tice of virtue and contemn the principles of ' morality, are" among; the most

powerful incentivesto a life of integrity and honor. But when an imlividu ‘

ual knows, that he is made the fir-st man in his kingdom, in point of honor,
rank and dignity, by an inflexible constitutional srule, superoeding all others,
he is like toytrouble, himself very little about such secondary and subordinate‘
considerations asthe mnxims of virtue, -the injuncptions of religion and the

laws of God.

ties, which commended themselves to the unsophisticatetl reason
of men ; and no tribe orclan couldever have been so rude T and
infatuated, as not to look for wisdom and integrity in acivil ruler ;
foriprowess and bravery in a military chieftain. It was some
undue exercise of power, "or, perhaps, some sacrifice of life by an
elective ruler, which could he rewardedonly inthe person of his
offspring; combined with the absurd prepossession~ that the se-
scendants of the wise and the uprightwould inherit the virtues‘ of
their ancestors, on which the doctrine of arhereditary transmis-
sion of honors and of authority was first founded. But, at this
time, itis scarce""necei'ssary‘to‘observe, that" the fact ofiinheriting
the blood of the great and good is, in itself, no guaranty of inher-
iting the nobler qualities of the soul. The despicable tyrant, who
divided the kingdom and scattered the tribes of Israel, was the son
«of Solomon; and it was the brave, the generous, the high-souled
Germanicus, that gave birt.h to Caligula, that emperor, who built

a palace for wild beasts and fed them on human victims.-—---~-at

Neither could this species of government, absurd and preposter-
ous as it is, have assumed, in its earliest stages, those terrible
forms, in which it has since visited mankind with degradation
and misery. The powers, originally conferred, must have been
restricted by express stipulation or tacit understanding. I-lot
power, by whatever means acquired, has a natural tendency to
aggrandise itself. It rewards submission with favor, and parse»-
cutes opposition with revenge. It produces opulence; opulence,
splendor and magnificence. Thus, the simple insignia of office
uswelledinto imperial purple, lengthened retinues and armed guards.
The monarch grew wanton in the possession of his power, forgot
the source, from which it was derived, claimed to he the vice»-
gerent of Heavenl upon earth, to. hold his authority from God
alone, and to Him alone, to be amenable for its exelrcisefii   As yet,

_ "‘ Richard 92d declared to the House of Commons, that slaves they were
and slaves they should be; and to his Parliament, that he would not, at their
request discharge the meanest scullion in his kitchen. And, truly, it would
have been cruel in the Parliament to have made any such request, for he
had only three hundred servants in his kitchen; and, what is still more one
traordinary, six thousand sutiieed for his palace, allowing a proportionate
number for the Q.uoen’s apartment. “The laws” said he, “are in my breath,
I can make and unmake tltem at pleasure.” p p p '

Henry 8th tells his subjects, that “they ought no more to proton giv-
ing a judgment with reg;art1 to government, than a hlind man with » gard

8

experience had not taught the multitude, that the passions ofs
tyrant were more destructive, than the earthqualte, tempest or
volcano; they bowed down before their new-formed wonder, and
the sceptred worm was endowed with the attributes and encir«~
cled with the splendors of divinity. .
But the tyranny, founded upon the doctrine of hereditary
right, or, in other words, of natural inequality, arrived at its full.

perfection, under that code, which is denominated the Feudal.

System, and which, for thirteen centuries, has prevailed, through-
out the greater part of Europe. The earlier monarchies of the
world, in which there were no gradations of power between the
sovereign and the slave, as they rested on custom and were up-
held by terror, could not support themselves against the lowest de»
gree of intelligence on the part of the subject, or the slightest per-
ception of his natural rights. For, the number of those is not
great, in any age, who are capable of acquiring that moral power,
on which an absolute monarchy rests, except the people bein-
volved in the grossest ignorance. But the existence of feudal
tyranny has been found, not only compatible with the highest
degrees of mental cultivation and "intellectual eminence, in a few
individuals; but it even derives support from those natural sour—-
ces of dignity and happiness, as poisonous plants draw am-
pler nutriment from a cultivated soil. The distinguishing char»
acteristic of feudal governments is the partition of the proprietor»
ship in the lives and labors of the people and in the productions
of the soil, among a greater number of individuals, most of whom,
are designated by the canons of hereditary succession, and in.
those, who enjoy this hereditary right, is also vested the power of
appointing the rest; so that a mart is constantly keptopeu, where
the talents of the nation, whenever they become formidable to
government, may, by conferring upon their possessors the unap-
propriated posts of honor and of emolument, be bought over to
extol the theory of the constitution and to defend the ziteasures of

to colors; and we,” says the same gracious soyereign, “tlrinl: it right strange,
that ye, who are but brutes and inezcpert folk do take upon you to appoint
us who be meet or not, for our council.” Hu"Mn’s HIS. On. 31.

King James says, ihat, “as it is blasphemy for any man to dispute what
God may do, in the plenitnde of his Omnipotencc; so it is sedition for

i ‘subjects to dispute what a king may do in the fullness of his power.”

a tM“z'ss z1z'I:en’s it-tiermnoirs of the Com‘! ofKt~ng James.
“I constitute the kingdom’? was the common expression of L0l.1iSii.;1~i.i1.,

V
WK
4.

‘the "e'i£ml’.§i"itig atlrniniistration. By this c'li~v'i‘sio‘n of ‘im'mun"it'ies and
~"t‘ranchises, an increased number of -families acquire a permanent.
interest in the government, and whelsher “they will or will not, in
slgeneral, labor for the support of-that -g;ov'~ernment, whatever may
the its corruptions and -abuses, depends upon the truth or falsity
«of the -sacred declaration, that “ where a rnan’s treasure is, there
will his heart he also.” in such a government, wealth and tal-
~ents among a t'ew, the number of real and -chance dignitaries,
the multiplied rigors ofrthe laws, every thing, in line, which can
repress opposition, is increased; and history assures us, that en-
lrcroaclnnerrts-upon the rights of the people, by «irresponsible rul-—
‘ere, will always be co-extensive with their ability to defend them.
'l‘hus -it-is, that an aristocratic -few, by a varied moral influence,
~cor-nhined with that physical force, which consists of legatl
vsanctions and of military establishments, are enabled to hold the

lg:-c::.tt mass of the people in a state of vassalage and utter abase»

-tncnt. And the deductions of reason coincide with the declara-—
tions cl" history, that, under the Feudal System the power of the
rulers has becomes a hundred fold greater, than that of the rulers of
-ancient times. This power has increased as the advancement oi‘
«the people in intelligence has meuaced it with danger.

Front the state of society which ‘such a government would nat-
rurall y induce, it would not require the hen of prophesy to fore-
see, that three or ‘four ‘philosophers might rise up, in every
=generation, who would extend the dominion of man over the
-powers of nature‘; and,7perhaps, number among their contempora-
«rice as many scholars and as many poets, who would multiply the

-pleasures of cultivated minds, by multiplying the elegancies,._

and the beauties of literature. Yet from this circumstance alone
havvte -some political sciolists concluded, that such a nation must

a the .great, prosperous and happy. But who is it, amid this fancied

prosperity, that pays the immense salary of the crown '2 who fur-
nishes the "princely revenues of the nobility and lords? who
maintains the almost regal establishments of the landed proprie-
tors’? who pays the enormous stipends to the civil and ecelesi»
astical dignitaries ? who equips the vast naval and military arma-
ments ol the realm ? who supplies materials for the wars of am
-hition and folly '2 who replenishes the coffers from which the spy
and the hircling receive the rewards of their iniquity C’ Are the
exactions for all these purposes any less rigororxs, because Boaotiafn
0

Jud

'10

uflullnesa has not saeltled upon every lxeall. imil lmizzmses 3. zzlgllt ml
Gethic ignorance has not enveloped the land 1’ It is tlm sweat. and
toil of the people alone, wlaicll supply all this luxury, and power,
and magxxificence. It is upon their hard ezxrzfmgs, that the pmm

legecl orders descend, as upon a common prey, to devour and l‘al.-  

ten. Their’s is the labor of Sysiphus, unceaalng and 1.111z1v:«ailia'w*.

The seccmcl cause, or rather class of camses, which has CUE“
duced to» the enslavement of nmnkind, ccmsisls of those vam'.c¢l'
moral in_fl2m:2ces mhiala trulers have exerted upwz ilzc lrzilzcliw zgf Illa
2“z¢l.c:l. Moral power aclsupon moral a"5:1lzm;‘.s directly, aaiul upon

"playsical natures through the inlerveutiorx of moral. It cousislzs
in a knowledge of the laws of nature, and in bringing the szllmject 5

to be acted upon willzln the influence of tlmse laws. Illaysical
poweris limited in the extent of its operzllimm, mad as it usually
acts by its own efficacy, the elfects cease with a CSQSSHHOII of the
cause whigsh prodzzced them. Will: all the assislamze of art,
wlxiclxg imileecl, is moral power, the greatest‘, distance, at which an
act merely pllyaical can pmduce its efilect, is the cast ofajzwe-liln,
gr the flight of an arrow 02' a ball. But moral power knows no
such limits. It speaks with 3. mice, wlmse tlxzxnilers may be
heard, throughout the world, and strikes with an arm that can
reach to the ends of‘ the earth. It produces its results, by amizlg
upon suligjeels, whi{:h are thernselves active, and lxenma its effects,
instead of, ceasing; with the cause, may be continued; propaggaleal
amlmulliplied llxrougla all time. Plxysical power, agz-rim, is 5:)
equally diviclecl zxxnozzg mankiml, that tile appllcallon of its lo'rc~
min the world in lxulldzagelmlzst alwzlys lmve been lmflfeétlllfll ; l_m-
sides it would S!.ll“lp0.‘5‘I3 the freedom of a sullicient number ta coma
stilute a supa-;:.=lo:*ity ol"slra~ng;ll1. Baal, let pt-oper motives to ac»-
tion be incorporated with the principles of llm lamnzm mind; lest
proper dogmas in politics am! irx,r'elig,im1 be fully accreditecl, and
the finger of an izfiirmt might. sway the xmlverse.

  Let a ruler infuse into the minds of his people a low:  con-
quest and dowzizzaliozz, and he will become illustrious and lmlovecl,
precis'ely in propmlletm to the miseries, he inlllcts upon the human
species. Hence, it has so often l“lz1pp(:1'm(l, that, l're>m a field of‘
lzmltleg where the «eurtll has been (§!O“l’(3l'Bll with carnage; wlwre llw
lliaerties 0-fa nalkzazx have been lost in a (lay, and 3. great people
reduced tr) all the ll()l'['0l'S of captivity ; wlniwe uzmtterztlale lmisery
has been caused, without the least G£'}l1C('3lV’£ll)l8 benefitmfrozn al

M

tield like this, has it happened, that the deluded soldiery have

t rent the air with their shouts, “ Long live the king 1” “ Let the

king live forever.” His venal hards might sing of the enduring
‘verdure of a chiet'tain’s laurel, but they could not assuage the
anguish of bereavement, which wrung the bosom of the widow and
the orphan. His corrupted ministers might prate ot‘ the eti'ul-
geuce and glory, with which victory encircles a nation’s brow ;.
but they could not rebuild the cities, they had razed, nor cover
the plains, blasted by war, with luxuriance and plenty. Such
are the consequences, which may result from engrafting upon the
human mind, a single erroneous principle of action.

Let er vanity 0]" titleclprecmz'ncnce, regardless Qf talents and air-
tuc, degrade the public mind, and all the energies ofa man will
be put in requisition to obtain that, which will only render him
more conspicuously conternptible. Hence it is’, that tllousl
ands have thought an empty title, which marlrecl no ennohling
qualityof the head or heart, to be cheaply purchased‘ by a life of
ignominious and meamspirited submission, And so strong are the
habitudes of our nature, that men of some reason and enlargement
of mind have believed, that their course of earthly honors was fin-4
ished,thnt the goal of immortality was won, when they had re-
ceived permission, by’ royal patent, under the great seal of the
kingclom,, to deck themselves with a little glistening star, ora.
pennyls worth of ribbon! “ O dedecus insigne Inmzani-generis, were
rzebilitute oblin‘, false imagtina capti.”

But there is one opinion which has been implanted in the
pnblic mind, which, unlike other errors,seems to have noalliance

with anycorrect feeling, no connection with any natural impulse «

to action or with any moral perception of duty whatever; but
which is, neverthelessl, used as a potent charm to inspireiawe and
intimidate resistance. It is the dogma of loyalty to the Icing. To
this, the ministerial orator appeals, inThis highest strains of elo-
quence; by this, the general adjures on the day of battle; and
in the violation of this, is the highest crime, known to the penal
code of any government, saidichiefly to consist. Loyalty im-
ports an obligation ot" adherence to the person of the king, how-
ever odious his character, and a constant support of his meas-—
ures,however criminal their nature or destructive their tendency.
It is a chain cast about a subject’s neck, the moment he is born,
and which he can no more shake oh‘ than he can separate himself

ii: #3

tram his owotpersoosl’ icleeratity. And, in tlm tlmory oi’ tits "?13Z‘r:vg_2:»‘~

it%ish« law, the life of every man, who mist-trl his hzmtl in the war oi?’

the revolution, was: forfeited tothe English crown. But where is-
the warrant in reason, whore is—~tl1st warrant in. the natural subor-I
diuatioo of tliinggs for the rule, rim 3. single individual shootrl her
s»eieot.~e<i,. by the clxarzos of birth, from among t.weot;r, thirty, forty»
or even fifty miilitons of‘m~én to his the fo.unt,oiv»n, frorrxr whose Sup-

plies alone the rest czmdsrivo ei-tlier honor or justlice ;, that, from,’

the period of’. his Iloppening, tlts‘ trtmsactzioosv of ‘nations and.’
the spociis of nature should“ be dated ;. t‘l*zst,wl1ile he is stiil.
‘“"” mowling anti» puiing. in his nurse"'s arms,” the great, the brave,.
tits wise should’ be somtnonotl from the emls of the earth, to (rooms

up and do him homage; that, whom he arrives at the common ago.

ofaooou‘ot,aiiitit.ys, a crown shoulri he placed upon. his head to be
reverenced, anal‘ a sot:-ptre put» in l1.ishan.dT to- be fearer1“ ;, that the
power of, co-mroittihg every ermrrnsity should l’)(% given ltim, sod,
overy restraint which o0ui{l—p1‘eventt‘l1sir commissstisovn, sltoziltl,
at the same time, be taken away; thst, by the cormtitotion, this»
person shroultl’ he mratdis i.nviol.=tble, his oontioct onimzpsacltable anti
all hisoriross» l3l’Ipl1tii8~i]‘c1‘l3i€‘  anti, tirmugh his whole life slzooid be
iaut one continued‘ series of atrocities and blasphemgg still, in lo»
gal phrase, but to “ imagine his d‘eatl1"’ should be at more heinous
crime and pumisl1ab»i‘e with heavier penalties, titan the actual mar»
{fer ofevery common man, and the actual robbery of every far-
thing of property in the kingdom. This does not, iradestl, con»-
found thtsclistinotiotns between, virtue and vice, bettrmeri lmowl-

Mtge amt ignorance, betvreen talents and stupidity, but it mslrres

then: change places al.tog;et.l1‘er. It is this dogma ofloyaltoy, which»
abjurrs and spurns all those dictr1tos—lot' reason, all those maxirus
of common sense, by which we bestow respect on the good, and
pay deference to the lsaroedtami the wise. For, in conformity
with its requisitions, such men as Franklin, Washington, J'sfl‘or--
son, Adams and I-isnooolr, such men as Ohatham, Burke and Fox
oould not enter the presence of their puppet king, but with a.
sohmissivensss and venorstion, due to One alone; lmt, standing,
afar ofil they most how their mig;l1t.y spirits, in reverential ltomngs,
before the pony intellsclt of George the Third. It is as thouggti s;

glow-worm. should call upon the sun and all the stellar worlds to
perform their stupemlous revolutions wound him, as tlmir com-;i~

mop source oflight and common. centre of gravity.

as  

The pripzciple 0)’ religion, also, has been made one of the
most; powerful auxiliaries of sacerdotal tyranny. The human
mind is so constituted, that wherever the imagination can travel
far down into the remotest periods of future duration, or ‘wherever
it oanlwnnder through the illimitable regions of space, there may
he placed the ahodes of happiness or the realms of woe. Our:
thoughts, with the rapidity of lightning can sweep along the held:
of immensity or wing their way into the interminable ages of at
hereafter, and, gathering all their joys or all t their agonies, bring
them home to the soul with an intensity of feeling, inferior only
to the awful and tremendous reality. How vast, then, are his
powers, whom we believe able, either, by his authority to control,
or hy his supplications to influence our future destiny! He posw
sesses 3. power over us, which no combination of earthly interests
oen create. To the power of the civil tyrant, there are limits.

, In mercy, hesports himself only with the fortunes, lives and lih-

erties of men. He, indeed, can emaciate with hunger and toil;

he can chill with cold and nakedness; he can immure in the  

  loathsome recesses of a dungeon, where the light of day never

comes and the sympetlxising sound of the human voice is never
heard; he can sever the limbs from the body, with that slow and

c.:mt.ious violence, that not a. cord shall break. without its eppro-  
, priete pang; and myrieds have known how true it is, that, when.
> torn by rznclriong engines or stretched upon the bed of Damien, the

nerves of men are not slow to feel. But the weapons of snoerdow
tel tyrsnnyereprtot copied from the frail and feeble instruments of

i Tthefenrthly ptortnrer- They nreof keener temper, '1‘hey,3 are
, forged from lthe infernal» world. Cllhe venom of hell is in their

t ‘wounds, endito the heart, smitten   hythem,,;joy  sndfpeace sancl

hope cannot come. i     

‘ Wltwns when a revelation had sttggested’ to rnankindniestate
of penal retribution, beyond the confines of this life, that thepriesti

«come forth, clothed in the terrors of this sacred fnnctien, and hol-
ding in his hand the thunders of Omnipotentwrath. He declared

iehirnselt‘ admitted at the awful councils of .lehovah..f He came,

cornmissioned to he the elrnonier of I-leaven’s mercy, or the terriwi

hie executor of its Vengeance. To him, were committed their

jkeys of hell and death; he opened and no manconld slant; he t

t shntsndnoirnsn could open. He dernended of his votaries an

nhepndonment of their , reason to his infsllihility, of theirvirtne to A  

1%

his corlcupiscomze, of their wealth to his:’fnvs.rice; and it”, in ohs»
rlience to the laws of God, engrntren upon their honrt.s, they with"
held ought of his unhnllowed requisitions, he seared their eye-hulls
with the flames, and astounded their ears with the roar, ot‘tlmt

ocean of fire, whose surges should dash and bent upon their nnlrerl

souls forever. Norless hlasphernons were his pretensions in the 
, .0 l . L,

impunity, which he secured to guilt, than in the punishment which
hointlioted upon innocence. He said to the murderer, the seducer
or the parricide, for this pecuniary atonement, “thy sins be for-—«
give-:11 thee ;” then, (transcending even the Eedeemefis rlelegnted
power) fora similar equivalent, “go and do- so more.” Who
can calculate the enormitios of such a power ‘.7 Who can

measure the degradation of its vnssnls? Who can sum up the

catalogue of human miseries, when the Omnipoteuce of God is
wielded by the depravity of man ?"‘“‘t l

Another meansof retaining the sway over mankind in the
hands of a few 1ndnvul’usls, and one, which, in modern times, has»

nssumed a character of prirnnry importance, isa .9tarzn.’ing army.
To the name of the Eighth Charles of France is the infamy of
devising this support of arbitrary power attached. It consists in:
separating a certain portion of the community from the rest, and?
in making their interests, not only separate from, but incompete-
hle with, those of the people. Government, by thus arrsyiug one

portion of its subjects in the panoply of death, while the other are-

universally debnrred the possession of arms, accomplish the two»

fold purpose of silencing murmurs at home, and of gratityiug am-v

bition abroad.

’¥',l[‘l1e following tariff on the commission of crimes was published ut,
Rome in the seventeenth century. It shows what idea the holy lhtlzors
inr.ulcnt.cd relative to the proportional degree of moral turpitnde in dllfer-r
out acts, forbidden by human or divine laws.

[,3 3.11..
For n layman, who shall strike a priest; without effusion of bloori , 0 ti t
For one lnymun, who shall kill another, 0 3 3
For mnrclering n t'nther, mother, wife or sister, 0 .5 On
For testing nient in Lent, 0 5 5
For incost, . 0 3 8
For marrying on the days, when the church forbids matrimony, S’? 0 0’
For thenbsollution of all sins, Q 16 O

Indulgences, that is, privileges to commit future crimes with impunity,
*u=‘cx'e sold at the same price.

I think it is Robertson, who says, that, in the early part of the sixteenth

oentu u ri ht to commit a future murder cost‘. nine neuec.
5 5



To these, has been added, in England, the tyranny ot” a ns.~'
tional debt. That government has borrowed of great capitalists
«such enormous sums of money, that the most rigorous exactions
upon the people are scarcely sutficient to meet the annually ac~
cruing interest, together with usual expenditures. Thus the in-
»tluence of these national creditors is bought over to support the
constitution, whatever may be its errors and corruptions, and so
much wealth is subtracted frorn the power of resistance and added
to the power cl‘ oppression. A

We pass over the Draconian codes of law, common to all;
the sale, among many, of judicial offices to the highest bidder,
with its incalculahle consequences upon the rights of the people;

. the influence of governmental patronage; the power of dispensing

with laws; the arbitrary exertions of prerogative; with ten thou-
sand other muniments of despotism. Their enumeration would
be endless. W hat have been mentioned are only as two or three

sands upon the seashore. They form but a scanty index to the

exirsariguined volumes of tyranny.

More could the curtain fall, the darkest scene of human guilt
would sreuxnin, unexhibited. 1-Iurnanity had consoled herself with
the reflection, that 0riginttlil.y,~in regal crime, was no longer pos-

«sihle; that, frorn the lawless violence of N eroi“ to the insidious

treucheries of the Church, was comprised the whole compass of

lhumuu iniquity, iunll its vnrieties and modilications. Butit,

was reserved for the intelligence, liberality and moral elemtion of
the nineteenth century, to be outraged by nspectacle of regal

..guilt, so transcending in rnagnitude, as to make the atrocities of
':t'orrncrtyrnr1ts seem hut rude essays in the science of human

oppression. Within the last few‘ years, Europe has beheld all the

<st::1ltet'ed elernents of ancient tyrannies, collected and combined

into one comprehensive and efficient systemnof despotism, so
svigilant in its circurnspection, and so resistless in its operations,

it Nero caused a circus -to be made in his garden, with columns at equai
-intervals, upon each side, On these columns, he fastened the Christians,
~i’)ii'£rll"ttl'c”titl'lllg their bodies with conrbustlbles, and setting them on tire, and then,
sezrtecl on his chariot, drove around, regeling his eyes with the spectacle and
'¢lt*li§gi!tlr1§;; his cure with the shr-ielrs of their dying tortures. Horrible as this
is, amt pr)igr1trtal.ly' as it agoniees every fibre of feeling; there is not the
least pr-¢'.:l»al;ility, that the aggregate of misery iuliicted by this monster was at
tlrctarxszrmltlr part what must necessarily result from the accomplishment ofthe
‘designs oithe Holy Alliance. ' i

16

as to menace extermination to the principles of libel-t.y and eternal
servitude to man. Resistance to established authority require?»
such a unanimity of counsels, where there is no common l'lea(l,oancl.
such mtteuslvoriess of concert, where all intercourse must be se-
orot, that a revolution originating from the people is a rare phe~
nomorlou in ll'lSlOl‘y. Detection is almost inevitable, and then
the collar-.tiva st’ror:agtl1 of the community may be bt*oug,-lit to crush
«tho sol.’-.tary viotiuia, who dared to larrumt over the loereavementa
ofrlmrnzmity. But, il'a whole nation were elevated to contemplate
tlm sublime truths of fret-rclonn and equal rights, or were driven to
d€S;l(‘31"&’llil0l.’l by the wroug;s they emlured»--tliero Was, before this
ago, no refuge, wllmro the tyrant could shelter himself from tho
riglileoua V€I'.lg£’:t1l.lCl':‘ oi’ the people. This the potmltates of Eu--
ropo saw, and, lfflmlllillg from an apprel'2onsi0n of the retribution,
tlfioy were conscious ol'tleservin§3.;, tlwy lizave colloag*11o(l togetlter
to prow:=.nl'. the [)08SllJ~llily of its infliction. The slipulationsol‘
this compact are such, that all the physical strengtllol'Europo
may be concontratotl and brought to bear upon any individual
portion, that may presume to think ol' emancipation from its
prastmt bontlagzo. It is a reciprocal guaranty of their respeotivo
usurpullous. It is a covenant, by which the people of Illulropa
are to be delivered over from one generation of “ legitimatas ” to
another, through all time, as a perpetual iulieritanco of llesll aml
blood. I-lenoeforxvrlrtl, no nation is to have any voice in the I.-l[l-r

pointntanit of tlieir own rulers; any disposal of their own propor~ H

ti 5, any interest in their own happiness or in their om; o:+;lsl;ouco.*'

"" “ By a precise, unanimous and very recent dolil.)oratiou, the great;
powers, our allies, have l‘(;'..‘.~i1)lV(‘_.‘t.l, that, never, in any case, shall any act, tonal-
ing to subvolrt tho political and logititnate order, which e:xis:~;t~4 in lrllurupe, lac:
approved and still less supported by any of them; that on t.l;v.a contrary, the
1,lu"ee powers of .-Mistrial, H3lJSSlt.L and Prussia will avenge, toil/L an arr:-2c.-:1

furor: e'ucr_y altcm,-pt, opposed to the preservation of thiaordar.”

I’rucr'u.m¢.tllort oft/2.1: Ifirlg of Scmli-m'cc.
Is itpoasihle, that in the land of Wualiington, in tlm state where llarlooclr.
}o‘b'ore<l and where Warren (lied in defence of the rights ofmml, them should
boa single mlsore-ant, who could approve the conduct of tllla noli‘l.x-imls con»-

V fmlorttoy ? The t‘olloxx’ing; otlttract will allow that some of the objects of the

dotestatiou of all good urmzx are to he found axuomg; oursolvea. It is from El.
l.:om.1tiful and higl1‘ly%olx-igillzzl A.dtll'Gl‘3S, (.l0l.l.V£'ll't'5ll. by John Do"Wolt', Esq.
lleloro tllo citizens of l3ristol, R.lI.

“ II had thought: thorr. was but one opinion in this country of the raal

1'}

Witness Naples. Her aspirations for liberty were pure and fer-*‘
vent. The land where Cicero fell a martyr to his country, and
where Virgil sung the origin and honors of his nation, caught a
glimpse of their ancient grandeurand magnificence, and, with 3
rapturous enthusiasm, they panted to run again the race of their“
pristine glory and honor. Yet they only asked to participate in

_ the government of themselves. Vain and fruitless request! The

sovereigns of Europe were, at that time, assembled, in horrid con-=
clave, to celebrate the sacrament of despotism. In that Stygian
council, they were devising the means of interminable tyranny
over the extensive empires, which stretch from the wilds of
Kamtschatka to the pillars of Hercules; when they heard the
voice of Neapolitan freemen, as they sealed their compact with
liberty and swore to live free or die. The event is known. The

page of history, blackened as it is with crimes. cannot furnish a

parallels-—-Was it not enough, then, fol‘ the Russian Autocrat to
wield his iron sceptre over hordes of ferocious Tartars and bars
barian Scythians, whose minds were never illumined by one ray
of science, nor ennobled by one sentiment of dignity ;----«was it not;
enough for the Austrian Emperor to rule, with arbitrary sway,
over the descendants of the fierce and blood-thirsty Attila; but
must they violate freedom, even in her ancient sanctuary, by in-
vading the land of Scipio, to impose a king on the descendants of

' the Bruti t '.i"his was not done in the dark and benighted corners of

eurseel Nero had a eulogist.

the earth, where the light of civilization had never yet shone,
and where the notes of gospel liberty had never yet been sonne-
ded .;--4-this was not done in the remote periods of antiquity, be»

objects of this most etcecrahle Holy Alliance; but must now regret, that
among our publications, they have one", and rejoice, that to my knowledge,
they have but one, ad*voca.te.5’ In a note he subjoins, “ The publication to‘
which I allude is prqfcssédly devoted to religion. Since the Neapolitan
affair, the Editor thus speaks of the Alliance.” “ We do not perceive any
thing which necessarily leads to the supposition, that the Allied Sovereigns
have been disposed, wantonly, to disregard the rights of other nations.”
The author of this sentiment, was, probably, one of that very small number
(in justice to the people, beit said,) who once humbly solicited the favor of
saluting Alexander by the endearing appellation of “brother,” and who
were eager to grasp the hand of that parricidal tyrant, which was yet red
with the blood of the father he murdered. But, perhaps, we ought not to‘
beastonished. Tliere was one Judas among the Twelve, and even the ace?

.3

r is

fore the rights of man had been defined, and before the code of
national law had been framed and ratified :,—--this was not done
amidst the strife of nations, when leaders are sometimes swept
along by a torrent -of passions, to the commission Lift3l‘ifl1t'?S, which,
in the calmness of : reason, they would shudder at with horror ;---
but, in a time of profound peace; in this age of civilization, phi—

losophy and moral improvement; and in Europe, in Christian '

Europe, has the enormous crime been perpetrated.

Again are these vigilant conservators of error and ignorance,
and corruption at work. The world is now witnessing another
exemplitication of their pri-ncipl.es. The gallant nation of Spain
had recently introduced the representative principleof govern-
-ment «into one branch of’ their constitution ;--the Holy Alliance

tassemhled,-----their decree has gone forth; and they are now wa-

ging war to lobliterate, from the face of Europe, this single, solitary

feature of liberty. Already has France sent at hundred thousand

of her base-souled slaves into the heart of the Spanish kingdom;
Austria has numbered up her hirelings for the cause; and Russia.

has unkennelled her hloodhounds. As fasting wolves descend

upon their prey, these invaders are rushing upon that kingdom,
and they have sworn never to leave it, until every Spaniard is at
slave. Whose soul so base, that it does not burn with intligrtto
-tion at the wrongs; whose heart so hard, that it does not com.-
miserate the cruel destiny of this unhappy nation? From the
.earlies.t retzords of history, have the inhabitants of this ill-fated
land been doomed to drink deep ot’ the cup of humiliation and
woe; but ther_e has always been some redeeming; cttrrturistaitce in
its former-cal.=rmities, on uhicfh the eye of the rshilalntliropist might
wet withvcomposure. Before the Christian era, it was conquered
by the Romans, after a long and valorous resistance; but where

the Roman legions atlvaneed, that magnanimous nation sent: their;

Karts, their letters, theirfree systems of polity. Four oentiuries,
Mafterwards, it was overrun hy the Goths and Vandals, who, rush- i

ring dovvn front the rerzesses of the North, destroyed the reposito-

ries of .liter:it=..ar-e and the i1'lt)l‘lUlIit;'l.”ttS of taste. But they came, for 1 it

~- rapid-e— (mi__’§.’, an-ti wlteritliey iltltl gorged themsetves with lplunderi,

rlihe arriid .r::;st in his l:-tit‘, they laid down and were satisfiedsfj
”'Ti1ree“c~entur'-it-smore rotted on, and Spain bowed her neck to the f;
yoke of iltt~§i‘.."'ttt't.ttf3tv‘l'1.S; hut," ii'tOt;lgi'1 the cortquest lgny that nation ‘

divas‘ rife sith havoc and misery, yet when the empire was ‘estab- y t 

1 9'

lished, under their great king,’* the arts were cultivated, and

elegance and refinement introduced. In our own times, the greats

warrior of Europe has numbered this, among his captive nations.
Yet even therfeeliugs of Napoleon, ' “who neither feared God
nor regarded man,” were outraged by the existence of that Pan-
demonium upon earth, the Inquisition; and when he had perlid-
iously gained possession of the kingdom, he swept it, with all its
horrid accompaniments of torture and death, from the face of the
globe. But this war is undertaken upon new principles and for
new objects- It is a war to restore the ancient reign of super-
stition, and intolerance, and crime, and again to wrap the moral
and intellectual natures of men in the pall of the dark ages. It is
a war against the progress of liberty and the common‘ interests of
the human race. It is a War, against the most clear and sacred
principles in the code of nations. The Holy Alliance are here
fighting against the advancement of the human species in reason,
intelligence and philosophy. They are fighting against all im»
provements in jurisprudence, government and religion. They
are fighting against the ameliorating influence of science and
letters. They are fighting to annihilate every institution which
can make men wiser, greater or better. In the spirit of incarnate
demons, they are fighting for the subjugation of the body and for
the moral and intellectual death of the soul; and when they have
consummated their dark and infernal policy, the jubilees of des-
potism are to be held over a lost and fallen world. But we trust
in G‘od, they cannot prevail. We trust,that the vengeance of the
people will, at length, be roused; and, unless they recedc from
their unholy purposes», will burn against them witha consuming

fury, until it shall have burst through every barrier, behind which

they have entrienched tliemselves; dealt quick destruction to

every arm lifted in their defence; and scatteredtheir dust to the 

winds of heaven. Then, when the many millions of Europe shall

. no longer tremble beneath q the terrors of their sway; when the

human mind shall become enlarged, enlightened and purified, so
as to form some more adequate conception of their guilt; then
shall oneuniversal peal of indignation arise, and “ ring their foul
dishonor” through the world. The gloomy imagination of the
poet shall borrow their names to darken his visions of horror.

it Abdurrahman or Almanzor the Great.

*2"-20

‘Their memories shall find no refuge to shelter them from the
tempest of execration, which an indignant posterity will pour
upon them ; but, descending along the current of time, they shall
blacken, broaden, deepen, in an everlasting progression of infamy.

My Fellow Citizens, why are we not, on this day, instead
ofconstitutinga great, an independent and a rejoicing nation;

. why are we not the subjects of some European monarchy C’ ‘Why,

like them, are we not exiled from our native land to tight in the
accursed cause of oppression? Why are not our arms now raised,
or our bones nowlbleaching on the fields of the peninsula? Had
we remained colonists, we might, whether our assent were ob»
tained or denied, have come, in the course of trade, into the
hands of Louis, or Francis, or Alexander ; or, it‘ we had evinced
any yearnings after freedom, any impatience, under our fetters
and our stripes, our country would have been joined with Spain
inthis crusade against liberty. We owe it to the patriots of
seventy-six, that this is not reality. The period of forty-seven
years is this day completed, since the immortal Fathers of the
Revolution, with a god-like dignity and solemnity declared,
4‘ These United States are and of right ought to be free and
independent,” and no sooner was their voice heard through the

land, than, from three million tongues, the prayer of Henry "was,

echoed, “ Give us libertyor give us death.” To obtain the boon
was their task; to preserve and transmit it, unimpaired, to pos-
terity, is ours. ' H

By what means is it to, be preserved ‘.7’

Itis unnecessary to recapitulate the means, by which the
rights of mankind have been invaded; or to observe that the
earliest advances of fOC5a so successful, are to be instantly
repelled. A

Perhaps, too, it may be deemed impertinent to suggest anew
the oft repeated idea, that intelligence is to a Republican gov-
ernment what life is to the animal system. The importance of‘
the truth furnishes an apology for its iteration. Whoever has
studied the history of ou_,r countrypmust have marked several pe-
riods, when; had the people beena little less intelligent, we should
have been involved in a civil war. The reason is apparent.
To engage the i_gnorantvin any cause, it is only necessary to reuse
their passions; and, for this, almost any cause will afford sutficient
scope, But the understandings of the intelligent and refiecting

at
‘must be convinced, and reason and truth are the only guides,
which that faculty will follow. The great difference between the

barbarian and true philosopher is, that the one is affected only by
what now stimulates his passions or his appetites ; while the other

i is governed by inferences, drawn from the probable events of
futurity, and from considerations utterly foreign from his present .

welfare. America has already produced several men, who, on a
proper theatre, would have been Caesars or N apoleons; and it is
the moral culture of the people, which has lessened the number

.of minds, on which their arts or intrigues could successfully

operate; and thus prevented the tragic scenes of the Old World
-from being reacted in the N ew. Intelligence, like the blood,
-sprinkled upon the door-posts of the Hebrew houses, will prevent
the destroying angel of despotism from entering.

That the people, in any nation, are capable of understanding
the profound sciences of jurisprudence, of civil polity and of po-
litical economy, is what none, but some political Judas, attemp-
ing to betray them with akiss, will ever tell them. Each indi-
vidual might as well expect to learn and exercise every art in
mechanics and manufactures, which the occasions of life require ;
and to construct his vessel and traverse the globe to obtain such
commodities, as are necessary for his own personal or family con-
sumption. Still every man may know, whether the government
is waging wars of ambition or conquest; whether the taxes, he
pays are enormous; or whether the sacred freedom of conscience
is violated. ‘ But, respecting many of the measures of government,
there is an uncontrollable necessity, that we should confide in
the opinions of the Wisestcand most upright men in the communi-
ty. This maxim, however, should always be observed, that, at
all times and under all circumstances, a strong general suspicion
attaches to the clamors of the party, out of power.

Another most efficient means of preserving our liberties, and
one, indeed, on which their perpetuation must ultimately depend,
is the conscientious use of the elective franchise. The frequent
recurrence of elections in this country exposes them to the den»
ger of being regarded as mere forrnalities, or, which is far more to
be deprecated, as opportunities for gratifying a partisan spirit. A.
rotation of otfices, too, while it answers its intended purpose, by

increasing the responsibility of present possessors, furnishes to A‘
political aspirants, a frequent opportunity for practising upon the

as

people, their arts of wheedling and cajolery. Hence the necess-t
sity of Vestal watchfulness in our electors. It‘, while the sauce
tions for otiicial delinquencies remain, as at present, we blindly
commit the control of our liberties and lives to wicked and de-
signing men, our dearest interests may be betrayed; our most sa-
cred rights may be violated. Americans ! sport not with your
birthright. On that inch of_ paper which contains the name of your
candidate for office, are suspended fortune, life, liberty. Commit
the sacred deposit to none but men of probity, men of pure hearts
and, that evidence of both, exemplary lives. Proscribe from the
rolls of honor and of public trust, the duellist, the libertine, the
defrauder of his neighbor, the oppressor of the poor. Mark the
man, who, at‘once, seems the low cringings for popularity, and
who is not made haughty by the possession of affluence or the en»
joyment of honors; who would rather extend his arm to the most
squalid mendicant in the streets, if a heart of independence beat;
in his bosom, than to bestow on the lordly aristocrat, as he rolled‘
by in his splendid chariot, a careless nod, which vanity might:
construe into a hint at respect. He is the republican; he is the
man, worthy the confidence of a free people. It is under the aus—
pices of such men, that our country has hitherto run its career of
grandeur and magnificence ; it is under the auspices of such
men, that it will continue to command the admiration of the phi-
lanthropist; to silence the detractions of its enemies in either
hemisphere  and to furnish an original example of the true glory
ofa nation. _ t
The memorials of glory, which We shall transmit to posterity
do not consist of the cities we have sacked and demolished, of the
regions we have laid waste and depopulated; nor of the num-
ber of the captives of unoffending nations, which we have clzained
to our triumphal cars. Ifnational prosperity consists in national
strengttnaud in the developement of national resources, we have
fertility of soil,‘favorable localities, and the shores of our territory
are laved by the waters of either ocean. The human race, with
their multiplied capacities for enjoyment, are rapidly supplanting
the brute creation throughout our immeasurable lands. Industry
has poured out the Horn of Abundance upon us. Every drop cl’
water, that gushes from our innumerable fountains, instead of
sweeping down to the ocean through unfrequented forests, new
roils its wheel and turns its spindle; and pours forth more golden

$3

«treasure, than ifevery stream were a Pactolus. The fabled god of
the ocean ventured not,

“-----«to skim the liquid plains
High on his chariot,”

..until‘ he had first

“u---smoothed the sea,
Dispelled the darkness and restored the day ;”*

But the genius of Fulton has launched his car, and cleared
tl'ie hillows, despite the strength of storms and the opposing tides
and currents of the ocean. From every lake and from every sea,

the shouts of “ Victory” “ Victory” have been waited to our ears,

and through all our land, from Chippewa to New~0rleans, the

«echo has been, “ Vic-.tory”__ “ Victory.” But our glory is not in

these alone. The chaplet upon a nation’s brow may be beauteous,
and her arm may be terrible, while peace is exiled from her bo-
-som. The land may be fresh with verdure, while the heart of

the cultivator is desolate. But we glory in our free and noble
institutions. We glory in that vast and mighty accession to the
sum of human happiness, which results from the education, and

is evinced hy the intelligence and morality of our people. We

.glory in the emancipation of so many rational natures from the

vain terrors or superstition, and from the vindictive. passions of
bigotry. We glory that, in our land, there are no plains of Dura’,
where we are commanded to fall down and worship a golden im-
-age or a parliamentary god. We glory that under our equal
-laws, the voice of lamentalion is notheard over

“ Souls, once pregnant with celestial fire,

I-lands, that the rod of empire might have swayld

Or wakid to ecstacy the living lyre ,1” i

but doomed to eternal obscurity, because their names were not li-

neally derived from some successful bandit of the dark ages. We
glory, that hefotre the sun has veiled his radiance beneath the
‘Western horizon, he shall, on this day and on this anniversary for-

‘ever, look devrn upon our hemisphere, and beholdtso many mil-

lions, rejoicirig in the pride and diguitytofl conscious independ-
-once.
Shall we then hasely consign to oblivion those deeds of

 

- “ eoeloqus rinrcolus apcrlo,
Flcclhf equos.”
“ lmn.z'rlu. aequom placer! ;

‘Colleclasquejhgal rtubcs, soles-zgue re¢lucit.--fflri. Lib. i. 1432., 155.

 

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matchless heroism, those noble institutions of enlightened miintlsr
and liberal hearts on which our fame and prosperity are founded.
Shall we efface from our minds the images of our illustrious an-‘
cestors, which might otherwise kindle a holy flame of emulation-
within us that could not be extinguished, until we, too, had equal-
led them in renown and ‘virtue. In the ritualtof this day, they
shall never be forgotten. We remember, with pious gratitude,
those “l‘ollovvers of God and friends of human kind,” who con-i
tended against all the bigotry and intolerance of their own times‘-
for religious freedom and the rights of conscience ; and who, by
their exertions, revivified the palsied arm and relumed the scaled‘
eye of reason, VVILLIAMS, PENN and OGLETHORPE- We
rememher those heaven-touched spirits, who first exposed the
wiles of tyranny, and first inflamed the people with their own-
righteous indignation against the oppressor, OTIS and HENRY,-
"We remememher those ‘‘ mighty chiefs untimely s1ain,”’" who fell"

"in the (lay of their oountry’s battles, "WARREN, MONTGOM--'

ERY and MERCER. We remember’ those eleven hundred’

‘ souls, who perished by starvation, poison and strangling on board:

those “ floating hells” the British prison ships. There, no pity»-'
ing eye beheld, no kindly hand was outstretched to assuage their
agonies; no consoling sound struck upon their ears, save when at
the intervals of their keepers’ feasting and revels, they heardthe
hourly dash, as the lifeless remains or the animated yet unre-
sisting body of some fellow captive was sacriligiously cast into the
ocean to feed the “ blue monsters of the deep,” and whom the
sufferers hoped soon to follow’. Yet they spurned every menace,
every solicitation to desert the cause of their country. Like Him,
who was tempted in the wilderness, they were supported by their
own strength and purity of principle. VVe_ rememember him,
whose name, the type of every excellence, stands, and shall for-'-
ever stand, engraven on the lttighest point in the pillar of fame,
’WASHlNG’i‘ON. ,

Our hearts glow with intenser feelings of gratitude as we turn
to those vindicators ol' their country’s rights, who still linger on

i the shores of mortality. And in this solemn‘ manner, we thank ev-

ery individual who titted his arm or raised his voice in that glo-
‘zious cause. We th-a-nlr. those aged veterans‘, whose’ heads are‘
now whitening; for the grave, whose bodies are bowing; down to‘
meet their mother earth, and just ready to be gathered into the-'

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garner of‘ deatli. Aination’s benedictions rest upon their heads,
May the sun of their lives go down without a cloud. May the
transit of their spirits be calm and joyous from this world of their
toils and their sufferings, to the beetific regions of eternal felicity.
Emphatically, we thank those three surviving sages, who dared,
in their couutry’s cause, to brave the vengeance of the mightiest
power upon earth, and to aflix their names to that instrument

which made us a nation, CARROL, ADAMS, and him who

framed it, the immortal JEFFERSON.

“ While rolling rivers into seas shall run,

And round the space of heaven the radiant sun ;
‘While trees, the mountain tops with shades supply,
‘Their honors, names and praise shall never die.”'W=

Above all,Wetl1enk ALMIGHTY GOD.

3* Iaifretcz clumflumi current, alum wnontibus umbm
Lustmbzmt convexa, polus alum sirlem pascet,
Seinzper lumos, nomenque tzmm lcmdesqwe manebmzt.
.ZEn.. Lib. i. 607,