f " '-, *. Austin, C'linuel -m orotioji , . . l.r\rj .rt, l^r.;\ l»,'*rS ,ii^'j YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 1942 ' 'tiUATIOM^' PRONOUNCED ' AT ' . NEWPORT, RHODE-ISLAND, JULY As, 1822. tHE i?ORTY SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF TIIE iNDEPk-NDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMEPJCi^. BY S.1MUEL ..iETSTIJV, D. D. KEVVPORT : « fRIHrEn AND FVULISllED BY WILLIJIM SIMQJ^S. 1822. .YKirrOBT, JULY S, 1822. The Ubv. Doct. AUSTIN, Sir, TIIE Committee of ArPang-ements af the tdwn' of Newport, and those with whom tbey Iiave conversed, wer6 imicb gfatifted with tlie liberal and enlightened views of the causes and consequtences of the American Revolution, presented in yoor Oration Of yesterday. They believe its publi cation will be useful, and, in be&aif of t&eir fellow citizens, request a Copy for the press. WfLEiAM Simons, RlClIAliD K. KANDOLPrf, David Melville, , William N. G. Hblme, I-Ienuy Y. Cranstoni CliniSTOFlIBR E. ROBBINS', ' "WiLLiASr Ennis, Juif. Levi Tower, Committee, Messers. TV. Si mous, R. k. Raitdolph, J> Mvnro, n. MELriLLE. W.M. G.HEtMB, H, Y. Cravsvov, C. E JiOB. £iiis, W. £ifiits, Jr. aDd L. Towek, Commiitee of Arrrange- nienta, " Gbntlzmek, Ithankyoufortlieaaiteririf mamerin wliich yon have ex- pressed your acceptance of my inadequate efforts to gratify the people of Newport, m the hasty perform-.nce of the founh instant Arid. SKreeablv ^o your request, send you 4 copy IS Ije dis posetl of at ^-dur discretion. SAMUEL AUSTIN. Newport, July Stli, 1822., Ck\3 388 a ORATION. IT is with no little reluctance that >I have ui?dcrtaken to address you publicly, fellow-citizenis, on tbi^ national. an,iii-\ .versary. My professional pursuits aad duties, avhich pre sent objects of a higher order ajwi tpore commandifig ioter- est ; my habits of reading and ef 'reflection ; the very .sliglit degree jn j'vvihiGh I am conversant with questions of civil government and policy:; gnd the loss of isnenlal .energy, which the period, of life, to svhiehl have arrived, iK"*:es?ari- ly involves, seem imperatively to ibrUd, my engaging ,iiT,a service of this nature. But I have ijidded my judgnneat to the persuasions of your respectable committee, and cast myself qpon yQ.ur candor, with 'regard to the observations wihich ;willfnow beofferedto youratteiiitiQn. Ast,he;PQ€^- sion obvic>lisi3^ suggests, our first ;re&€CtiQns jare ^ajiir^lly retrospective. It ,is betaeathvthe tone of fediog which !©i)gbt, at the present day, to regulate public sentiment, to inveigh, agaiit^t ,the policy which excited *he resistajsice of the people pf this pountry, and constrained thep, by their reprcisentatives, Jo ;niake that declaration of .our -lodependence which has jijst been read to you. Men of reflection, in GreatrBritasn, b^ve seen and felt, ,and continue deeply.tof^el, the impolicy, of thpse measures. by which the bond was brofcen, which held,, insuchjad- vantageous conncetiop, tliese colonies with the then mother country. A loss was sustained which is never mentioned by their best writers but with regret. It is a loss which Cjan never be .repaired. It created a cortQicting interest, perpetually on the increase, which no power could control, no subtilty check, no combination destroy ,' .and which even a shallow calculation could see, might, one day, put at -liazardevcn their national e:u;stence. 4 Chatham allowed himself, for a moment, to be Ui|i prophet ; and, with his powerful eloquence, denounced th6 rash enterprize which he saw put thfe future interests of his country in such a st^te oi" expo-sure; ' He had not humbledf France, arrested the progress of' her ambition in this part of. the world j and e;iven such an enviable elevation to the in terests of the Enj^lish crown here, with an expectation of. seeing the purchase oF his counsels arid of his toils so soon sacrificed to insolei'ice and Tolly. ¦ ' It is artiong nations, as atiiong ihdividuals, that wisdom is leai'iied prirlcipally by experience. And we may hopfc tliat some remuneration has been, and wil! continue to be, derived, in the Correetion given to rash estimates, and the restraints put upon adV^nturons experiment. : : Scarce has art evefitj of a properly' political character, oc curred in the annals of mankind, so positively productive' of. good, and so ich in prdmise for.the future, as the birth of our nation. " ' ^ ' ¦¦ / ' ¦ It is not a mere local and partial satisfaction which the remembrance of it generates in the mind of large and dis- , interested vieVvs; but a satisfaction, which combines with every benevolent sentiment, and has its resources in the re-. /lefs and comforts which are spread through the human family. " ,. .. < . ¦. ;. How much, by this event, was dispelled of that dark ness, which; for ages, had enveloped the nations ? What a paralysis then arrested the arm of despotism ? What an awakening, exhilirating voice was that to a despondirig world, lae Tuili be free ! What joy was not only diffused through our own country, iiut imparted to alLthe friends of human happiness; When Bfovidence actually gave the rfe- sult in agreement With the declaration made ? Let the sov ereign of natibns arid events be glorified. Our appeal was to him. He heard bur prayer, and his banner over lis was love. His right hand'and his holy arm wrought our salva tion. - • ' ¦ . . The impulse of liberty was borne on the waves of the Atlantic. It .spread among the nations of Europe It gave to France a Fayette, nurtured in the school of Wash^ INGTON. It put ifi motion talent, and ?.eal, and heroism^ to emancipate the world. It levelled the Bastile. Would that the aspect of its incipient progress had continued 1 Would that, as it spread itself in France, and in the interi or of F.urope, it had been regulated as much by principle, and had proceeded as discreetly, as here. Would that it had not run into misdeeds which so awakened the jealousieis of existing governments, and so outraged decency and hu manity, as to call forth unyielding combinations of powc)r to suppress it, and as even made many of the most enlight ened of the friends of liberty turn away, with loathing, from the spectacle ! What wSis the difficulty? The difficulty was multiform. But it was chiefly this, that the grand directing principle, xvas a visionary, infidel, licentious philosophy ; and not Christianity^ It was this pernicious philosophy, generatetl inthe fc'hs of Fcrney, seized and employed, .is the grand jristrument of its deSigiis, by ths whole host of economists, and diffused, with the ' rapidity' of lifj;htning, by the actioo of popular frenzy^ which threw every thing into disorder. How could Biirke witness this horrid abuse of the im pulse of liberty, without presenting his protest against it, and becoming, in f;ict, almost a partizan t(j arbitrary power ! But, after alj, has this impulse, which was then given to the sentiment of liberty, with respect to forei,y;n parts of the world, been wholly abortive? By.no means. Traverse uhat was, not long ago, Spanish America ; go over the Peninsula and other parts of southern Europe ; and pass found the vast empire of Russia ; nay. take into your View the states of Greece, the Grecian Archipelago, and the entire empire of. the Othmans, and you will see that tlie impulse has produced good extensively. It is one of the prominent glories of Providence to educe good frorn evil, and so to hold in check the wrath of man^ as that even that shall ininister praise. The painful scenes of confusion and blood which soon followed this enrly impulse of liberty, have been compensated, in the consciousness that has been diffused fjf a self emancipating power, which tyran ny cannot forever control- ; iii the increase of knowledge, po- !„ical and religious ; in the subversion of .nveterate-and-per. Vicious establishments ; and, in the progressiveamehorat on of the civil, but especially the teligiQU^, coiadmop oi man, This progressive an;elioration Tpust be less and less im peded as the causes of it extend their influence, and go oil indefinitely. Anticipation, we admit, is sotnetimes too sanguine, and not always realized. But. when the human mind is roused from its torpor, and begins to put forth its energies, who can say how far it will proceed ? Who can say what sympathies of feeling, what coincidence of enter prize, it will produce ? Formidable obstructions to its de signs it will meet. Partial and temporary defeats it wil^ suffer. But, who can predict, with reasoinable confidence, that it will be ultimately pnsuQces.sfui ? We are not advocates of a spurious, but of pure Chris tianity. And let it never be forgotten that the progress of pure Christianity, 'and the improvenient of the civil state of the world, go hand in hand. Superstition and tyranny are not more intimately allied than-genuine Christianity and civil freedom. A christian prince or legislator, cannot be an oppressor. And a christian subject cannot be a bad cit izen. This connection, strong arid invariable, is evident ¦both by theory and, fact.. It is a prominent fe^iturp of mod- ernhistory, especially of tl^e history of this country. Those, therefore, who believe, on the testimony of his written rev elation, to which ,a!l must allow that events now passing ad mirably agree, that God Iras destined this part of his crea tion to enjoy the plenitude of his favor, in that universal reign of righteousness and pefice, which prqpliecy aud prayer have delighted to divell upon, as the last and greatest triumph of Providence, cannot but understand the present efforts of man as a rising and invincible series, which may be partially interrupted for a season, but .which will resume new force,'and go on, adding achievemeut to achieycmeHt till despotism shall retreat into its last gloomy refuee-to ap pear no more. '^ The declaration of our Independence, it must be granted was a^bold and hazardous measure. It could be mstified onjy by the necessity of the case. It was, passing the Rii- bicod ; and tlicn we had no alternative before iis, but to' iiu limph or perish. The former was decreed to us. Forty.! six years have put to a severe test the wisdom of this meas ure with respect to ourselves. The proof has been deci* ^ive in its favor. Collisions we have had. Some party heat has l>een effused by the contact of inflammable substan ces on the floor of Congress, and in halls of delilieraJion in Several of the states: A disorganizing kind of waifiae, as will ^vef be the case, when passion has the ascendancj' over public spirit, has occasionally raged between tlie imiS ard the outs, among pamphleteers and editors of newspaperSi. Sections of tlie Union and particular States have some sijnes tailed against each other. But the man of broad views vtM look upon these things as he does upon a few scattereil, in- jtired, and withering trees, in an extensive and thrifty foresltj or upon here and there a mismanaged farm, in a laigMy cultivated and beautiful country. The people of these United States Iiave never been really so divided in their political Creed, or in their pursuits, in Re gard to the puibHc welfare, as the professed organs ofthc^ir opiriions would have to be understood. Republicanism has Ijeen the doctrine, in which, at least, ninety-nine Imtt- dredths of them have acquiesced. Not a singte native ©f \he country has wished that it might come under the domiin- ion of either Great Britain or France. There is ntx cne, by whom the constitution, upon the whole, has not becfs held in high estimation. There is not one, unless it lie some child of vanity and ambition, who thinks tmtlie shoukJ certainly be king, who would exchange it far tlie most limited and best balanced monarchy that exists, or that can be conceived. These forty-six years, fellow citizens, are tcrrafirma, Jip- "on which we may take our stand, and, in an erect postsirc, and with a cheerful countenance, review the past, and Sook. round upon the world of which we are a part, it is not ai region of conjecture, but of fact. It is so much clear gaira upon the territories of imposture and despotism. Itis^i much redeemed from ignominy and slavery. It is so mBcb added to the amotiat of human acquisition ai;d enjpyiccnti And, is.it no| a liqh recompense for the blood and treasura wlii( 11. were, expended in acquiring it ? Has it not produceil and diffused more beneficial effects thaii volumes, could de-_ scribt? Compare our present situation with what it was at thq comniencementofthe.se series of years. , And, in regard to increase, iniprovemept, comfort and pronjise, is not die dif ference unphralielcd? Thirteen feeble, unassociated coldnies, some ol then) provinciat.gov^ernrnents,, straitened, in our commerce, insignificant by our dependence, subjected tq foreign will, liable to every kind of ministerial handling, used as the easy means of personal profit and national aggrandize-. ' ineut, moving along in the feebleness of infancy^ aild inca- ' pabie of risiiig tojespectable marihoo^. _ Siich was then our condition. What are we novy ? It would probably be indecent helf-flattery to say. , But, on this day, and on tbis occasion, we may be gratified (to God be all the glory) witit the general estimate; that we are an independent 'and united nation; that our territory is, from PiSsatnaquoddy, to the , southern extremity of Florida, and from tfie Adantic to the' Pacific ocean ; that our population is teif millions ; that our commerce is as unfettered as that of other independent states'; and more extensive and more productive than that Of the most of ihem ; that our governors are frOin ourselves ; and that the people ars the original depositaries and supreme re tainers of authority. Those who are most jealous of their rights of conscience, may, with much satisfaction, rtflect that we have all the, toleration, and all the privileges in re gard to religious ftlth and worship, that they can desire - ihe powers ofintellecf have been brought into \ieorous action ; invention and the arts, education, philosophy and chnsl.anity, have raised, beyond all previous expectation, ^ the reputation, as well as the resources, of tlie country ; and wealth has flowed m upon us to an unexampled, and per! baps, to a dangerous, degree. . «"u, per- Can any man imagine, making his estimates upon the , ,, .^ . „ .,.......,, v,,at nc aijuuici nave rp:i ed this point of national respectability and force, had we ^e ™ain,d in our state of denenHen.. / T. j, possible thaTsud. iil Vatlcl calls, the .mined i„ our ,>«e ofdependenc ? I "poss bklf 'T 5f16?'y of a nation,? Would so many narae^ of heroes ahd iegislat'ors, of scholars and orators, have adorne.d the page^ 'pi our histcfry ? Would enterprize have been so vigorous ? Would ourcommefrce, in its variety, extent, and productive^ ness, have so sooii be:;ome the envy, and. awakened thd jealousy, pf the most cotnVnercial natiorts of the ciVili^ed world? Would the hand pf cultivatioti h^ve Wubjectt^ at so early a period, such vast repibris of wilderness to fertility and beauty ? And would our mannfactures haVe risch so soon to a parallel with oiir agriculture, whdn, as Oiie of bur gtatesmert has said " we are a great land anirtial," and *^'hen, jn fact, Ibcal consideJ-ations s'eeine'lcl to limir, frtr agfes, the industry of the cbuntty td a^ricUlt'ural, pursuits ? Wbuld 'pur navy have been so coTisideraBl'e ? Would itis thimder have so soort held in trembling solicitude a natioH tvhos^ 'queeri, more than two centuries ago, triumphed over thd celebrated Spanish armada; atid whose iiuthorities. i-ecehtly, have hot blushed to proclaiih themselves loi-ds of the 'ocean? , ,,-''• • ., ' i ' ¦ . The success, then', which has attended this na'tionalemari- cipation is proof that liberty is attainable ; and that, Whieri attained, is, as pertains to this world, a supreme blessing. We are proof strong that the doctrine of despots, that tte iirtany Were made for the few; is a libel bpbn tiaturfe ; that the bumaii tnind is, when imfettercd, taxable bf self fcgiilatioii j ^nd that civil government; when not usurped; but originate ing in the wjU of the people, and proceeding by fcbricert and fcourtsel; is the guardian, not the destroyer, of liberty. Wb ^re, in th'ese respectSj an fertsign attiorig the tiatlonsi It H the pccbliai- privilege which Providence has granted tb uS to be employed; as d beacoii; to guide thdm from the dat-k- hesS, the jjerils; and the distresses; which have hitherto at- ibended them; to light; repose, and pt-ospei-ous security. , Some of us witnessed, and felt, thfe pressure of the' rcVb-, lutidnary struggle ; and have lived to enjoy; and to See obr country enjoy, the invaluable fruits of it. We Saw tbe pre- l^arattons that were made; menacing our speedy and iinqual- ^ ified subjugation. We saw the invasion, by powerful fleets ^nd armies, in its highe5.t activity. We saw the tprch of m mr, and the smoking ruins of towns and villages. "VW heard the cry of distress. We witnessed, and felt, and' transmitted, the sympathy Which, thrilled through thous ands of free born souls, froln Lexington to Savannah. We saw the pole of liberty rise, and the last farthing pledged as a' p.heerful sacrifice for the relief and salvatioti of the country. We beheld a hardy yeomiinry, quitting the plough and the anvil, felzing the fti-elock, and calling upon their wives anrf daughters, whose fingers were dexterously employed in fabricating, and then replenishing, the knapsajik. We hcard'When Waebex, and Montgomery, and Mebcek fell. We saw the modern Fabius, the peculi-arly kind pro vision of heaven, for those iimes of anxiety and peril, majesr tic ike the cedar, and benignant, in his aspect, as the morn- ijig, with L^E by; his side, at the review, and on the field of battle. We saw our brethren in arms expire, at the poin.t ot'itbe bayonet, or as the effect Of disease, contracted by thef inevitable d ^'privations imd hardshi])s of a camp. We fol lowed through the series of labors, and dangers, and losses, lifl the triumph at Yorktown rivetted the conviction in tbe minds of Britons, that our subjugatipn was an achievement beyond their reach, and, though raomfying. in the exareraei inutit be abandoned. . Peace, with her olive leaf, hee full horn, and her Kigh ex ultations, returned. Then it was that Uiat, amiable ehris- tain and devoted patriot, president Sti les-; the predecessor, h}l\\e, pastoral office, to my respected brother, present on ' this occasion,, met in a street of ray native town, an eminent physician and scholar, who said vo him, " Mr. President- J, give you joy for the, peace/' who. replied " I prav sir! vpu_ would not, f#,I am full already.*' Then it was' that til? ladies of irenton prepared, their triumphal arch and Jheir -arands to honor the man who was first in the afiect- • ipns of- the people*, dure in governihgf the World is so uni form, and so far has he given us the experience of the past, to direct our calculations respecting the future, that it is nrst wnprbper for us gratefully to say^ that our future prospects, as a nation, are liighly promising. These prospects are raised and extended by the augmented sanctity vVhich habisS and enjoyment attach to our civil constitutions j by the in- Creasing enterprize which pervades every section of our Country and all orders of its population; hy the denfiarcatiow livhich nature herself has- given to our territory ; by the niul- ilplied facilities furnished for an active external and internal commerce ; by the" growing zeal, with which the interests of education and sound learning are cherished ; and, abovtf illi, by the augmentedly powerful iufluence, which chris* tianity has upon tlie moral state ; upon the understandings, the hearts, and the practice, of the peoiile. Undoubtedly, if we are wIHingand obedient, we shall eat the good of the land Ours is duty. The government is God's. Let osy inthe fear and'love of him, march on in xhG good way which our pious fathers have trod befon* us. Let us abstain from all those immoralites which are a re proach to afiy people. Let us be observant of wholesome fewsj pay all due respect to the constituted authorities, cher ish public spirit, and give an iri*eVocable exile to all our party- animofflties. Let us give its just practical eflect tn that interesting political adage, United, tiie stand ; diDided^ luf faU. !t has been so customary to offer incense at the shrine of tseauty on these occasions, that, I fear, even the gravity of titiy profession, and the period of my life will not secure roe ¦altogether against demands of this nature. But, while I freely acknowledge the fairer, to be, by much, the best part of the population of our country, I must leave this delicious acrvioe to those younger ones who move precisely at the IS |)ferihetiorr o' their fender passions, when they pause and sny.,' " Grace w'a's in atl her stejis, Heaven in,ber eye .• " In e»ery gesture, dignily end love." But It is not indecorous ;' it is consistent with every sen'- tinieht of delicacy and religion ; it is impcrioutly dehianded,f that I congratulate my country vVornen on the unexampled' elevation to vvhich they are now raised in knowledge ; iiV that virtuous enterprize which angels must love ; in that series of lofty aiid benevolent pursuit ; in that combined/ untired, and successful moral heroism, with which they endeavor, like the good- Samaritan,-, to bind up the wounds: of sfLiff^ring humanity,' to remove igrtotance, and vice, and; irreligion, and nii'sery, from the face of the eiM-th, to spread the triumphs of salvation, and instru nientally subdue th«? world to the empire of bim wlio said to his beloved disciple.- "Behold, thy mother!" . _ When 1 place, 4n Contrast', this active, behijvolent por tion of females, witb the immured occupants of a serasjlio,- and compare the degfedation which paganism, barbarism] and sensuality have assigned for ages, and over nearly tlie whole globe, to Momah, with the intellectual and moral- elevation to which Christianity has' raised so many of my^ countrywomen, I feel prepared, all other considerations be ing out of view, to waste my energies in so holy a cause as that of promoting it* May their numbers swell to a host. And, should' the honor of achieving that great moral victory which is now hastening to be completed, be given chiefly to them, in th^ use of such means a.s God has provided and warranted, all |ood angels and good men will pronounce their milled an^ AHEN.* tfil -.- ^' -I =«¦'*!: Ill' : a 'if'jois I,.