AN ORATION Ewltimwww at @flimii®“§®g£ FWTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION DE THE INDEPENDENCE OF '.l;‘HE 'UN{'.L‘}].D f€§'l‘A.TES OF A.I\1.Ei§I-{ICAV BY EDWARD %% EVERETT. BOSTON: CUMMINGS, HILLIARD, AND COMPANY. 18526. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, T0 WIT: District Clerks O_1f.5‘ce_ BE it remembered, that on the eighteenth day of July; D. 18.26, and in the fift*»;-first veznr of the Independence of the Umted States oi Amerxca, Cuxnmings .33.. -.., . . _. ' ~ - ~- . ‘.__, 9 I-iainard, Ly Co. ofthe sand dlstnct, ha_ve de}_Jos1ted In thxs othce the tule of a_ book, we mm whereof the)’ claim as propnetorsa In the words followmg» to w1t=--- “ An Qratainn delivered at Cambridge won the Fiftieth_ Anniversary of the Declara- tion of the Independence of the United btates of Amenca. By Edward Everett 7’ In cnnfmwnity tn the Act of the Congress of the Univged States, entitled, “ An Act for the enuonragenlent of learning, by securei ng the_C0p1eS Of maps, charts, and books 10 the authors and prnnrietors of such copies, durmg the tunes therein mentioned," anti afisn to an Act, entitled, “ An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, ‘ An Act £01- the enccmragement of 1ez1x'n'1r.g, by securing the cnpies of maps. charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies durmg the times therein 1:nentioz'1ec"=‘. ;‘ anci erctending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, e11g1'aviz1g, and etching Egisinriagafl and other prints.” JNO. "W. DAVIS, Clerk cy"z‘lze D2’ strict 0 f .fl1‘assac/z.u.s~e3 2315.5-. CAMBRIDGE. Fmrn the University Press-By Hilliard 8.: Metcalf. C'ambr2?dge, July 6, 1826. SIR, At a. meeting of citizens of Cambridge and the vicinity on the 4th of July, the following vote was passed, which, by direction of the Committee thereby appointed, I begfleave to coinxnunicate to you. I have the honor to be,‘ &c.. p t t v 1 V S. P. P. FAY. The Hon. EDWARD EVERETT. VOTED, That the Hon. Mr FAY, “ l\/Ir FULL1:.e, “ Mr STEARNS, Dr HEDG-E, Mr WHIPPLE, 1 be a, Committee to present to the Hon. EDWARD EvmzE'1".r the thanks of this meeting for the ORATION this day delivered by him, and respectfully to request that he will permit the same to be pubiishedt oRA'rroN. FELLOW CITIZENS, lr belongs to us with strong propriety, to celebrate this day. The town of Cambridge, and the county of Middlesex, are filled with the vestiges of the Revolution ; whithersoever We turn our eyes, we behold some memento of its glorious scenes. Within the Wells, in Wliich We are now assembled, was COl'.1Vt":‘.11€(l the first provincial Congress, after its yadjourriment at Concord. The rural inagazine at Medforcl 1'eIninds us of one of the earliest acts of British aggression. The rnarch of both divisions of the Royal arrny, on the mernorable nineteenth of April, was through the limits of Cambridge ; in the neighbouring towns of Lexington and Concord, the first blood of the Revolution was shed; in West Cambridge, the royal convoy of provisions Was, the seine day, gallantly surprised by the aged citizens, who staid to protect their homes, While their sons pursued the foe. Here the first American army was formed ; from this plteoce, on the seventeenth. of J-l.1}].E.lm l. '32 was detached the Spartan band, that im1no1'talized the heights ‘of Charlestown, and consecrated that day, with blood and tfiregto the cause of American Liberty. Beneath“ lthervenerahle elrn, which still shades the southwestern corner of the common, General‘ Wash- ington first unsheathedthis sword at the head of an American ar1ny,r and to that seat* was Wont every Sunday to repair, to join in the supplications which were made for the Welfare of his country. How changed is now the scene! The foe is gone? The din and the desolation of War are passed; Science l1'd;S« long resumed her station in the shades of our venerable Uiiiversity, no ‘longer glittering with arms ; the anxious 'WaI‘-’CO11I_lCll is no longer in session, to offer a reward for the discovery of the best mode of making salt«petre,p-—an. unpromis- ing stageof hostilities, when an army of twenty thou-4 sand men is in the field in front of the foe ; the tall grass now waves in the trampled sal.ly—-port of i some oftherural redoubts, that forrnapart of the simple t lines of l oircurnvallation, Within which a half-armed American militia held the flower of the British army hlookaded ;7 the plough has done, what the English batteries could not do,----has levelled others of wthern with “ the earthy’ and the MEN, the great and good iiieng their Warfare is over, and they have gone quietly e:loWnl:to~tt.he dust they redeerned from oppression. r * Tliefirst pevivioni the right hand of the pulpit... V i 3 At the close of a half century, since the declara-~ tion of our Independence, We are assemblecl to commemorate that great and happy event- We come together, not because it needs, but because it deserves these acts of celebration. We do not meet each other, and exchange our felicitations, because We should otherwise fall into forgetfuluess of this auspicious era ; but because We owe it to our fathers and to our children, to rnarkits returir Withgrateful . festivities. The major part of [this .'.a3SSf3II1ib]y is composed of those, who had not yet engaged in the active scenes of life, when the Revolution i Icom—- .menced. We come not to applaud our own a Work, but to pay a filial tribute to the deeds of our fathers. It was for their children, that the heroes and sages of the Revolution labored and bled. They Were too Wise not to know, that it was notlpersonally theirovvn cause, in which they were rembarkedg- they felt that they were engaging in an enterprisie, Which an entire. generation must be too short to bring to its mature and perfect issue. . The most they could promise themselves Was, that, having cast forth the seed of liberty; having shielded its tender germ from the stern blasts that beat upon it; having Watered it with the tears of waiting eyes, and the blood of brave hearts; their children might gather the fruit of its branches, While those Who planted it should moulderin peace beneath its shade. -v 44 H N01‘ was it only in this, that We discern their disinterestedness, their heroic forgetfulness of self. Not only Was the independence, for which they struggled, a greatand arduous adventure, of ivvhich they Were to encounter the risk, and others to enjoy the benefits; but the oppressions, which roused them, had assurned, in their day, no Worse form than that of at pernicious principle. N o intolerable, acts of oppression had ground them to the dust. They were not slaves, rising in desperation from beneath theagonies, of the lash; but free men, snuffing frornafar '7" the tainted gale of tyranny.” The ‘Worst pencroaclnnents, on which the British r ministry had ventured, might have been borne, econ-3 sistently with the practical enjoyment of many, of the advantagesp, resulting from good government. On thescore of calculation alone, that generation had much better have paid the duties on glass, painters’ colors, stamped paper, and tea, than have plunged into the expenses of the Revolutionary war. A ~i But; they thought not of shuffling off upon posterity the bu;1‘d;enr,,of ,1‘esista11ce. They Well understood the part,Which Providence had assi.gned‘to them. They perceived thatnthteyyiwere called to discharge ahigh and perilous office to the cause of Freedom ;; A that therirthands were elected to strike the a blow, fort vvhichnear two centuries of prep~aration--wnever re-- -4 rnitted, though oftentunconscious-t--had beenmalting, 5 on one side or the other, of the Atlantic. They felt that the colonies had now reached thatstage i.n their growth, when the diflicult problem of colonial . government must be solved; difficult, I call it,,ifor such it is, to the statesman, whose mind is not Sllffi-~ ciently enlarged for the idea, that a wise colonial government must naturally and rightfully end inin-~ dependence ; that even a mild and prudent svvay,on the part of the mother country, furnishes no reason for not severing the bands of the colonial subjection ; and that when the rising state has passed the period of adolescence, the only alternative which remains, is that of a peaceahle separation, or at convulsive rupture. i T The British ministry, at that time weaker‘ than it had ever been since the infatuated reign of James ll, had no knowledge of political science, but tliat which they dserivepdvfrornthe text of official records. They drew their maxims, as it was happily said of one of them, that he did his measures, from the file, They heard that a distant province had resisted the execution of an act of parliament. Indeied, arid What is the specific, in cases of resistance ?—------—a. military force ;—-—---and two more regiments are ordered» to Boston. Again they hear, that the _General Court of T Massachusetts Bay has taken counsels ' subversive of the allegiance due to the crown. A case of a refractory corporation ;—---—--what is to be done .5" 6 First try at mandamus; and if that fails, seize the franchises, ‘into, _ his Majesty’s hands. pp They never asked‘ the great questions, Whether nations, like man, have not their principles of growth ; Whether Pprovidence has assigned no laws to regulate the changes in the condition of that most astonishing of hunian things, a nation of kindred men. They did not inquire, Iwill not say Whether it were rightful and expedient, but Whether it were practicable, to give lavv across the Atlantic, to a people who pos- sessed Within themselves every imaginable element of selfegovernment;-?a people rocked in the cradle of liberty, brought up to hardship,inheriting nothing but their rights on: earth, andtheir liopetsinhtevaven. V ,But thoughthe rulers of Britain appear ,.noty;to have caught a glimpse of the great principles in- volved in these questions, our fathers had asked and ansvvered them. They perceived, with the rapidity of intuition, thatthe hour of separation had come; because a principle Was assumed by the British governmtent, vvhichput an instantaneous check to the further growth, ofliberty. Either the race of civilized man qhappilyplanted on our shores, at first slowly and painfully reared, but at length auspi- ciously multiplying in America, is destined sneverto constitute a free and; independent state; or these Ili1‘(3WaS1l1‘t3S mustl beresisted, which go to bind it, in a mild but abject colonial vassalage. Either the hope 7 must beforever abandoned, the hope thati had heeni brightening and kindling toward assurance,"‘lilie the glowing skies of the morning,---l—the hope that a ineiw centre of civilization was to be planted on the continent, at which the social and political instiitu; tions of the World may be brought to the’ stand?- ard of reason and truth, after tl1ousandsWof ‘years of degerieracy,-weitlier this hope’ must be abandoned," and forever, or the battle was now ibeiifought, first in the political assemblies, and tlie1i,lilf ineiedibe, in the field. 7 t 7 pt ' In the halls of legislation, scarcely can itbe said that the battle Was fought. A spectacle it in.., deed seemed to be promised to the civilized World, of breathless interest and utncalculated consequence. “You are placed,” said the provincial Congress of Massachusetts, in their address to the inhabitants of Decemslieriflith 1774:, an address promulgatedilat the close of laisession held in this very house, wheres We are now convened, “ You are" -placed, by °Provi"- dence in a post of honor, because” it is a post of danger ; and While struggling for the‘ noblest objects, the liberties of our country, the happiness of pos-' terity, and the rights of human nature, the eyes, not only of North America and the Whole British rem- pire, but of all Europe, are upon you.”* * A mighty question of political right was at issue, between the two hemispheres. Europe and America, in the face- *’*" ,Massachusetts State Papers, p. 416. 8 of mankind, are going to plead the great cause, on which the fate of popular government forever is suspended. One circumstance, and one alone exists, to ldirninish the interest of the contentionw-the per- ilous inequality of the parties---an inequality far ex»- ceeding that, which gives animation to a contest; and so great as to destroy the hope of an ably waged encounter. On the one side, were arrayed the two houses of the British parliament, the modern school of political eloquence, the arena where great minds had for a century and a half strenuously wrestled themselves into strength and power, and in better days the common and upright chancery of an em- pire, on which the sun never set. Upon the other side, rose up the colonial assemblies of Massachu- setts and Virginia, and the continental congress of Philadelphia, composed of men whose training had been within a small provincial circuit; who had never before felt the inspiration, which the con» sciousness of a station before the world imparts; who i brouglit no power into the contest but that which they drew from their cause and their bosoms. It is by champions like these, that the great princi§- ples of representative government, of chartered , rights, and constitutional liberty, are to be discuss- ed ; and surely never, in the annals of national con- troversy, rwas exhibited a triumph so complete of the seemingly wealter party, a rout so disastrous of 9 the stronger. Often as it has been repeated, it will hear another repetition ; it never ought to be olnitteypd in the history of constitutional liberty; it~ougl1tttes~ pecially to be repeated this day ;-~--the vaifious adj dresses,petitions, and appeals, the correspondence, the resolutions, the legislative and popular debates, from 1764, to the declaration of independence, pre- sent a maturity of political wisdom, a strength of arm gument,“ argravity of style, a manly eloquence, and a moral courage, of Whichunquestionablythe modern world i affords no other exarnple. This meed of praise, substantially accorded at the time by Chat-i ham, in the British parliament, may Well be repeat»- ed byus. , For most of the venerated men to Whom it is paid, it is but a pious tribute to departed Worth. The. Lees and the Henrys, Otis, Quincy, VVarren, and Samuel a Adams, the men Who spoke those words of thrilling power, which raised and pruleyd, the storm of resistance, and , rang like the ,voi;,ce,i0f A fate across, the Atlantic, are beyond , the reach of our praise. To most of them it was granted to vvitness some of the fruits of their labors; such fruitas revolutions do not often bear. Others departed at an untimely hour, or nobly fell in the onset; too soon for their country, too soon for liberty, toosoon for every thing but their own undying fame. A But -all are not gone; some still survive among us ; the :favored, enviable men, to hail the jubilee of the in- A 4.3’ l0 dependence they declared. Go back, fellow citi- zens, to that day, when .liefi’e1*son and Adams composed the snb—connnittee, who reported the Declaration of Independence. Think of the iningled sensations of that proud but anxious day, compared i to the joy of this. What honor, what crown, what treasure, could the world and all its kingdoms af- ford, compared with the honor and happiness of having been united in that commission, and living to see its most wavering hopes turned into glorious reality. Venerable men! you have outlived the dark. days, which followed your more than heroic deed; you have outlived your own strenuous con—- tention, who should stand first among the people, whose liberty you vindicated- You have lived to bear to each other the respect, which the nation bears to you both ; and each has been so happy as to excliange the honorable name of the leader of a party, for that more honorable one, the Father of his Country. Wliile this our tribute of respect, on the jubilee of our independence, is paid to the grey hairs of the venerable survivor in our neighbourhood ; let it not less heartily be sped to him, whose hand traced the lines of that sacred charter, which, to the end of ‘time, has inade this day illustrious. And is i an empty profession of respect all that we owe to the man, whorcan show the original draught of the Declaration of the independence of the United States ll of America, in his own handwriting? Ought not a title-deed like this to become the acquisition of the nation ? Ought it not to be laid up in the amhiveys of the people? Ought not the price, at which it is bought, to be the ease and comfort of the old age of him who drew it? Ought not he, Who at the age of a thirty declared the independence of his country, at the age of eighty, to be secured by his country in the enjoyment of his own ?* Nor let us forget, on the return of this eventful day, the men, Who, when the conflict of counsel was over, stood forward in that of arms. Yet let me not by faintly endeavouring to sketch, do deep injustice to the story of their exploits. The efforts of a life would scarce suffice to paint out this pic- ture, in all its astonishing incidents, in all i.ts ruin- gled colors of sublimity and Woe, of agony and tri- umph. But the age of commernoration is at hand. The voice of our fathers’ blood begins to cry to us, from beneath the soil which it moistened. Time is bringing forward, in their proper relief, the men and the deeds of that high-souled day. The gene- ration of contemporary Worthies is gone ; the crowd of the unsignalized great and good disappears; and the leaders in War as Well as council, are seen, in Fancy’s eye, to take their stations on the mount of Remembrance. They come from the embattled cliffs of Abraham; they start from the heaving sods See Note at the end. 112 of Bunker’s Hill .3 they gather from the blazing lines of Saratoga and Yorktown, from the blood—dyed Waters of the , Brandywine, from the dreary snows of Valley orge, and all the hard fought fields of the VV&.1'._ ,With all their Wounds and all their hon- ors, they rise and plead with us, for their brethren who survive ; I‘ and bid us, if indeed We cherish the memory of those, who bled in our cause, to show our gratitude, not bysoundiiigvvords, but by stretch- ing out the strong arm of the country’s prosperity, to help the veteran survivors gently down to their graves. A t l But it is time toturn from sentiments, on which it isunavailing to dwell. The fiftieth return of this al1——important day, appears to enjoin on us to reassert the principlesof the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Have We met, fellow citizens, to com- memorate merely the successful termination of a War? Certainly not; the War of 1756 was, in its duration, nearly equal, and signalized in America by the most brilliant achievements of the provincial ‘ arms. But no one would attempt to prevent that war, With all its glorious incidents, from gradually sinl«:;ing into the shadows, which time throws back on the deedsof men. Do We celebrate the anni- versary of our independence, merely because a vast region Was severed from an European empire, and established a government for itself ?, Scarcely even l3~ this; the acquisition of Louisiana, a region larger than the old United States,-W-tlie almost instaiitae “ neous conversion of a vast Spanish colonial waste, into free and prosperous members of our republican federation,——--the Whole effected by a single happy exercise of the treaty-making povver,-———-this is an event, in nature not Wholly unlike,‘ in importance not infinitely beneath the separation of the colonies from England, regarded merely as a historical trans-— action. But no one thinks of commemorating with festivals the anniversary of this cession; perhaps not ten who hear me recollect the date of the treaty by which it was effected; although it is unquestion—- ably the most important occurrence in our history, since the declaration of independence, and Will ren- der the administration of Mr Jefferson memorable, as long as our republic shall endure. But it not merely nor chiefly the military success nor the political event, which we coimnernorate on these patriotic anniversaries. It is to mistake the principle of our celebration to speak of its object, either as a trite theme, or as one among other im- portant and astonishing incidents, of the same kind, in the World. The declaration of the independence of the United States of America, considered, on the one hand, as the consummation of a long train of measures and counsels---preparatory, even though unconsciously, of this event,----«and on the other hand, 14 as the foundation of the systems of governrnent, which have happily been established in our beloved country, deserves cornrne1no1'ation,r as the most im—- portant event, humanly speaking, in the history of the World ;' as forming the era, from which the establislnnent of government on a rightful foundation is destined universally to date. Looking upon the declaration of independence as the one prominent event, which is to represent the American system (and history will so look upon it), I deem it right in itself and seasonable this day to assert, that, While all other political revolutions, reforms, and improve- V rnents have been in various ways of the nature of V palliatives and alleviations of systems essentially and irretnediably Vicious, this alone is the great discove- ry, in political science; the N ewtonian theory of governnrent, toward which the minds of all honest and sagacious statesmen in other times had strained, but ‘Wl’El10t11Z success; the practical fulfilment of all the theories of politicalperfection, which had amused the speculations and eluded the grasp of every for- mer period and people. And although assuredly this festive hour affords but little scope for dry dis- quisition, and shall not be engrossed by me With abstract speculation, yet I shall not thinltl Wan- der from the duties of the day, in dwelling briefly on the chain of ideas, by which We reach this great conclusion. A 15 The political organization of a people is of all matters of temporal concernment the most import- ant. Drawn together into that great asseinblage, which We call a nation, by the social principle, some mode of organization must exist among men; and on that organization depends more directly, more collectively, more permanently, than on any thing else, the condition of the individual members that make up the community. On the political or- ganization, in which a people shall for generations have been reared, it mainly depends, Whether We shall behold in one of the brethren of the human family the New Hollander, malting a nauseous meal from the Worms Whicli he e:s:ti'acts from a piece of rotten Wood ; * or the African ctrt,ti:ngj out the under jaw of his captive to be strung on a Wire, as a tro-« phy of victory, while the rna.11gled Wretchi is left to bleed to death, on the field of battle; T or Whether we shall behold him social, civilized, christian scarcely faded from that perfect image, in which the divine purpose, “ Let us make man,” “-p-—---— in beauty clad, Witli health in every vein, A-11d reason throned upon his brow, Stepped forth immortal man.” I am certainly aware that betvveen the individuals that compose a nation, and the nation as an organ- ized body, there are action and reaction ;----that if '3‘ Malthus’s Essay on Population, vol. i. p.’ 33. Amer. ed. 1’; Eclwards’s History of the West Indies, vol. ii. p. 68. :3d ed. i6 political institutions affect the individual, individuals are sometimes gifted with power, and seize on op-= portunities, most essentially to modify institutions ;---- nor am I at all disposed to agitate the scholastic question, which was first, in the order of nature or time, men” forming governments or governments de- termining the condition of men. But having long acted and reacted upon each other, it needs no ar- gument to prove, that political institutions get to be infinitely the most important agent in finiiig the condition of individuals, and even in determining in what manner and to What extent individual capacity shall be exerted and individual charac.ter formed. VVhile other causes do unquestionably operate,--— some of them, such as national descent, physical race, climate, and geographical position, Very power»- fnlly; yet of none of them is the effect constant, uniforn1,and prompt;——Wl1ile I believe it is impossible to point out an important change in the political or- ganization of a people, a change by which it has been rendered more or less favorable to liberty, Without discovering a correspondent effect on their _prosperity. Such is the infinite importance to "V the nations of men of the political organization which prevails among them. The most inoinentous practical ques- tion therefore of course is, in what way a people shall detennine the political organization under 1 if 'Whi.ch it will live ; or in still broader terms, What is at right foundation of governrnent. Till the establish-- ment of the American constitutions, this question had received but one answer in the World; I mean but one, which obtained for any length of time and among any numerous people ; and that answer "Was? m;:"09"ce.i Theright of the strongest was the only foot-v ing on which the goverrnnerits of th.e ancient and modern nations Were in factplaced; and the only effort of the theorists Was, to disguise the simple and somewhat startling doctrine of the right of the strongest, by Various mystical or popular fictions, which in no degree altered its real nature. Of tliese the only two Worthy to detain us, on the pre-— sent occasion, are those of the two great English political parties, the Whigs and the tories, as they are called, by names not unlike, in dignity and sig- nificance, to the doctrines which are designated by thorn. The tories taught that the only foundation of government was “divine right; ”i and this is the same notion, which is still incnlcated on the conti- nent of Europe ; though the delicate ears of the age are flattered by the sornewhat rnilder term, Zeg'iti~ macy. The Whigsrnaintained, that the tbnndatzion of government Was an “ ori.ginal contract; 7’ but of this contract the existing organization was the re~’ cord and the evidence; and the obligation was perpetnaiily binding. it rnay deserve the passi,ne; 3 18 ifetnatk, theret7ore, that in reality the docttine of tlie Whigs in England is a little less liberal than that of the toties. . To say that the will of God is the W9..1‘-- rant, by which the king and his he1'edita1ry counsel- lors gove1*n the land, is, to be sure, in a practical sense, What the illustrious sage of tlie revolution, surviving in 01.11‘,_11Blgl”llJOU1‘l100(l, dared as early as 1765, to pronounce it, “ dark rihalclry.” But in a merely s}:2ecnl2ttive sense it may, Without offencefloe said, that goverinnent, like every thing else, suhsists lay the Divine will ; and in this acceptation, there is a certain elevation and unction in the sentiment. But to say that the forni of government is matter of original compact with the people; that my ances- to1's,,ages ago, agreed that they and their posterity, to the end of time, should give up toe certainline of princes the rule of the state; that no right re- mains of revising this eompact; that nothing but 4E3;XZl1'€l"1"lG iiecessity, a necessity which it is treason- able even to attempt to define beforehantl, justifies a tlepartnte from this compact, in which no provision 1n2:—ttle that the will of the tna_.jority should be done, but the coi1t1'ai'y :,~—-—-—-—a doctrine li.ke this, as it seems to me, while it is in substance as servile as the other, has the clisadvaiitage of affecting a liberality not home out by the truth. Aiid now, fellow citizens, I think I speak the Words of ttntli and soberness, Without color or exaggera-— 19 tion, Whienl say‘, that before the establishlrxent of our American constitutions, this tory (lO(.‘.t1‘lfl6 of the divine 1'ight was the most corninon, and this Whig doctrine of the original contract was professedly the most l:ibe1'al doctrine, ever tnaintained by any political party in any powerful state. l do not mean that in some of the little Grecian republics, dtt1'ing' their sho‘rt—-lived noon of liberty and glory, nothing better was practised; nor that, in other times and places, speculative politicians had not in their closets dreamed of a better toundation of government. But l do 1nea_u, that, Whereas the Whigs in England are the party of politicians who have erljoyetl, by gen- eral consent, the credit of inculcating a more liberal system, this precious notion of the compact is the extent to Which their liberality Went. It is plain, Whicl1eVer of these solemn plrrases-—-— “ divine right” or “ original compact ”—-—-VV~*e may pre- fer to use, that the "right of the strongest lies at the foundation of both, in the same Way and to the same degree. The doctrine of the divine 1‘igl1t gives to the ruler authority to sustain himself a.gainst the people, not merely because resistance is unlawful, but because it is sacrilegious. The doctrineof the compact denounces every attempted change in the person of the prince as a breach of faith, and as such also not only treasonable but imtnoral. VV hen a conflict ensues, force alone, of course, decides ‘£230 which party shall prevail and when force has decided, all the sanctions of s the divine will and of the social compact revive in favor of the successful party. Even the statute legislation of England, although somewhat coy of unveiling the chaste tnys- teries of the conunon law, allows the successful usurper to claim the allegiance of t the subject, inas full a mariner as it could be done by a lawful sove- reign. Notliing is Wanting to fill up this slsietch of other governments, but to consider What is the form in which force is exercised to sustain them ;, and this is that of a standing army ;----at this moment, the chief support of every government on earth, except our own. i As popular violence,---—~the unrestrained and irresistible force of the mass of men, long op- pressed and late awakened, and bursting in its Wrath all barriers of law and humanity,—--is un- happily the usual instruinent by Wliicli the intol-t erable abuses of a corrupt government are rernov-t ed; so the same blind force of the same fearful mulw titude, desigiiedly kept in ignorance both of their duty and their plivileges as citizens, employed in a form sorneWhatrdiffe1'ent indeed, but far more dread- ful, that of a mercenary standing army, is the instru- ment by which corrupt governments are sustained. The deplorable scenes which tnarked the earlier stages of the French revolution have called the attention of this age to the fearful effects of popular violence; and the minds of men have recoiled at the dismay which leads the Van, and the desola- tion which marks the progress of an infuriated mob. But. the power of the mob is transient; the rising; sun most commonly scatters its mistrustful? ranks ;, the difficulty of subsistence drives its membersasun-- der; and it is only While it exists in mass, that it is terrible. But there is a form, in which the mob is indeed portentous; 'Wl1eI1"[0 all its native terrors it adds the force of a frightful permanence; when, p by a regular organization, its strength is so curioursly divided, and by a strict discipline its parts are so easily combined, that each and every portion of it carries in its presence the strength and terror of the Whole ; and When, instead of that Want of concert which renders the common mob incapable of ardu-g ous enterprises, it is despotically swayed: by a sine gle master mind, and may be moved in array across; the globe. , I remember to have seen the two kinds of mobs brought into direct collision. I was present at the second great meeting of the populace of London in 1819, in the midst of a crowd of I know not how many thousands, but assuredly a Vast multitude, which was gathered together in Smithfield marltett. The universal distress, as youurecollect, was exe- treme ; it was a short time after the scenes at Man-i. ehester, at which men’s minds were ulcerated ;----« deaths by starvation were said not to be rare ;-r---ruin, by the stagnation of business was general ;—-—and some were already brooding over the dark project of assassinating the ministers, which was not long after matured by Thistlewood and his associates:; some of Whom, on the dayto which I allude, harangued this excited, desperate, starving assemblage, When I considered the state of feeling prevailing in the multitude around me--When I looked in their low- ering faces-——l1eard their deep indignant e7tcla11ia~ tions——--reflected on the physical force concentrated, probably that of thirty or forty thousand able-bodi- ed men; and added to all this,that they were assem~, bled to exercise an undoubted privilege of British citizens gr I did suppose that any small number of troops, who should attempt to interrupt them, would be immolated on the spot. ‘While I was musing on these things, and turning in my mind the com- monplaces on the terrors of a mob, a trumpet Was heard to sound—--an uncertain, but a harsh and clam- orous blast. I looked that the surrounding stalls should have furnished the unarmed multitude at least with thatweapon, with which Virginius sacri- ficed his daughterto the liberty of Rome ; I looked that the flying pavement should begin to darken the air. Another blast is heard——---a cry of “ The horse»- guards!” rain through the assembled thousands; the ‘ otators on the platform were strucléz ‘mute ; and the Whole of that migltty host of starving, desperate men iiicoutiueutly took to their heels; in Which; I must coiifess-——-feeling no Vocation, in that causeto be faithful found, among ‘the faithless----?l did myself join them. We had run through the Old Bailey and reached Ludgate hill, before We found out, that We had been put to flight by a single mischievous tool of power, who had come triumphing down the opposite street on horsebaclt, blowing a stage-coach- ma11’s l10}.'11. A t ii i We have heard of those midnight scenes of deso- lation, when the populace of some oVetg.toW11 capi- tal, exhausted by the e:tt1'emity of political oppression, or famishing at the gates of luxurious palaces, 01' l~LlllCllB(l hy some t1‘anspo1't of fanatical zeal, rushes out to find thevictims of its "fury"; the lurid glare A of torches, castiugth,ei1' gleams on faces darlt with rage; the ominous din of the alarm hell, striking Witli affrigl'1t, on the broken Visionsof the sleepers ; the horrid yells, the tl‘11‘lllll1g screams, the naulti~ tudinous roar of the living storm, as it sweeps 011- Ward to its objects ;----hut oh, the disciplined, the paid, the honored moh; not moving in rage and starvatioii to some act of blood or ‘plut1de1°; but marcliing, in all the pomp and circumstaiice ofwar, to lay Waste a feebler state ; or cantotled at home ‘ among an overawed and l)l‘0l{(~?31l.-S_pll'ltG(l people I I “of m»(1)Ab friend=1y AA i11toA trampled A A dese1'fs, W7thé' bf ih1‘ow11 back,a11d a“ lirie c$f&'gen*e1'ati‘c}ii4s ‘We11A olxganized system of xnilitaijr fcifée; ' LSAuAch was thVefoLmdatiA0n in theory and in praC~- tide of Aa1A1$the goVér11Ii1é11tS,: which cajibe considerefi 2}Vs_¢hN:1VinMg ‘had, 1%3e1'i1ia1ie141t éXiste%nce‘ 3.11 the World, théA I¢{eAVO1LitwiVoxi. Ai1i t}1is"“C:0fi11%try.A A There are {§ c5r’§a:i111y V0wf%‘&¢JiffeAi':é1iCé befV€’é eh’ At11“é%€6i‘1ii§fi-’tiil €1iesIpb%fisV1"nsA,A‘ gmcient M ‘and ° mo%dei‘n~1-¥—tl1e A ‘ ;»%R%O1T1VAé~;“the“ feu@d&Et1¢sm}*e1*ei§I1ties 7w%of7“flie3A }*mid- die ageé?-—$é11dA fhelegitixnate A%mo11archieLs"of the g3rese11'tday. Some were and are more, and *som%_e less, susceptible of A me1i01‘atii011 in p1'actic:e ; a11dA* of Aallof them it might ‘perhzlpss be saidg--bAeii%1'g%%a};1‘in eéée11ceVAAbad,A A A A M “T1ié.t; Whiéh is ‘best adini1ii's‘te1°éd, is"b%est.” A[11 I1‘0 % Qriéof ithesé%w"gQVe1'11.mei1ts, 11101‘ in any‘ gov- s::’1‘11NmeA11t§ was t1A1¢eA tri1_fl¢1A admitted, that the-. io1”11y jtist fQ1},11d‘atiO11 of a11’gQfVernment is the A V"JZmf of A th€%”::A,M}T,)‘.(3‘O- g$_1e§._ ?i%t4e,Ve1{ o¢cu1‘1'ed A to the ip1'aActi(:a,1 or flj1eoi*e1‘;i~ Ami that Such an ideadeSe1'Ved exaihiliér tio11§i:I1k‘%3 eVXj5é1*irf1ewnt firasfi f.h0ug11t tO7¢ha‘€re% ”b%e"e:Z1A%1i1ade. “Z5 in the republics of Greece, and to have failed, as fail it certainly did, from the physical impossibility of conducting the business of the state by the actual intervention of every citizen. Such a plan of gov- ernment must of course fail, if for no other reason, at least for this, that it would prevent the citizen from pursuing his own business, which it is the ob- ject of all government to enable him to do. It was considered then as settled, that the citizens, each and all, could not be the government; some one or more must discharge its duties for them. Who shall do this ;—--how shallithey be designated .7’ The first king was a fortunate soldier, and the first nobleman was one of his generals ; and government has passed by descent to their posterity, With no other interruption, than has taken place, when some new soldier of fortune has broken in upon this line of succession, in favor of himself and of his generals. The people have passed for nothing, in the plan; and whenever it has occurred to a busy genius to put the question, By What right government is thus exercised and transmitted? the common answer has been, By Divine right; While, in times of rare illu- mination, men have been consoled with the assur—- ~ ance, that such was the original contract. But a brighter day and a better dispensation Were in reserve. The founders of the feudal system, barbarous, arbitrary, and despotic as they Were, and 4, £76 prolbluncll ligiiloraiitl "of political scielice, “lwerei V aiii-4 iiiiited theiilsellves ilwitlll '3; V‘ spirit of 'perso11alil'iberty ; iiiifiiiiii,, iiiei ages oic»¢naicie,giew ispe— cies of 1?ep1'esentanEiori;. In the Al “the ieiidai the king WaS"tl1t.'3 ‘firstl ibaijeiig ‘end 9Wilthi~n his own sphere, "each‘lo‘tbell' 9§las=”lgood‘:as tl1elfi1‘St. From this impo19ltai1tl:lf‘elé1i; tiloxi, which the jfeudal lords of Englantlclaimed tolllstémd tlolflicei.1*l prfeice, arose the practice of “tlieir being consulted by him, in great and difficult con» jLl1nctlu1'es efT2iVi1*sl'; 'e11l1u;111a11 affairs and a frame of gover11l1neTn-t, peri’ec?t its principles, shas been ‘brought down from them: re» gions“ of l Utopia, and has found ‘a 1oca1 ‘ihabitrartién and a name ’ in our country. He11oeforWardWlle»t «l“1“av‘e onlyptol strive that the practical operation loflour siyst-‘— terns may be true to their spiritand theory. ii tHence—4 forth it may be said of us“, What “never couldliave been said of any people, since ~1:l’1’e“‘ etirworldwrlbegan,--w be our sufferings What they ‘will,“i~ino rattribiute them‘ to our frame r of government; tom; Can¢poi‘nt out a principle in our politicalsystems,‘ rofi\:IWll1iieh the has had reason to complain; not nine-loan sitglr fora change in his oountry’s institutions, last 5a boon «tort be \ desired 1 for himself or for his children.. s Tl1e1‘e is not an apparent defect in our constitutions which could be removed Without introducing * greater onepsnor‘ita::ll7realw evil, rwhose removal would: not}; be rather Era nearer .\ approach to: the:~p1'inciplJes:t; an Wlrich they are founded, than a_de.parture+ rffrum And What, fellow lcitize1%1_s,*i.iare'f:1:o be-t“litl1felfruits» to usyyandrtolithe world, of thresiissestablishrnent of this perfect: system of governmrent? IL Vmightfipartily answler the inquiry, by remindingyou idwl*lat~ have been the fruits to us: and to theoWo1r1d»~f;~by iriviting you to compare our beloved country,i as it is,! r in extent of settlement, or in rn1mbe1+s gancl resources, in” the useful and olruamental‘ arrtsgrlrin abundance of 80 the common b1eSSi11eS i°f1if6l=iHtheneellelralistandalfl 91“ ci1al1'a~s=te9:= #16 tmeafislpof education: ii11tptheinstpi— in the iVa‘«I:iQ>11$»induSfl. A,‘_I)u:bl1ic iaweneth iiand netivnal ‘K/;i*1?l‘V11at it Was" in a11v=thesetlreeléelctsi fiftylll.~llearSl:eae0~ But the limits ofthis 0003-Stiwvill A A to engage in such nan,.e11nm»eo;¢ationp;;t endfliit isuffilcieilt for us contemplette, in tl1e~benefioial operation on solciepty, of ltheyi of govferiilnent bequeathed to us by our rfa~t1~1ers. his prineiple _i_s_Eq1p1ali,ty ; theequal l en- pjoymentpf evJeijy.t oitizen of the rights and privileges voflpthnen social onion. A A lléllpfimcip enofell 0the1'g9Ven1IneI1tsis m0n0110~ no 634011151011» --1fa’Y0»1-" They securegreatelnplfinleees ma Slma11i.imlmbe1‘=473114 necessarilratthe expellswf allthe rest of the pcitizelnls. A ll Iiil “he “keen lconflict o=f“mi11ds,l which preceded and —z;ecoin1.pa11ied the political convulsions of I therlast geiieirationg the filxistolprinciples of society pvlvlereop pean- zt boldness and power A Mlbefore nnk.no.Wn ifiiEfi1*dpea ié11d»lfI‘0m lithe great Prinéipie that all men (Lreeqiad Z., it fo1'ltl1el first time triumphantly ~:infe1ir.ed, ‘lasttppp;1;nteeoEssary consequence, tl1at:,th-e Will «of ‘at 111ajority of ltthepeoppleisltherulet of goVe—rn- pTo limeetfthesepdoctrines, so appalling ‘W in tendency‘ to the existing institutions of Europe, gfonnd was i also taken by the champions of 31 emse institut1ons anal particularly Wl11Cll“ nothrng else could p l1a.1'7e‘ J given,‘eto’l1i§’e‘§pl%nflpitl paradoxes and rservile ldoctrines. or ’ In of’ nownetl prod uctionsl,* A this great” rnan; for egxeeat; in his relm-s, mostllrassulredlyl meet‘ the‘ iriferrencesll drawn the l equalityl of that xhewn1‘l or t*he* ma; «am; tulle < goV"ernment,rh‘ase lmdertaken,asr with same ldelgree of irdistiencltnesé; er as is We m*ean"When We Say the lPEorr>rgE7l;°5’ filment "of this design; lie‘ lays pit: down; “‘7r"lltl1Wzril*e7ll at state of rude nature, there is ‘11o*’sncl1thing as fie people. A numberof men,’ in tl1le1ns”eli%es,lca1'ihave no collectivel capacity.’ The idearlofl a people the idea of : a“ corporation, hit is wholly artificial and made, like all other legal fictionsl by common pagree?~ In a state”of*l1*nde name,ptherereelismeg as a people !’’j ' A‘ I lwolulcl’ fain’“1earn‘pin ‘fWhafllccorlii’erl"llof' the ealrtlll, rude or l’civiliZedl;lpemen7‘ more to‘ fonndl; Who hare not 21‘ people, A morell or pimproved. he ’ ‘*“‘ nnmhelrp5‘l of men in A themselrresi lll‘hl2nre no he lcollectife _0 capacity ! ”“ I Would or gladly be'”told"Where,1n”Whe‘i;el region, I will ” not say of A geolgrapehy,3I knovfilthere ief? none such, but of poetry: or romance‘; antrmberriof men lrae beeln placed, by nature," leachllstandhrglaloneé ‘K; The lA.ppea1” from eiv tlolzhle A iblot2r1d"l3yitarryl‘ ioflltthoseléi ties: ot’?ir'hlood, afiinity, aiid:.:::1atngttage,rwhich form the lrudimentshtiof ea: ,<:ol1lecft-A- istiie iaetapaeity. L“ 7 I‘ he ricleal of a people ‘iszvth;e:;id.eal -of a co1*pora.tion, it lisrwholly a1*tificial, tancl;rhl;1r1arle;like all othei'Lswi$:.]egWa1 sfictions, by common agreement.” Indeed, is the social principle artificial ?7 is the gift of articulate speech, which enables rnanrtlto impart his corrditioii to mart, the organized tserrse, Which enables him to coriipmeherid What is imparted? is that rsyrhpatlry, which subjects our opinions and feel-— ingsl, lai1di‘thr'"ofigl1l therri our conduct, to the tinfluence ofolthersearidltheiricoricluct to our influence is that lcliairiiiofri cause and leff‘eet*,~ tvliieh irrakesl ourtfleharac- ‘tiers receive impressiohs ll from the M lgeneratioris before us, and puts it‘ sihl our power, by at good or k‘lce‘cle1it'§ltollrdistilla poison or a balm lirrtolsthe characters posterity? are these, indeed, all by-1aws>ofl“a ‘ilco1'piol1'atirer1?rl ” Are all the feelings of ancestry, pos- tilerity, andfellow-eitizerrship ; all thtetcha1*rn,'Ve11er?a- “tio1ii,.lla11d love, hound A up in theriarne of A 7c0t’mt7°y; tlie’l?delight, the enthusiasm, with which We seek out, 1 aftei: thellllapsl‘et’ of generations and ‘lagesrr, the traces of our fathers’ bravery or Wisdom, are these all “a legal fietiongg” Is it,li1'1deed, a legal fictiong that 'llr_r1’oiste11s the eye A of the A solitary traveller, Wherrhe Irhelets a couritryman in a foreign land P ls i la “"eo’fn!1r1or1i agreement,” that gives its meaning tolmy mtorher to1rgtre,ra1id enablesrne to speak to the hearts 33 ofrf mail, bey.ondl * the rlVe1'S,.;aI_j1(1 beyond 7 the“: a YeS;, jlll‘ is f a common. ma-cimfidiedllaonl the same registry, iwitll lthat,, msfisllals‘ the lxviuged lnatilo11sg,7 llltlmlt, “ V. M l _ l A cl51nIl10i1',lslnged ilnl fig‘u"re,'l v{re‘d‘ge tllei1' xvaly; ll 9 ll " ” Inte11igent of Sélasovnsjé land-Set folrthi "7 W’ *3 *Thei1*lla2erYl‘carava11, high over seas“ Flying, andoverllandsa With mutual Wing V l .A théi1~ flight. l l l‘ThQf dependence of ééin t:'iEJT:a'lk'!"i"‘,'lfga1Iiily on lfamily, imelrest 911 l i11terest,M is lblutl a, in the great. laW,$ A1101: of l c»01*po1'%atio11S,ll but of nature; The llaw, by;lWhiQl1 comme;rce,l Mn1anufactu1'es,_and agriculture suppQ1‘t% each othe1*, is tl:lelsa1l'ne law, in Vilvizuepf which the .tl1i1'styl eart11 owes its fertilitjfito £1153 rivers 311.61 : 79116 $33115 ; and the '\C.1‘OL1dSV da1‘iVe their hh-;Wt1'aq.V%e1ling~ %%waters «from the l 1'isi11glVap<)lu1fA$l.; _ me ocelalilllllils "fedl llfrolnlllthel seem: sp1'i11gs:f mcimltains L311d’{ the plafltlllthat grows de1‘i$ of which Bi u71%l<;e has 1@V‘Ba4SSe\r-te‘a,\la‘n&"‘ emote stlmngreasse1*i1:e'cl¢afcl1l€~jp1‘i11ciple“,iutlle se11tences I have quoted. ' t A - . ‘A . AA - e ;.:no,, ‘ A fellow citizens A; political society A exists by thelawt of 11atA111'e;i. : Mflfl."‘lS formed for it; tAevery many:,A~f0rmed;for it ;:.every man hasxan equal right toilits~t’*};1riVileges,i and tog.be~ deprived of them, :u1:1de~1*A w'hatt-were pretence, is, so far to be redtucedAttAo slave1*yA. 35 The.authors"oftl1e Declaiation of Indepelidennceisaw this, fand~etau.ght that all men El1'@;.l.)01‘»11;fTI:§té'7£Eiil?1id‘§5iElil;l1*3;L‘ d On frtliis is principle, our ‘C0Il_:Sl3lllLWilOl1S;;:€TESt-€23.31? .2‘-'¢l‘LII(Illi:?.r;zmIE}} a constitution can bind in a people won any 0the\rlv’l@l1iMflifi\I,V plea ~N 0 original contract,- that :=giVe=s :lw~1il11l$:6S"SV0f thewsocial condition. I do not mean, that it is niecessai*yl:i.to ou1*~l1a.ppiness actually to exercise this.l1~igl1ltlatei7iery election; but >I~ say, the right itself to giveiouiiiwvoice in the choice of public servants, andth8.1fla113.g‘emeI1i; of public affairs, is so sprecious,a so inestimable,l fthat there is not a citizen who hears: me, that wotildlilnoi. 36p lagzsdownr his «iifet asfsert tit; crisp‘ right eun- inr.;:ere.ry butt ours or; Iiisaysrtturikrnown; be <%:r:3E11giand’, Whos e“ iinrstitutions dsniake < r the‘ nwe:a:nes1:~iiifap{[Jsoacih tova popular character, thetiiielective 5;; :a"g:e:t.:is3‘nttot»only incredibly unequal El11Ci??Caip17iCi;OUS: in:~;:.its=~‘rtdismbirtion; butuextendsg after .ia1l,f? .1onlys:=r2to choice :irof.a minority of one house of the legisiaza ture.t:5;;;;’I?hL1s?:itsi1en*‘ the people of this country are.,Jby trhteir: constitutions of government, endowed with a. nevv source .,of ; enjoyrnent, elsewhere almost un- known; a great and substantial happiness ; an un- alloyfedp,happiness. ‘,Most. of the desirable things of lifephigliiprice in the World’s market. Every‘ thing usually deemed ya great good, rnustaifor, its 2 &’ttz1i11mier1t,i be weighniedi down, in the oppioisiteii scale,» W-;ith* is What is as usually deemed a i great . tevil-we-labort,; eare,a danger. i It is oniy the unbought, spontaneous, esscential circumstances of our nature and condition,» that yield a liberal enjoyment. in Ourreligious liopes, inteilecttial m~editations, stocialan sentimenitsyfamilyp affec1:io11s,«" politicial rprivilegeis, fthesegare springs G.f:"L111Pt1rL}}1i1SBd."i11a'PPin‘e’SS';‘J and to condemn men too iigveeE111(ie1’*ra11‘;a1'iDii;1’£11'[Y ;goVer*n.:me1f1t, is to cut, them off §fro1m nearly all; theiisatisfactions, twhich nature designed should flow from those principles Within us,‘:\:by which an,t1',ii:aepp of; kindred men is constituted 341 gieopgleaii i I 37 ;But:»_it:ais not merely an extension to allt;lth~s7l:mlerr1m’ 'bers::oj.0f};society, of those lolessings, rwlrichég .r1r1Mil:er? other a systems, are rnonopolized by a;j‘;feW% and» positive improvements, I feel psurteo,e most likely to drive. his coltlntry itlto ;%, ta:tVt1nttQ1;1}ta1'cI1y ;Where he has but-to ‘ c1“y{haV0ct,. anal.1e,t-slip%jthe “sdogs of ‘WaJ1’v7 or in 21 republic, mwhere he must the Mtvote of at strong majo1fit..y of the 1121- tion? Let,hiStQ1="y fu1‘11is—11 the 2.-msweiu, The book, vwtI1ic11 1)rQtmise_d,yo11, in its title, a A picture A of the pro- glfeiss of ‘.fl1e’,‘ hulxialx .‘f;‘1mi1;Y7 fttu¥un.‘S.5IOU-t to 2». trecord; nototf the lxumallféimilygttbutot7tt1r1e Macedtpxaismt 1!: J”t1.+i3%’3¥» family» the"-fa1I1i=1'i@.S’_ Ymk and M11:- c;é1ste;1t.,3Qftt,tVLor1'a.i11eta.ndtB0u1‘bon.t 11eed* 1‘mittt ttancient 2111112113 to confirm tt1'1ist~1‘ema1rk.rt» XVG raced VnA0t%speakt of those, who reduced Asia and. .A.f1‘ica,i11 the n1o1'11i11g of the world, tova tvassalage from yxrhich they have;11eVe1:;1'ec0Vte1‘ed. need ngtttidsvell ttto1;1,the,11101fe410to1*ioust ettxploitstt of gtheti; AL» etxaxxdetjs. arnd; _.tI1(_-3”: %jC::t~sa1fis,, the men twhoctt wept for otthet Wto_1*ldstj;to;t visit twitlztffitlme pestilexucteaof their axing. Wett~t11ee_d3t11o;t run down the bloody linet-of t11,edatrkAages, %W%het1:1, the t'ba;1rba1'ous North disgorgedt hm: ambitiiotls tstzwaWestA:o11 Euro 3e, 01' when at atlatert pe1jiQ:_d,W‘, tbva.rba1'tous Europe poured back V.~l1ert_.;h01yI 3;:uffigt.11s‘t,~¢t :AASia: ; J: need; , but Iotok. at V the dates oft 39 modem:e‘:;histe1'y,-we-the history of I c‘iV?’i1ifiefl7-QWielafieeii Eureepee; "We here beheld theambition1e4f?-Cfieii‘1e%S-9V; invoiving the contieeilt Of Euiepe in VVéi‘i‘,7; ~‘i:I&e firét half of the sixteenth ‘ee1"m.1ry,** andeethe mealeigxlitjgr AA of Catherine de’ VMediei eheri distractinge it the other half. "We ‘see A haughtjf and ceheerlesse bigotryeofe Phi1ip,%pe1*seVeri11gi in~57* conflicte of extermination for one e1e”Whe1’e%A age in the Netherlands, and darkenillg et1:te;‘~4’E11;glish5‘chmmel with his armada ; V while Fmnee p1~oIb:;_ggi;e: IieE1'"‘eVfi*¢*i1e di’sse11sio11s, because Hemy IV was fheV‘~~etV1*e11ty»’ second cotlsizle of Henry III. * VVe"ente1“theTseei*eIi34 teenth cen.tury, and ag‘a§11 findthe ehee1'ed’ita1*yeep1'ijdee4e and bigotry of the House of Austri3.”V.*esti11g Ger?-’ 111211157 and the 11eighbe111'i11g powers with the Thirty Years’ War; and before the peace of VVestpha1Ia” ceo«nc1udede,ee e England T is %phu1ged einto the fierydzrizzl“ of*:eeeheere“mi1ei1zant 1i;be1'ties‘. v C~o11tempo1‘aneous1y,Tthe- civilnwars are revived in; Fm11ee,? mad the %l+:in)gdoAn'%i is blighted by 1'.}L18epaSSi011S of lxfazarin. ciei xvars are healed, anci the atr0e%ieu*s-Leee'€a1'ee‘r ef e‘Le1’1"i§ XIV begixls; a half cem:u1'y’of bloodshed and xavoe; that stands in revolting c0nt1*aste with the V%pa1t'4ry pretences of his Wars; At length «the peace (Sf Ryswic is made in 1697, and b1eedingeEuroepe throws effvthe harness and liese~dee0W1*1*like*an ex-— hausted; giant to repese. In three years; the tem- mxem of a deating Spanish king gives the Mesigiaai 40 for the Successionwar; till acup of tea spilt on Mrs Masham’s aproii, A restores peace to the at- flicted kingdoms. Meantime the madman of the North had broken loose upon the World, and was runningihis frantic round. Peace at length isre- stored, and with one or two short Wars, it remains unbroken, till, in 17190, the Will of Charles VI oc- casious another testztmentary contest; and in the gallanti Words of the stern but relenting moralist, The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms. Eiglit years are this time sufficient to exhaust the combatants, and the peace of Aix-1a—-Chapelle is concluded; but, in 1755, the old French War is liindled . in our own Wilderness, and through the united operation of the rnonopolizing spirit of En- gland, the party intrigues of France, and the ambi- tion of Frederic, spread throughout Europe. The Wars of the last generation I need not name, nor dwell on that signal retribution, by which the polit- ical ainbition of the cabinets at length conjured up the tnilitary ambition of the astonishing individual, who pseems, in our day, to have risen out of the ranks of the people, to chastise the privileged orders with that iron scourge, with which they had so long afflict- mankind; to gather With his strong Plebeian hands the fragrance of those palmy honors, which they had reared for three centuries in the bloody gardens of their royalty. ~ It may Wellbe doubted, Whether‘, at under a govetntnentg like ot1t's, one of all these e_o1j1-~ tests Would liatretalgen place. tliatgarosei f1’Q_II1 displ1ted’titles, and beqttests of lthro1_:"1es‘i,i’eoitildw icourise have existed ; A and tlrda1ting E ta. the effect of popu1a.1~ de1usioh,;itg.Lseeii1's ragtime iiotpossible, that a 1'ep1‘esentative have embarked itialtyi of the wars of arhloitioii .aggI'a11dize1nent, which fill theicatalogue.i L V A iWho then are these families ai1dggi1idiiriduals—-t- these royal lam/istce--—-4-hy Whomi i the ate‘ ' kept in trainiiiig for a long ligladiatorialco1tihatP Are they better, Wiser than We?“ Look: at them ihilife; What are they? A "3 Kings fond,” says ‘Mr Burke, tiolscoffer at throiies, “ kings are fond of low ‘c0m- ipa11y.”* What are they when gohe P‘ Expende Ham- m'baZem..l Enter the great cathedrals ofEu1fope, and contemplate the sepulchres of the men, W110 Claim- ed to the" the lor(3lSisof A each successive ‘lgetleiatioli. Qiueistioiti your ‘l own feelinggs, ‘as you heholdiilv§?hiei'e the Plantagenets" and Tudors‘,te;esmarts ‘ and those of Brunsvvic, lie moumfully stmettedit up it the chapels of VVestminstet‘l Abloey and N compare those feelings with the homage you pay to Heavetfs arisgtocraey,--4-the untitled leaming, genius, a11cl* Wit that moulder by their side. Count over the sixty- six iemperors and princes of the Austrian housel,"tliat lie gathered inthe drearypompitof mom1men7talmar— "‘* Speech 0fltEO0110ll1lCal Reform. ii i g A A 6 42 ble,::inthe,vaults of the Capuchins at Vienna; and weighrr the worth» of their dust against the calamities of «their&:Pe.asants’ War, their Thirty~,Years’ war’, their Succession war, their Wars to enforcer;thePrag- maticfiranction, and of all the other niuncouth preten- cefs; fordestroying nrnankind, with which they ,have plagued the ~world. ., But the cessation of Wars, to Whichwe look, for»- ward as the result of the gradual diffusion of repub- lican government, is but the commencement of the social improvements, which cannot but flow from the same benignant source. It has been justly said that he was at great benefactor of mankind, who could make two blades of grass grow, whereone, grew before. in But; our fathers, our fathers were the benefactors of i mankind, who b1*ought into; action such, a "vast increase of physical, political,and moral energy; who have made not two citizens to live only, but hundreds, yea, unnumbered thousands to live, and to prosper in regions, which but for r their iisachievernents would have remained for ages unset- tled, and tokenjoy those rights of men, which but for their institutions would have continued to be arrogated, as theexclusiveinheritance of a.few.; appeal to the fact. I ask any sober judge ofipo- litical probability to tell me, Whether more has not ‘been {done to extend the domain of civilizatio?n,lin fifty £y1ears,since the declaration of independence, 43 than would have been done in five -centuries of eontinnetl colonial l subjection. It is noti=“*‘.ri‘even«rra matter of probability; the king in ciouncily: had adopted it, as a maxim of his American policy, that no settlements in this country should be made i able» yond the Allegariies;-mtliat the designof Providence in spreading out the fertile valley of the Mississippi, should not be fulfilled; t t I A I know that it is said, in palliationof the restric4- tive influence of r European gov?ernmtenl‘ts,”rfthat they are as good astheir subjects can bear. know it said, that it would be useless and perniciousto call on the half savage and brutified peasantry of many countries, to take a share in the administration of affairs, by electing or being elected to office. I knowthey are unfit for it; itis the very curse of the system. What is it that unfits them .9 What is itfthat makes slavish labor, and slavishrignorance, and slavish stupidity, or their necessary heritage? Are they not made of the same Caucasianwclay? Have they not five senses, the same faculties, [the same passions 2’ And is it any thing but an aggrava- tion of the vice of arbitrary governments, that they "first deprive men of their rights, and theni,~runfit them to exercise those rights; profanely construa ing the effect into a justification of the ieviili? The influence of r our institutions on foreign. na- tions is--—-«next to their iieffect on 4 our own corrdtitioriww as the most interesting question We can ., conternplate. With our example of“ popular government before their eyes, the nations of the earth Willnot: eventu- ally he satisfiedliwith any other. With the French revolution‘ as anbeacon to guide them, they will learn, We rnayhope, not to embark too rashlyxon the mounting Waves of reform‘. The cause, how‘- ever, of popular government is rapidly gaining in the World; In England, education is carrying it Wide and deep into society. On the continent, Writ- ten constitutions ofgovernrnents, nominally repre- sentative,---though as yet, it must he owned, norm»- inally so alone,-1--are adoptedin eight or ten, late absolute‘ monarchies; and ' it is , notrwithout good grounds that Wet may trust, that the indifference with which the Christian powers «contemplate the sacrifice of Greece, and their crusade against the constitutions of Spain, Piedrnont, and Naples, will satisfy the mass of thinking men in Europe, that it is time to put an end to these cruel delusions, and take their own government into their owns hands. ‘But the greattriunrphs of constitutional freedom, to whicl1 our independence has furnished the exam-4 ple, have been witnessed in the southern portion of our hernisphere, Sunk to the last point of colonial degradation, they have risen at once into the organ» ization. of free republics. r Their struggle has been arduous; and eighteen years of chequered fortune 45 have not yet brought it to a close. But We must not infer, from their prolonged agitation, that their independence is uncertain; that they have iprema-— turely put on the toga ozril-is of Freedom. They have not begun too soon; they have more todo. Our War of independence was shorter ;--—-happily We were contending with a government, that could, not, like that of Spain, pursue an interminable and hopeless contest, in defiance of the people’s Will. Our transition to a mature andwell adjusted consti- tution was more prompt than that of our sister re-V publics; for the foundations had long been settled, the preparation long made. And when We consider that it is our example, which has aroused the spirit of Independence from California to Cape Horn; that the experiment of liberty, if it had failed with us, most surely would not have been attempted by thern; , that V even now, our counsels and actS:,‘Wi1R operate as powerful precedents in this great family of republics, We learn the importance of the post which Providence has assignedusin the World. A Wise and harmonious administration of the public: affairs,---—~a faithful, liberal, and patriotic exercise of theprivate duties of the citizen,---While they secure our happiness at home, Will diffuse a healthful influm ence through the channels of national comrnunica- tion, and serve tlieu cause of liberty beyond the Equato1'andthe Andes. ~When We show an united, 46‘ eonciliatory,and imposingfront to their rising states, we show them, better than sounding-Veulogies can do, the r~true‘aspect' of an eindepeniclent republic. WV e give ‘them a living example, that the “fireside, policy‘ ofra people is like that of the individual man. As the ‘one, commencing in the prudence, order, and industry of tithe private circle, extends itself tolall the duties‘ of social life, of the family, the neigh--a bourhood, the country; so the true domestic policy of the republic, beginning in the Wise organization of its own institutions, pervades it territories with a vigilant, prudent, temperate administration; and ex- tends the hand of cordial interest to all the friendly nations, especially to those vvhichare of the house-— hold of liberty. r l t t l t ~ . ii g It is in thisvvay, that We are to fulfil our destin in the W'0I'lCl. The greatest engine of moral power, which human nature knows, is an organized, pros- . perous state. All that man, in his individual capa-- city, can do--—-all that he can effect by his fraterni- ties»--—-by his ingenious discoveries and wonders of art-—--or by his influence over others-—is as nothing, compared With the collective, perpetuated influence on human affairsand human happiness of a Well constituted, powerful commonwealth. It blesses generations with its sweet influences;-—--—-even the barren earth seems to pour out its fruits under a system Where property, is secure,while herfairest 47 gardens are blighted by despotism ;-——--n*1en,,thinking, reasoning men, abound beneath its benignant sway 7; -—------_nature enters into a beautiful accord, a better, purer asiemfo with man, and guides an, industrious citizen to every rood of her smiling vvastes ;--—-and we see, at length, that What has been called a state of nature, has been most falsely, calumniously so de- nominated; that the nature of man is neither that of a savage,a hermit, nor ta_slave,;. but that of a member of a Well ordered family, thatiljtofvr a good neighbour, a free citizen, a Well informed, good man, actingvvith others like .,him., This is the les—- son which is taught in thecharter of our indepen- dence; this is the lesson, Which our example is to teach the World. The epic poet of B.ome—---the faithful subject of an absoluteprince--—-in unfolding the duties and desti- nies of his countrymen, bids , them look. down with disdain on the polished and intellectual arts of Greece, and deem their arts tobe j it To rulethe nations withlimperial sway»; _. To spare the tribesthat yield; fight down the proud 3! And force the mood of peace: upon the world. A nobler counsel breathes from the charter of our in-4 dependence; a happier province belongs to our free republic. , Peace We would extend, but by ;persua-- sion and example,-—-the moral force, by vvhichalone it can prevail among the nations, t Wars we may, 4+8 encounter, but it isin the sacred character ofthe in» jured and the wronged; to raise the trampled rights of humanity from the dust; to rescue the mild form of Liberty, from her abode aniong the prisons and the scaffolds of the elder World, and to seat her in the chair of state among her adoring children ‘;Wt'() give her beauty for ashes; a healthful action forher ,cruel agony; to put at last a period to her Warfare on earth ; to tear her star-Spangled banner from the perilous ridges of battle, and plant it on the rock. of ages. There be it fixed for ever,----tlie power of a free people slurnhering in its folds, their peace reposing in its shade ! it i Note to page 11. ABOUT the time these Words were uttered, the great man to Whom they refer, breathed his last, ten rninutes hefore one o’clocl<: on the 4th of July, 1826; and tovvard the closeof the afternoon of the same day, the other venerated* patriot, alluded to, also expired. To have been one of those, Whose names stand subscribed to the Declaration of Independence, is of itself a rare felicity 3 to have lived to vvitness, at the close of the half, century from the declaration, the prosperous condition of Independent America, is an eminent favor of Providence, beyond the reach of expectation, and almost beyond the course of Nature. But history can scarce furnish a coincidence so nearly miracu- lous, as that the individuals, who stood first and second on the Committee of five appointed to prepare the Declaration, who were the two persons exclusively designated by their col- ‘leagues for this most honorable trust, and Who, after filling as associates, or competitors, the liigliest offices in the country, had long cultivated an honorable intercourse in retirement, should have passed out of the World together, on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the day, which their Declaration had render- ed irnrnortal for themselves, for their country, and for every free people. That these venerated Fathers of their Country retained to the last that possession of reason, which enabled them to feel the signal favor of Providence, that was vouch- 7 50 sated to them, is a wonderful circumstance at their advanced age, which fills up this picture of human felicity. When Mr Adams, then near his end, was informed by his attendants that the firing of cannons ringing of bells denoted the Fourth of July, instead of calling it a “ glorious day,” as the was Wont to do, he was heard by those around him, for the first time, and almost with his last breath, to call it “a great i and a good day!” It is impossible to contemplate a scene like this, and compare it with his letter written from Pliiladelphia on the 5th of July, 17 76, without emotions of a higher cast, than those of astonishment and admiration. “ Yesterday,” he then Wrote in the spirit of prophecy, “ the greatest question was de- cided which was ever decided among men. A resolution was passed unanimously ‘ That these United States are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.’ T i “ The day has passed. The fourth of July, 1776, will be a mernorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe, it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the Great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be coinmemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to Al- mighty God. It ought to be solemnized with poinps, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time for ever ! You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am Well aware of the toil, blood, and treasure it will cost to main- tain this Declaration, and support and defend these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see a ray of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means 5 and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue--—- Which I hope we shall not.” 51 It is ‘stated, in the accounts of the last days of ,Mr J efterson, that his favorite exclamation, as he drew near his depa,1*tu;_re Was, .N’wnc di7n~i2fzfis, Domine, “ Lord, now lettest thou tl1ylser-t- vant depart in peace.” On the day before his death, being sen-— sibly near his end, on inquiring what day of the month it Was, and being answered “The third of July,” heexpressed a de--r sire to live till the next day, “ that he might breathe the air of the F iftieth Anniversary !” t is There have certainly been times, in the history of our coun- try, when the political opposition between these two tivenerable men, was deemed a source of great evil, in its immediate in-— fluence on the community. In reference to their own charac- ters, to their personal history, and the moral influence of their example,“ their political contention can know no longer be re- gretted. Nothing less than so keen a struggle between men, who had been united heart and hand, in such a cause; and nothing less than a long and honorable friendship subsequent-— ly existing between men who had thus contended, would have sufliced to read a salutaryilesson of mutual forbearance and,re-- spect to the contending political interests of the day, and of mild expostulation to those, who, imitating these illustrious. men in nothing but their (lissensions, mistakenly think to show re- spect to their n1e111o1'j,r, by endeavouring to revive and perpetu- ate them.