YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 06126 5444 Jarvis, Russell An Oration. .. Boston, 1823. C-bJ9- 390 i A- YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 1942 AS. ORATION, DELIVERED BEFORE MS WSfWMOmi Off H®STO^i OUT THE FOURTH OF JULY, 183?. BY RUSSELL JARVIS. BOSTON: FROM THE PRESS OF TRUE AND GREENE. 1823. ORATION. "NCE more, Fellow Citizens, are we assem bled to celebrate our National birth-day. Once more are we convened round our Country's allar, to congratulate each other upon the return of that auspicious morning, whose light first beamed upon her independence, and to pour forth our praises and thanksgivings to Him, whose arm sustained her in her day ef perils, who brake the oppres sor's rod, and bade her be Free. Years have passed on, since this holy day first dawned upon the destinies of our country. Yes ! Forty-seven years have rolled in the unceasing marchjof time, since the sun of liberty' shed its lustre on our land, and made it preeminent among nations. But has time diminished the ardor of those feelings first kindled by this day ? Has the lapse of forty-seven years chilled the warm cur rent that flowed through American hearts, when American Independence was announced to an ad miring world ? No ! The sacred emotions this day first inspired, yet glow with fervor unspent and unabated, and the mighty event it proclaimed, vet burns bright upon every American recollec- tion. We come, Fellow Citizens, to consecrate the nativity of Freedom. We are assembled to hallow that morning whose beams first rose upon our independence. In hailing its return, there fore, let no sound be heard, save of joy and glad ness ; let not a look be visible, that does not proclaim our exultation ; let not a word escape us, but/)f mutual felicitation upon our blessings, and of gratitude to Him who once more permits us to celebrate their anniversary. The event we commemorate is fitted to inspire, not only the most joyous, but the most awful and sublime reflections ; for it stands alone, unparal leled, unexampled in history. In vain may we examine the archives of nations, in vain search the records of days that are gone, for a Revolu tion so astonishing in character, or attended with results so momentous. For thousands of years, had the sun rolled in its annual circuit, over the vicissitudes of mankind. Nations had started into life, and been visited by changes and revolu tions ; tyrants had marched to empire over pros trate humanity, and established their rule amid the sorrows of bleeding millions ; thrones had been elevated amid tears and blood, and dynas ties had been crowned amid the wreck of justice and of happiness. Tyrants had also been swept from the face of earth ; thrones had crumbled to dust; dynasties had sunk to oblivion, and na tions bad vanished from existence. But not till the glorious day we commemorate, were the Great truths of Liberty proclaimed by the united voice of a nation. No ,! Not till the voice of A- merica was raised, not till the sword of America was drawn, not till she gave to the world that Declaration that millions have viewed with pride, and that millions to come will revere as a politi cal revelation, were the natural and equal rights of man announced, as fundamental and immuta ble principles. Till then, a social compact, and the sovereignty of the people were called the dreams of political enthusiasts ; the omnipotence oi rulers was the creed of political orthodoxy, and all who dared to question it, were stigmatized as champions of rebellion. But then was proclaim ed the principle, that the people are sovereigns, and rulers their servants; then was heard the glad tidings, that government could have no other foundation than identity of interests and equality of rights ; then was first s.een a political system, not composed of discordant elements, of rights ex torted from the master, by the sword of the "whip- galled slave" ; of privileges unwillingly yielded by oppression, to appease the clamors or avert the vengeance of its victims ; but one emana ting* fjom the united voice of a natiou, solemnly and spontaneously assembled, and appealing to the Supreme Disposer of events, in behalf of the immutable principles of Liberty and Equality. — New light then burst forth ; a new sun diffused its radiance over the moral world ; and the fires that blazed upon the altars of the American Rev olution, have become a star to guide mankind to the haven of political salvation. Our Revolution was distinguished, not only by the great political truths it announced and estab- lished, but by the elevated motives and exalted views of its projectors and executors. Patriots had appeared in other times, and established un- perishable claims to applause and admiration ; but they rose to destroy oppressors and not to ex tinguish oppression, and their views were limit ed to the tyranny they assailed, without being elevated to the establishment of first principles. Caesar died, not that Rome might be free, but that Cassius might remove a master ; and the dag ger of Brutus was planted in a tyrant's heart, not to vindicate the violated rights of man, but to re store the rod of power to an oppressive aristoc racy. Charles Stuart bowed his neck to the axe, and James became a fugitive, and an outcast, not to give freedom and sovereignty to the peo ple of England, but to assert the erroneous prin ciples of her partial constitution, and secure her omnipotent legislature, from Royal encroachment. But those who achieved the American Revolu tion, were guided by higher motives, and attrac ted by nobler objects. Soaring above personal considerations, and looking beyond the narrow period of their own existence, they did not appeal to arms to deliver themselves from the oppressive provisions of a stamp act, but to assert the great truth, that all men are born free and equal, and have an " equal right to life, liberty and the pur suit of happiness." They saw in the wide ocean that rolled before them, the barrier of nature a- gainst the rule of their oppressors. In their bright visions of futurity, they saw, in the immea surable forests behind them, where the wild deer sought its covert, and the wolf howled in the mid-night blast, the fair and fertile field, waving with the bounteous offerings of nature to human industry, and the crowded cily, the abode of activ ity, enterprize and improvement. They saw the axe of the woodman chasing the panther from his haunt, the tomahawk of the savage retiring before the plowshare of the husbandman, the cliffs of the Alleganies overlooking the abodes of civilization, and the wide waters of the Mississippi, whitened with the canvass of industry and -enterprise. " And shall the millions ;" said they, " who will one day inhabit these wide extended regions, be the bondmen of a handful of slaves from a little speck of earth, far distant in the broad ocean that rolls before us ? Mightier destinies await the land of our birth and the chosen home of our Fathers. These shores once gave shelter to the fugitives from persecution, and never shall they become the dwelling place of slaves ! Here the quickening spirjt of Liberty hath chosen her abode, and nev er will she leave it, but over the corpses of all her children !" Inspired by these glowing visions, ex alted by these towering hopes, and appealing to the God of battles to sanctify their enterprize, they pronounced the irrevocable decree of separa tion from a tyrant's rule, and made America the home of the Freeman, the admiration of the world. Our Revolution was distinguished by the splendor of its triumphs, and the daring intrepidi ty, the unbending, inflexible constancy of those who achieved them. When was witnessed a conflict, exhibiting such disparity of means, and such a complete and signal overthrow of power by weakness ? On one side, we behold a na tion whose trade was war, and whose pastime was destruction ; whose armies had just triumph ed over half the legions of Europe ; whose fleets had carried terror and dismay to the four corners of the world ; whose avarice had grasped the treasures of both hemispheres ; whose govern ment hpjl uar leatingly pursued to destruction, all who had dared to whisper ought against its authority, and every page of whose history was stained with the blood of sacrifices upon the altar of prerogative. On the other, a band of pat riots, small in numbers, bankrupt in resources, anticipating certain destruction as the penalty of failure, and ff rboding nameless difficulties as the price of succ ss, with no friendly hand to aid, and with no other reliance than on Him who standeth by the just in the clay of battle. But they remen. ered their pilg;i'.i Fathers ; remem bered amid what dangers and sufferings, what gloomy forebodings, what heart-sinking prospects, these unyielding advocates of principle had sought the snow clad rock of Plymouth, in search of that liberty their native soil had denied them. They remembered how a few brave and unbending spirits, whom no dangers could appall, no suffer ings could daunt, no miseries untried could divert from their resolution to be free or perish, had crossed the waters of the great deep, and sought, in the howling wilderness, a refuge from persecu tion. They remembered their lineage ; and were resolved to show, that the stream which had Warmed the hearts of their Fathers, had flowed unchilled to their own. The thought was inspi ration ! The venerable Hancock rose ! Before him lay that Declaration, which, like a revelation from on high, announced to the world that God gave freedom, and that man might not take it a- way. In his hand was the pen, which, like the> sword of Alexander, was to cut forever the Gor- dian knot that bound us to foreign subjection. The fate of millions hung on the moment, and millions waited in breathless expectation ! On the one side, were the whips and scourges of British bondage ; on the other, the nameless horrors of a doubtful contest, danger in its countless shapes, death in its thousand terrors ! The sage rais ed his eyes to Heaven ; saw the sainted spirits of our Forefathers cast an approving smile upon the enterprize, and— signed the Declaration ! The die was cast, and resistance unto blood was re solved on ! All America caught the inspiration ; flew to the fields of Saratoga, Monmouth and Yorktown ; drew the sword of victory or death ; appealed to the God of armies to direct the blow, and taught the vanquished satellites of tyranny, "The might that slumbers in a freeman's arm." Our Revolution was distinguished by its mighty results, by its almost incalculable benefits. Other Revolutions may have relieved, for a time, the miseries of the people among whom they occurred, without conferring lasting benefits, without pro ducing permanent results, or furnishing examples for other climes, or future ages. Augustus destroy- 2 10 ed the Aristocracy of Rome, without showing, that one tyrant was better or worse than fifty, or that tyranny in any shape was needless. Cromwell de molished the throne of England, without convinc ing mankind, that the plain garb of Republicanism was better than the tinsel habiliments of Royalty, or that the staff of a Protector was less absolute than the sceptre of a King. But the American Revolution has established, upon the immovable foundation of first principles, that God gave to man the right of self-government ; that he can en joy, without abusing it ; and that he is never so prosperous and happy, never so elevated and dig nified, never so nearly approaching that exalted state to which hope looks beyond the bounds of time, as when in its full possession and exercise. The advocates of arbitrary power, the abject wor shippers of a crown, may say, that Republicanism is imperfect in its operations, transient in duration, and inadequate to the happiness of society. " The full tide of successful experiment," flowing through the ^period of forty years, has completely refuted the slander. Yes I for forty years, have the Uni ted States of America given ta the world a prac tical illustration of that great truth, that no gov ernment is so- strong as one based upon the sover eignty of the people, and no one so well fitted to promote their happiness, as one founded upon their natural equality of rights^ For forty years has the banner of Republicanism waved in the ever varying breeze, sometimes flapping amid the storms and tempests of war, sometimes gently- floating in the. sun-shine and zephyrs of peace, its- ii glories brightening as each day passed over it, and its votaries daily hailing it with warm affec tion and augmenting admiration. Is that govern ment unstable, whose corner stone is the affections of the people, and whose strongest pillar is their enlightened conviction of its superiority? Thrones may be founded in fraud and force, and crumble to dust when the fraud is exposed, or be shivered to atoms when the force can be resisted ; but a system founded in common sense, and supported by common reason, will stand immovable while common sense can speak, or reason assert its pre rogative. God crowned no Kings, and signed no patents of nobility. The subjects of the King of Kings all are Republicans, and obey his will in respecting the natural and equal rights of each other. Who can contemplate without wonder, the pro gress of improvement, beneath the auspices of that liberty established by the American Revolution ? Within the period of forty years, the Americans, from a handful of colonists, have become a mighty nation, commanding respect for their energies, ad miration for their intelligence, applause for their justice and magnanimity, and gratitude for the example of their institutions. Have other parts of this western hemisphere, have the neighboring colonies of Great Britain, or the extensive and fer tile regions of South America evinced a corres- ponding rapidity in improvement ? The one have been cramped and fettered by British protection, and the other have been crushed by the dead weight of Royalty, or withered by the paralyzing 12 touch of the Inquisition. But the spirit of liberty hath drawn forth the energies of. the American mind, and given them a noble and elevated direc tion. Do our tall forests bend beneath the axe, and resign their branching honors to the habita tions of man ? The spirit of liberty directs the blow and nerves the arm that inflicts it. Do our fair and fertile fields wave with the rich fruits of cultivation ? The spirit of liberty guides the plow share, and sustains the hand of the reaper. Does the tide of activity and enterprize flow through our populous cities ? The spirit of liberty directs it, and gives it force and velocity, Do our schools and seminaries of learning shed their bright beams on our population, giving them that dignified and elevated character which claims the respect and ad miration of the world ? The spirit of liberty has planted them in our soil, and made them the en gines of usefulness. Do our ships float proudly beneath the " star spangled banner," bearing the produce of American industry and enterprize to the uttermost corners of the world ? The spirit of liberty guides the helm, swells the sails, and di vides the waters for their passage. Wherever in dustry imprints its untiring footsteps, wherever enterprize forces its daring march, the American " walks abroad in his own majesty," proudly proclaiming what the children of liberty are, and what the spirit of liberty can accomplish. Such being the glorious results of our revolu tion, the enquiry naturally followsj whether its benefits shall be forever confined to this Western hemisphere ; whether its light shall never cross the 13 Atlantic, and dissipate the dark mists now envel oping misguided and misgoverned Eurd^e ? Such cheering hope already dawns. The march of Eu ropean mind has lately been too rapid, and Amer ican example is too glorious, and too convincing, to warrant the belief that one can be checked, or that the other has been offered in vain. Kings and privileged orders may conspire against the rights of man ; may form unholy alliances, to stifle the voice of reason, and perpetuate the reign of fraud and folly. But the time approaches, when the " body" of man,