ORATION

DELIVERED AT’ THE
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN CELEBRATION

OF‘ THE
SIXTY-SECOND A ANNIVERSARY
OF‘ THE
INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES,
IN THE CITY OF NEW-YAORIC,

FOURTH JULY, 1838,

BY EDVVIN FORREST.

 

' PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN COM}/II'M‘!'2En

NEW-YORK:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. W. BELL, NEW ERA OFFICE’,
No. we NASSAU-F-STREET, AND 17 ANN-STREET.

 

MDCCCJECXXVITX.

Y‘ms:~1“6fl w.r~nr6iin.;r to t”nc>. Ar-.t ofCn11ar1"ess, in the jv«~m- fl*:338,b3;' .3’m*ed ‘WK. Bci1,Z.Mhe Clerkfiss
flfilce ul me District Cu111‘Lfm"f.he Southern 13§.~;;mci. of Ne\,v-‘S.'c.n'k.. ‘

u

The following comtmmicution was received from Mr. FORI»‘.ES'I‘, in
reply to a letter addressed to him, by the Committee of Ar1*a11gon’1e11ts, in
behalf of the Democratic Ropubl.i.can Conirontion, soliciting. Z1 copy of
his Qration for publication. i

NEW-YORK, JULY 101,5, 1838.
Cl-ENTLEMEN, i

In complying with your application for a. copy of my Aclclress to the
Domocmcy of this city, on tile i:ec.ont Anrii.versz11‘y of the Declaration of
lode-p,onclonr:.e, I desire-. to rot;:,1m my aclcnowledgrnonts to the gentle-
men you 1‘opresent, for tile. compl.im<;~ntz11'y1n::1nno"r in which tlmy are
plmsecl to Spe:1l;:.of that pi'oclu.c.tior1,m'icl to yom'.sol.vos ir1d.i.vi<:l.tm,lly, for
the lciml amcl fltttte1'i,ng terms in wliitzli you .l1u.vo com l‘l"ll..ml(fl1l(:’.(.l their re-
qtlost. I place the Qmtion in your llI11I”HflS,l;O do with it ms you nm.y'
thinlc proppor; tl1oup;l1 I am fmrlitml its mt?i*.l.‘llS will not prove to be of thzxzt
ltincl, wl1i.c.l1 best stzmc.ls the o1'clea.l o1"deli'l)omt;e: p€€‘.1‘l,1b3‘tt.l in p1'inr.. it mas
my intention, on flrot roceiv'ing;' your letter, to gitro tho A.ele:,lx'os.<s l1l1l']O1‘C)l,1gh
revision, with :3. View to strip in :?~so1’ne:_wl,“.1z1t of its .1'lmtot'ic.'zl c.l‘1m'z:u::tc;=r, by
i.'ott'«::nc:l:xir1g its (i3XL1lJ€3,l‘t1nt3t'?5S of l:11‘1g,7uogc~,¢at"1d sul:>cluin,_.cf it to a .'solim'or
:styl'o of (3Xpl,'(;‘SSlC)I"l, m(T)l'(? suitocl, to ccnopositions zxdclrossod to the “ pau.-3t.=.>.1'
j:_1dg«.ra1I1ent” of the 1'oo.clo1'. But, besides tlmt my e1igz1ge1Tx<21'2ts do not
afiorcl me l(;.'.lSuIt‘t3 for this purpose, I am not so.tisfied"'thut it" would be
dtmling in gooclfi1it.h with the public, to put bof'ore them, as my Uration pro-
nounced on the 4th of July, on eosoy in any oonsidomlnlo dog-1'c:Ȣ: morli~
fiocl by sz,.1l)s;c3tip.,1o1it roflc=,c>;tic.>:x;1 and olalaomtion.

I tlium;-Fore Sl1l'}l'l”lll; the mz:u'1usc1'i pt to you, in t.lu.é first wo"rr:ls~,: of lmsty
composition; only z1ol.cing the 1'eo.doi' to oxercriso so much lczarxionoy as I
lmve a. riglit. to solict, firom the fact, that, of the liriof poriotl allowed rno
for p1'epamtion, much was nec¢=:ssm'ily cliissipzitecl by tho int£~31'rupt.ior1 of
urmvoiclable px‘()lic*ssiona.l anal p1'i,v:1t:3 occupz1tions'.' it

I have the l';lOI101‘ to be, (Sac. Soc. 550.

EDVVIN FORREST.

To Rxormr-m J. SMITH,  i I i I
G. H. BR‘L'S‘(”))»7,
ROBERT VVALI{ER,
.lAM1~3:’-3 E. I~lx'1>1s:, Crmmiitecz.
JAMES I~.l1«:NRY,
Ronr~m'r“ 'lf‘o1vms'I«:Is:1),
R.(i)I£.1i‘.R'l‘ B. Bow),

ORATION.

FELLO“W-CITIZENS,

"We are met this day to celebrate the most august
event which ever constituted an epoch in the political an~
rials of mankind. The ordinary occasions of public fes-
tivals and rcjoicings lie atan infinite depth below that
which convenles us here. ‘We meet, notin honor of a vic-
tory acliievecl on the crimson field of war; not to triumph in
the acquisit.ions ofrapine; nor to comrnemorate the accom-
plishment. of a vain. revolution, which but substituted one
dynasty of tyrants for another. k”'”No glittering -display of
milita.ry pomp and pride, no empty pageant of regal

p grandeur,allures us hither. We come, not to daze our

eyes with the lustre of a diadem, placed, with all its 'lattri-
butes of tremendous power, on the head of a being as
weak, as blind, as mortal as ourselves. We come, not to

r celebrate the hirtliday of a despot, but the birthday of

a nation: not to bow down in senseless homage before a
throne founded on the prostrate’ rights of man; but to
stand up erect, in the conscious dignity of equal freedom,
and join your voices in the loud acclaim, now swelling

at

A 6

from the grateful hearts of fifteen miilions of fellow men,
in deepacknowledgement for the glorious charter of lib-
erty our fathers this dztyp1'ocleirned to the world;

How simple, how sublime, is the occasion. of our 111eetii'i_g;;;l
This vast assexnblage is drawn together to‘solemnize the
.:»i.nnit«'e1°se1'y of an event which appeals, not to their senses
nor to their paseio11s,i but to their reason; to triumph at a

A victory, not of might, but of right; to rejoice in the e:=:tzib-

lislimeiit, not of physical dominion, but of en e.hstraet pro—
position. ‘We are met to celel3r:it.e the d_ec1n.ration of the
great principle of’ hiiiinan freeclo1n—--tlizit ineetima.hl.e priii-
ciple w?=ncl1 as:+sert:s the poliiticel equality of 1l1fll]li".i1.'1Cl. We
are met in honor oi’ the pl‘On71ulgttl1lOi1 of tllmt elierter, by
whicl we are recognized as joint eove1‘ei,g*1i.s of an empire
of freeznen ; holding our sovereignty by at ,1r‘igl1.t indeed di-
vine—-——hy the immutable, eteriml, ir.resistihl.e riiglit of self-
evident truth. “We are met, ll3l.l0W—Cl.i.lZB'lilS, to corn1fnemo-
rate the layiiig of the corner stone of democratic liberty.

"Tl1i*ee:"sc,o're yearéz and two i lmve new elapsetl since
enr lhtliers vezitnred on the g,'l‘.‘£Ll1Cl e:~cperime11t of freeclorn
Tlie nationsof the eartl.1l.1ee.rtlwitl1 wonder the sta.i*t:ling;
novelty of the principle they Z-t‘$‘»i'3(’:‘l"l',(’.’:(l, end ‘Wf:ti3(3l1E3(l the
prog1‘ess of their enterprise with doubt and £1.],)}T)Tt3l1E?‘t":F$i(51'l.

i The heart of the political pliilaiithropiet throhl)ed with
anxiety for the result: the down—-trodden vict;in1s of op-A

pI'B:~.$S.iO1l scarce dared_ to lift theireyes in hope of a euc-
eessful termination, While they lmew tliat failure would
more stronggly rivet their cliains: and the de:=spot:a«s of the

old world,‘fron1 their “ lmrl eminences,” gloornily lO0l{€3Clc

on, aghast with ,rage and terror, and felt that 8. blow had

been lst;r.uclr. wliieli l00S£-§l’l_E(l the foundation of their thrones

"F

The event illustmtes what en1p.le cause there was for
the prophetic tremors which thrilled to the soul of a,rhi-
trary power. 'I‘ime lnre"l stamped the lattestatlon of
its Signet on the success of the experiment, and gthe
fzrhric then erected now stands on the strong ,basis_oi'
estnblislretll truth, the 1n:n'la: and model of the World. The
‘VlCl?5Sllliltll3S of’ threescore y8t1.l‘S, while they lmve shaker1

to the centre the artifici.:J,l f'onnde.tions of other govern-

mente, have but Cl(“3lI1011Sl)‘t1l,8(l the solidity of the simple
and nztlznrzrrl structure of democrnti.c 'f1‘G8{l.OI11. The lapse
of l.ll'l1D, while it dinirs the liglrlt of false systems, has con-
tlnnatlly t1‘tl,g'l.'l"lO2;ll.G(l the l)r'i.gl1tness,ot' tlmt which glows

with the inherent arid eternal lustre of rezrson and justice;

N e W et::1.r'e., from year to year, entrerging witl:1perf'ect radi-
::mc.e.ir1 the wc;~stern lrorirzon, hzitve .lm;r*ensecl the benignant
splendor of that C0l"1SlJ€1l_l_:1ltlLl.0lfl which now shinesh the po-
litical, ,g'lll(l.lllg’ light of’ the World.

How ,g'rtr1;1d in their simplicity arethe elerne11tery pro--
positione on which our edifice off'reedo.m is erected! A
few brief eell'—-evident exiorne fnrnielr the end.urin0' baeis~

7 7 223

of political institutions, which harrnoniorrsly acco1nplisl1 ,
all the legitirmrrte purposes of governrnent to fifteen mil-r

ll()l]S of people. The I1t7tl3‘l11‘3.l equality of rxmn; the Iflgllt

of’ :3, 111ejo1‘ity to govern; their duty so to govern ale to‘

preserve inviolate the secrecl obligewions of eqrral justice,
with no end in view but the protection of life, property,
and social order, leaving opinionfree as the wind which
bloweth wl1ere,itlistetl1,: these are the plain, eternal prim»-

ciplcs on which our fatllcrs reared that temple of true 

liberty, beneath whose dome their children 'congrcga,tle
tl*rie day, to pour out their ll€i)..!'l15.-3 in _g,"1'-t.‘4.ll3'll;1.1(l'rZ‘.ll1(_}l‘ the pre-

‘I-

l 8

cious legacy. Yes! on l3l1eit3'Vt§1‘il:iLJ3'l;ZlIl:_..!‘,'e1‘OCl{ of truth the
shrine is ‘founded. where we worship freedom; and

“ Whe’n the sweeping storm of time

Has sung its deatlfldirge o’er‘the ruined fumes
And broken altars of the mighty fiend

‘Whose name usurps herihonors, and the blood,
Through centuries clotted there, has floated down
The tainted flood of ages.”-—----- i

that sllrine shall stand, u11sl1ala:er1 by the heating" surge of
cl1z1r1ge,e1'1d only washecl to purer whiteness by the deluge
that overwhelms all other political fabrics.

'1‘he very simplicity of those ruaxixrrs on which is reared
the proud arch of our confederatecldemocracies, embra—-
cing «ft l1emispl1e_re in its span, gives signal assurance of

that inherent durahility, which can withstaucl unhurt the '

stormy conflicts of opinion, and the tempest breath of time.

Sixnplicity is the invariable cha.rocterist'ic of truth. Error

loves to l1icl.e her deformity in cum'bro“us slmepes and com-
plicotecl ellvelopments, to bury her sophistries in ‘many
lehyrintlrs of subtlety, arid dN'isguise her purposes in or::x.cu-
1211' ambiguities. But truth is open as the day; her aspect
 1‘£l,("l.l&;t11l3iWll3ll candor ; her language direct and plain;
her precepts zuflnxirahleliuui beauty, irresistible in force.
Tulle gramil elemeritary p1'iuci'ples of ‘Wl1?£Lt('3VE31‘ is IIil'0Sl.Val-

A ueble to mztrr are clisti11guisl1ed.hy simplicity. If we fol-
“low nature to her hiding places, and wring from her the

secret by which. she conducts her stupendous operations,
we shall find that a. few simple truths constitute the foun-
dation of all her vast designs. If we roam abroad into
the fieltls of science, the some discovery will reward our

investigations. Behold, for ezzzaiuple, on what ayfetv se1f-  

9‘

evident axioms is reared: that sublime and irrefragable
system of mathernatical reasoning, by means of which
man proportions the" grandest forms of art, directs his
course through the pathless Wastes of ocean, or, ascend»-
ing into the boundless fields of space, tracks the comet
in its fiery path, and “ unwinds the eternal dances of the

4 sky.”

We are apt, in political applications, to confound sim- 

plicity with barbarisrn; but there is the simplicity of intelu
ligeilce and refinement, as well as the simplicity of igno-
ranceand brutality. Simplicity is the end, as it is the ori--
gin,of social effort: it is the goal, as well as the s»tartin=g post,

on the course of nations. Who that reads the lessons yyorfil
history, or surveys the actual condition of mankind, with

tliouglitful eyes, does not perceive that,.iu~ religion and
morals, in science and art, in taste, fasl1ion,iman=ners,
every tl1ing,simplicity and true‘ refinement go forwarcl
hand in haud.“,As civilization adv‘ances,the gorgeous
rites of an idolatrous faith, performed with pompous cere-
monial before altars smoking with hecatombs of hulnan
"victims, are succeeded by the simple and refined wolrship
of a sublimer creed. The dogmas of an arrogant pl-hilos--~
ophy, full of crude and contradictory assumptions, are fol-
lowed by the harmonious discoveries of inductive reason.
The grotesque and cumbrous forms of architecture, glit-«
tering with barbaric pomp and gold, give place to the
structures of a simpler and severer taste. Literature
strips ofi' her tawdry tra.ppin,§s of superfluous ornament,
and rejecting the quaint conceits of cloistered rhetoriciaus,
and their elaborate contortions of .pl1I.‘aSe, speaks to the
heart in Words that breathe the sweet simplicity of nature.
Simplicity is indeed the last achievement in tlrepower of

10

man. It is the ultimate lesson to be acquired before he

can reach that state of millennial equality and brother«

hood, which the inspiring precepts of democratic philoso-
phy,ynot less than the sublime ethics of the Christian faith,
teach us to hope may yet conclude, with an unsullied
page, the crime-stained annals of our race.

To the genius of BACON the world is indebted for eman-
cipating philosophy from the subtleties of the schoolmen,
and placing her securely on t.he firrn basis of" ascertained
elementary truth, thence to soa.r the loftiest nights on the
unfailing pinions of induction and analogy. To the crenius
of J EssslnsoN-—+to the comprehensive reach and fervid pa-
triotism of his mind—---we owe a more momentous obl igz1t.i()x1.
W'hat BACON did for natural science. JEFF‘ER.E3ON did for
political morals, that important branch of ethics which
directly affects the happiness of all mankind. He snatch-
ed the art of government from the hands that had envel-
oped it in sophisms and mysteries, that it 1”r1ig;il1t.l)e rnadean
instrument to oppress the many for the aclva1nt.ag;e of the
few. He stripped it of the jargon by which the human
mind had been deluded into blind veneration f'<>1'tl<_iul1gs«as
the immediate vicegerents of God on earth; and pro

r claimed in words of eloquent truth, which thrilled con»

viction to every ‘heart, those eternal self-evident first
principles of justice and reason, on which alone the fabric
of government should be reared. He taught those “ truths
of power in words immortal” you have this day heard;

a words which bear the spirit of great deeds; words which

have sounded the death-dirge of tyranny to the remotest
corners of the earth ;which have roused a sense of right, a
hatred of oppression, an intense yearning for democraticlib-
erty, in a myriad myriad of human hearts; and which,rever-

11
berating through time like thunder through the sky, will,

in the distance far away,
‘Waken the slumbering ages.

 

To J EFFERSON, belongs, exclusively and forever, the liigll
renown of having (‘ruined the glorious charter of A meri-
can liberty. To his memory the benedictions of this and

i all succeeding times are due for reducing the theory of

freedom to its simplest elements, and in  few lucid und
ununsweruble propositions, estublisliing u g1rou11d\vot'l«:‘on
which men may securely raise a lasting superst;ruct,u're of
national greutness and prosperity. But our fathers, in the
august ttSSelIll.)l&IgB of “Y6, were prompt to z1clm<m'ler:lge
and adopt the solemn und momentous principles he
asserted. With source on nlterntion—---witlilnone that
affected the spirit and character of the instrunlent, and
with but few ltl1ut,cl1z1.ng,'e(l in the slirflitest degree its x'cr-
bal cox1st1*uetion~,-«tile publishecl that exposition ofhuman
rights to theworld, as their Declaration of American 111--
dependence; pledging to each other their lives, their tier»
tunes, and their sacred honor, in support of the tenets it
proclaimed. This was the grandest, the most important
experiment, ever undertaken in the history of man. But

they that entered upon it were not t1ll"tll(l of new experi-
ments, if founded on the immutable principles of'1'igl)t., and

approved by the sober convictions of reason. Tliere were
not vvnnting; then, indeed, as there are not i wanting now, pale
counsellors to fear, who would have withheld them from
the course they were pt11'suing-, because it tended in :1 di---
rection hitherto untrod. , But they were not to be deter-
red by the shadowy doubts   and timid suggestions of
cruven spirits, content to be lashed lorexwzr round the sulne

ircle of miserable expeclients, perpetually trying anew

12

the exploded shifts which had always proved lamentably
inadequate before. To such men, the very name of ex-

periment is a sound of horror. It is a spell which con!

pjures up gorgons, hydras, and chimeras dire. They seem
not to know that all that is valuable in lil'e--—-that the
acquisitions of learning, the discoveries of science, and
the refinements of art-——--are the result of experiment. It
was experiment that bestowed on CADMUS those keys of
ilmoxvledge with which we unlock the treasure--houses of
immortal mind. It was experiment that taught BACON

, the futility of the Grecian philosophy, and led him to that

heaven-scaling method of investigation and analysis, on
which science has safely climbed to the proud eminence
where now she sits, dispensing her blessings on mankind.
It was experiment that lifted NEW'I‘ON above the clouds
and darkness of this visible diurnal sphere, enabling him
to explore thesublime mechanism of the stars, and weigh

the planets in their eternal rounds. It was experiment

th.at. nerved the hand of FRANKLIN to snatch the thunder

  i'rom the armory of heaven. It was experiment that gave

i.lllS:lT)emlSPl’lel'Bl1O,l.lil€‘, world. It was EXPERIIVIEN1‘
ittl1fl’t.~gaV6 this ‘continent to FREEDOM.

Let us not be afraid, then, to try experiments, merely
because they are new, nor lavishupon aged error the ven-
weration due only to truth. Let us not be afraid to follow
reason, howerter far she may diverge from the beaten

patl1l._of,sorpinion..~ All the inventions wlxicli embellish life,
“ .all alter discoveries wliicli enlarge the fi.el»d of human hap-

piness, arve but various results of the bold experimental
exercise iiftl1at,dist.inguishing attribute of man. It was

t the .exercise7.f reason tl1a.'ttaught our sires these simple

13"

elements of freedom on which they founded their stupend-
ous structure of empire. The result is now before man-
kind, not in the embryolform of doubtful experiment; not
as the mere theory ‘of visionary statesmen, or the mad

project of hot-brained rebels: it is before them in the ‘

beautiful maturity of established fact, attested by sixty»
two years of national experience, and witnessed through»-
out its progress by an admiring world! Where does the
sun, in all his compass, shed his beams on a country, freer,
better, happier than this’! Where does he behold more

vdiflused prosperity, more active industry, more social har-

mony, more abidiugfaith, hope, and charity '2 Where are

the foundations of private right more stable, or the limits W

of public order more inviolately observed? Where does
labor go to his toil with an alerter step, or an erecter
brow, eliulgent with the heart-reflected light of conscious
independence? ,Where does agriculture drive his team
a--field with a more cheery spirit, in the certain assu-

rance that the harvest is his own? Where does com--t
merce launchmore boldly her bark upon the deep, aware in

that she has tostrive but withthe tyranny of theele-
ments, and not with the more appalling tyranny of man ‘.3

True it is, that a passing cloud has occasionally flecked
the serene brightness of our horizon, and castamoment-

nary shadow on the earth ; and there are a sort of boding‘

political soothsayers, who, with malignant alacrity of evil

augury, magnify each transient speclc into a fearful har-i
binger of desolating tempests. But an empire, rock--‘

«founded as our own, on the adarnantine basis of l truth
and universal equity, mocks the vain predictions, and
vairner aspirations, 0”f“tl1OSe,VV’l1O either fear, or wish its
fall. What though the eagerpassions of men have some-

14 ,

times broken through the restraints of order, and heady
tumult, with precipitate hand, has seized the sword and
scales of justice’? Did not the voice of reason instantly
hush the clamorous shout of riot, and hasty anger abashed
at his own intern perate act, restore the rat ished emblems,
and bow with deference before the recovered dignity of
the laws ’? i ' l ‘I

But how pitifu1—-~—how worse than pitiful, the wretched
aim of those, who gloat over these rare and transient
ebullitions of tumultuous rage as supplying an argurnenit
against the adequacy and benign effects of democratic
govermnent! Have these revilers of the principle of
liberty read the lessons taught by the history of the past;
or have they considered the forceful, admonitions with

which the present state of the other empires of the world

is fraught? If the mild spirit of equal laws, which derive
their sanction immediately from those Whom they aiiect,
cannot Wholly subdue the stormy passions of man, will
they explain What better form of political institutions
has accomplished that result’!

Methinks they turn, and with ready gesture point to
that monarchy from which this young republic sprung.
I cast my eyes towards her with no unfilial glance. I

reverence ,Eng1and—-——-with all her faults, I reverence
the mother of my country, and the great exemplar of the

world in arts, in arms, in science,literature, and song. I
reverence her for theprjinciples of civil liberty which she

has scattered, “‘ like flower seeds by the far winds sown,”
over the whole surface of the globe. I reverence her for  

that she was the parent of Hampden and Sidney, of Ba-
con and Newton, of Milton and Shakspeare. Yes!

15.

though she drove our fathers from her shores Witll the
accursed scourge of political and religious persecution,
and though, like an unnatural parent, she battled with
her children when they asserted the unalienable prerog-
atives of humanity and nature, I reverence England.
But let not my eyes he turned to where she sits in the
swollen pride .of aristocratic grandeur, for an example of
that system of polity which can wholly restrain the out-

breaks of popular phrenzy. Behold, what fires are those‘

which flash across her borders, and wrap them in the red
and fumid wreath ofconflz1.g1*z1t.ion '2 They are kindled
by the riotous and ‘incencliarysons of agriculture, Who,
pushed by want to the extreme Verge of endurance,are
now excited to madness at the sight of art introducing

her contrivances to render their labour superfluous, and

sn:1tch the scant crust from their famishing months.

But hark! in another quarter the hoarse roar of many l

voices is ascei1cling;, mingled with the crash of massive
bodies, falling in shattered fragtnents to the earth. The
tumult proceeds from the pale operatives of the man-
ufactories, turning at last and lending the hands that
deg;raded human nature to the drud,g'ery of brutes, with-
out alllwding it even the respite and nurture which brutes
enjoy. And mark again, from‘ yonder sea-port come the
sounds of sudden fray. A press-gang, with the myrmi-
dons of’ power at their backs, are in fierce conllict with the
populace. 'I‘he latter contend desperately, for they are
contending for the inestimable right of personal freedom.
But see, the guards in blood-red livery, (fit color ‘for their
sang;uinary trade!) hasten forward to the field of actions,

and restore peace andiorder . at the hayonet’s ‘point.

These are some of the scenes which a cursory glance

over England descries. r A

16

s The tremendous means of overawing man which a des--
potism exercises, may repress, for a while, the outward man»
ifestations of human passion ; but, the 1r1isci1iei'vmrl«;s not
less surely that it wo.rks concealed, and at last, gathering
strength superior to the resistance, it bursts with an ex»

plosion the more terrific for the delay. The dams and

emhankments of arbitrary power may, for a "while, com»-
pel the stream of society to flow in a direction contrary to
that of nature; but wider is the havoc of the deluge, when
the flood sweeps away its bounds, and gushes inwild tor»
rents over the land; l Happy, then, that country, whose

“ simple polity places no restraint on opinion, which, freely

expressing itself in the constituted modes, continually
conforms the institutions to the public will, and thus pre-~
vents all occasion and excuse for violent disruption and
change. Compare the annals of this confederacy with

U those of any other nation, and the bencficent influence of ‘

democratic liberty, in this respect, as in all others, will
plainly, appear. a ’

A Can the political skeptic cast his eyes over this vast

i empire----cahhe look on the broadbright face and sturdy

form of popular freedom, and not find all his line woven
web of speculative doubts of man’s capacity for self-
government melt like breath into the wind? It is but
threescore years since our national birthday dawned
upon the earth. Look now abroad uponpthis populous

-land. Isithis the continent, now resonant with the ma ny-

“mingled hum of active life, which yesterday presented

it utlthe’ scattered smoke of a few colonial settlements,

curlinghere and there from the dense foliage of a cheer-

A less, boundless, trackless wilderness? Wlience is derived

the strange activity which has wrouglit this clianegemso

17

vast, so sudden, it almost makes the *n~'i.idest itaies of
magic credible’! Whence".l~—r-—-but from he inspiring in«--
fluence of equal democratic liberty. ' i

“ Yes, in the desert there is built a home

For freedom. Genius is made strong to rear
The monuments of man beneath the dome
Ofa new heaven. Myriads assemble there,
Whom the proud lords of man, in rage or fear,
Drive from their wasted homes.”

No need of standing armies here‘, “ the hired bra»
voes that defend a tyrant’s throne,” to protect the peo-
ple in the secure enjoyment of their rights. No need of
complicated guards and checks to keep the oven balance
of the law. N 0 need of a portentous and unnatural
union between things sacred and profane, to force the un-
willing consciences of men to worship God with rites
their souls reject. Here at last is discovered the grand
political truth, that in the simplicity of government con»
sists the strength and majesty of the people; that as Elie
contrivances of state increase in complexity, those whom
they affect are degraded and made wretched ; ,4 and that
when the institutions of society shall conform to the
beautiful simplicity of nature, Wliich does nothing in
vain,then ‘will man have attained the utmost limit of
human felicity. In the progress of that great ldemocratic
experiment, the origin of which We are met thisday to
celebrate, let us keep constantly in mind, that the sole
end of government, consistent with the unalienable equa-
lity of human rights, and the greatest diffusion of happi-

ness, is the mere protection of men from mutual aggres- A

sion, leaving them otherwise in unlimited freedom, to

follow their own pursuits, express their own opinions, and \

practise their own faith.

18

s The day is past forever when religion could have fear-
ed the consequences of freedom. In what other land do
so many heaven-pointing spires attest the devotional hab—
its of the people? In What other land is the altar more
faithfully served, or its fires kept burning \\ ith a. steadier
lustre’! Yet the temples in which we worship are not
founded on the violated riglits of conscience, but erected
by willing hands; the creed we profess is not dicta ted by
arbitrarypower, but is the spontaneous homage of our
hearts; and religion, viewing the prodigious concourse of
her voluntary followers, has reason to bless the auspi-~
cious influence of democratic liberty and universal tole-
ration. She has reason to exclaim, in the divine language
of Milton, “though all the winds of doctrine were let
loose to play upon the earth, so truth be in the field, we
do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting", to misdouht
her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple! for who
ever knew truth put to the worse in a free and open en»
counterl Her confuting is the best and surest suppress-

ing.” r'I‘he soundness of this glorious text of religious

libertyhas now been approved to the world by the in-
Qontes;tible evidence of our national experience, since it

«isone of those “ columns of true majesty” onwhich our
political fabric stands. Let bigotry and intolerance turn

 ifeir lowering eyes to our blrigllit example, and learn the

 hap.py,pthrice happy consequences, both to politics and

r,’“i‘”“,igiop,, from plaeingan insuperable bar t6 that inces-
tur ya  from which, in other lands, such , a direfull
brood 0l’l7error’s monstrous shapes have sprung. it A

it it fiN0t1BSSU~a.1;;lSp.l0lO11S would be the result, if adhering

closely to thi'i?*:"'laviowed purposes and duties of democratic, '

govermnent,we should preserve an equal distance be- p

,19

tween politics and trade, confining the one to the mere

protection of men in the uninfringed enjoyment of their
equal rights, and leaving the other to be regulated by en-r
terprise and competition, according to those natural prin~

ciples of economic wisdom which will be ever found more

just and eflicient than the imperfect and arbitrary re-
straints of legislation. But above all, let us be careful,
by no political interference with the pursuits of industry
and improvement, to violate that grand maxim of equali-
ty, on which, as on its corner stone, the fabric of demo?-
cratic freedom rests. That We should frown indignantly
on the first motion of an attempt to Sunder one portion of

the Union from another, was the parting admonition of ,

WAStIING1‘ON; but with deeper solicitude, and more sedu-

lous and constant care, should we guard against a blow

being aimed, no matter how light, or by what specious
pretext defended, against that great elementary principle
of liberty, which, once shaken, thewhole structure will
topple to the ground. Beware, therefore, of connecting
government, as a partner or co-operator, with the affairs
of trade, lest the selfish and rapacious spirit of trade
should prove stronger than the spirit of liberty, and the
peculiar advantage of the votaries of tralfic should be re-
garded more than the general and equal good of the
votaries of freedom.   t i

Yet deem me not governed by a narrow sentiment of
hostility to traffic. On the contrary, I am its friend. I
regard it in allits legitimate influences as an benefactor

of manltind. A I regard it as the cultivator of amity be— A
tween the distant portionsof the globe, knitting them to- ,

A gether by a constant‘ ilntercliange of kindly offices in l ah,

th vusand ties of interest and affe ?.tion. I regard it as

20

shewin g men their mutual dependence on each other, and
cherishing a feeling of brotherhood for the Whole human
race. It explores every desert of the earth, and traverses
everyocean, rescuing its continents and islands from the
long night of ‘ignorance and barbarism, and bringing them

  vvithin the blessed light of the day-star of religionand

civilization. The fervor of equinoctial heat cannot re-
lax, nor the accumulated horrors of polar winter chill its

«hardy and elasticspiritof enterprise. It breaks through

the sordid barriers which, without its aid, would confine
each being to hisown narrow spot of earth, and makes
the inhabitant of the most ungenial climate a commoner
of i the world, bountifully supplying him with its various
productions, and opening to him all its magazines of
science, literature, and art. These are the achievements
of traffic under the influence of its own simple and salu-
tary laws. But once violate the great principle of equa-
lity, once invest it with political immunities, and, from a.

 benefactor, it becomes an oppressor of mankind, pervert-

ing the true end of government, snatching its advantages
tvjitlia greedy and monopolizing hand, and leaving its
burdens to fall with augmented weight on other necks.

r Bevvare, then, of bestowing under anyname, or forany

purpose,rex:clusive privileges on any portion of the people ';
for it is the nature of power to enlarge_itse1f' by continual
aggregation, and like the snowball, which, by its own
motion, becomes an avalanche, and buries the hamlet in
ruins, it may fall, ere we dream of danger, and crush us
vvitliits weight. a

If’, in any respect, the great experiment which America
has been trying beforethe world has failed to accomplish
the true end of government--——“ the greatest good of the

91

greatest number”---it is only where she herself has proved

irecreant to the fundamental article of l1er creed. If We

have not prospered to the greatest possible extent com-
patible with the condition of humanity,_ it is because we
have sometimes deviated, in practice, frozn the sublime
maxim, “that all men are created free and equal, that
they are endowed  their Crelator with certain unalien-
able rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and

the pursuit of happiness.” If in no instance we have

transgressed this axiom of democratic liberty, how is it
that one man may freely perform what it is a. crime, for
another to attempt? By wliatprinciple, accordant witli
equal rights, are the penal interdictions of the law thrown
across my path, to shut me from a direction, which an-
other may pursue without fear or liixiderance? VVhy are
a few decorated with the insig._2;ni,a of chartered privileges,
and armed in artificial ix1tangibilit.y, while the many
stand undistinguisllied in the plain iexterior of the natural
man, with no forged contrivance of the law to shield them
from the “shocltzsvthat flesliislieir to Cl”, Are these things
consistent with the doctrine which teaches that equal pro»
tection is the sole true end of g:overmnent’.l that its re-
straints should hold all with equal oblig;:1t;ic)n? that its
blessings, like the “gentle dews of heaven,” should fall
equall y on the heads of all?

It is one of the admirable incidents of democracy, that
it tends, with a constant influence, to equalize the exter-
nal condition of man. Perfect equality, indeed,i:s not
within the reachof human eflbrt. r

“Order is heaverfs first law, and this contest,

Some are and must be greater than the rest;
More rich, more wise.”

22

Strength must ever have an advantage over weakness;
sagacity over simplicity; wisdom over ignorance. A This is
according to the ordination of nature, and no institutions
of man can repeal the decree. But the inequality of so-
ciety is greater than the inequality of nature; because it
has violated the lirst principle, of j ustice, which nature her-
self has inscribed on the heart---,—the equality, not of phy...
sical or intellectual condition, but of , moral 1'igl1ts. Let
us then hasten to retrace our steps, wherein“ we have
strayed from this golden rule of democratic g‘0V01'lll'YlGl1i3.
This only is wanting to complete the measure of our na-
tional felicity. A i

There is no room to fear that persuasion to this effect,
tl‘1ougli 1Irg;e(l with all the powerof logic, and all the zapti-—
vating; arts of 1*hct01‘ic, by lips more C‘«il'.)(ly,1Cllt than those
which address you mnv, will lead too suddenly to
cllange. Great changes in social inst.itul.i<.ms, even of
atzlmowletlgecl errors, cannot be instantly acczomplishcd,
without endang;ering these boundaries of private right
\\'liichougl1t to be held inviolate and sacred. Hence it
happily arises, that the human mind entc;rt.:iins» a stroiig
reluctance to violent transitions, not only where the end
is doubtful, but where it is clear as the light of day,
and beautiful as the face of truth; and it only when
the ills of society amount to tyrannous impositions, that
this aversion yields to a more powerful incentive of con-

duct. Then leaps the sword of revolution from its scab»-
, hard, and a passage to reformation is hewn out tlirough

blood. But how blcst is our condition, that such a resort
can never be needed. “ Peace on earth, and good will
amoiig men,” are the natural fruits of our political system.
The gentle weapon of suffrage is adequate for all the

23

purposes of freemen. From the armory of opinion we
issue forth in coat of mail more impenetrable than ever

casedthe limbs of warrior on the field of sanguinary

strife, a Our panoplyis of surestproof, for it is supplied
by reason. Armed with tl1e ballot, a better implement
of warfare than sword of the “icebrook’s temper,” we
fig_,>°ht the sure light, relying with steadfast faith on the in»-
telligence and virtue of the majority to decide the "victory
on the side of truth. Andishould error for awhile carry
the held by his stratagems, his opponents, though defeated,
are not destroyed: they rally again to the conflict, ani-
mated with the strong assurance of the ultimate preva-
lence of right.

“ Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error wounded writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshippers.”

VVhat bounds can the vision of the human mind descry
to the spread of American greatness, if we but firmly ad»
here to those first principles of government, which have
already enabled us, in the infancy of national existence,
to vie with the‘ proudest of the century-nurtured states

, of Europe? ’I‘he old world is canl;:ered with the diseases
of political senility, and cramped by the long-wo1'n

fetters of tyrannous habit. But the empire of the west
is in the bloom and freshness of being. Its heart is
unsered by the prejudices of F‘ damned custom ;” its intel-
lect unclouded by the sophisms of ages. From its borw
ders, kissed by the waves of the Atlantic, to

“ The continuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,
Save his own dashing ;”

 

.9.

2/1

from the inlnrnfl oeenne of the north ,  the sparkling sure-
fnee of the tropical sen, rippled by breezes laden with
the perfumes of eternal sunnner, our Vast theatre of na«-
tional aehievnient extends. Vfliat :1 course is here for
the grnndi race of democratic liberty! in Viv'itl1in tlieise lim-
it's a. hundred millions of fellow beings may find ample
room and verge e11oug;l1 to spread themselves and grow
up to their naturaleminence. Witli a salubrious clirne
to ll"1\’lgOl"dl".G them vvitlil1ea.1tli,:md a generous soil to nour-
ish tlienrwitll food; witll the press—~--tl1at grand em-
bnlrner not of the worthless integuments of mortality,

but of the oll"sp1‘i1'igs of immortal rnind———-—-to diffuse its Vivi-«

1” ying a1‘1cle1121ol)li1*1g influences over them ; with those ad»
mirnhle results of inventive genius to knit them together,
by which“ space is deprived of itspower to bar the pro»
gross of improvement and dissipate the current of social
.:—tniii1y; with 2:. political fnith wliiell aclmowledges, as its
fundamental 11l{l.}1lm, the golden rule of christian ethics,
“ do unto ot.lier.~3, as you would lzznve them do unto you:”
with these rnenne, and the constantly ine1*ez1sii"1g dignity of

W cl1al*n.ete1* wliich re.~3ulte from independence, 'W’lH£tl3 bounds

can be set to the growtl‘1 of American grentneise’?

A
hundred I’nllll(Jn.~3'()l’i happy people ! A hundred millions
of co—sove1'eigns, i*ecogi1i2;i11g no law, but the recorded will

of a 1najo1'ity; no end of law, but mutual and equal good];

no superior, but Géocl alone !

FINIS.