AN

 ORATION

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

OF THME

MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES

CITY OF BOSTON,

JULY 5, 1858‘

9

BY.JOHN S.HOLMES.

TOGETHER wxmn

TIIE~SI.’I13E("JHI?3S~.A.T é'.L‘IéI.E DINNICR IN FANIJUIL VITALL, AND OTIIER CEREMONIES M

AC!) trim <3x«:LIc1mA'rIoN or '1'I~r1~:%

mcmmr-swszcozxn A.N1<xVImsAnY% OF‘ AIVIEEICAN  INDEi’ENDENOE;\ %

_AGEO,(L RAND

BO STON: 
AND AVERY,

No. 3 CAOENHILVLJ

 
   

1TYPRIfi&ERs,

1858.

 

 

 

.AN

ORATION£

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES

OF THE

CITY OF BOSTON,

JULY 5, 1858,

BY JOHN s. HOLMES.

TOGETHER ‘WITH

THE SPEECHES .831‘ THE DINNER IN FANEUIL IIALL, AND OTHER CEBEMONIES

AT THE CELEBRATION OF‘ THE

EIGHTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

BOSTON:
GEO. C. RAND AND AVERY, CITY PRINTERS,
NO.3CORNHILL,

1858.

    

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CITY OF BOSTON.

In Board of _Aldcrmcn,, July 7, 1858.

Onnniinnz That the thanks of the City Council be, and they are
hereby presented to J OIIN S. Hornrns, EsQ., for the very patriotic and
eloquent Oration by him delivered before the Municipal Authorities of
Boston, on the occasion of the Celebration of the Eighty-second Anni-
versary of the Declaration of American Independence, and that a copy
of said Oration be requested for publication.

Read twice and passed. Sent down for concurrence. V

J. M. VVIGHTMAN, 0/zcrirman.

In Obmmon 0omwz'z,eJuzy 8,1858.
p Concurred.

S. W. WALDRON, JR., President.

Approved, July 10, 1858.
F. W. LINCOLN, J R., Mayor".

 1NrRoDUorroN.

 IT was the prediction of the patriot statesman, John
Adams, that the Fourth day of July would be a memorable
epocha in the history of America, to be celebrated by suc-
ceeding generations as the great anniversary festival. His
prediction has been verified, and the eighty-second anni-
versary of American Independence has been celebrated
throughout the land with praiseworthy enthusiasm.

It is the peculiar pride and honorable distinction of the
City of Boston, however, to have observed for seventy-six
years with appropriate and becoming ceremonies, each
recurring anniversary of the birth of liberty upon this
continent. ,

In consideration of this fact, it seems highly proper that
a more durable memorial of the municipal proceedings at
each successive celebration of this day than the papers of
the day aflbrd, should be prepared, and that a continuous
ofiicial record, from year to year, should aid in keeping
alive those sentiments of patriotism which actuated our
forefathers in obtaining the freedom which it is now our

great privilege to enjoy.

6

successful, or presented more interesting features than the
present, Whether We consider the brilliancy of the day, the

No previous celebration, it is believed, has been more

freedom from accidents, or the universal enjoyment which A

seemed to prevail; and it is on this account especially de-
serving of remembrance. ’ t

No attempt has been made in the following pages to
give anything more than a correct report of the oration
at the Music Hall, the speeches at the dinner, and a brief
and plain recital of the interesting events of the celebra-
tion, gleaned‘ from the published «accounts of ,the day,

‘ assisted bypersonal recollection,

ORATION.

ORATION.

FELLOW-CITIZENS :

Eighty-two years ago yesterday, there was assembled
in convention at Philadelphia a body of men, selected
from all the people of the land, as the foremost in in-
telligence, in integrity, and deliberate patriotism. For
more than a month the great question of National
Independence had been, in motion and resolution, be-
fore them; and the hour had come when the deter-
mined wisdom of i that convention was to declare the
fate of the thirteen American Colonies. The vigorous
action of Massachusetts, under the quick memory of
her immediate Wrongs, and the concurrent . Will of North
Carolina -—-- into which, one by one, the whole array of
the Colonies marched, “keeping step to the music of
the Union” -----had made it certain that no weak opin-
ion, no unmanly counsel, would rule the hour that
governed the destiny of the country. The day had
come. A Groups of grave men gathered anxiously about

the old hall where that Congress sat. That morning i

2

10
the calm face of Woman Was troubled, and startled chil-
dren stared in vacant Wonder,their toys idle in their
hands. All were in expectant waiting for that great
action by which a azaizbrz. should be established among
the kingdoms of the earth. Not that any one feared
that the ultimate result would not be a Declaration of

Freedom; but until, one by one, the members of that
convention had Written themselves down ---- traitors

against tyranny, heroes in all patriotism —--- there was

the lingering fear, incident to the uncertainty of human
events, that it might not be- It was done. The old
bell in the State House at Philadelphia “ rang out the
first peal of American liberty; ” the bells of an hundred
spires caught the sound; it was flung by myriad voices
on the listening air, and village and town, as the sound
rushed" on, lifted higher the cry, till the Whole land
becameilvocal With- the Word ---a- Liberty. Every twelve»

month from that day, the grand echo of that national ,

voice hasbeen heard’ throughout America. From the

icy, granitic North, down through the savannas of the
tropic South from the eastern Wave of the Atlantic,
to the shore “of the far Pacific ; from a thousand great
cities, from ten thousand great towns; by the hills l of

A  New England; along the Alleghanies; against the

  rrockybattlementsof our western coast ---«that echo has

f been sounded again A and «~ again. Today We hear it ;

  and to-daywe,lift up our solemn acclaim, andtgive the V
   energy Of“ 0111‘ 11€«‘3»rtS and VOiCE3S’i to that majestic sound it

11

which shall ring. in equal and repeated reverherations
over this. land --— as We devoutly pray, as we truly
believe —--l until ithestrength of the hills shall Wither,
and the great seas shall perish, and human freedom
shall be lost in ahigher and nobler creation. . .

011 this day of national rejoicing——-,-- the only day in
the whole year when we cease to be individuals, and
become Americans, forgetful of local prejudice and
wrong, and party and sectional strife, to. mingle in a
common gratitude, and to share a. common pride in
the great,.uneXampled prosperity of the whole land---
on this day, as nothing can ; be dearer to us than the

continuance of that national prosperity, which depends,

under God, “upon the union of these States, I propose

‘briefly to consider some. of the dangers which L‘/zreaievz

me sta6z'Zz'ty. of the Umbn. e ,

Although the American Colonies were separated from
England not more by ‘distance than by substantial
differences in polity, manners, and religion, yet the
sentiment of the Colonies, untilthe close of the French
and Indian War, was one of strong, unwavering loyalty
to that great, venerable nation. The Americans were
proud of their ancestry, proud of “the mighty living
and the mighty dead” ——-- of the glory of their arms,
the magnificence of their literature-—-—- proud even of
the faults and weaknesses of the Anglo-Saxon char-

r acter—--—. and not lightly or easilyvverethe bonds loosed ‘

that heldthem together. ' As the rooted fibres of the

12

cornel and myrtle, which grew out of the body and
grave of Polydorus, wept purple blood as they were
rudely broken, so one by one the ties of allegiance,
of friendship, of pride, of power, between England and
America, were severed by the angry folly of Grenville
and Townsend and North-—--— the Parcae of the reign

of George the Third---— the hearts of the people of both

countries were greatly saddened and disturbed. Even
after long and bitter irritation -——-—- after the revival of

the Navigation Act 5 the passage of the Stamp Act; A

the tax on paper and glass and tea; the Boston Port
Bill; the BostoniMassacre; the struggle at Lexington
and Concord; aye, even after that glorious battle of
Bunker Hill, whose name is like the blast of a trumpet
—-- after thirteen long, years of “ patient sufi'erance' of
an attempt to establish an absolute tyranny over these
States; ” after enduring all the wrongs and outrages
which the Declaration of Independence so vigorously
sets forth «—--5- after all these, the Continental Congress
presented apetition to his most excellent Majesty, pro-
fessing that “ they,were ‘attached to his person, family,
and government, with all the ' devotion that principle
and affection could inspire,” “ and most ardently de-
sired, not only that the former harmony between Great
Britain and the Colonies imight be restored, but that
a concord might be established between them on so
firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted
by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations

13

in both countries, and to transmit his Majesty’s name
toposterity adorned with asignal and lasting gloryf’
Great States stood still ---- great and good men hesitated,
as the final hour approached—--the people were reluci-

tant to speak the last stern word which put England A

away forever--— but with the lofty courage of great
minds, “ appealing. to Heaven to attest the justness of
their cause,” the Declaration was made and uttered
with a voice that startled the world, “that these. 001-
onies were joined in one body for the preservation of
the liberties of America,”. and thus the last lingering
sentiment of loyalty was utterly extinguished. There
then sprang up in the American mind the latent sen-
timent of l?atriotism--—the love of country as such--
that firm devotion to her , being, her authority, her
happiness, which has made the names of Adams, and
Otis, and Jefferson, and Patrick. Henry, and Hancock,
household Words among us --~ Words of beauty, words
of power. There then sprang up in full life and

strength “ the sympathy of race ”----the sympathy to »

which every American felt himself united to his coun-
trymen in every fortune and for any destiny. This

was the moving force of the Revolution. This nerved "

the father as he looked for the last time in the face
of A her Whose smile A was the brightness of his home

A and his life; this stilledp the voice and dried the eye

of the mother as she buckled the belt around the boy
she had borne beneath and ever in her heart; this

14

broke every pride and bent every purpose tothe one
great, solemn thought of freedom. After long toil,
and suffering, and many battles, America, “ with atzative
honor clad,” stood independent, sovereign, among the
nations of the earth. Her Constitution. was established

T in doubt, in some danger; but the patriotic temper

of that day yielded to compromise for a greater, for
the common, good ---that which could not be Won
by violence --- and that great political miracle was
Wrought, which no foreigner but De Tocqueville has
understood or interpreted, of a combination of Villages
and counties and yStates all independent and self?-
dependent, yet all resting each on the other, and all
alike poised on one great central force. This delicate
adjustment of powers and ~ rights has borne the jars
and tumults of ‘nearly three quarters of a century, and

yet moves Well. But therei are signs of a decay of  

the spirit of American’ Revolutionary patriotism. The
general Weakness a of the country, thoroughly impov-
erished by the long war with England, and the lust
of Wealth excited by an open trade with the world,
early gave a strong commercial impulse to this people,

 which has widened e and   deepened, as the triumph

of our arIns,, and  more peaceful triumphs of our
naval architecture, have enlarged the extent and power
of our commercial enterprise. We have grown to be
the first commercial nation in the earth.‘ We hence

a have grown tobe a pecuniary people —--—-- loving money---»

15

bending‘ the best energies of our lives to its accumu-
lationw-sacrificing youth and health and strength to
the pursuit of gain. It is true that in this pursuit
many great virtues have been developed———-(the honest
merchant and the agriculturist are the best citizens
of a State) -—-- it is true that by it many great energies
have been stirred. It has made the American an
universal man, so that Wherever a man can go, he will
go; Whatever a man can hear, he will suffer; whatever
a man can do, he will attempt. By this commercial
spirit broad States have been created, and the bounds
of our empire stretched from sunrise to sunset. But
it tells upon the patriotism of the people. It tends
to reduce everything to a commercial standard; to
measure everything by its present availability; to give
principles and men a market value; and has even led
some to estimate the price, the cost of maintaining
the mother of us all --- the Union of the American
States. It makes us niggardly in the performance of
our duties to the State. It prefers individual comfort
and thrift to public prosperity. A, It is impatient of the
restraints of public service. It tends to the establish-

ment of an aristocracy of wealth, which is dangerous l

to the State, as it is necessarilymean,selfish, and ag-
gressive, and rests upon such distinctions and difl'er--t
ences in society as are directly antagonistic to the first

principles of democracy. We do not spurn i riches, if

  theycome as the well-earned gain of honesty, courage,

16

and intelligence, as they are the result of labor, the
fair recompense of energy and integrity; but when
Wealthbecomes the and instead of the means of the
life of a man or a nation, it irritates, it degrades, it
corrupts. “A mercantile democracy,” says Landor,
speaking through Panoetius, “ may govern long and
Widely; a mercantile aristocracy‘, cannot stand.” For
the duties of all ‘citizens are equal, as all have equal
rights; and when aught makes a man prefer his
personal ease or good to that of the State, and to re-
pose upon eminent respectability away from but not
above the people, or his duty to the people, and to
consider that paying for government is quite . enough

for him, Without the trouble and discomfort of attend-.

ing the assemblages of the people, or of mingling in
the crowd at the polls, or losing time, money, or pride,

in acting the part of a true republican -+--- Whatever A

does this, destroys the spirit of patriotism, and loosens
the bonds of social order, and delivers the State to a
certain doom. If the men of eighty-—tWo years ago

thought thus, felt thus, acted thus, where should We
be novv----——“ underwhich king?” The old silver~—-—--the  

household treasure —--- the garnered clothing -----— the se—-

cret comforts of a thousand homes, were given to the  

first year of Revolutionary strife :, and by the contribu- " i

tions of Women and children the American army was

often sustained and saved. Our government is to 
be preserved by alike temper. ,We must remember 

17

that there isno public. gathering of American‘ citiizens,
into ivvhich‘ the proudest may not ‘enter 'With“a more
than Athenianpride; that there is no question‘ that

 concerns our political state so small that itmaynot

command the respect p and attention 7 of the highest
mind 5 ' that there is no office among freemen so lowly
that it may “not bring honor to him who holds a it;
that there is no public duty that does not challenge
our best endeavor V and our quickest obedience. T

  i A painful illustration of the decay of patriotism
among us is found in the irreverent tendency of the
time ---— our careless iindifferencei to the ” associations
and memoryflof the past. Q 4  

The present, burdened With its instant cares, attracts a

our attention. . We have little reverence for those
eventsor persons not immediately usefultoi our present
happiness or . purpose.‘ L VVe are oblivious of our “obli-
gationsy to that past ‘upon which our greatness and
prosperity rest. The ‘grand story of American History
was begun before vvewere iborngand the great men
who were its chief actors and narrators have been
gathered to their noble reward; V i We stand just outside
of the personal authority of those great captains and

“statesmen, and are blindly, foolishly indifferenta toothed; t   i
A influence of their names and actions,-asimoving the

powerof association ---— one of the subtlest,i strongest

iforces thatfican stir the human hearts MR1 life. eWe all 

feel it,«.b.ut we do not recognize e its importancei enough 4

.3 

18

to give it a permanent presence. Who ever returned
to the old roof-tree after years of absence, and did not
cross the old threshold with a hearty benediction-—~—
Whc ever wandered among the graves of kinsrnen and
friends, and did not ‘feel his eyelids grow heavy with
the tribute of grateful tears-—--who ever stood Where
men have Wrought great deeds in love of our common
humanity or for “country, God, and truth,” and did not
feel his heart move with an unselfish nobleness kindred
to theirs --——-who ever stood beside the grave of ‘Wash-
ington, and did not feel the “ warm gale and gentle
ventilation” of the breath of the spirit of Liberty,
pronouncing the high duty and destiny of the true
American citizen? And yet what have s We really pre-
served to ourselves and our children of that treasure
“ which cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with
the precious onyx, or the sapphire?” Where are our

rnernorials of the great past? To--day, the very tomb

of the Father of” this Country is a thing of bargain
and sale between the rniserly descendant of a great
name and the eloquence of Massachusetts, uttering

Words that throb in the hearts of the rnatronly pride  

and rnaidenly beauty of South Carolina and Virginia.

iWhere is the tomb of the elder iAda1ns, the Nestor of
the Revolution? Whose feet have Worn a path to it?
The grave of the great Jefferson lies still and untre-
A   quentedtas the a grave of a village hind. l Monroe till
 this hour lingered‘. in a   borrowed to1nb..vpThe?“Old

19

man eloquent,”' tl19,_ Spartan son of this State, slumbers
beside his father, and shares the common forgetfulness
of his greatness. The remains of Samuel Adams lie
under the sidewalk of Tremont street, and shake beneath
the tread of unthinking thousands. The bones of Wil-
liam Wirt moulder in the graveyard at Washington, as

A unmarked as the ashes of Marshal N ey. Franklin,

whose intellect circles the world every hour, is hidden
in a recess of the Arch street burial—place in Philadel-
phia. And while I speak, a great, sovereign State is
searching for the body of its best hero, whose words

were deeds; whose life was spent in the name of T

Almighty God and the Continental Congress. How
think you the spirit of the past is to be preserved
among us? Greece had her Marathon and Plates,
and kept them by her perpetual tribute to the great-
ness of the dead and the lofty honors she gave to the
living. Rome had her temples and triumphal arches,
and gorgeous processions, and crowns of laurel, and
statues of heroes-——— “the monuments of former great-
ness and pledges of future glory,”and through these
kept clear and strong the vestal fire of her patriotism,
and perished onlywhen her sons forgot the State and
became selfish followers of personal vice. “ The Swiss
peasants for five hundred years after their independ-

‘ence,” says Alison, “ assembled on the fields of Mort-

garten and Laupen, and spread garlands over the
graves of their fallen warriors, is and prayed for the

20

souls of those “who had’ died for their "country’s free-
dom.”o France has her great Hotel des Invalides and
her Legion "of Honor, and every Frenchman turns to
the tomb of Napoleon when he thinks of France, asthe
devout Arab turns in prayer toward the tomb of Ma_
homet. England has ‘her Westminster Abbey, Where
lies the dust of an hundred trophied generations of
greatness. pi But. where are L our memorials of the
great'Past‘? b There is Faneuil Hall 4--- there is Bunker
Hill with its monuments--— but where are all the rest? It
is idle to say that ourschools and colleges and institu-—
tions are the only adequate representations of the
power of Freedom, and that he who would love
America must linger among these and learn her great-
ness from her present happy prosperity. Not so --—— this
is but the fruit of that harvest long A! ago sown intears
and lblood——--this is but the benign result of a labor:
earlier and stronger than ours.  The Present restsupon
thel?ast--—- the Future rises out of it. If We would be
true-hearted,’ pure-hearted Americans, We must honor

a anwdreyerep the great events and names that dignify the

Past. ' pWe ebmust raise statues and monuments and
celebrate the birthdays of the great Amen and great
eventsy of N that time, and fill the land Withconstant rev-1
erence for their greatness.‘ We must so ‘speak of them
that our children ‘may learn to emulate the patriotism
of 44 our fathers, and that the strangers within our
gates, “Who come hither yr with a M full memory of the

21

honors that rarellheaped fin ~theO.1d*vWor1c1 upon its
bravest and best-g— of the triumphs that Welcomed its
Nelson, and the {sorrows that deploredits Wellington--
may find here in the true‘ landpof heroes, a higher and
nobler appreciation of human worth, and a purer and
more grateful recognition of the labor it has accom-
plished.   a A A

2 Another danger to the republic arises from a mis-
conception of the office and end of an government, It
has been said that the best government is one that has
the fewest laws. It would be better to say that the
best government Was one under Wwhich the people were
most prompt in obedience, most sincere in allegiance
to the law, for there never was a permanently good
government with permanently; bad subjects. n The fun-
damental idea of the American T“ government is rev-
erence to law. » The Puritans came here because they
regarded certain laws of God as they; interpreted them
to be higher and more authoritative than certain laws
of man. a They reverenced the L one toogmuch. to live
in disobedience to the other, so they i. came here, as
their first declaration says, a“ for the glory of God and
the advancement of the Christiangg faith,” and erected a
form of government that has been scarcely modified in
this State since‘ their time. “Obedience to the divine
law was the basis of that government; they framed

their rules of human T conduct with direct reference to

man’s spiritual allegiance. to There was great, moment-

22

ous reason in the stern, undoubting belief of the
Puritan that all power is of God, and is to be revered
as becomes its high origin ——- that law is but an exhibi-

tion or exemplification of that power, and that obe- ‘

dience to it is a necessary part of moral duty. We
have wandered far from this belief. The idea of many
now is that government is altogether a human institu-
tion, created, sustained by the people, and that they,
as the source and fountain of political power, are
supreme. It is now held that obedience to and rever-
ence of government are to be determined always and
only by individual taste and judgment, from which

there is no appeal.

But when and where did that great convention
meet, which by solemn vote declared that govern»-
ment would be useful, and that it was proper and
expedient that it should be established among men?
Man was not shipwrecked into this world like a
political Robinson Crusoe, and left to find out by
strategy and device how to live. When two people
stood together on the earth, government was estab-
lished -----by a necessity of nature --~-— by a divine de-
cree anterior to conventions and constitutions, stronger
thanrall parchmentsand man cannot escape from,
though he may lviolate that decree.   Reckless passion

may overturn government  anarchy may rule the

hour: but the excess of ianarchycompels the re'e‘stabt-4

  lishment of government il—-ithe   excess of popular

23

passion imperatively demands order. The French

Revolution ended in a despotic rule --—- the riotous

lawlessness of vagabonds and villains in California
compelled the institution of an orderly and Quiet
government. With us government is impossible unless
it controls the will and commands the respect of the
people. For ours is a government of law, and only
of law. i We never see government except as it exe-
cutes the authority of law -——— it arrests, imprisons,
punishes those who disobey it, but otherwise we
never see its palpable presence-——-it is a sword in the
sheath ——-it is lightning hid in the cloud. No armed
bands, no troop of gorgeous menials, no titled lackeys,
no regal retinue, no stately presence commanding
the obedience of the hand or knee, meet our eyes;
but one man--p-— the greatest among us—-looks like
his fellows, and every one goes his own way and does
his own pleasure and selects his own rulers, and
honors whom he likes, and reposes with absolute faith
under the invisible but dreadful authority of law,
which surrounds him like a political providence, and
holds every man, the lowest equally with the highest,
within its beneficent keeping. Hence, whatever dis-
turbs the reverence of and obedience to law in this
republic threatens its stability. The two great dang

gers which lie in and express the common n1iscon- r

ception of the ofiice and end of government ,are----

the one, on the part of goverment itself --—-the en-

24
deavor to extend and maintain its authority by
yielding to apparent popular feeling and prejudice;
the other—-—-o-the opinion on the part of the people

that government was created by them and for them
~---- to hew their wood and draw their water -——-— to suit

1-every man’s purpose, and subserve every man’s con-

venience. a The sagacity of the wisest of everynation

but ours has kept some things in mysterious secrecy,

has flung a holy awe about places and persons and

events, or has A hedged ' them round with at divinity

none L dare penetrate. To use all things are ‘open.
We see the wheels impinging on wheels, and look
along the dizzy line of motion till we find to what
end all this power moves—whether it be to a State
honor or in a national sympathy—-whether it turns
this man out and that man in—-—whethe'r it revolves
half a man into the fraction of a senator, or twirls
a great statesman out of a great’ place for one whose
absence is more eloquent than any other man’s
presence, ‘Hence, if those who stand in the names
and dignity of the State or nation forget their place
and duty, the authority of government is directly,
visibly disgraced. I appeal not to party feeling it on

this day,‘ but remember * how often and how much ,

your faith in, and reverence for, those in the best and

most honorable positions has been “shaken by their ,

base subservience to prejudice and their cowardly

inerence to» duty ugh remember how often this  w

25

been made, both in State and nation, a government
of men, instead of a government of law and for law.

 This degradation of place and power, I call a mis-

conception of the office and end of government. I
could, but will not, call it a harsher name, though
no man ever bent the authority entrusted to him
to private or party purposes without deserving the
traitor’s doom and the traitor’s fate; and no man can,
while he plays with the narrow guile and uses the foxy
craft of a politician, stand in a position of public

honor without deserving that doom and daring that

fate. Whatever planks are hereafter put into those
platforms or rafts by which men endeavor to escape
from a sinking party, I devoutly hope that these may be
firmly nailed --—-that no mere politician shall be deemed
worthy of any cflice, and that no man who cannot
and does not earn an honest living outside of politics

and party shall have an honest man’s vote for any

place of public trust, profit, or power. Away with

the herd of common suppliants for popular favor -—-~—~ ‘

away with the mob of those who take to politics as
the last resort of lazy dishonesty---- away with the
crowd of garrulous boys Who talk themselves into
sweet favor with enthusiastic girls, (and hence, it may
be, into Congress,) --—-- away with all hangers—~on of

party, of all parties —--- camp followers who, avoiding

all danger, gather their plunder amid the strife of
battle, and thrive upon the destinies of better men.
4 I it

26

Let us have only good men and true men in place.
Following the noble injunction of the pious Robinson,

the spiritual father of the Puritans, “ Let your WlS-l

dom and godliness appear by choosing such persons
only as do entirely love and will diligently promote
the common good.” Thus shall we strangle the
brood of vipers that crawl about the cradle of our
liberty —-——-thus shall we utterly destroy one form of
the danger which threatens us.

  Again, the people have learned to regard govern-
ment as a private power to be used by the citizens
and for the citizens, forgetful that the State is more
than, higher than the citizen, and that he has but
the right of one, and can give but the allegiance
and reverence of one. She carries all in her great,
generous heart, and must give to all equally a
mother’s gracious love and care. Hence, as our
feelings or passions inspire us, we seek to make gov-
ernment a   great agricultural society, or a great tem-

perance society,or , a great anti-slavery society, r or a

great humanitarian organization, as best serves the
occasion of the hour, or best suits our prevailing pur-
pose. But government has no such or office or duty.
It is designed only for the protection of social order,
by keeping one man from wrongfully interfering with
another, and by binding all in love and reverence

to one common centre of A authority.   If government

attempts more, it trespasses upon personal or religious

27

rights, over which it has no legitimate control. For
as man has a nature with social relations, so he has
a soul with higher and infinite relations, which can
never be confounded the one with the other; and
national and State governments, as they have author-
ity only over the one, cannot interfere with the other
Without great Wrong and danger. There is a higher
than human law which supremely governs our direct
relations to God; there is no law higher or more
authoritative than human law to govern our social

and political state. But all laws are equally derived

from one source, and rest in a common authority;
for the essence of human law is as that of the divine
lavvm-’t is but the rule of order---~—-the direction of
human freedom in obedience to order, and you cannot
wrongfully disturb a man’s obedience to the one with-
out harming his reverence for the other. If We do
not regard the law as it stands, if We do not regard
it as law, We offend ‘against the State, we offend
against the nation, We offend against God. Not that
I would say all laws are just ---~ that tyranny and
wickedness may not have often declared that to
be right i which is positively wrong.i But there is

given to every people an  . ultimate authority over  
law; with some it is the last stern necessity -----
the rt ultima ratio ” ~—-—-—— revolution; with us, it: is in the ,

yballotebox.   If at law offends you, change itiby , the a

pure force of. public will.   If enough. are,;I101i’ aagreedlg"

28

“ bide your time ”—---it will come if truth and right
demand it—--—- and then change the law for the better.
But stir no useless anger, array no merely factious
opposition, lest you bring upon yourselves a greater
evil than you deprecate -— a disregard of all law ----
a contempt of all authority -—- an irreverent and un-
patriotic spirit toward the great, the sole foundation
of this State and of all the States ---which is the
law of the land.

A pregnant illustration of the popular feeling about
government is found in the increasing desire that
the judicial office be made elective. It was a singu-
larly happy thought -—- rather, it was a sagacious
prophecy of future danger——-which led to the three-
fold separation of the power of government into the
Executive, Representative and Judicial branches -—-»-
each as distinct as hand, and eye, and will, yet all
agreeing in a common purpose -——-to lieep and pro-

.tect the liberty of the State and of all the States.

This grand distinction among the powers and duties of
government has been lost in the partisan discussion
and action of the day. It has even here, in the
old, revered Bay State -i-— ever the last to lend her-

self to that which did not concern the common good A

-—-—- been attempted that our judges should be elected
by the people, and fora limited time. This I regard
as the boldest attack upon the true liberties of the
people for an hundred. years.   . Who, of all the honored

29

men that havepborne the title of judge in this State,
from the eldest till now, but has kept his intelligence
and integrity pure and strong for the common ben-
efit of all? Who has degraded himself and stained
with dishonor the lofty seat he has filled? And
yet those who have the greatest fear of the law, as
they best deserve its righteous penalties —— the poli-
ticians of this State, and equally thus in other States
----are endeavoring to bring to the market the office
of judge, and to put the judicial ermine upon a level
With the skin of a rabbit. Within our memories
have incompatibilities been found Where none existed,
and offices confounded, and places given to fools that
had before been filled by honored Wisdom. If We
surrender this, the chief —-—-I may say the 0n{y—-
conservative part of government, to those Who are
seeking for selfish ends to pervert government to
their own uses and the prosperity of party, let us
know —-———-let us ever remember«--— that We are parting
the strongest bower-anchor of the Constitution —--
that We are breaking in pieces the truest compass,
and flinging to the winds the best chart of the noble
old ship. Let Justice descend from her pedestals-—
let her eyes discern between the Well-favored and
homely -—-let her scales be jostled in the crowd-«-
and how long will men trust her decisions? how

reverently will they repose under her (authority? ’

No 3‘ better far destroy your household gods than

30

despoil the Temple of Public Justice. You may
weep in sorrow over them; but a nation —-—-- the world

' ----—feels the profanity of that touch. You may burn

your own little handful of books; but fire not the

library of the Wisdom of the VVorld.
Again, we are endangered by a partisan and sec-

tional temper. The existence of parties is essential

to the political health and strength of every form of
free government. In continued unity of opinion the
public mind would stagnate. There must always be
honest difference of opinion as to the wisdom and
patriotism of measures of government, and the fitness
of rulers and legislators. To adequately express that
difierence there must always be a broad, vigorous party
feeling and strife. to

You all remember how quickly, after the fact of
American freedom was recognized by the nations of
Europe, the people of this country, flinging aside their
arms, rushed into a national discussion of the powers
and rights of government, and the relations of the
several, States to each other, and of the confederate
authority over each and over all. The great principles of
the Constitution have been discussed ever since its estab-
lishment, with ardor and learning, and even yet, after
so many great minds, with patriotic zeal, have given

interpretation to that noble instrument, there remains

a large extent of power within and under it, to be
applied to the arising exigencies of increasing national

31

and State rights, The complexity of our government,
or rather the numerous relations, which every citizen
sustains to his vicinage, to his State, and to the Federal

Government, compel discussion, and force men into

the generous hostility of party. In the free, open

examination of measures and men lie the safety and
strength of our popular institutions. Every man here
is a sovereign, crowned with a royal authority of
speech and vote; and so long as the ends he aims at
are his country’s, God’s, and truth’s, so long will every
voice be like a war»-cry, and every vote like a bullet
against foreign or domestic foes. But when allegiance
to the principles of party -—-- (and I speak not of
ephemeral organizations that now and then grow out
of the disappointed ambition, or the o’ervaulting’pride
or shallow conceit of some selfish politician, but of
those great national parties which have, which s/zould,
and which wall again divide the affections and sufirages
of the people)---when that allegiance becomes parti-9
sanship, and principles are forgotten in the heat of
party temper, and a man comes to love party more
than country, then he strikes a traitorous blow at the
genius of American Liberty, and kindles a flame that
threatens the destruction of this, her magnificent abode
and temple. And is not this partisan temper growing
among us? Is there not a violence of feeling, lan-

guage and sentiment in our public discussions, which A

is like the excitement of the chase? Do not the

32

leaders of’ parties play to the popular prejudice, and
yield to the passions of the multitude? and do not the
people too blindly give themselves up to the selfish
aggrandizement of these demagogues? I Are not men
politically named, as such a man’s men, and do they
not wear his livery with complacent meekness——-— aye,
and rejoice to be ranked among the followers of a
mom----a poZz'iz'cz'cm --—- forgetful that the ruler among us
is the servant of the peop1e——---that we, the people,
have the dispensation of honors and gifts, and that no
man can grow above the rank of an American citizen,
in which dignity we are all equal? Is there not a
visible lessening of adherence to principle -— of loyalty
to right? Do not men change their public opinions in
the twinkling of an eye, and rush with unpatriotic
ardor into the ranks of the largest party, so as to be
sure to be on the triumphant side? Success allures
more than constancy. I do not applaud the "senti-
ments, but I ever admired the courage, of those men
who, year by year, we have seen come up to the
ballot-box, and, amid jeer and laugh, drop a useless
vote, but one according to the dictates of their con-
sciences. Did _I say useless vote? No! not so; for

no I man ever did boldly that which he honestly be-

lieved right, but his own heart grew nobler and his
nature expanded with a loftier energy. Out of such
men you make heroes and martyrs, and one day the

world feels their power. This partisan temper tends

33

to make us sectional in our political feeling, as it nar-
rows our political“ duty to the bounds of party and
substitutes for a broad, all-embracing patriotism, a
devotion to the interests of a part, and not the whole.
It makes us selfishand aggressive, and to believe, or
at least to act, as if government was ordained for
our interest, to satisfy our Wants, and sustain our pecu-
liar ideas. Besides, as partisanship leads to allegiance
to leaders of at party, the sentiment of the party is
necessarily controlled by the policy and opinions of
those leaders, and men, seeking their own fame and
fortune, and availing themselves of their position to
excite local and sectional jealousies and discontent,
have embittered the relations of men and States, so
that now We speak of the North and of the South, the
East and the West, as if there were but four great
States in the ‘Union, and each had its own separate,
diverse interests, and the only unity between them:
Was the result of contiguity.

: _ Already this sectional temper is so strong that men

have estimated --- so far as their weak reason could

compass it—----the value of theunion of the American

States, and have considered how Well the North could
thrive if separated from the South, and the East if 

divided from the West; and have afixed a market

price upon institutions and   laws, and resolved the

glorious memories of in the past into‘ coin and i mer-— A

chandise.  iAlready,:aInen have talked of “letting the  

5

84

Union slide.” Letting the Union slide !—---- a base
figure of speech I --~-—- a bower thought! There stands
under the shadow of a great mountain in New Hamp-
shire a lonely, half-ruined cottage, whose inmates,
hearing the crash of a thundering avalanche, fled
from under the old roof-tree, the shelter. of their
birth and childhood, and all the mingled joys and sor-—
rows of life, and rushed to certain doom. That
old house still stands, a monument of their fear and
cowardice. Their safety was under the roof ‘ builded
by their fathers. If they were to perish, better far to
die within the old household walls, to be crushed with
all the sad and joyous memories of home, and find there
with a common tomb or monument. Soiletit be with
us. When this Union sizwll sZz'cZe, let us be found within
it, and not without it. God grant that all the great
memorials of the patriotic past ----the «graves of our
sires-—---the few and feeble monuments of their fame -—-
the greater illustration of the power of the freedom
they established -—- our schools,our seminaries of art,

learning, and religion ---—— all we most prize and cherish

-—all the land has and is, may together slide into a
common grave and destiny. Let no marauding bands
of politic villains live to thrive upon the ruins of this
great Union. May one doom sweep us all into forget-
fulness and dark oblivion. This sectional temper has

wrought more evil than many wise men can heal. It

has exasperated into a furious frenzy quiet icitizens,

35

Who, in their thrift, had no especial care for the move-

ments of political power 5 it has stirredi the feeble-
minded into aifear of an oppression thatnever existed,
and reused the timid into an alarm as causeless as the
careless burning of a bonfire. There are among us
men who live upon alarm and terror; who fatten upon
public tumult, and find no peace in the still movement
of ordinary political life. Take avvay their power of
disturbance, and they would die from the Want of
means to live, or come, as their proper destiny is,
to inhabit the madhouse or vvorkhouse. There is no
meaner animal than the parqjtssecl philanthropist, Who,
under the pretence of feelirxgp for public and political
Wrong, gathers to izziizself a good living, and leaves the
objects of his charity as they Were, and were they
were, as the sentimental capital of his future harvest.
And out of this sectional temper of the time, there
has arisen a lusty crowd of such partisan philanthro—-
pists, who Work like rats in the dark, and coadjutant
with the selfish politician above ground, live and move
to one end --~-—— to blindly, foolishly destroy the united,
essential   power of these broad States. Perhaps such
vermin must exist, but let the heel of every honest
American be upon their heads,    

 t We have briefly and imperfectly discussed the sev--i
eral dangerswhich to us seem to threaten the stability
of l the American   Union ---— the decay of * patriotism in

the eistcessive commercial spirit »-of the people ;i the

36

disregard of events, of men and principles ; the miscon-
ception of the office and end of government, and the

sectional and partisan spirit of the day.

Yet who can doubt that the Union of these States
shall last as long as the divine purpose that estab-
lished them? Look at the great movements of time
and events that were necessarily anterior to the erec-
tion of this government. Centuries had to pass before
the great tide of civilization, which from the garden

‘eastward in Eden --—— spreading with seeming ebb and

flow, yet with constant progression -——-reached these
shores, bearing on its .crested wave the heroic Colum-
bus, the pilot of that greater company which came
hither to lay the foundationof a new Western empire;
Generations of statesmen had to live and spend the
energy of their wisdom upon theories and forms of
government. Nations had to grow to greatnessand
vtotter to their fall 5 dynasties and kingdoms had to
contend with every form of human passion, and yield
to every form of decay incident ‘ to human weakness
and vice, before this people’ could be created. For
there is a positive relation of human events, one to
‘another. The great moral, and political forces; of life
act as certainly as the greatforces of nature 3; they are

but a higher development of nature, and are obedi-

ent to the same authority as that which has set the
stars in their places, and given perfume and beauty

to , the flowers of the field. E; And, thus, from, the first

37

patriarchal c government “ to the "ci'eation' Of." our ‘own
republic, all things conspired, all things wrought
toward it. The greatness of our day rests upon founda-
tions broader than the Pyramids, more venerable than
the Temple of the Sun. We believe that the labor
of our political life and institutions is not yet finished;
that we have not reached the full development of the
power within us; that we have not yet accomplished
the magnificent destiny assigned us. Here Where there
were no crumbling ruins of old establishments; no
monumental stones or storiedwi arches, the remains of
an ancient and extinguished glory; no places conse-
crated by priestly ceremony or the authority of kings
----upon a broad, open space that never had been
builded upon or occupied by human government, the
will of God laid the foundations of these great States,
and erected them into One--«M the proudest,‘ noblest
temple of human liberty that the world has ever seen,
or ever shall see. The wrath of man, the folly of man,
may mar its beauty; neglect may dim   the lustre of
its ornaments; violenice may deface its altar, and tu-
mult disturb its Worship; but the massive walls and
knitted roof of that temple cannot be shaken; its

  gates shall be thronged, and its service shall be min-
istered, so long as the largest freedom of man is neces- it

sary to the purposes of God.i  

w   Let us, then, on this day, lift up our hearts in T

thanksgiving ; let us i commemorate the virtues  and

38

patriotism of our fathers; let us render our grateful
thanks to Heaven for the blessings bestowed upon that
virtue, and the triumph given to that patriotism; let
there be enkindled in our hearts a noble emulation
of their goodness, that we may worthily inherit and
purely transmit their greatness to distant generations.
Let us all this day renew the vows of our allegiance
to the eternal principles of Truth and Liberty. Let
the sun go down upon better men and better citizens,
who will be animated by a deeper, stronger, purer
devotion to our great, our common country.

DINNER AT FANEUIL 1-IALL.

THE DINNER.

THE dinner was provided in accordance with an es»
tablished custom, in Faneuil Hall. Under the direction
of Messrs. Lamprell and Marble, who had been en-
trusted with the various decorations of the city, the
main stairway of the Hall was tastefully arched with
flags. From the centre of the ceiling in the interior,
was suspended a twelve-pointed star of red, white, and
blue bunting, from each point of which stretched a staff
terminating in a spear-head of gilt, with the American
flag attached. In the centre of the star was a large gilt
eagle, grasping with his talons the American shield.
From the star to the galleries stretched heavy festoons
of bunting, while the doors and windows were draped
with the flags of different nations. At intervals about
the galleries were placed panels upon which were in-

scribed in gilt the names of the several Presidents of

the United States, and between these were shields bear»
ing the names of the various States of the Union. Sur-
mounting the clock, a small arch of velvet and gold
bore the name of Washington. A large triple arch was
erected over the eagle in the eastern gallery, upon two
columns decorated with American flags, and bearing a

representation of ancient battle-axes in gilt. The large
6 A .

man.

42

arch was inscribed with the motto, “ The Cradle of Lib»
erty,” while the smaller arches were respectively dis»
tinguished by the mottoes, "‘ July 4th, 17 '7 6,” and “July
4th, 1858.”

At about two o’clock, the procession, numbering some
eleven hundred persons, entered the Hall, and after a
blessing had been invoked by the Rev. Dr. Lornnor, the
Chaplain of the day, sat down to an excellent dinner,
prepared by Mr. J. B. Smith, the well-known caterer.

At about three o’clocl<, the company having satisfied
their appetites with the repast, the Hon. Fnnnnnro W.
LINCOLN, J r., Mayor of the City, rose and delivered the
following address:

We have assembled, Citizens of Boston, in.our own Faneuil
Hall, to participate in the celebration of another anniver-
sary of American Independence. We have laid aside the
sober cares of our several daily avocations, to join in that
general jubilee which is so becoming to a great and united
people. V A

This morning’s sun shone upon thirty millions of freemen
exulting in the peaceful and full enjoyment of a greater num-
ber of blessings than has ever before been vouchsafed to

The act we commemorate placed the United States in a

proud position as a member of the great family of nations.

Its influence has extended further than that; for while it
conferred happiness upon a great community, yet it has modi-
fied and changed the policy of every civilized people, and is
destined to go on until constitutional governments and the
rights of men shall be universally acknowledged.

If there is any section of this country that should glory
in the day, it is this Commonwealth and our own beloved

Boston. Here the great struggle of the Revolution com»

43

menced; our soil first drank the blood of its martyrs; on
yonder heights Was the first great battle fought; our streets
first witnessed the insolence of the foreign foe; and from
our wharves his first great mortifying defeat, as begging per-
mission to quietly retire, after a protracted siege Within
its sheltering walls, his discomfited army, with its craven-
hearted retainers, tools: their hurried departure, and sailed
down the waters ‘of our beautiful bay.

Massachusetts men were in every great battle of the Revo-
lution; the bones of her sons lie mingled with the soil of
every field of the conflict; but her enemy never again at»-
tempted to make our State the theatre of War, or trusted
their armies to the mercy of a people who had driven them
so ignominiously from her shores.

The foe gallantly met them in other scenes and in distant
parts, but they had already seen enough of the mettle of her
Puritan stock, not to hazard another effort at subjugation in
the midst of the firesides and homes of" her patriots.

The men of Massachusetts heard the first gun of the Rev-
olution within her own limits ; they struggled then, and
through all that eventful war, in every section, for the com-
mon cause, and only ceased their efforts when the royal army
at the siege of Yorlctovvn laid down their arms, and their
submission Was received by one of her own generals. The
valor which Massachusetts displayed in the field was only
equalled by the wisdom which distinguished her in the coun-
oil. The eloquence of her civilians prepared and sustained
the hearts of the people for the contest, and nerved their
arms and strengthened their sinews for those deeds which
astonished the World.

The patriotism-vvhich led her into the conflict, and, with
the cooperation of her sister colonies, carried her success-
fully through,has ever continued, and is as strong now as at
any period in her history. T M A

The people of Boston in town-meeting ‘assembled, at the

44

conclusion of the war in 1783, resolved that the anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence should be constantly
celebrated by a public oration; and to-day We have listened
to the seventy-sixth which has been delivered under the
auspices of its municipal authorities. I believe it can be said
to the credit of Boston, that it is the only municipal organi-
zationvvliich has, without a single exception, celebrated in
this manner this great national event.

These orations, While necessarily partaking somewhat of
the personal feelings and opinions of the different individuals
who have officiated, have still in the main been a true index
of the spirit of the times in which they were delivered ; and
theyhave been of incalculable advantage in keeping in re-
membrance the heroic deeds of the fathers who achieved the
independence . of the nation.

Let us, then, fellow-citizens, dedicate the day to none but

the most fraternal feelings for all sections and parties of our a

common country. Let party names and sectarian preju-
dices be banished from our thoughts on this national festival.
Let us all swear unfaltering allegiance to the great princi-
ples of the Revolution, leaving the particular application of
those principles to public measures, to other occasions, and
to other days in the national calendar.

In the progress of events we must occasionally differ upon
momentous questions afl‘ecting the public weal. Controver-
sies will come with free thought and free speech, and are in
themselves signs of a healthy political organization; but to
day We recognize each and all as brothers and patriots, heirs
of the same glorious inheritance, and alike responsible to
transmit it unimpaired to posterity. Let us here, in old Fan-
enil Hall, surrounded by all its interesting associations, sol»-
emnly assert our loyalty to that Union of the States which
makes us one people, and the sacred regard to the Constitu-
tion as established by the fathers, and expounded by its most
illustrious defenders. L

45

Let us feel that our duties correspond with our privileges,
and remember the old maxim that “eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty.” , 1

The occasion is one of congratulation; let us give full play
to the emotions of the hour.

The star-spangled banner, the emblem of the free, floats
this day not only over a vast republic, but is seen by admiring
eyes upon some mast-head in every sea. Every American’s
heart beats quicker as it is seen aloft dallying with the breeze.
Let us see to it that its ethereal blue shall never be soiled
by any stain, nor the brilliancy of its stars be obscured by
anarchy or disunion. In behalf of the City of Boston, I bid
you all, guests and associates, a cordial vvelcome today to the
“ Cradle of Liberty,” and to the festivities of this occasion,
and will close with proposing this sentiment:

, The day we celeZ2mte--The most memorable day in the history of
the past; each returning anniversary shall add to it a new significance,
as it beholds a great and prosperous people -enjoying the rich legacy be-
queathed by the fathers, and resolved in their turn to transmit it to their
sons. ,

At the conclusion of the Maycr’s address, which was
Warmly applauded, “Hail Columbia ”»was played by the
band. V

Col. Jonas H. FRENCH, the Chief Marshal of the day,
who also acted as Toast Master, then announced

The first regular toast.

The President of the United States-—--May wisdom direct his councils,
and under the auspices of the Constitution, may he exercise his high pre-
rogative with discretion, honor, and fidelity. -

it In response to this sentiment, the following letter
Was read : i

46

e Wasnrneroiv, June 19, 1858.
. DEAR SIR :. I have had the honor to receive your “ official invitation to
participate with the City Government of Boston in the celebration of the
approaching anniversary of American Independence.”

I should be much gratified were it in my power to accept this invita-
tion, and therefore deeply regret that public business will confine me to
this city for several weeks to come.

Feeling much indebted to you for the kind and courteous terms which
you have employed in extending the invitation,

r I remain, yours very respectfully,
  V J AMES” BUCIIANAN .
Hon. F. W. LINCOLN, Jr., Mayor, etc.

The second regular toast was 2.

The Oommomoealtlz of flfcssozchusetts ---~----- May her ancient glory and
ancestral fame ever remind her sons that their highest duty rests upon
the platform of their broadest patriotism.

His Excellency, the G‘rov11nNo:e,, upon beirig introduced
to the audience by the Mayor, responded to this senti-
ment as follows:

He said it would be impossible for him to be inscnsible to
the honor conferred upon him in being; called upon to respond
to the sentiment which had just been pronounced. He would
thank the citizens of Boston vvho were present for the recep-

tion Which that toast had received at their hands. He con» .

fessedrthathe had experienced an inezxpressible pleasure in
participating, for the first s time in his life, in the celebration
of this   anniversary by the city authorities of Boston; for,

though often heretofore invited to join in the municipal cele-  
hration, yetnever before hadit been his privilege to be pres- i

cut. He was proud to saythat the occasion was quite equal

to the expectations he had formed of it.  
There were many reasons, individual as Well as ofiicial, Why

he was pleased to join with the citizensof Boston in the com~ . t

niemoration lot‘ this day. He   begged leave to say that he y t

47

helped build this city himself. In its darkened shops, upon
the printing presses and engines which have contributed so
much to its glory, he gave the toil of his youth, and were it
necessary, he couldstill return to them. Those localities he
never passed without emotion. Although subsequently ad-
mitted to the profession of the law ---- of which the orator of
the day was so distinguished an ornament -—- his memory still
reverted with pleasure to the days which he passed in those
workshops; for there, with those who were associated with
him, were passed many of the happiest hours of his life.

The Commonwealth has many reasons for cherishing the .

reputation of this metropolis. It was this city which was
foremost in creating that merchant marine that has done so
much for the wealth of the State; and Massachusetts can
never forget the unswerving patriotism with which the Boston
boys sustained her rights and her liberties during the long

and desperate struggle of the Revolution. The Co1nmon~

wealth cherishes the renown of the great and successful
efforts of the merchant princes of Boston to harmonize the
conflicting interests of commerce and manufactures, which
together have accomplished so much for the prosperity of the
whole country. And worthy of the incidents in the brilliant
history of the City of Boston, was the establislunent of an
official and formal commemoration of the anniversary of our
national independence--—an anniversary which in less than
eighteen years will be commemorated by fifty millions of
people. i .

Remarks had been made to—day which inclined him to a
consideration of those political views to which patriotic and
national sentiments and thoughts would lead us uponan occa~
sion like this; but the Mayor, treating him as a guest, had
forborne alluding to those topics, and in so doing had acted
rightly. This day belongs not to the City or to the State,
it is consecrated to the Union of the States, and is the prop-

erty of all men throughout the world. We may cherish the

48

recollection of the historic glories of Boston and Bunker Hill,
but We may never forget that Georgia, Carolina and Vir-

. ginia stood side by side with New York, Pennsylvania, and

Massachusetts. We must remember that Lee and Jefferson,
as «well as Hancock and Adams, are to»-day citizens of no
State, but “ bright particular stars ” in that galaxy of states»
men who fashioned for us the glorious heritage of the Amer-
ican Union, which today numbers thirty-two independent
States. We must regard these as great, distinguishing facts;
and when in the light of these facts we look back to the past,
and the labors of those who are gone before us, remember

that there is a God who still lives, and holds us to the per-

formance of the duties of the future, and to the maintenance
of the principles of liberty, as exemplified in the lives of our
fathers.

The American Revolution did much more than give to
an intelligent people a chance for the establishment of Well»-
regulated constitutional liberty. It placed them many ccntu-—
ries in advance of the people of all other States, and of all
parts of the world. It cannot be, looking from this high
standpoint, and considering the privileges We are enjoying,
that the past is the only light to which we can look, or that
the light of the future is not as open and encouraging as was
the future of those who have gone before us. ‘As he had
remarked before, suggestions occurred to him, which he
Would, under ordinary circumstances, like to give utterance
to, but his position and the character of the day impelled him
to forbear. . A

He would close, by returning thanks for the compliment
paid to the Oommonvvealth, and for the opportunity afforded
him of attending this celebration, and express the hope that
the prosperity which has fallen upon the City of Boston may
still be retained by her citizens, and the honor of the metrop-
olis continue as bright as it Was in the day when its fathers
strove for the liberties of the country.

49

The third regular toast vvas :
T/ze Jlfemory of Waslzdngton.

After a dirge by the band, the company standing,
the Mayor remarked that it was fitting that the most
illustrious of living orators should reply to a sentiment
in honor of the most illustrious of the dead, and intro-
duced the Hon. EDWARD EVERETT, who spoke as follows:

MR. MAYOR: I feel greatly honored by the manner in which
you have called upon me to respond to the toast given to the
memory of Washington. I have elsewhere thought it right
to say, that to be named in connection with him is an honor
so far beyond any desert of mine, that there would be a
degree of vanity in thinking it necessary even to disclaim it.
You will give me credit, if not for the selfilznowledge and
humility, at least for the good taste, which would lead me to
put far aside any such association with that great name, which
more than any other name of human renown, has drawn to
itself incommuuicably the gratitude and afl°ection of his own
countrymen, and the admiration of mankind. But I may,
without presumption, return you my thanks i for aifordingime
the opportunity of giving utterance, on your behalf, and on
behalf of the City of Boston, to the emotions with which the

mention of that illustrious name, ever honored, ever dear,‘

must warm the bosom of the true patriot, on the anniversary
of our National Independence. A A

I feel, sir, more and more, as I advance in life, and watch
with mingled confidence, solicitude, and hope, the develop»
ment of the momentous drama of our national existence,
seeking to penetrate that future which His Excellency has so
eloquently foreshadowed, that it is well worth our vvhile,---
that it is at once one of our highest social duties, and impor-
tant privileges, --- to celebrate with ever-increasing solemnity,

7 .

50

with annually augmented pomp and circumstance of festal
commemoration, the anniversary of the nation’s birth, were it
only as affording a fitting occasion to bring the character and
services of Washington, with ever fresh recognition, to the
public attention, as the great central figure of that unparal-
leled group, that "-‘ noble army” of chieftains, sages, and pa-
triots by Whom the Revolution was accomplished.

This is the occasion, and here is the spot, and this is the
day, and we citizens of Boston are the men, if any in the
land, to throw wide open the portals of the temple of mern~
ory and fame, and there gaze with the eyes of a reverent
and grateful imagination on his benignant countenance and
majestic form. This is the occasion and the day; for who
needs to be told how much the cause of Independence owes
to the services and character of Washington; to the purity
of that stainless purpose, to the firmness of that resolute
soul? This is the spot, this immortal hall, from which as
from an altar went forth the burning coals that kindled into
a consuming fire at Lexington and Concord, at Bunker Hill
and Dorchester Heights. We citizens of Boston are the men;
for the first great success of Washington in the Revolutionary
war was to restore to our fathers their ancient and beloved
native town. This is the time, the accepted time, when the
voice of the Father of his Country cries aloud to us from the
sods of lMount Vernon, and calls upon us, East and West,
North and South, as the brethren of one great household, to
be faithful to the dear.-bought inheritancewhich he‘ did so
much to secure to us. g

But the fame of Washington is not confined to our own
country. Bourdaloue, in his eulogy on the military saint of
France, ezszclaims, “ The other saints have been given by the
church to France, but France in return has given St. Louis
to the church.” Born into the family of nations in these
latter days, receiving from foreign countries and inheriting
from ancient times the bright and instructive example of all

51

their honored sons, it is the glory of America; in the very
dawn of her national existence, to have given back to the
world many names, of which the lustre’ will never fade; and
especially one name, of which the whole family of Christen-
dom is willing to acknowledge the unenvied preeminence ; a
name of which neither Greece nor Rome, nor Republican
Italy, Switzerland, nor Holland, nor Constitutional England

can boast the rival. “ A character of virtues so happily tem-
pered by one another,” (I use the language of Charles James

FoX,) “ and so wholly unalloyed by anyvices, is hardly to be
found on the pages of history.” a _
It is delightful to witness the generous recognition of
Washington’s merit, even in countries where from political
reasons some baclcwardness in that respect might have been
anticipated. Notwithstanding his leading agency in wresting
a colonial empire from Great Britain, England was not slow
to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of his character. Mr.
Rufus King, our minister at that time to the Court of St.
James, writing to Gen. Hamilton in 1797, says: “ N o one who
has not been in England can have a just idea of the admira-
tion exp1'essed among all parties for General Washington.

It is a common observation, that he is not only the most illus» .

trious, but the most meritorious character which has yet
appeared.” Nor was France behind England in her admira-
tion of Washington. Notwithstanding the uneasy relations
of .the two countries at the time of his decease, when the news
of his death reached Paris, the youthful and fortunate soldier,
whohad already reached the summitof power by paths which
Washington could never have trod, commanded the highest
honors to be paid to his memory. 1‘ Washington,” he immedi
ately exclaimed, in the orders of the day, “ is dead! This
great man fought against tyranny; he consolidated the lib-
erty of his country. His memorywill be over dear to the
French people, as to all freeman in both hemispheres, and
especially to‘ the soldiers of France, who like him and the

52

American soldiers, are fighting for liberty» and equality. In
consequence, the First Consul orders that for ten days black
crape shall be suspended from all the standards and ban-
ners of the republic.” By order of Napoleon, a solemn
funeral service was performed in the “Invalides,” in the
presence of all that was most eminent in Paris. “A. sor-
rowful cry,” said Fontanes, the orator chosen for the occa-
sion, “has reached us from America, which he liberated. It
belongs to France to yield the first response to the lamenta-
tion which will be echoed by every g1"8£tt soul. These august
arches have been Well chosen for the apotheosis of a hero.”
How often in those wild scenes of her revolution, ‘Whell
the best blood, of France was shed by the remorseless and
ephemeral tyrants, who chased each other, dag;ge1* in hand,
across that dismal stage of crime and woe, during the reign
of terror, how often did the tlioughts of Lafayette and his
companions in arms, who had fouglit the battles of constitu-
tional liberty in America, call up the image of the pure, the
just, the humane, the unambitious Wasliiiigtonl How differ-
ent would have been the fate of France, if her victorious

chieftain, when he had reached the giddy heights of power, a
had imitated the great example which he caused to be eulo-  

gizedl He might have saved his country from being crushed
by the leagtied hosts of Europe; he iniglit have prevented
the names of Moscow and "Waterloo from being Written in

letters of bloodon the pagesr of history; he might have

escaped himself the sad significance of those memorable

words of Fontanes, on the occasion to which I have alluded,  

when, in the presence of Napoleon, he spoke of Wasliington
asa man Who, 8 by a destiny seldom shared by those who

change the fate of empires, died in peace as a private citizen, 7
l in his native land, where he had held the first rank, and

which he had himself made free 1“  

How different would have been thefate of Spain, of A

  Naples, it of Greece, of Germany, of Mexico and the South

-53

American Republics, had their recent revolutions been con-
ducted by men like Washington and his patriotic associates, A

whose prudence, patriotism, probity, and disinterestedness
conducted our Revolution to an auspicious and honorable
result!

But it is, of course, at home that we must look, for an
adequate appreciation of our Washington’s services and
Worth. He is the friend of the liberties of other countries ;
he is the father of his own. I own, Mr. Mayor, that it has
been to me a source of inexpressible satisfaction to find,
amidst all the bitter dissensions of the day, that this one grand
sentiment, veneration for the name of Washington, is buried

--«no, planted—--dovvn in the very depths of the Ameri.

can “heart. It has been my privilege, Within the last two
years,tto hold it up to the reverent contemplation of my
countrymen, from the banks of the Penobscot to the banks
of the Savannah, from New York to St. Louis, from Chesa-
peake Bay to Lake Michigan; and the same sentiments,
expressed in the same words, have everywhere touched the
same sympathetic chord in the American heart.

To that central attraction I have been delighted to find

r the thoughts, the affections, the memories of the people, in

Whatever part of the country, from the ocean to the prairies
of the West, from the land of granite and ice to the land of
the palmetto and the magnolia, instinctively turn. They
have their sectional loves and hatreds, but before the clear
name of Washington they are all absorbed and forgotten.
In whatever region of the country, the heart of patriotism
warms to him; as in the starry heavens, with the circling of
the seasons, the pointers go round the sphere, but their

,direction is ever toward the pole. , They may point from

the East, they may‘ point firom the West, but they will point
to the Northern star. It is not the brightest luminary in the
heavens, as men account brightness, but it is always in its
place. The meteor, kindled into momentary blaze from the

54

rank vapors of the lower sky, is brighter. Tl1e comet is

' brighter that streams across the firmament,

“And from his horrid hair,
Shakes pestilence and War.”

But the meteor explodes; the comet rushes back to the
depths of the heavens; while the load-star shines steady at
the pole, alike in summer and in Winter, in seed-time and in
harvest, at the equinox and the solstice. It shone for Colum-
bus at the discovery of America; it shone for the pioneers
of settlement, the pilgrims of faith and hope, at Jaiiiestowii
and Plymouth; it will shine for the mariner Who shall enter
your harbor to-night; it will shine for the navies which shall
bear the sleeping thunders of your power, while the flag of
the Union shall brave the battle and the breeze. So, too,

the character, the counsels, the example of our W&Sl’1lllg‘tOl], .

of which you bid me speak; they guided our fathers tl11~o11gl1

the storms of the Revolution; they will guide us tl11*eug'li1 the ,

doubts and difficulties that beset us; they will guide our
children and our children’s cl:1ildren in the paths of pros-
perity and peace, While America shall hold her place in the
family of nations.

The fourth regular toast Was:

The Jétd*£cz'ary----The sheet—anchor of the Ship of State; may it
ever take firm hold in the hearts of the people.

JUDGE SANGER, of the Court of Common Pleas, hav-
ing been called upon to respond, said : --—

Both for the subject matter of the sentiment, and for

those who have been, with myself, attentive and deliglited A

listeners to the eloquent speech just delivered, it is to be
1*eg;1'etted that it has not fallen to the lot of some member of
that Supreme Court Whose learning and Wl"lOS(3,WOlgl1l? of

V

o5

personal character have established that tribunal in the
heartsof the people of this Commonwealth, and have added
lustre to the Ooniruonwealth itself, to answer to this senti-
ment. And new that those eloquent lips have just been
closed----lips whose feeblest accents always thrill to the
heart----I feel it almost impossible to say a word. ‘ But I
have been called upon, and must respond to the sentiment.

I do not propose to eulogize the Judiciary of Massachu-
setts. The occasion neither permits nor requires it. But
I would speak of the aid which the Judiciary lends to the
administration of the law. In this respect, perhaps, more
honor has been awarded to it than it can justly clairn.

While we speak. of the Judiciary as the di1‘ee‘ti.ng; and con-
trolling power, we often attribute to it the undivided honor
and respons:ibili*ty. But it must be rcrucrnbered that it has
not an undivided honor arid responsibility; that there are
others who share the honors that cluster around the re-
sponsibility that attaches to its decisions. We all know
that when the Chief Justice of the Supt-cine Court gives a
decision upon an abstract question, the annunc:ia'tion of the
decision falls unheeded, unless, by the application of the law
to facts, the popular pulse is struck and feeling is excited.

i It seems to me that when the law is applied to '*thc facts, it

is then that the honor is due and the rcspro:n's.ibility attaches.
N ow while the judges do this but rarely,there is a body of
men who do it every day»-~ the jury --»~»- who under our Consti-
tution and laws apply the law to the facts; and it is the jury
who should share the honor and divide the responsibility.

The speaker concluded by offering as a sentiment: A

The fitry List--- In theory composed of rneuof the best intellect,

intelligence and integrity in the various walks of life, who well and truly a
p try the issue according to the evidence. Let the people see to it that the

fact corresponds to the theory. l

56

The fifth regulartoast Was:

The Union of the States --- Around it cluster the most glorious
associations of our history; in it the hopes of humanity are involved ; for
it religious liberty and conscience plead ; and beyond all, upon it, in its

riper years as in its infancy, the protection of God rests; a sheltering

cloud for its fiercer day, and a pillar of fire in its darker night.

After the reading of this toast, the Mayor remarked

that he saw near him a gentleman Who represented  

a name always loved and respected in the State, and

T he called upon Mr. AMOS A. LAWRENCE to respond.

Mr. LAWRENCE remarked that the call was unexpected, but
he held to the doctrine that any Massachusetts man who can»

not respond to that sentiment, and on the moment, is no’

American at all. In looking over some old papers the other
day, to ascertain what had been done in times past on the
occasion of this anniversary, he found that after the Oo11g1'ess,
their “ Majesties the King and Queen of 13‘.rance” were
toasted. The next toast was to the Dauphin, and after that
was one to G‘reorge Washington. A

This unnatural and unpatriotic order was introduced be»-
cause party politics had been introduced into the celebration
of the day, and at a time when politics ran high. These
celebrations have improved since; but he was sorry to hear
that to-day that improvement has been checked by an effort
to make one partyappear to be the guardian of the nation-
ality of this city; and for the honor of the city he hoped it
would never be made again. i t

On the way here he was told by a friend vvhom he re-
spected and loved, that this was to be a Black Republican
affair, and that the national celebration was elscvvheie. N ow
if the. sentiments Wl1Il(3l1.W6 havelieard today are Black Re»
publican sentin1ents,let us have some more of them. i

7

C3"!

He saw here many friends of various politics —- old Whigs
and National Americans, and those who call themselves
American Republicans-—~ and he believed that he spoke the

mind of every one of them when he said that the old town. of

Boston was national when the nation was born; that it had
been so ever since; that it is so now, and would be forever.
If he were to give a toast he would give this:

The Chip; of .Besto9t--—-May she continue to be, as she always has
been, the bright north star of national liberty, from which the people of
the country may always take a safe reckoiiiiig.

The sixth regular toast was :

T/ze Omtor of the .Day---- Whose eloquence has given an aclclitional
lustre to his Words of Wisdom; may his broad and patriotic sentiments
cause us to prize our country with the pride of tree Americans.

To this sentiment Jonn 8. Homes, Esq., the orator of

  the day, responded as follows :--—-

Mn. MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: If I did not know that the

landatory toast to which I am called to respond was made
by custom a necessary part of this occasion, I would not
venture to utter one syllable. I am not an eloquent man;

and after listening; to the golden-lipped orator whose voice
still lingers in our charmed ears-lool;ing; upon that majestic
presence whose stately wisdom has so often been echoed by

these Walls ---- no man dare think himself eloquent, much less

coiild any sane man dare to intimate or receive intimation
that he ‘Was eloquent. I thank you most heartily, gentlemen,
for the gracious kindness with which this day you have
receivedimy imperfect attempt to set forth our duty to the
great Past of our country. If I have quickened one feeling
of patriotic devotion to this noble land --—- if a stronger, purer

  impulse has beenygivento one mind, I am largely rewarded

for my endeavor.

58

From“ the temper of this occasion I lrnovv that today we
all are stirred by emotions of unalterable love of the An1eri—
can Union; that here, on the soil of old Massachusetts, there
stands a race as eager and ready to maintain the liberties of

this great people as our fathers were to Win them. What  

dark destiny may threaten any other part of this confedera-
tion I know not; but of this --~-—-— by all that the Old Bay State
has been----by the rising patriotism of her children ---- by

the hearty exultation of this day and this hour----I am assured, ,

that anarchy and dissension and lawlessness will never find a
home or asylum here.

I beg; leave to give you, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, as a
sentiment ———--y

The Oonstitzctton of the Uizeftecl States ---- The Magna Charts. of

American Liberty ---to be preserved in the reverence, to be sustained by
the obedience of the people of the land.

The seventh regular toast Was :

The Queen of Green Br-2'to:2"9z --———-- Her virtues have gained her more
hearts than her throne has subjects.

n The Hon. Josnrn Howe, of Halifaisr, Nova Scotia, was
called upon to respond, and said : —-—--—-—

r Mn. Maren AND G-ENTLEMEN: To be called upon on such  

an occasion, to respond in such a place, to such a toast, I
regard as an honor and a distinction --«-~ the highest ever eon»-
ferred upon me abroad-----the liigliest that can be conferred on

a British subject by the people of these States. Sir, as I
have of late rambled through N ew Englarid, I have beeni

pleased to mark how , ancient prejudices have been toned

downm-how the angry passions, excited by two Wars, have ch

subsided; but I hardly expected to hear, in old Faneuil Hall,

the health of my sovereign toasted on such a day with so I I
much I genuine enthusiasm. With all my heart I thank your  
In the name and on behalf of my Queen I thank you, and I  

59

tlnree millions of Nortli Anierioens, when they hear of this
compliment, will tliank you also.

Iwish, Mr. Mayor, that Queen Victoria could be presented
to the edniiring gaze of the citizens of Boston. That she
could be here in person, to be seen of all men, as she is ever
seon, on all sniteible ooce.sion.s, mingling with her people. As
1'epnbli.cnns you nixny not be ‘very fond of queens, but as men
you one fond of licaniitifnl niicl aecoinplished women.

We honor our sovo1,*eign because we love liberty; because
01111‘ 1‘Ii10’.l”l£tl‘(3ij’l is our ohiei’ xxizz.gist:1;~nte. We ineintein a. throne
because om: l.ibort:ies and fl’21;'ll.t3i‘.1ii.SGS are ti‘.l.C3IL‘Gby bnlwerhred
and snsminlod. We nphold nnd 1nni:n.tain royal p1*erogetives
beeniise tlicay gggiye ginoe end st;1*e.ng*tli to that great constitu-
tioiriel. sysl;en1. whioli, ooinentod by the blood of our fathers,
yiel.ds to the };‘.)lTC}£Eli3liI1‘{3 of ixunlermi oivilizntion and supplies all
the g11zl,1:‘{;iS Wi‘.1.ii(;3il :,:n*<l<:>nl; 1<f.')‘V“<ii3.‘l"~Il of i;‘;t;*ee<;lo1n. ezzzn de1ne.nd. We
1’lOIl<.”}1‘ our sCa've;i.*oin;i1, then, ‘whein e. 1:i1e11 sits npon the tln:'one;
but when it is o<;,:enp:i<;:<Ll by a, gi..ft(;é(:l., aoooinplislied woinen, we
love ljier, end ore not zislxwiod to nvow the weakness, if it be
one, liofotrc ell the world. Queen ViCitO1‘ll2L sets, to all her-
snbjeets, at horns and ehroed, the example of at good wife, of 23.
devoted iin.otlior———~ of en z:1.oo<:>rnpl.isliod lady, wise in art and
1itc.>i:*etl1n'o,l>'1it  still in the domestic Virtiies which embel-
lish pelnoos end cottages nj1ih:.e,end therei‘oi~e it is that we
thank (Bind tllrznt in Queen V:ieto1*ia. we have not only got a.

0011Si)1li3l1i3‘lO]11iL1 1i1o;rin.rcl1,bnt an example for our wives and

dnugl1tex's.

Mr. Mayor, I never come to Boston without feeling that I
sin n.tl1.onio, fox‘ I.i‘ind f1;"."i.(3l?l.(:iS everywhere, and relatives not a.
few. I 1'1£W(3 1:>a.1~nte.ke1:1, on forrner occasions, of its unbounded
hospitality. Welhnve not forgotten, in the Provinces ----who

that was present will ever forget ?---~ the noble celebmtion with

whiel1yoi1inengn1~nted your sweet public works. I told you
on that occasion that iny intlier was 3 Boston boy. He, like
Franklin, end like the GrO'V‘(aI‘1lO1l” of your State, (who has just

60

done himself honor by referring to the fact,) learned the print-
ing business in this city. He had just completed his appren-
ticeship, and was engaged to a very pretty girl, when the
Revolution brolze out. He saw the battle of Bunl<:er’s ill
from one of the old houses here-—--he nursed the wounded
when it was over. Adhering to the Britisli side,ihc was
driven out at the evacuation, and retired to Newport, where
his betrothed followed him. They were married there, and
afterwards settled at I~IalifaX. lilo left all his housel.iold
goods and gods behind him, carrying away notl.ii:ng but his
principles and the pretty girl. ‘

The loyalists who left those States were not, it must he
confessed, as good republicans as you are; but they loved
liberty under their old forms, and tlleir deseeiidatnts love it
too. My father, though a true Brriton to the day of his death,
loved New England, and old Boston espeeiafly, with filial
regard. He never lost an opportu1:x.ity of serviiig a Boston
man, if in his power. At the close of your :railway 'l>anquet
one gentleman told me that my f:.1.ther ha<;l, dur:ing the last
war, taken his father from the military prison at Melville
Island, and sent l;1.im back to Boston. An.otli1.er, on the same
evening, showed me a gold watch sent by an uncle who
died in the West Indies, to his l“'ann:il.y. It was p:.'rwn.e<:.l by
a sailor in Halifax, but redeemed by my father, and sent

to the dead man’s relatives. And so it was all his life. lle

loved his sovereign, but he loved Boston too; and whenever
he got sick in his latter days, we used to send him up here to
recruit. A sight of the old‘ scenes, and a walk upon Boston
Common, were sure to do him good, and he generally came
back uncommonly well.

Though bound to say thus much, sir, for my sovereign and

, my father,»-—-for myself, what can I say? I feel very much

like the man bidden to the ‘feast without a wedding garment.
How can I clothe my thoughts in language to win even the
indulgence of an audience whose ears have been charmed by

(31

the great orator of New England,—- may I not say of North
America ?~-—--- for we have no man to match him, whatever there
may be at the South. Your city pageants, your civic feasts,
are imposing and attractive; but these are everywhere --—~
great craters are not. You are indeed fortunate in the pos-
session of a man who gives to our land’s language its strength
unimpaired by the liiglicst embellishment. The Indian draws
from the maple the bow wherewith he kills his game, and the
sap with which he sweotcns his repast. Mr. Everett draws
from the same large growth and cultivation, the arguments
by which he sustains the great reputations and great interests
of his country, and the honeyed accents which give to scenes
like this the sweet cement of social life. The ancients

“ ’1‘hrcw pearls of great price in their goblets of gold,
When to those that they honored they quafl'cd.”

He melts into our cups the rich ingots of his iniagiiiation,
and every man who listens to him is intellectually richer for
the d1*aug;l1t.

I rejoice, sir, that the small clouds which threatened to
darken the counsels and disturb the peace of our twonations
have passed away; and I am glad that British statesmen have

had the magiianimity and discretion to throw over, at once.

and forever, a claim or pretension which, among commercial
nations, in the present age of the world, can never be sus-
tained. Stop your vessclson the liigli seas ! we mightias well
claim to stop women in the streets to ascertain if they were
virtuous-—-to stop letters or telegraphic inessages coming
into your country, for fear that they might contain something
wrong. If we can stop your vessels in the Gulf of Mexico,
what slionld hinder you to stopiours in the Bay of Fundy,
and how would we North Americans like that?

The whole pi¢oceedi1igs of this day, sir, so far as I have
witnessed them, have been to me deeply iiitercstingg, and
highlyhonorable to this State. v The orators of the day have

62

not imitated the bad example of some that I have heard else-
where, who would perpetuate the animosities of the past, and
make history a consuming fire. I have listened to the
Declaration of Independence, as I always do, not without
emotions of various kinds, but with emotions similar to those
with which I read our great Charter, and Bill of Rights, or
any other eloquent protests against the injustice and bar-—
-harities of the past. _

I have never regarded England in the days of Lord North,
as anything to be very proud of’, any more than you are very
proud of New Amsterdam under Peter Stuyvesant. But
judge not the British Empire by What it was in 1772, but as
it is in 1858. The British Islands are now the centres of a
vast commerce----the seats of science and skilled lah,or--
the fountain heads of capital overflowing in honest enterprise
in every quarter of the globe. Forty States and Provinces,
containing 300,000,000 of people, are combined by their
diplomacy and defended by their arms. The Exiglaiid that

. oppressed you had but little liberty herself, and the Colonies

that remained faithful to her had less. But how has all this
changed since 1772! We have limited the prc1'og;ative-mwe
have reformed our laws ------~ We have p‘uri'lied our courts ~------ We
have enfranchised men of a.ll creeds and all professions, abol-
ished monopolies, established free trade, and emancipated
our slaves While extending our empire.

England is no longer the harsli mother country against
whom that old bill of indictment was filed. She is fouixding

-u new provinces every day, training them in the practice of
  freedom and in the arts of life ; and, when they are prepared
’ for self-government, she does not force them into declarations

of independence, but gracefully concedes to them the right to
make their own constitutions, and to change and modify them

  from time to time. iWe North Americans may have had our
 grievances in the olden time.  We may have had our own
 contests   withbesotted statesmen and absurd systems, but

63

now we are as free as you. We govern ourselves as com-
pletely as any of your independent States. We have uni-
versal suli’rage and responsible government. You may some-
times have to endure a had administration for four years; we
can overthrow a bad one by a single resolution, on any day
of the year when our parliaments are in session. Think of
us, then, as we really are, your equals in many respects,--—
your rivals, it may be, in all things honorable, but ever your
brethren, your friends, your neigl1bo1~s.

You have drank: to my sovereign, Mr. Mayor. I would
gladly respond, if I am permitted, by toasting those who rule
over you, in spite of all your boasted liberties, who reign
supreme in your affections. To me it seems that the ladies
of Boston, though not less lovely, have marvellously increased
in size since I last saw them. Fashion inflates us in the
Provinces a good deal, but you beat us in expansion, White-
field, preaching about the time of the Revolution, used this
language: “ As I. passed over your country, I saw your young
maidens clad in their homespun garments. Would that I
could see them clad in homespun righteousness.” What
would the great preacher say if he saw them now? Jack,

I when remonstrated witli for beating his wife, and told she

was “the wealazer vessel,” exclaimed, “ If sheiis, why do n’t
she carry loss sail? ” J'ack’s complaint is becoming general.
There is a terrible sight of sail carried, but the craft are
weatherly and lovely to behold. Even Whitefield might
mistake the pretty girls of Boston for angels peeping out of
clouds of crinoline and lace.

Of our North American women I will say nothing. Come

over and see them. Dine with us, and you will find our

hearts as light as your own. Mingle with us in the dance,
and beauty and refinement shall lead you through its mazes.
Our national festivals may not be so much to your taste, but
you shall have at least a hearty welcome.

64

Mr. Howe closed his speech by giving:
T/ac Ladies of 25/26 Oily of Boston.

At the conclusion of Mr. Howe’s I'Gl1”l€LI‘l~IS, the com-
pany rose and remained standing while the band played
“ God save the Queen.”

The eighth regular toast was :

T/L8 Olergy of the Revolzotiovz ---- Not inferior to their fellow-citizens
in their devotion to the cause of liberty.

Rev. S. K. Lornnor, D. D., the chaplain of the day,
responded :-—--——-

Mn. MAYOR: I rise in obedience to your call; but before
saying anything on the subject specially suggested by the sen-
timent in honor of the revolutionary clergy, to which you have
summoned me to respond, I cannot forbear to say a word in
reply to the interesting and eloquent remarks just made by
the gentleman from Halifax. We have all listened with
pleasure and satisfaction to what he has said with such frank
and hearty earnestness; and I am certain, sir, that I may
assure him, in behalf of us all, that we heartily reciprocate

every expression of cordial feeling, of kindly sympathy, of ,

broad, generous interest, which has fallen from his lips, and
hope with him that the relations between our country and the
British Provinces in North America, and between us and the
old mother of us all across the water, may be more and more
intimate, and the bonds of peace between two nations kindred
in race, language, and the spirit of their-« institutions, may
remain unbroken forever.

I had hoped, Mr. Mayor,---- I regret that the hope has not
been fulfilled,---It had hoped thatit might so happen that
the Niagara, in the successful completion of that grand
work, the laying of the ocean telegraph cable along the

65

deep bed oil’ the .Atlantic, would enter her destined port

in Newfoundland on the Fourth of July; that thus this , anni-

versary which conuneinorates now our political severance
from Great Britain, niight hereafter, through this glorious
achievement of science and skill, commemorate also our
indissoluble union, by a bond, physical in its nature, but
eminently moral and social in its influence —-—-an oceanbedded
artery, througli whose quivering pulsations, thought, feel-
ing, aiiection, opinion, the moral life,-blood of a nation, might
pass and repass, as rapidly as the blood circulates through
the individual ‘fraxne; and thus the two nations become one
in all the interests and influences that elevate and adorn
our common liurnanity. But should the great enterprise to
which I have alluded fail, fail altogether, there are still
ties between us and Great Britain which should never be
broken. In hoth countries it is, or it should be, the prayer
of every Christian and patriot heart, that the peace between
us may be as perpetual as it is beneficial to ourselves and to
the world.

And now, Mr. Mayor, to come to the sentiment in connec-
tion with which you have called me up, how shall I venture to
speak for the olerggy of the Revolution ? Fortunately, sir, they
need no man to speak for them; their deeds and characters
are matters of liistory, and speak for themselves. We all know
that tl1r*ougl1out our revolutionary conflict, in the discussions
which preceded the declaration of independence, and in the
st1~ugg;les through which that declaration was upheld and con-
firmed before the world, the great mass of the clergy, with as
few exceptions as in any department of life, were on the side
of the Colonies, and exerted no little influence, made no small

  sacrifices, in behalf of the cause theyhad espoused. Many of

them were in the field, ready, not only to preach and pray for
liberty, but to iiglrt for it, and, if need be, to die for it.
I thank you, sir, for the allusion you were pleased to make

  in your I'8m£LI'l{S to Brattle Street Church, of which I have the

9

66

happiness to be the pastor. The edifice, among the fouifor
five oldest in the city, is well known among us as the “ Cannon-

, ball Church.” It was a mark for the patriots during the

siege, being used as a barraclr, and filled with British troops;
and it was a marl: for the petty spite of those troops, or their
officers, the memorial of which is still to be seen on one of
the cornerstones, where by dint of mallet and chisel they
erased the name of John Hancock, originally carved upon it.
John Hancock worshipped in that church, and other noble

patriots of that day worshipped there; and I may venture to A

say, sir, that during our whole revolutionary struggle, “there
was gathered under no roof in the country a body of men
more faithful and devoted to the cause of liberty, than the
men who gathered, Sunday after Sunday, in that church; and
no man in this town, certainly no clergyman, rendered more
aid to that cause than did Dr. Samuel Cooper, then pastor, by
his pen, his speech, and his personal influence.

It would have been strange, Mr. Mayor, if the clergy, in our
revolutionary struggle it had not been found on the side of lib-
erty. When advocates of arbitrary and despotic power, they
are false to the spirit and tendency of the religion they are set
to teach and defend. Happily such advocates are rarely found
among them. In general, the clergy have in every nation been
true to the liberties of the nation, and so, faithful to the
Gospel of Christ; for that Gospel is at once the source and
the security of civil liberty. All the civil liberty now enjoyed
by any community in Christendom has emanated from the

Gospel, is the product of the teachings and the truths of that _

Gospel. The mam/‘r has always in Christian history preceded
the patriot. The struggle for religious liberty, for “freedom
to worship God,” has led the way to the struggle for civil
liberty, and taught the principles, and given the inspiration,
through which men have triumphed in that struggle, and secured
the civil liberty they now enjoy. Even Mr. Howe tells us,«-----
and if he admits, we need not question it, ---— that the people

67

of England owe all the liberty enjoyed under their Constitu-
tion to the Puritans. Our liberty is to be traced back to the
same source, and through the Puritans to the spirit and prin-
ciples of the Gospel. Our liberty had a religious origin, and
it has no security or defence but in religion. Constitutions,
laws, policies, trade, commerce, manufactures--these things
have their place and importance; due regard must ever be
paid to them; but ultimately the peace, progress, prosperity,
glory, safety of this country, rest upon the intelligent reli-
gious belief and moral principle of ~ the people. The strain
in the great ezrperirncnt We are trying is to be at this point---
on the religious li)(3llG‘f and moral principle of the people. If
these fail, all fails; if these hold, all is secure. If the people
of this country are able to retain their religious ‘faith and
moral prirneiple; if the great truths of the Gospel of Christ
penetrate and pervade their hearts, and become the law of
their life, -——-- then. liberty is safe, the eountry is safe. Through
various trials and conI:licts it will Work: its way to a grand
and glorious destiny, and exert a blessed and beneiicial influ-
ence upon the World. In harmony with these thoughts I offer
this sentiment:

The Petrt'ott7sm which has its foundation in piety, and the moral
principle whieh rests upon faith in the Gospel of Christ. Let these be

strong in the hearts of this people, and the prosperity and glory, as

well as the liberty of our country, will be perpetual.
The ninth regular toast was :
The Army and Navy of the Umftecl States.

The Mayor here read the following letter : ----

Wnsr Porur, New York, June 10, 1858.
To His Honor, F. W. Lruoonn, J r., Mayor of Boston.

Dunn Sm : My obligations to Boston, and, indeed, to the whole
State of Massachusetts, are numerous and abiding. I never recur to
them without pride and pleasure. Your handsome invitation to join in
celebrating the approaching national anniversary in Fancuil Hall adds a

68

new one. But although there is nowhere a place I should visit with
equal pleasure, I find it necessary to decline the honor. I am much
worn in the public service, and for the future must avoid all public
entertainments and high excitements.
With high respect and esteem, I remain
Your obedient servant,

WIN FIELD SCOTT.

Col. E. G. PARKER, senior aid to His Excellency the
Governor, being requested to respond to the toast to
the army and navy, spoke as follows : ----

Mn. Maren: After the great exhibition of eloquence to
which we have listened (Mr. Everett’s), and at this late hour,
it would be idle to attempt a speech which should in any just
degree be adequate to the deservings of the American army
and navy. Besides, I have been so entirely spell-bound and
absorbed by the magic of this ‘oratory, that my own thoughts
have been scattered as by red»-hot shot. But I rejoice, in comm
mon Wiltll you all, to have heard that beautiful tongue, and in
common with all young men I would pay my passing tribute

» to its master. He has, as he has told you, returned to us from

what we may call his I’VCL3/tiflgtort campaign ---« a course of ac»-
tion in which he has been erecting his own monument while
building anothe1*’s---—-a career which entitles him to be called
the modern Peter the Hemnit. For, like the hermit of history,
Edward Everett has gone about a continent, preaching the
rescue of another holy sepulchre from the grasp of an impious

  hand. To him, then, I accord my humble tribute of homage,

and pass again to my text. I
The army and the navy of America, indeed, need no pane-

gyric. This day speaks for them, this hall speaks for them.

Thesebannered arches, these pictured memories, and this
glad, triumphal music, all speak their proud eulogium. But
in the American soldier, your toast said there was ever pres-
enta gallantry as bright as the steel of the sword upon his

69

thigh. Sir, no man can be a gallant manwho is not a gentle-
man; and it is the first quality of a soldier gentleman, never

I to abuse a fallen foe, and never to insult one helpless and

tongue-tied before him.

And, sir, besides these qualities of chivalry, there is also in
the American soldier’s heart, I know, a true and universal
patriotism. He knows no North, no South, no East, no West.
He goes for his “country, however bounded, and by whatever
waters washed 3” and when you have combined these qualities
together in a man -—-~—---- the gentleman, the patriot, the warrior
-—--then you have a combination upon which victory must ever
set the seal of her success, and stamp him conqueror.

The tenth regular toast was:

The Declaration of Independence——- Let us not, in adoration of the
sentiments it contains, forget that those sentiments are the representa-
tives of the most sacred list of names in the history of the American
people.

Mr. DANIEL K. Fonn, the reader of the Declaration,
responded as follows : -——--

Mn. MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: It would be a usurpation of
time if I, standing as I do among so many able and expe-
rienced speakers, should have the presumption to attempt
what might worthily be called a speech; but when in the

course of human events it becomes necessary for speeches to ~

be made, I think it to be the duty of each individual who
may be called upon, to endeavor to say something.

On this particular occasion we should give utterance to our
thoughts in an independent manner, there being no reason
for the least manifestation of diffidence, for we are all near
our Holmes (orator of the day). A

I heartily appreciate the sentiment which has called me
before you. It reminds me of a passage in Scripture,---“ The

70

good tree bringeth forth good fruit.” It would have us like
the farmer, who, while he admires and enjoys the fruit, is ever
anxious to pay a proper regard to the tree. To the Govern-
ment of the City of Boston I would return my sincere thanks
for the honor conferred upon me in their selection of a person
to read to you the independent declaration of our fathers, —-
a proclamation of rights distinctly but justly declared, bravely
defended, and omnipotently triumphant. I hope I have neither
disappointed those to whom I am indebted for so pleasant a
duty, nor violated the confidence placed in the ability of
the present City Government to provide for a proper celebra-
tion of the anniversary of a day so dear to every true Ameri-
can heart. In conclusion I will propose the following senti-
ment:

The Present Government of the City of Boston —-- A perfect chain,
which needs no better Linc-oln (His Honor the Mayor).

The seventh regular toast was:

The Legislature of the Province of Massachusettsw Early, active,
and unwavering friends of American Independence ; may their spirit
ever animate their successors.

In response to this sentiment the Hon. CHARLES A.
PHELPS said:

He would not, at this‘ late hour, intrude upon the gentle-
men present with any extended remarks. He desired, how-
ever, to offer his acknowledgments for the sentiment compli-
mentary to the Legislature.

I feel, said he, that it is good for us to be here. We have
assembled to celebrate one of the grandest eventsin human
history. Honored, forever honored, be the memory of the
heroes of the Revolution. No homage which we can render
to their memories, however great or oft renewed, can be
undeserved. I have sometimes feared that as the years pass

71

away, the celebration of this day may lose something of its
significance to our minds, and become a matter of form and
ceremony, and not of feeling. But wherever else its con»
memoration may be omitted or misused, to us it should always
bring eloquent utterances. I trust the timeiwill never come
when the Fourth of July shall fail to receive civic honors
from our city. And‘for one, I could wish that on this day

Faneuil Hall might always be open, adorned with garlands, A

gracediwith victorious wreaths, and giving back the shouts of
patriotic Americans, as in the days of "76. And may the love»
cup which to-day passes from lip to lip be untainted with the
bitter poison of political hate.

Our Revolution was as peculiar in its character as it has
been in its results. I respond fully to the sentiments ex-
pressed by the eloquent gentleman from Halifax who preceded
me. It was not so much a war between the people of England
and the people of America, as a war of the tory party in Eng-
land, who were then in power --- a war between the colonists
on the one side, and an infatuated and deluded ministry, aided

and encouraged by an ignorant and obstinate king, on the  

other. Ohatham, in that most masterly speech on removing
the troops from Boston, thundered to the House of Lords in
his boldest tones, “ The glorious spirit which animates three
millions of Americans is aided, I hope, to the amount of
double that number in England.” The sympathy of the great
Whig party of Englandwas with America from the beginning
to the end. It is pleasant to recall these facts, and to know
that in freshening the memories of our heroic age, we are not
to be supposed to be cherishing a degrading malice toward
the English people of our own day. The interests of the two
nations are closely allied. And I rejoice to believe, from the
report of the discussions in Parliament received by the last
steamer, that the clouds which awhile since seemed threat»-
eningto darken the horizon, are, or will be, literally, “ in the

deep bosom of the ocean buried.” Let us  unsulliifid A

72

the honor of our flag, and the sacredness of our soil; and may
there in the future be between England and America no
rivalry but a rivalry in the arts of peace; no contest but a
contest to win the highest triumphs of modern Christian civil-
ization. C a

Mr. Mayor, we meet to—day as Americans. We are here to
cherish no local pride; but nevertheless, we need not, we
cannot, forget the early and distinguished part which Massa-
chusetts and the town of Boston bore in the memorable strug-
gle for independence. The history of the times furnishes
abundant evidence of this. I remember to have read that as
early as July, 1775, Gen. Gage, writing from this place to
Lord Dartmouth, said, “This province began the rebellion;
indeed, I may say this town, for here the arch-9r*ebeZs formed
their scheme long ago.” Honor, I say, to those “arch-
relielsl ” We will bless their memories while we live, and
hand their fame to our children after us. Yes, sir, formida-
ble as was the conflict involved, the declaration of independ-
ence was hailed nowhere with more delight than in this sec-
tion of our country.

Allusion has been made to occurrences of the Revolution »

connected with the Brattle Street Church. This has reminded
me of an incident associated with another of our churches.
History tells us that on the night preceding the battle of
Lexington, the British troops embarked at the foot of the
Common, landed on the marshes at East Cambridge, and took
up their line of march for Concord. Their movements were
observed, and Warren despatched Col. Revere to Lexington,
to inform the proscribed patriots, Hancock and Adams, that
the troops had left the city. It had previously been agreed
that the departure of the enemy should be made known by a
light which was displayed from the spire of the old North
Church. And this was the fi]f‘Sl3 beacon fire in the war of in-
dependence! And thus the people were called to arms!
That little light —p—-why, sir, it will flame down the long path-

73

Way of the centuries, for it lighted a nation to liberty. It
may well. symbolize to our imaginatio1:1s that torch of Free-
dom Which, passed from nation to nation, is yet to make the
tour of the World, and of which the poet has sung in those
l2vea1rt—sti1*1*i:ng; Words, ---  

“ Shine, shine forever, glorious Flame,

‘Divinest gift of gods to men!

Take, Freedom, take thy radiant round;
When dimmed, revive --- when lost, return,

Till not a shrine on earth he found,
On which thy glories shall not burn 1 ”

The night preceding the battle of Lexington! Warren!
Hancock! Adams! Revere !—-—--tvliat thoughts and emotions

l rise as We speak these Words to-day! Ah! if that lllgllii an

unseen hand could have lifted the curtain of the future, how
would their souls have been cnraptnred with the vievvl How
amazed if a voice could have said, “ To-night your hearts are
overwhelmed with glooin, but with the morroW’s rising sun a
blow will have been struck which will free America forever
from the dominion of Englaiid on land and sea. Within less

than a twelvemonth, history shall pause on yonder sacred

mount and give to loving memory and irnmortal tame the
heroic death of the youngest of your nmnbe:r, Warren; and
then that hostile army shall sail down the harbor of Boston,
leaving onlygraves for their bravest and best, and along the

‘streets of that devoted town, English drums shall be heard,

arid English banners seen -—--no, never again ‘forever.
“ Within little more than a tvvelvemonth two others ““o'l'

your number, Hancock: and Adams, shall affix their names to»
a declaration of independence vvhieh shall summon these new
view and feeble Colonies to goforth on their luminous career
r as sovereign and independent States, until, in the language of
‘another, theyishall stand   on ‘the glittering summits of the

world.’   That! little provincial seaport shall become a city
of an hundredand sixty thousand inhabitants,,——-~l1er vvealth
, 10    

'74

shall rival that of Venice, the bride of the seas, -—--her ships
shall be found in the farthest corners of the earth,---- her pop-
ulation in intelligence and virtue shall be second to none on
the globe ;--- yea, and Within the life of those now living she

shall call to the chair of her chief magistrate, a grandson of .

another of your nu1nber,Revere; and in Faneuil Hall with
grateful afibction unite to celebrate your toils, your sufferings,
and your undying renown.”

N o voicespoke to them thus, no yoice may speak to us of
the future upon which We enter. God grant that when a sim-
ilar period of time shall have elapsed, our country may be at
peace with all the World, happy and prosperous, with freedom
andfreedorn only in all her borders, then as now. deserving
and receiving the love and honor of all her sons. But, sir,
Without detaining you longer, I give you

The Ottizens of Boston, “ arch-7~eZ>eZs,” in 1776 ---~--— They were
among the earliest friends --- may they also be among the latest defenders
of American Independence.

The twelfth regular toast Was:
The Veterans of the Army of 1812.

In response to this toast Col. Tnomns ASPINWALL,
being called on by His Honor the Mayor, spoke as
follows :-----

Ma; Maven: On such an occasion I should be very glad to

make a speech, and a good speech, if I could. But I“ believe
there is a sort of truth in the burlesque remark, that it takes

time to elaborate an extempore speech; and until this mo»
ment I supposed that I was to act a silent part in the scene.
I am deeply sensible, sir, of the honor done me by your call;
and am indebted entirely to your courtesy for the conspicu-

L r ousplace assigned meat your table.  

75

On behalf of “my comrades of the war of 1812, I thank

you, sir, for the honorable notice you have bestowed on them,
and I can bear my testimony that they were actuated by the
same devoted and patriotic spirit that characterized our con-
tinental army in the great revolutionary struggle for national
freedom and independence. They were beset with difficulties
from the outset. They wanted material supplies, money and
men. In the field, the hardships they had to endure were
often extreme. In the descent of the St. Lawrence in 1813,
for instance, many soldiers lost their feet and limbs, and even
lives, from prolonged inaction under exposure to cold and
wet. In battle, the wounded soldier, when he heard his com-
rades say their cartridges were out, anxi.ens for his country’s

success, but heedless of the life-blood that was Welling; from

his wounds, would exert the last remnant of his strength to
grasp his cartridge-box, and say “ Take mine.”

The war of 1812 was brief, and at this day engages com-
paratively but little attention. But it has been justly called
our second war of independence; for it was a natural sequel
and the complement of our Revolution. The cause was not
so momentous, nor the events so strilizing, n.or the contest so
long; but still it was a gallant and successful contest in the
old cause of life, liberty, and property ; it czsztorted the respect
of our enemies, raised us higher in the scale of nations, and
addedstability, strength, and attractions to the structure built
up by ourRevolution.

That Revolution left its impress on the age; and its abiding
influence upon the nations ofthe world shows itself in the
constant growth and didusion of the blessings of political and
civil liberty. Russia is at this day emancipating her serfs,
unchanged in her conformity to the example first set her by
Joseph of Austria shortly before the close of our revolu-
tionary warfare for freedom. It is true that Austriahas since
retrograded in her policy; but Sardiiiia, on the otherhand, is
holding up the example of her free institutions, and teaching

76

the despotisms that surround her, that the march of freedom
is onward, and that the time is at hand when they must re-
spect and cherish the sacred principles of right and freedom,
which were brought to life, and nobly and fearlessly adopted
and vindicated, by our forefathers, on this spot, where we now
stand.

At this late hour, sir, I will not further trespass upon your
indulgence, but will merely offer a sentiment founded upon
one which I gave in Boston nearly fifty years ago:

Boston, the cradle of our infant liberty:/-———~lVIay she ever be the strong-
hold of the full-grown giant. I

The thirteenth regular toast was:

Our system of Free Schools ——--- The nursery of intelligence and
morality, the fountain of social prosperity, and the safeguard of republican
liberty; may it never cease to be the pride and glory of Boston, where
education was first provided by the means of all, for the benefit of all.

J, D. PnILBnIc1{, Esq, Superintendent of the Public
Schools, by request of the lVIayor, responded to this

toast as follows :-—--

I am well aware, Mr. Mayor, that you have taken the lib
erty to call upon me to respond to this toast, not because of

your conviction of peculiar fitness on my part to do justice to

the theme, but because I happen to be connected, in an hum-
ble capacity, with the administration of our system of public
instruction. But in rising in obedienccto your command to
utter a few words as best I may, Iam cheered with the con-
soling reflection that in this presence, least of all places on
the globe, does the public school need an advocate. Here is

its birthplace, here its cradle was rocked, long before this

renowned cradle of liberty was thought of.

77

The schoolmaster is no new character in Boston. For two
and a quarter centuries he has been abroad in this city.
Without the free school Boston would not have been Boston.
The free school is the cornerstone of Boston prosperity.
Without it you might indeed have your commerce and your
warehouses, but your Boston character, that of which Bosto-
nians are most proud, you could not have.

I cannot but think there isa propriety in remembering the
free school on this anniversary of the birthday of American
liberty and independence. Who doubts that the‘ perpetuity
of our free institutions of government depends upon the
character of the present and future generations of the peo-—
ple ? Without the general diffusion of knowledge and virtue
among the people, liberty is an impossibility.

On this day, therefore, of our national jubilee, the intelli-
gent patriot, while commemorating the services of those who
fought and died for the liberty which we enjoy, would not for-
get the means by which that liberty is to be perpetuated. It
is eminently fitting that as often as we refresh our memories
with the rehearsal of the ever memorable Declaration, we
should also recall the solemn injunction of the Father of his

Country in his Farewell Address to hiscountrymen respect-

ing the duty of maintaining public instruction. “ Promote,”
said he, “ as an object of primary importance, institutions for
the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the
structure of government gives force to public opinion, it is
essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”

We shall, Mr. Mayor, most eflectively obey this injunction
by extending and perfecting the free public school. This
enterprise I look upon as the most important work of this
generation. Its grand aim is universal intelligence and vir-
tue, without which our prosperity will only prove our ruin,
and hasten us with more headlong speed to our destruction.
The knowledge of duty and the willto do it is the only salva-
tion of the State. To insure’ this mental and moral illumina-W

78

tion of the masses of the people so essential for prosperity,
the free public school must be supported and cherished with
liberality, directed and controlled by the wisest and most
pure-minded citizens, and never sufiered to fall into the hands
of designing demagogues or sectarian bigots.

If there is any one institution among us upon which We.

may rely to keep alive the spirit and manners of republican
liberty, that institution is the free public school. Before
the schoolmaster all are equal. N o distinction of race, color,
religion, or nationality is recognized. Personal merit is the
only and sole ground of distinction. It is the glory of our
system, that while it is made good enough for the best, it is
free to all; and the son of the laborer and the son of the
wealthy merchant may be seen side by side in the same class
for years contending for the same honors, and sharing the
same instruction. It is the mighty leveller, but it levels in the
right Way 3 it levels upwards, not in pride and vanity, but in
usefulness and ability.

To some shallovv minds who never enjoyed the advantages
of the training of an able master in a free school, and never
achieved anything more useful or heroic than the perusal of a
novel, the mention of the schoolmaster suggests nothing but
the ludicrous figure of a Dominic Sampson, anlchabod Crane,
or a Mr. Squeers. But the intelligent citizen of Boston needs
not to be told that the schoolmasters who have the care of
his children are gentlemen of respectability, character, and
learning, and that the schoolmistress is a lady of manners, re-
finement, and intelligence.

In conclusion allow me to propose the sentiment:

T/ze Teachers of the Public Sclzools of Boston --- The makers of the
future history of Boston. .

At this time, the hour being somewhat late, and a
desire to see the balloon ascensions prevailing, upon
motion of A Alderman J. M. WIGIITMAN the company
adjourned.

CORRESPONDENCE.

CORRESPONDENCE.

In addition to the letters elreedy given, the following I

were received by the Comniittee of Airronggeiiieiits from
various invited guests 2 ----

Bemto, Jmze 22.6, 1858;

To His Honor llifnron LINCOLN.

DEAR Sm: I lmve just received your letter enclosing an ofliciol in-
vitation from the City Council of I3oston,, inviting me to join with them
in celebrating the approaching amiiversery of American Independence,
and regret exceedingly that it is out of my power to accept it.

Your letter seems to have been addressed to me under the impression
that I was in Providence, which was at miotakc, es I hove not been in
N cw England for more than three years. Wcrc I in Providence, I
shouid certainly accept your invitatioto, that I might enjoy the satisfaction,
once before I die, of seeing that glorious day celebrated in Fancuil Hall,
its birthplace _; but I must defer this nleesure to at more convenient
season. i
I beg you to present my thanks to the Council for the honor it has
done me by this invitation, and permit me to subscribe myself

Your obedient servant,

MILLARD FILLMORE.

I Wnsnxnoron CITY, Jane 24, 1858} I

Gnnrnnmnn : While I tender to you my acknowledgments for the
y honor you have done me by inviting me itoettend the proposed celebra-

tion, by the City Council of Boston, of the approaching anniversary
of American Independence, I am compelled to ask your indulgence for
  11

82

declining to accept it. My public duties here will prevent me from
leaving "Washington at the present time.
I am, gentlemen, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
LEW. CASS.

Hon. F. W. Lrnoonu, J:e., and others, Com. &c., &c., &c.

Wasnmeron, Jame 15, 1858.
Dean Sm : I pray you to present to the Committee of Arrangements
my grateful acknowledgments for their kind invitation, and also to
accept my thanks for the courteous manner in which you have re*
corded it. ii
If it were at all proper, I should accept the invitation 5 but I have a.
peremptory engagement in another quarter.
Believe me, dear sir, with great respect,
Your humble servant,
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
The Honorable Fnnnnnrc W. LINCOLN, J 12., Mayor, &tc., &c. '

Wasnrneron, June 16, 1858.
Dean 813.: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 7th
inst., enclosing to me an invitation from the Committee of Arrangements,

to attend the celebration, by the City Council of Boston, of the approachw

ing anniversary of American Independence. V
Such an invitation is an honor to be proudly remembered. To par-
ticipate in a Boston celebration of the Fourth of July, in sight of Bunker

Hill, and to dine in Faneuil Hall, is like being in the visible presence of   

the Revolution, and feasting on its glorious memories and the fruits of its
victories.‘ g
It would be most gratifying to me to be present at the celebration, and

I it is with much regret that I find it out of my power. Circumstances

oblige me to return home as soon as my public duties here will permit,
and I must, therefore, decline the invitation with which I have been
honored, and which you have so kindly urged me to accept.

I request that you will communicate this to the Committee of Arrange-

‘ xnents, andito you and to them, sir, I offer my sincere acknowledgments.

I have the honor to be, i I y   g
  ‘Very’ respectfully, yours, &c.,    
     I   J'.cJ.aCB;ITTENDEN;.

  it Bnnnnnro W.LIu0o:on, Jn.., Mayor of the City of Boston,

NAHANT, 3d July, 1858.

MY DEAR Mn. Maren : By some accident, which is entirely unim-
portant except as an apology for the lateness of my own reply, your
obliging card for the municipal celebration of our national birthday only
reached me a day or two since. I thank you for the privilege it offers
me of dining in Faneuil Hall on the 5th inst. Were I to be in town
on that day, I should certainly not omit the opportunity of spending at
least a part of the afternoon in that hall of ancient renown and glorious
association.

May I be pardoned, however, for availing myself of this note of
acknowledgment and apology, (and in place of the speech which you so
kindly requested me to make,) to suggest a hope that when, in the
course of coming years, the anniversary of the great Declaration shall
happen again on a Sunday, the idea may be entertained of holding the
celebration on the day before, rather than on the day after it ?

I will not dwell on the obvious expediency of bringing such celebra-
tions into the end of a week, instead of into the beginning, and of thus
removing the temptation of turning the Sunday into a mere day of
preparation. There are other circumstances of an historical character
which can hardly fail to commend such a change to the favorable con-
sideration of the community.

The memorable and momentous Debate of Independence at Philadel-
phia ran through the 1st, 2d, 3d and filth days of July. The resolution
which embraced the whole decision of the question was adopted on the
2d, and it was accordingly of the 2d day of July, 1776, that John Adams
wrote so emphatically to his wife, that “ it ought to be commemorated
as a day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty;
that it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games,
sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this conti-
nentto the other, from this time forward forevermore.” ‘

The formal declaration of what had thus been resolved was debated on '

the 3d, and finally adopted on the evening o the 4th of July. Our
great Revolution was thus, in some sort, and s far as the Continental
Congress was concerned, “ at Four Days’ Revoleatz‘on,*” and either of
the four days might fairly be taken for an anniversary celebration of the
event. It would seem as if one of these four ought certainly to be taken
for this purpose ; and when the Sabbath comes in to arrest all festivities
on the last of the four, there would. be a peculiar. historical propriety in

a falling back upon one of the other three. I r

84

By substituting the ..‘?.d in such cases, we should give literal fulfilment
to the prophetic anticipations of John Adams, and no one would be sorry
to see this occasionally done. But there is another association with the
3d of July, which would add still more to the interest of such a celebra-
tion. You are aware that Washington, having arrived at Cambridge on
the 2d, assumed the command of the American army for the first time
on the 8d of July, 1775. Would it not be a most agreeable and worthy
coincidence if, when the intervention of a Sunday shall cut off the cus-
tomary routine of these celebrations, we could combine the commemora-
tion of those two great events--——- Wasfaengtorz taking command of “flee
army in 1775, and Congress declaonhzg our crzdepevzdcnce an 1776?

Pardon me, my dear Mr. Mayor, for making a note of‘ ceremony the
vehicle of so practical and prosaic a suggestion. Whatever day may be
taken, now or hereafter, I doubt not that as long as Faneuil Hall shall
stand, it will be celebrated in a spirit of national brotherhood and com»
prehensive patriotism. The day is nothing ; the spirit is everything.
Let me hasten to a conclusion by thanking you and the Committee of
Arrangements once more for your kind invitation, and by offering as a
sentiment for the occasion ----

Our Uozmtry and its glorious Past ---- Let us resolve that it shall be
no fault of ours if it shall not enjoy a like glorious future.

Believe me, dear Mr. Mayor, very sincerely,
Your friend and servant,
1’tOB]3lR".[‘ C. WIN’1‘IrrIROP.
His Honor F. W. Lincoln, J IL, Mayor.

I. S. B. Tnaonnn, of Mississippi, has the honor to acknowledge the
polite invitation of the City Council of Boston to dine on the 4th instant.

He regrets that the recent death of one of his family deprives him of
the pleasure of sending an acceptance.

He desires to assure the Council of his joy and pride in the rapid and
substantial progress of his native city; and he begs leave to add, since
we are taught in the Holy Scriptures that “ at city set u_79on ct /will cannot
be laid,” that BOSTON, upon her three hills, having thus a three-fold
responsibility, yet challenges the admiration of the world.

, Cnnsrnnr Srnnnr, July 2, 1858.
To His Honor Fannnnxc W. LrNcor.N, J n., Mayor, &c., &c.

85

hlaucrrnsrnn, N. H., Jame 26272, 1858.
Hon. F. W. LrNcoLN, J n., Mayor of Boston.

Mr Dunn SIR : I have received yours of the 21st inst., extending to
me an invitation from the City Council of Boston “to participate with
them in the celebration of the approaching anniversary of American
Independence.” I am much ololiged to the City Council, and to you,
sir, personally, for the honor thus done me.

Itwould give me great pleasure to join in your celebration, and at
the “ Cradle of Liberty,” surrounded by Concord and Lexington and
Bunker Hill, to draw in new inspirations of freedom; to enkindle a
Warmer and more self-sacrificing devotion to the maintenance of good
government; and to cherish an attachment to the Union till it should
become as strong and constant as the love of life.

But this pleasure I must forego. For weeks before I left Washington,
on the adjournment of Congress, my health was very much impaired, and
is not now fully restored. I need quiet, rest, and recreation, and I
avoid everything like business or excitement.

If I were to accept your invitation, it would be at some risk of retard-
ing my complete and early restoration to l1eal'tl:.1. I must, tl1erot'ore, 
a matter of necessity and duty, “ beg to he e.ncuse<:.”

Be pleased to convey to your associates the assurance of my best regards,
and allow me to add that our safety as a nation for the future lies in our
attachment to the past. N 0 better 1rnuri.r11s or principles of government

will ever be adopted than those laid at the foundation of our govern-

ment. An attachment to the Union as strong and ardent as the necessity
and desire which formed it, can alone perpetuate it. How appropriate
and proper, therefore, on the anniversary of the declaration of our inde-
pendence, to awaken the hallowed memories of its inauguration--—-i11
imagination to recreate the scene ----to call up the time, the place, the
men, the cause ---—~to bring them, as it were, down the course of time,
eighty odd years, and mingle ourselves With them and thus transmit them
to the remotest coming years. ,
In conclusion permit me to express the following sentiment :

IT/ze Old Omdle of Liberty ---- May patriots Watch it, future states-

men occupy it, and the guilt of the “ glittering generalities ” of the

Declaration of Independence cover it.
With much respect,
I remain truly yours,

DANIEL CLARK.

86

, BOSTON NAVY YARD, June 30, 1858.
Gvr.NTLr.MEN: I have the honor to acknowledge your polite invita-
tion to participate in the city celebration of the eighty-second anni-
versary of American Independence, and regret tl1at my other engagements
will not allow me to avail myself of it.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEO. HENRY PREBLE,
, Lie-ut. U. S. IV.
To Hon. F. W. LINCOLN, J n., Mayor of Boston,
and his associates the Committee of Arrangements.

75 STATE STREET, BosToN, Jame 21, 1858.

LIEUT. I-IUNT presents his acknowledgments to the City Council of
Boston for its polite invitation to be present in the procession and at the
dinner proposed for July 5th ; but as he purposes being out of town on
that day it will be out of his power to be present.

To the COMMITTEE or Annauelnnnnrs.

U. S. I-tnv. STnAM1«3n “ I-I. LANE,”
New Yonn, Jame $28, 1858.
Hon. Farm. W. LINOOLN, J n., Mayor, and Alderman Psrnon and others
of the Boston City Council.

GENTLEMEN: Please to receive my thanks for the invitation to par- ~
tioipate in your proposed patriotic celebration of our national anniversary r

on“ the. 5th of July next, and sincere regret that my professional duties

- will prevent its acceptance, and deprive me of the pleasure I should

enjoy in your society.
With great respect,
Your obedient servant,

J. WALL WILSON,
Lieut. U S. R. M.

Cnnsoxnvr PLACE, Jane 30, 1858.
DEAR SIR: By your authority, and I doubt not from kind remen:i--
brance of former acquaintance, I have received an invitation to attend
the celebration of our national inclependenoe on the_approachin'g 5th of

J uly,

Mr. Mayor LINCOLN.

87

Accept my sincere thanks for this invitation, one with which I have
not been honored for rather more, I think, than thirty years.
But While my best wishes attend you, and my prayers are offered for
our country, I am constrained, on account of my deafness, “to decline.
Respectfully yours, »
WM. J EN KS.

His Honor the Maren.

BOSTON, July 2, 1858.
Sm: Please accept for yourself and your associates upon the
Committee of Arrangements for the approaching celebration of the
national anniversary, my most grateful acknowledgnieiits for your
courteous invitation to participate in the festivities. I am reluctantly
constrained to decline, from a previous literary engagelnent which will
not release me. , ‘
With great respect,
A. L.. STONE.
Hon. F. W. LINCOLN, J n., Mayor of Boston.

ROCKINGIIAM House, Ponrsmouvrn, N. H.,
July 2,.1"858~.

GrnN'rLnMnN: I had the honor to receive your kind invitation to
attend the celebration of the eighty-second anniversary of American
Independence in the City of Boston, for which you will please accept
my sincere thanks. ~

I deeply regret that it will not be possible for me to accept your
invitation, in consequence of a slight illness.

With very great respect,
M. SAID SULIMAN.
To I-Ion. F. W. LINCOLN, Jn., Mayor, and gentlemen ef
the City Government of the City of Boston»

Sacnennav, July 3, 1858.
Dean Sm: I regret that my absence from: the city obliges me to
decline the invitation of the City Council ofi Boston to be present at the

civic celehiation of the Fourth of July..

Yours‘ truly, -
G. S. I-IILLARD.

I-Ion F. W. Lrncomv, Jn., Mayor,

88

, BOSTON, July 2, 1858.

GENTLEMEN _: I have the honor of your invitation to attend. the public
services and dinner, arranged by the City Council, upon the approaching
anniversary of American Independence.

The acceptafince of another invitation, previously extended, must pre-
elude me from that pleasure ; but I beg leave to offer a sentiment for the
occasion.

.Respectfully your obedient servant,

GEORGE LUN T.

and the Committee of Arrangenients.

American Imleperzclerzce-V’Vl1ile the liberty of a people is uncertain,
it deserves defence ; ever after it is established, it requires regulation.

. Bostron, Jitly 2, 1858.

MY DEAR SIR : Gladly enough would I join the City Council in the
celebration of the approaching anniversary of American Independence,
but for the previous acceptance of an invitation of the Society of the
Cincinnati.

Be pleased to receive my sincere thanks for the honor of being remem-
bered by your Committee on a day so memorable in the annals of the

A Anglo-Saxon race.

Very truly,
Your friend and servant,
LORENZO SABINE.
Hon. Fnnnnnrc W. LINCOLN, J 11., Chairman of
the Committee of Arrangements, 8230., &c.

Roxnnnv, Mass, Jame 23, 1858.
Hon. F. W. LIncoLN, J 131., Mayor, and other gentlemen, members of the
Committee of Arrangements, Sac.

, GENTLEMEN : I thank you sincerely for the honor of an invitation to
be present in the procession and at the dinner, on the 5th July, on the
occasion of the celebration by the City Council of Boston of the eighty-
second anniversary of American Independence.

I regret that previous engagements for that day deprive me of the

pleasure of uniting with you in the festivities of that joyous and interest-

89

ing . occasion. Will you allow me_ to offer for your consideration the
following expression of my feelings :

The City of Boston--May she continue to be, as she ever has been,
ready and zealous to celebrate the birthday of our nation-—-;—may her sons
be ever found contending for human freedom, and ever ready as their
fathers, to sacrifice on the altar of their country’s welfare everything
but principle, to maintain mvlolable and inviolate the Constitution and
the UNION of these STATES.

With great respect,
Your friend and fellow citizen,

SAMUEL H. WALLEY.

Hon. Fnnnnnro W. LINCOLN, J :a., Mayor, and other gentlemen of the
Committee of Arrangements of the City Council of Boston.

Please accept my acknowledgments for your polite invitation to be
present at the City Council’s celebration of the approaching anniversary
of American Independence.

As I shall be out of the city on that day, it will be out” of my power
to avail myself of the proifered honor.

With great respect,
I am your humble servant,
CHARLES WELLS.
Bosron, July 1st, 1858,

Bosrrozv, J2tZ3/ 2, 1858.

Gnnrnnrrnn: It affords me unfeigned satisfaction to learn that you, in
your oficial capacity as the Government of the City of Boston, are deter-
mined to perpetuate the good old custom which has come down to us from
our venerable fathers, of celebrating the birthday of our national inde-
pendence by the services, festivities, and illuminations common on that
occasion. May this national jubilee, so fraught with hallowed memories,
never cease to be appropriately commemorated by the good citizens of
Boston ; for when it shall not thus be remembered and distinguished, We
shall, I fear, have no independence to celebrate.

It would give me great pleasure to accept your invitation to unite in
the celebration of this year, but dangerous sickness in my family and the

12

90

recent death of my senior partner in business forhid my participation in
the privileges and pleasures of the occasion.
With sentiments of great personal regard,
I are, gentlemen,
Yours most sincerely,

MARSHALL P. WILDER.

To His Honor Mayor LINCOLN, and associates, ’
Committee of Arrangements, 8:0.

CITY or LAWRENCE, ’l\:'Liro:t,’s Orsroe,
Lewsszsos, M.A.ss., J-mze £24, 1858.
To His Honor F. W. LIEEOOLN, Jo“, and others, Conmiittee of the City
Grorernment of Boston.

Gr:s:~:rLeM.e:~: : Allow me to tlisnlr. you for your polite iovitotioii to be
present at the tliooer of the City Groverosoent of Boston on the occasion
of the opprooehiug anniversary, oocl also to present my aekoowleclgment
of the eomplimeot which you thereby pay to the city which I hove the
honor to regireseot, a city foomletl by Boston er1tez‘prise, and bea1‘iog the
some of one of Bostoofs noblest ate most lamented sons. V

Other erigogemeiits compel me to decline your courtesy, but thousands
of hearts here will host is unison with your own, throbbing with patriotic
emotions, as we refieet upon the set which that clay commemorates, seal
the blessings whieh that set SBGU.1‘G(l. Anal I trust, gentlemen, that We
shall all éloly eonsitler on that occasion, and at all times, not only the
eooses whioh letl to the rleelernttion of imlepemlenoe, and the men soul
the cleexls that seeuretl our eivil emzl religious freedom, but, What is of for
greater l.l1’l§l_ZilZ)lI‘i2§1.l1€3G, the motives by which those men were actuated in
their daily life. V

There is at times ground for apprehension that our people, in the
rlissehorge of their eiril ooties, may be goverhecl too much by personal,
selfish eonsiclerotions--—influenced too strongly by the love of gain, or
élesire for pleee sod 1:sower---- end too little by pure devotion to their
country and her highest welfare. i

That this may never be the fact, but that all citizens may look Well to ~
the motives whieh govern their political ootioom that through a long and 

glorious future the spirit of the fathers and founders of the republic may
live in the hearts of all their desoemlaotsm-this should be the earnest

91

desire of every true patriot. And what more fitting time for reflections
of this nature can be offered than the anniversary of the nation’s
birth?

I offer to you, gentlemen, the following sentiment :

T/ze 0z'2fy of Boston—--Farsi in resistance to the aggressions of
tyranny, she will be the last to surrender her inheritance of freedom.
Let her motto ever be our country’s prayer, “ SICUT rnrrnxeus err Duos
Nome.”

I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN R. ROLLIN S.

Crrr or LOWELL, lMA.Y01t’S}
A OFFICE, July 2, 1858..
Hon. F. W. LINCOLN, Jn.

Dean Sm: Your most kind invitation to unite in the approaching
municipal celebration of American Independence was duly received. I
have delayed replying to thin late day, from an expectation that I might
be able to accept it, which of all things would be most ag1*eeahle to me.

I find, however, my presence will be expected hero, and I am obliged
to decline it very reluctantly.

Truly your obedient servant,

E. HUN TIN G‘r'I‘ON .

EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION.

EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION.

 

‘EARLY in the month of April last 3. Joint Special Coni-
nuttee of the City Council, oornpoeecl of Alderiinezi Pt"3l.?i‘f:€’.;
James, Brewster, Crane and Hoilbroolai, with Councilmen
James J. Cobb, Beiijamin F. Palmer, T. R. Page, J. A. Wer-
ren, . L. Hensliaw, N. A. Tliompeon and F. E. Enron, who
had been appointed “ to 1na,l~:e suitable ‘¢ZLl‘l‘8.itg%3ll’i€3‘.‘fll3S to cele-
brate the approeoliing anniversary of American Independ-
ence,” having requested and received assurance of the cordial
oo‘o*pe1*etion‘ of His Honor the hlnyor with them, entered
upon the ectiverdieoli.-ztrge of their duties. After selecting

  the orator, chaplain, and reader of the Declaration of Inde--C

pendenoe, tl16"1?Gmall1lflg elements of the celebration were
soon designated, and their completion allotted to diflerent
snb—oon:unitteee. It had been deemed inexpedient by the
Conimittee to attempt any elebomtelt decoration of the eity

upon this occasion; and consequently but few places of loenl A
o1'l1ietorieal interest in addition to Fnnlenil Hell were dis-

tinguished by any unusual elI1lC!€l.llSl1111B11i3. The following are
perhaps Worthy of 0lJS8I‘V3.l3l03:1l.

  From the A front windows of the City Hall stretched stafiie
supporting the various national flage, While from the enpole

  and either wing of the building streamed the stars end
stripes. At the centre of the reef was arranged n elneter of

flags, and numerous small flags and streamers adorned the
balcony.’  l   C C

96

A double Roman arch, finely painted in fresco and gold,
bearing upon its columns a display of armor, decorated the
Park street entrance to the Common. At the centre of this
arch rose the figure of "Washington, While its front bore, as a
motto, the meniorable sentpenceuttered by the first Mayor of
the City (Hon. John Phillips), “ The object of our festivals
is the perpetuity of our country’s honor,” and the reverse,
“ July 4,. 1776.” i

From Faneuil Hall to Quincy Market stretched a banner
bea1*~in,c_.>; upon one side the motto, “ The time that tried n1en’s

souls,” and upon the other, the date, “ July 4, 1776.’’

From Concert Hall to the opposite side of Court. street
reached the rnottoes, “ Forgetnot those who by their suffer-

ings secured to you the blessings of this day,” and “ The

eiglity-secolnd anniversary of American Independence.”

From the site of the Old G1*eenD1*agon tavern extended
the motto, “ Cur fathers met at the old Green D1*ag‘on to dis—
cuss the afihirs of the nation, and there originated the Boston
Tea Party, Dec. 16, 1773.”

From the arinoryof the City Guard, across Winter street,

the following was suspended: ‘f American liberty was Won by T

the valor of citizen soldiery. While the virtue of the people
cherishes it, the patriotism of volunteer troops will sustain
and regard it.” On the reverse, “Boston City Guard, insti-
tuted Sept. 20th, 1821. Seminar pa9'cz.z3as.”

The morning of the 5th of July dawned as nuilclly clear
and cloudlessly beautiful as could have been desired, and was
Welcomed by multitudes of citizens and strangers who from
the earliest appearance of light had thronged the various
thoroug;hfares, rende1*ing them nearly impassable.

The first rays of theisun were greeted by the loud pealing,

of the bells from the different churches, and national salutes
fired from the Common, Central Square, (East Boston,) and

  Telegraph Hill, (Southl3oston.)  

At about half past six o’clock the police force which had

97

been detailed to preserve good, order throughout the city
during the day, assembled in the area fronting the City Hall,
whence, after having been inspected by;His Honor the Mayor,
they dispersed. to the {Various _stations which had been
assigned to them. A r ‘

GRAND CONCERT.

At eight o’clock the Oommonyvas crowded with persons
assembled to hear the grand concert, which had been arranged
to takeplaee under the direction of Mr.']3. A. Burditt, of the
Brigade Band. An orchestra, composed of the Boston Brass,
Brigade, Metropolitan, and Grermania Military bands, com-
prising in all m.ore than eighty men, together with a detach-
ment of the Light Artillery, who were present with field
pieces to assist the bands, performed the following pro-
gramme of music, after the preliminary execution of three
grand chords, each chord being accompanied by a discharge
from one of the field pieces.

1. Yankee Doodle, with solo yariations by the leaders of
the different bands. ,

Wood Up.

. Washington’s March. 7

. Verdi’s Anvil Chorus, with eight anvils.

. Star Spangled Banner.

. God save the Queen.

. Marseilles Hymn.

. The’I‘urkish Song of Peace.

. Hail Columbia, accompanied by the guns of the

Artillery. .

The salvos of artillery were in perfect unison with the
music, and the Whole concert, which terminated at about nine
o’clock, was eminently successful, as was testified by the
repeated loud and enthusiastic cheering of the surrounding
masses. l

1

<D®-30301}-F-03!}?

13

98

on1:LnnnN’s onnnnnarron.

The pleasing recollections of the juvenile festival of the pre-
ceding~yea1' prompted the Committee to undertake a repetition
upon a so1newhatla1'ge1* scale, the present year; they there-
fore solicited the Rev. Mr. Barnard and the associate teach-
ers of the Warren Street Chapel to afibrd the benefit of their
valuable and eflfective services, and the call met with a cordial
and ready response.

A mammoth tent, capable of containing at least four thou-
sand people, was erected at the southeast corner of the Public
Garden, and within this was laid a floor sufficiently large for
one thousand children to dance upon. In the centre of the
tent were stationed the Gerrnania Orchestral Band, which
furnished music for those who chose to dance, and the Ger»
mania '.hi[ilita:r§' Band, which afibrded music of a more suitable
character for pronienading. ,  

From the early hour of about seven and one—half o’clocl:,
at which hour the Garden was thrown open, until evening, the
tent was throngied, and every species of dance performed.
Conspicuous among the dances was the “French Peasants’
Danes,” executed by twelve young girls dressed in red, with
blue trimmings, white aprons, high-heeled shoes, and straw"

  hats. Another tent at no great distance was devoted entirely
to flowers, which in bouquets, Wreaths, and every variety of

beautiful forn1s,were dealt out to the children in boundless
profusion, an nnnsually large supply having been kindly con-
tributed from the city proper and the adjacent towns. Amuse-
ments of every description were provided, including swings,
trhirlronnds, flies, kites, grace-hoops, balls, &c., which afforded

the children endless satisfaction. lVarions small tents were

dispersed about the grounds, from which refreshments were

dispensed. Upon the island in the small pond in the centre, V,
of the Garden had been erected a tower, Whencelfire balloons ' V

were at intervals sent ofi} While within the tower has boy,’

A99

dressecl in imitation of ewilcl loeast," caused much merriment

  to those a.1°oun<:lhyl1is fanciful contortions. N ear by, a. large
winéhnill sufiiiceclyto keep at Work a. shoe1ne.l<e1° mending a,

shoe, a.y_ma.n; sawing wood, two men grinding an axe, and a.
Woman ehurnino‘. A large camera. obscumlwes sitnetecl in a.
small house by the eastern mall, which was visited by znany
persons, young and old. i

:At twelve o’olocl< the-children joinecl i11 singing numerous
songs to the accompaniment of the laemd, together with the
following original ode, Written expressly for the occasion by

.Dr. Tl1o:mas W. Parsons. ‘  

Call us early in the morning;-—eall us early, mother mine,
When the sun is at the window,wl1en the bird is on the vine;
For to-morrow, oh! to-mom-ow, of the year ’s the happiest day;
Independence! Indepenclenoei July I*‘ourth! hooray! hooray! ' '

Children, wake! The swallows’ music mingles with the morning hells,
From it thousand hills in chorus the rejoicing eeho swells; ‘ '

91‘ is to-clay that was toonorrow, and the summer sun is high;

9'1‘ is the holiday of Imtione-—’t is the Fourth day of July!

Up, my boys! the bells are ringing; flags are fluttering on the mast;
Men are shouting! girls are singing! Lihertylhae come at last! '
Set your merry fountain flowing! spout, old Frog Pond, steeple high!
Hark! the guns are geyly going! "J? is the Fourth day of July!

Boys of Boston, think: of Warren! think of Bunker Hill to-day! ,
Let the memory of your gremdsires mingle with your noisy play;
If our clime be bleak: and ‘barren, yet there shines no b1"igl11:er‘Sky'
Than the God of bottles gave us for the .'Fourth day of J uly.

Not alone for our New England, not alone for thesevfeir States,
Was this hleseed morn created, by His hand, that all creates:
When the last oppression feileth, when ‘mankind shall all be free,
Then this day‘, by every nation, shell be held a. Jubilee!

Excellent order was preservecl by the police force throug;l1-

out the Garden during the clay, no cigar-smoking, firing of
  crackers, or boisterous concluctrbeing allowed. Including the

adults, at least seventy thonsendpeople must have visited. the

yG-amden, thirty tl1onsanol tickets having been issued to the

ipupils of the Boston leeliools and the schools of the neiglr1~
_ looring towns.     r i

100

Everything Wore an agreeable andpleasing aspect, and
when eriglit o’clock, the hour for closing the Garden, had
arrived, the multitude departed, delighted with the entertain-
ment they had enjoyed, and regretting its terrnination;

PROCESSION.

Punetually at ten o’clocl: the procession was formed by
Jonas E. French, Esq.., Chief Marshal, assisted by Assistant
Marshals David F. McGilvray, J. Avery Richards, George S.
Walker, .Nathaniel C. Stearns, John S. Moulton, John, B.
Neal, Abel Horton, George W. Forristall,E. P. Wilbur, J.
Willard Rice, Micah Dyer, J12, J. B. Parlter, Geo. E. Gregg,
George A. Batchelder, John Prince, and Albert H. Lewis, all
mounted, according to the pregrainrue published several days
previous, with the civic portion upon School street, the Fire
Department upon State street, and the Internal Health
Dt"3p€tI'i;B1€}3.i3 upon Milk street. The procession was quiclrly
formed, owing to the energy and enactitude of movement
which characterize the Chief Marshal and his Assistants,
and moved forward in the following order, a detachment of
mounted police preceding, to clear the streets: First, the
Military Escort, the Boston City Guards, numbering fifty-siX

nrushets, cornuianded by Captain Isaac F. i Shepard, and
accenipanied by the ,Germania Military Band; next came,

seated in iclarriagesto the nuinber of fifty, and preceded by
the Bostcn,BrigadeBand,His Honor Mayor Lincoln and the
Board of Aldermen, the Common Council, the Orator, Chap-

lain, and Reader of the Declaration of Independence, the

Sherifl‘ hf stem: County, HisEXcellency the Governor, with

his Military Stafii, State functionaries, past members of the
City Gerernment, District Attorney for the County of Sufiblk,   i  

with other legal oficers and the various civic D oficers; then,
preeededhy the Metropolitan Brass Band, followed theliire

A Departuient, in the felrlowiug crder:    

101

A Chief Engineer George W. Bird and aifls, mommies}.
Ea.g1e¢ Engine 00. Na.   3, Captain Edward Mifiikm, 

111811.

Cataract Engine C0. N 0. 4, Captain R. B. Farxm, 43 a:m3z:a.
Melville Engine Co.No. 6, Captaifin Calvin C. VV1'd;~:~:<m,, 38
men.   A
Boston Engine Co. N0. 8, Captain Benjamin Tarrmx, 4&3
men.  

W"arren H001; and LzLc1e;’u:=1* C0. N0. 1, 35 men.

L0‘t1d’S N01‘fl1 Weymouth Brass Bam, foficawefl 13$ ,;§l.;3sis't1{uxt

k Exlgineers and

Washington Hose Co. No. 1, Captain C. E. Damien, 3%)
men.  
Union Hose Co. No. 2, Captain M. A. Thompscm, 18 xmtsn.
Dunbazc Engine Co; Ni). 10, Captain Gearge  T‘u&i»:m', 
men. A
Barnicaat Engine Co. No. 11, CaptainV Jamxes H. Gih:~5£m,
41 men.
Hal1’s Boston Brass Band, Assistant Engineers, zmd

~   T1*emontC Engine Co. No. 12, Capt:1in%0$1iv@~r R. Rwbbinrg

40 men. J   A   V
VVebste1* Engine Co. No. 13, Captain H; Westmm, 39 men.

[Perkins Engine 00., N . 1; 1\:Ea,zeppa,, N Q1. 2; Extinwmzeer,

No. 5; Tiger, No. 7; Mawsrick, N0. 9; Cpinnmr, Na. 14;

Franklin Hose Co., No. 3; Chester, Sufiblk, magi Qeiugge

Eiose Cos.; Waslxington a.nc1LFmnkIi:3. Hawk and Lmiaizzr Cam

Nos.:2 and 3, for some tmknorwn reason dici net a,ppe:.3.r.}

Next to them, and commanded by Faremzm Charms Cutter,

Ccame the Internal Health Departmexzt of the cit§i,, t9 the

number cf seventy-one men, nmuntecl um}: the hmstas mmed
and vmrked by the city, faflowed by :3. wagztm tirawm by ‘Ewan
horses *vvhichC had worked far the city the greauészzst mzmirmr mi‘

years, in which were s<*:a.t0<.1 “L11-E fzmr met: mxaa ham} bmzmz
attachvecl tothe Departmexxt for the iaxageat» px:s~ris::axi..

102

The procession moved from the City Hall through School
street, Tremont, Park, Beacon, Charles, Plcasant,Wasl1ing'-
ton, Oak, Harrison avenue, Essex to Winter street, Where the
Firemen and Internal Health Department withdiew, While the
reniaining portion passed on to the Music Hall, whtich they
reached at about half past eleven o’clool:.

The fine soldierly bearing and military aspect of the City
Guards gave ample testimony of the strict discipline which
they most have observed, and elicited the warmest commen-
dations from the spectators upon the route of the procession.

The Firemen, neatly dressed in plain but serviceable uni-
forms, with their engines gayly decked with flowers, made a
fine display. But perhaps the most noticeable, as it was the
most novel feature of the procession, was the Internal Health
Dcpartrnent, the men presenting an excellent appearance as
they sat, dressed in plain white froclss with black hats, upon
horses of more than ordinary size, whose good condition indi-
cated the excellent care bestowed upon them by the eificient
Superintendent of this Departnaent, Ezra Forristall, Esq.

The four men seated in the Wagon were Robert McNinck,

in the service of the city 26 years, 10 months; Anthony

0’Brine, 26 years, 4 months; Patricia: Learned, 23 years, 3
months; John Cnrren, 21 years.  

‘While of the horses which drew the ‘Wagon, “ Black Jim ”
had served the city twenty-t'w'o years, and “ Old Colt ” twenty
years, and both seemed still capable of performing any work
they might be called open to do.    

After the procession had reached the ~Mnsic Hall, and
while the company were   seating themselves, the Brigade
Bandpcrformed a voluntary, at the conclusion of   which, four

hundred» of the public schoolchildren sang in a most thrilling,

manner, under the direction of Mr. Charles Butler, and

aoeompanied open the organ by Mr. H. M. Dow, the chant,  

103

I’
“‘ Oh sing unto the Lord a new song,

For He hath done marvellous things.

The Lord declared his salvation,

His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.
Show yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands;
Sing, rejoice and give thanks,

"With trumpets and shawms,

011 show yourselves joyful before the Lord the King.
Let the floods clap their hands, and

Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord;
For He cometh to judge the earth.

’ With His own right hand, and with His holy arm

Hath He gotten himself the victory.

He hath remembered His mercy and truth

Toward the house of Israel;

And all the ends of the world have seen

The salvation of our God.

Praise the Lord upon the harp;

Sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.

Let the sea make a noise,

And all that therein is;

The round world, and they that dwell therein.
With righteousness shall He judge the world,

And the people with equity. Amen, Amen.”

t Prayer was now ofierecl by the Rev. Dr. Lothrop, chaplain
of the day. ,

After this the choir sang the following original ode, written
for the occasion by Howard M. Ticknor, Esq.

ODE.

Fourscore and two long years ago
An old bell rapid swung,*
Proclaiming Hope and Liberty
With rich, sonorous tongue.
High heaven the great vibration felt,
Far echo answered clear;
And a broad landls most distant verge
Caught up the tones of cheer.

Then to arms rushed our sires,
Sped the eannonfis quick fires,
The patriotis sword glowed bright;

From strand to strand
The beacon brand
Waved red through the kindling night.

*The signing of the Declaration of Independence was first made publicly known by the
ringing of the “Liberty Bell ” upon the State House in Philadelphia.

104 r

To-day from steeple and from tower
Goes out the chime of bells;
Through city street and country vale,
Their murruurous music swells.
To-day the cannon’s brazen throat
Pours forth a mighty sound;
The cattle of a thousand hills
Start from the trembling ground.
Let the clarionis firm blast
Bear the fame of the past
In full exultant lays;
- In chorus bold
Be proudly told
The splendor of coming days!

Our fathers sowed in bitter tears.
- In joy we reap the grain;
We glory in our ease and wealth»-
Forget their toil and pain.
May booming gun and pealing bell
Remind us of their life,
Prolonged in truth and honesty,
Or lost in Freedomls strife.
Then America’s name
On the records of Farne
Shall blaze forever bright;
{Neath every sky
Her flag shall fly
In colors of fadeless light!

Mr. Daniel K. Ford, a graduate of the Boston free schools,
now read the “Declaration of Independence.” A

After “ Hail Columbia” had been sung by the choir, with
an accompaniment by the band, John S. Holmes, Esq., pro-
nounced the oration of the day. h

At the close of the oration the “ Star Spangled Banner”
was sung by the choir, accompanied by the band, and after a

benediction by the chaplain, the services closed, and the pro.

cession, reforming, marched to Faneuil Hall to enjoy the
dinner which awaited them. 
f Subsequentto the exercises, but previous to the departure
rein the Hall, HIS Honor the Mayor addressed the children in

a iew brief and pertinent remarks, alluding to the events which
this day commemorated, and the duties which their remem-A

brance of those eventsshould incite them to perform.

105 h
After the address, the children were escorted to Chapman
Hall to partake of a collation which had there been provided

for them. ‘

BALLOON Asonnsxons.

The Committee to whom had been entrusted the duty of 

providing suitable balloon ascensions, had secured the services

of Mr. John Wise, an old and experienced aeronaut, and his  

son Charles. It had originally been contemplated to send off
three balloons, the “ Old America,” freighted with books,
pamphlets, letters, &c., the “ Ganymede” with Mr. Charles
Wise, and the “ Jupiter ” with Mr. John Wise. From some
unforeseen and unexplained cause the Old America burst.
during the process of inflation, which of course rendered it
useless. r

The inflation of the “Ganymede,” a large, orange-sliaped,
buii-colored balloon, holding eleven thousand feet of gas, was
commenced shortly after tvvo o’clock, and completed about
four, when Mr. Charles Wise coolly stepped into the small

wicker basket attached to the balloon, and the cords being

detached, rose, narrowly escaping the trees, in a ]:10I'l3l1~W6Sl3-
erly direction for some distance, when suddenly meeting an
easterly current of air, he sailed over the harbor, where he
discharged a considerable quantity of ballast, in consequence
of which he took the inward current, and shortly before six
o’clock descended safely in Maiden Centre. a

  The “ Jupiter,” a balloon similar to the Ganymede, except

at in point of size, being capable of holding tWenty~five thou-«s

sahd feet of gas, was not inflated until abouthalf past five
o’clock- Mr. Wise," accompanied bythe Secretary of the

Committee and Mr. Lyman W. Brittan, as passengers, then took C   G

positions in the car, isvhichwas about five feet longlbythrlee ,

feet Wide and two feet deep, and, bidding adieu to the specta-V  

14

106

tors, thousands of whom covered the Common, started upon
their aerial course. First drifting towards Cambridge, the voy-—
agers rose to a greater height, by dispensing with some of

their ballast, and floated towards the harbor; thence they came  

inland, and, after being waited, about in various directions,
descended in a small piece of woodland in Melrose, at about
half past seven o’clocl:. Each balloon bore its name painted

in large letters upon its surface, in addition to which, the "
Jupiter was distinguished by the motto of Mr. Wise, “Astra

cczstm, mcmen lumen.” Both ascensions were entirely success-
ful, and afibrded great satisfaction to the multitudes who Wit-
nessed them.

FIREWORKS.

Messrs. Sanderson dz: Lanergan had been engaged to fur-
nish a display of fireworks, and the greatest precaution had
been taken to prevent the occurrence of accidents.

Soon after sunset a discharge of rockets announced the

A commencement of the exhibition, and continued until nine

o’clock, when they were succeeded by a display of Protean

A fires, and a flight of torbillons.

The first great piece was styled the 4 Reveille of Inde-
pendence,” having the word “Independence” conspicuously
displayed in the centre of the piece in letters of azure fire,

while the discharge of shells, rockets, mines, petards, &c.,  

presented a most brilliant and dazzling appearance. This
piece was followed byarepresentation of the battle of Bun-

  ker Hill and i the burning of Oharlestown, embracing a View

T of the redoubts upon, the hill, the attack bythe ships and ,

men, and the final burning of the town. i  

   Thecexhibition concluded with a piece entitled the “ Liberty ,
Cap,” representing England and America connected by the r
telegraph, in the centre of which shone conspicuously the first i

message ever transmitted, “On earth peace, good will towards

men.”

There were also during, the Whole exhibition continua

107

oush hdischarges of shells, rockets, candles, &c.,, afi'or-ding a

constant illumination. In addition to the display upon the
Common, exhibitions of fireworks were also provided at East
and South Boston, which were entirely successful and olosoo
the public oelebratinon of the day.