3 9002 07223 7630

Skinner, A. K.
.-in oration delivered at the Whig celebration.
Kew Haven, 1834.

"I give theft .Books
ffor the founding of a. College in, this Colony'

•YALE-^MViEiasinnf- - ILHSIBAISy •

ORATION

DELIVERED AT THE

WHIG CELEBRATION,

NEW HAVEN, JULY 4, 1834.

BY A . N. SKINNER.

PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE WHIG COMMITTEE.

NEW HAVEN :
JAMES F. BABCOCK, PRINTER.
1834.

New Haven, July 12th, 1834.
At a meeting of the " Whig Committee of Arrangements," for the celebra
tion ofthe recent Anniversary of our National Independence, held on the eve
ning ofthe 10th inst., a resolution was unanimously adopted requesting a copy
ofthe Oration, delivered by you on that occasion, for publication.
The undersigned, being appointed a Committee to invite your compliance
with that resolution, beg leave individually to unite with the general Commit.
lee in requesting your assent.
With high respect, We are Sir, Your obedient Servants,
JAS. F. BAECOCK, )
NATIPL R. CLARK, > Committee.
JOHN B. ROBERTSON. )
To Aaron N. Skinner, Esa.

New Haven, July 12th, 1834.
Gentlemen —
Your favor of this date, was this evening received, requesting, in behalf of
the " Whig Committee," a copy of the Oration, delivered on the Fourth, for
publication. From the hasty manner in which it was written, I have some
doubts ofthe expediency of publishing it ; but as it was prepared at the request
ofthe Whigs, I submit it to their disposal.
Please accept for yourselves and the Committee, assurances of my grateful
consideration. With high respect, I am your obedient Servant,
A. N. SKINNER.
James F. Babcock,
Nathaniel R. Clark, £ Esquires.
John B. Robertson.

PALLADIUM rilESB.

f"% \ , » Cj A j *>

ORATION

Fellow Citizens :
We are assembled to commemorate a great event. In looking
down the long ages of past history we search in vain for a parallel
to the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
Whether we look at the magnitude of the interests at stake, the char
acter of the actors, or the momentous consequences that hung on the
issue ; this stands out from all other great events, distinct and alone.
It was the first grand experiment towards the establishment of ra
tional and permanent Freedom, united with wise and salutary gov
ernment; a system which should govern by law and not by force;
which should express the mature and enlightened will of the people,
and not be subject to the caprice and violence of popular excitement ;
in short, a system by which man should govern himself, unshackled
on the one hand by a despotic power which he could not control,
and wisely guarded on the other against the sudden tumults of his
own frail and erring passions.
The 4th of July 1776 will be memorable in all coming time ; all
men in all ages to come will hold it in honor, and all who love liberty,
will hail it as the bright morning star which is to usher in the day of
universal freedom. To all nations it is a great day, as foreboding
great events ; but to us it is a birth day — a day of rejoicing — a day
of triumph — a day of glory !
It is fitting that on this day every patriot should turn his thoughts
from himself to his country, and from his country to his country's
God. It is fitting that citizen should meet citizen for mutual gratu-
lation ; to exchange thoughts and feelings, to lay aside the rancor of
party strife, and sacrifice little jealousies on the broad altar of his
country's good. It is fitting that the father should gather his little
ones around him, and teach them the rudiments of liberty, and kin
dle in their young hearts the love of home, and kin, and country, and
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inspire them with veneration for the illustrious dead. It is fitting
that the day should be set apart for the discussion of our rights ; to
sound the note of alarm at the approach of danger ; and to animate
and cheer us on in the ways of virtuous freedom. Let it be marked
by festivities, and public rejoicing, and religious solemnities. Let
the young hail it with joyful greeting. Let the good man bless it.
Let the dim eye of age grow brighter at its coming. Let the rising
generation know — let the world know — that we value our liberty, and
honor the memories of those who achieved it.
In the origin of all other nations, we see much of weakness and
ignorance, violence and blood shed.
A band of robbers took refuge among the woods and hills ofthe
Tiber, and by rapine and violence planted the germ of the Imperial
City. But it required centuries to complete even the stern and
dreary fabric of Roman power, which, after all, had in itself the ele
ments of ruin, and ended in a relentless military despotism. How
many centuries were necessary to lay even the foundations of the '
British Empire ? Not to mention bloody conquest after conquest,
by Roman, Saxon, Dane and Norman, — what a dark and fearful suc
cession of revolutions, civil wars and convulsions, were necessary to
purge the British Constitution even to a limited degree of perfection.
The history of all former nations presents the same dark and dreary
picture. They all had a slow and disastrous growth, and even the
nations of Christendom were groping and stumbling in the gloom of
twelve hundred years of darkness, on such absurdities as the infalli
bilities of the Popes and the divine rights of Kings.
But our nation was born and grew up to manhood in a day. Like
the fabled Minerva who had no infancy, but sprang forth from the
brain of Jove, a full grown Goddess, armed in the full panoply of the
Gods, and radiant in celestial beauty ; so, the moment the Declaration
was proclaimed by its immortal authors, and hailed by the applaud
ing shouts of millions of Freemen — there stood forth a mighty na
tion, in the freshness and vigor of youth, crowned with the wisdom
and experience of all ages of the world.
A spectacle, which the mighty imagination of Milton only could
conceive or describe. Did not the phrophetic bard have some
glimmering foresight of this august day, when (rapt with the con.

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tcmplation of thc British nation's becoming young again) his exulting
spirit exclaimed : "It betokens us not degenerated, nor drooping to a
fatal decay ; but casting off the old and wrinkled skin of corruption, to
outlive these pangs and wax young again ; entering upon the glorious
ways of truth and prosperous virtue ; destined to become great and
honorable in these latter ages. — Methinks I see in my mind a
noble and puissant nation, raising herself like a strong man after
sleep and shaking her invincible locks ; — methinks I see her as an
an eagle muing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes
at the full mid-day beam, purging and unsealing her long abused
sight at the fountain itself of Heavenly radiance."
One is almost compelled to believe that the lamentation of the di
vine Poet for the loss of sight, had ascended on high, and that a mer
ciful God, (in compassion for the darkness that " veiled his rayless
orbs",) had granted his Heavenly prayer, and graciously permitted
that " celestial light to shine inward" and irradiate his noble mind,
that he might " see and tell of things invisible to mortal sight."
The Poet did indeeed foresee his country renewing her youth, not in
herself, but in this her eldest daughter, the American Republic,
Was not this " the noble and puissant nation" which he saw " sha
king her invincible locks" — " destined to become great and honora
ble in these latter ages" — and " entering upon the glorious ways of
truth and prosperous virtue ? " Was it not the American Eagle
which he beheld muing his mighty youth, and " kindling his undaz
zled eyes at the fountain itself of Heavenly radiance V
Could the film of mortality have indeed been removed from his
mental eye, and the glories of futurity have been unfolded to his
view ; — would not the gorgeous vision, which would have burst up
on his sight from this western world, have fully realized the concep
tions of his gigantic spirit ? He would have beheld far away over the
cheerless and stormy waters of the Atlantic — a wilderness dark —
gloomy — vast, — upon whose endless solitudes, no ray of civilization,
or learning, pr religion, had ever dawned. Suddenly, a light, small
but bright, breaks forth from the rock on which the Pilgrim Fathers
landed. As it increases in magnitude and brightness, others light up
in rapid succession along the whole illimitable horizon. The dark
cloud which curtained the prospect rolls away — new forms of life
5

01UTI0N.
start into view ;— dwellings, edifices, temples, spires and domes, rise
up from the desert one after another like the scenes of a drama ;
village spreads beyond village, town beyohd town, and city beyond
city. The hum of industry begins to murmur along the coasts, and
to roll her reechoing din far away over the distant mountains ;— the
silent and solitary waters become animate with myriads of ships mo-
ving on their snowy wings like " things of life ;"— the forests fall,
and the ancient groves, where the woodman's axe was never heard,
begin to ring with the ceaseless sound of mechanism, which con
verts the very elements into laborers, who work with a million
hands. As rose the earth itself out of the " dark and formless void" at the
command of God : So scarcely less suddenly and miraculously, or
less moved by the finger of Omnipotence, emerges a great empire ;
rolling its millions over the boundless wastes like the waves of the
great deep ; — bearing on its tide the germs of other states and other
nations ; — lighting up the dark solitudes of the desert with the beams
of learning, the arts, and the Gospel of Peace ; — rearing itself like
a pillar of fire to the nations that lay in darkness, and sending her
hundred charities to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Search the world over, where will you find another country
like this 1
Europe rears her ancient dynasties, — " adorned indeed with the im
posing robes of science and the arts ;" — powerful in arms and
renowned for triumphs, too often alas, over the rights of man. But
in all this there is more of magnificence than happiness. Her
wealth, her honor, her pomp and power, with rare exceptions, are
the hereditary property of the few ; while necessity with her iron
foot treads the many in the dust. There is here and there a proud
baronial castle, which lifts its dark battlements over a thousand
humbler dwellings to tell of the grandeur of its lordly possessor : but
what boots this to the poor peasant who is bound to the soil and
toils to maintain a splendor which he can never share ? It is true
that in latter times, commerce, and the progress of free institutions
have done much to improve the condition of the lower classes in
Europe ; and that there are a few spots like Switzerland, Scotland.
and old England which remind us of om- own happy land. But

ORATION.
even there, entailments, hereditary monopolies, artificial distinctions',
and the burden of taxes, increased to support the insubstantial splen
dors of military greatness, palsy the hand of Industry : — the laborer
toils for a pittance, and plods his weary way in hopeless penury. It
is true there are some illustrious examples of men who by the irre
pressible force of genius have burst asunder these chains that bind
the mind, and have arisen from obscurity to the proudest honors : —
Still the mass of the people sink under their deadening weight, and
do not breathe that vital air of liberty, which " rarifieth and exalteth"
the spirit of man "like the influence of Heaven."
Poland — Italy — Greece — where are they ! The gallant spirit of
the one is broken — the blood of her heroes shed in vain — her name
blotted out — and her noble heart crushed under the heel of the op
pressor ; but " the day of vengeance cometh !"
Italy, the home of empire, — the prey of lazzaronni and pampered
sloth ! — the cradle and the grave of human greatness !
Greece ! with a doubtful existence, unrecovered from ages of
slavery. " Clime ofthe unforgotten brave !
" Whose land from plain to mountain cave,
'* Was freedom's home or glory's grave !
" Shrine ofthe mighty ! can it be,
" That this is all remains of thee?"
And Asia — what is she but the mouldering monument of things
past ? Write sloth and pride, voluptuousness and passion, slave and
despot — and her story is told. The wild Arab feeds his camels un
der the broken arches and interminable columns of Palmyra ; — " the
wild beasts of the desert, the satyr and the owl," dwell where were
the palaces of Babylon; — "the pomp" of Tyre is "brought down to:
the grave," and the "crowning city," whose "merchants were prin
ces," rejoices no more ; — the City of David belongs no longer to Ju
dah, but is "trodden under foot ofthe Gentiles." — The Tomb ofthe
Prophet still remains, and the shade of his despotism still hovers over
the land ; but the sceptre of the Moslem is broken, and the crescent
is waning, (may we not hope) to give place to the "sun of right
eousness." And Africa — the pall of the grave rests over her ! For her there
remains no hope, unless in the arm of Omnipotence. Has not the

ORATION.
same strong arm, which brought the children of Israel from bondage
to the land of their fathers — the same arm which caused a little col
ony on the rock of Plymouth to become a great nation — given signal
tokens of great designs in the unparalleled success of another little
colony on the western coast ef Africa ? Who shall say what anoth
er century may bring forth ? Who shall say but this little colony
may accomplish for Africa what the Puritans did for America ? that
through its prosperity, under the blessing of Heaven, our great na
tional evil may be removed, and the darkest spot on our country's
fame be wiped away, by restoring to Africa her children, and with
them the blessings of learning, liberty, and religion?
In this view of other countries we see nothing to weaken the love
and honor which we bear to our own. There is no where on earth
a people, among whom property, intelligence, honor, and all the
sources of human happiness, are so equally and profusely dispensed ;
where justice, law and order, so completely prevail ; where peace,
virtue and religion, have such universal empire. In the history of
the past, in the enjoyments of the present, and in the prospects of the
future, we are fortunate and blessed above all the nations of the earth.
But amidst all this happiness, let us not forget that "the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth ;" that our destinies are in his hands ; that pros
perity too often hardens and corrupts ; and that, in all our exulta
tion, we may be in danger of a fall.
It may not be unsuitable to this occasion, at this peculiar juncture,
to cast our eyes around us, and consider the dangers to which we are
exposed. The greatest obstacle to the perpetuity of good institutions, is doubt
less in human nature itself; which, by proof of holy writ, as well as the
whole experience ofthe world, is " prone to evil and that continually."
The history of all former republics is briefly told. — They have
risen to greatness by the practice ofthe stern and severe virtues, and
their unvaried progress has been from prosperity to vice, and from
vice to ruin. When the mass of the people become corrupt, cease
to venerate the laws— become idle, poor and profligate — begin to
hate the rich and covet their possessions — to desire change— to hope
for those advantages in civil commotions which they are unwilling
to gain by virtuous industry-^when the love of country is lost in the

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love of faction and a shameless scramble for power, — then, there has
always been ready some designing man, who has availed himself of
popular arts, or of that blind adulation which the multitude always
pay to military glory, to ingratiate himself into popular favor, to
head the deluded multitude in redressing real or imaginary grievan
ces, and to ride over their necks to a throne.
The degeneracy which leads to this catastrophe is gradual, and to
the many almost imperceptible. A people whose moral sense would
at first startle at glaring outrages, by being gradually familiarized to
slight innovations, will finally come to regard the greatest atrocities,
first with indifference, and then with approbation. No usurper ever
yet began a career of tyranny by striking a direct blow at old and
venerated institutions. He first attacks real grievances — then the
spirit of the laws, while he carefully observes their forms ; and finally,
under the specious names of reform, or the public good, undermines
the foundations of the fabric of freedom.
Human nature is the same now that it was two thousand years
ago ; and there are causes enough in operation in our country to
produce the same general corruption of morals which destroyed all
the free governments of other times.
One of the most alarming indications of a decline of morals is the
influence of demagogues ; a class of men who can have very little
consideration on account of their own merits, and who expect to rise
from obscurity by agitating the people, shrewdly supposing that in
the boiling of the political caldron the scum will always rise to the
top. These men are always loud in their professions of love to the
people ! — they are " the people's friends," and are very anxious about
the "people's money" — they have such profound respect for the peo
ple's opinions, that although the people become unstable and change
every day, they will change too — for they always " bow to the ma
jesty of the people .'" Although subject to sudden and frequent
changes, in one thing they are consistent — one principle they most
faithfully aim to preserve — and that is, always if possible to keep on
ihe strongest side !
One of the most remarkable of these "friends of the people" was
Robespierre, who used to go about the streets of Paris, spreading his
hands, and softening his voice, to gull the "dear people." In the
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language of the historian, " Robespierre had to impose upon the
minds of the vulgar, and he knew how to beguile them by accommo
dating his flattery to their passions and scale of understanding ; and
by acts of cunning and hypocrisy, which weigh more with the multi
tude than the words of eloquence or the arguments of wisdom. The
people listened as to their Cicero, when he twanged out his apostro
phes, "poor people, virtuous people" !* and hastened to execute what
ever came recommended by such honied phrases, though devised by
the worst of men, for the most inhuman of purposes." Yes, Robes
pierre, the cold, cowardly, creeping miscreant, " who signed death
warrants with a hand that shook" — the most hypocritical villain, the
most ferocious tyrant, that the world ever saw — was a friend to ihe
people !
The true voice of the people should always be respected, and their
mature and enlightened will should always govern. But he is a mis
erable friend to the people, who will never dare to tell them the truth,
or to oppose them, when hurrying under popular excitement into a
course, which must lead to their own ruin. The true friend of the
people does not seek so much to discover what the majority thinks
to-day, or will think to-morrow, as what is right, and what will in the
end tend most to promote their lasting happiness and honor.
Another mark of a demagogue is a great horror of aristorcacy '.—
He grieves that the poor are oppressed by the rich ; that any one
man should be better clothed, or fed, or instructed, than another ;
and most of all, grieves that any man is more rich or aristocratic
than himself!
Of all miserable delusions, there is none more dangerous and des
picable than an attempt to excite the poor against the rich. It is a
deep and desperate throw in the game of political infamy, which few
should venture upon ;-it is awheel which, when Once put in motion
no man can stop, and will roll on in its terrific momentum, until it
has crushed friend and foe, rich and poor, in irretrievable ruin
There are a great many better things than money ; but money in
good hands is the means of obtaining better things, and on this ac
count ,ts pursuit is honorable. What is it that excites every young
" * Pauvre Peuple, Peuple verteux '"
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man, or poor man, to honorable exertion, more than thc hope of ac
quiring property, and intelligence, and character among his fellow
men ? If there be any one right which ought to be regarded pre
cious in the eye of freemen, next to the security of the person, is the
security of property. Let the poor man, as well as the rich man,
regard it as our safety and our glory, that every man's earnings are
his own ; that no power on earth can touch a farthing of it without
his consent ; and that, if by virtuous industry and skill he can accu
mulate property, it shall not be cast upon him as a reproach, but re
dound to his own character and enjoyment while he lives, and de
scend to his children when he dies.
I would be the last man to pamper the pride of wealth and family,
when unaccompanied by other endowments : of all kinds of great
ness it is the most contemptible, and in our country the most harm
less and perishable. We have no entailments of rank or property to
bolster up its decay. It soon falls ; and its substance, in two or
three generations, descends to the more worthy. But on the other
hand, if a man has risen from obscurity by his own merit, let him
enjoy the reward of his virtue and talents. This is true nobility.
While I would scorn to offer one breath of incense to flatter that
empty pride which is founded on the merits of others, I would yield
a cheerful and affectionate homage to that exalted worth, whose
splendor is not borrowed, but shines in the brightness of its own glo
ry. If there be any one motive which is truly the nurse of great
and good qualities, it is the desire of deserving the affection and \er
eration of our fellow men. Let not this ennobling motive be impair
ed by the malignant wailings of envy, or by miserable, selfish and
despicable appeals to the meanest passions of our nature.
Another mark of a demagogue is an attempt to excite a jealousy
against literary institutions, as being hostile to liberty and the natural
equality of man !
The most famous of this class of reformers was one Jack Cade,
an Irishman who fled from his country to escape the punishment due
to his crimes. In a time of civil commotion he mustered an army,
furnished with clubs, axes and scythes, and marched to London to
redress grievances — that is, to plunder the city ! Among other
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ORATION
things, he undertook to work a reform in literary matters, and, in js
own phrase, to "sweep the court clean of such filth as l.or
those who spoke Latin ;" one of whom he arraigned before tns p
ence on the following charge : "Thou has most traitorously corrupt-
ed the youth of this realm by erecting a Grammar School ;-ana
whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score
and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used ;-and contrary to
the King, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. It
will be proved to thv face that thou hast men about thee that usually
talk of a noun and a verb, and such abominable words as no chris
tian can endure to hear. Away with him ! away with him ! He
speaks Latin !" The historian closes the account somewhat abrupt
ly, by informing us that " Cade was hung*." " There let him re
main in his glory." We envy bim not— we envy not the feelings
or motives of those of his successors upon whom his mantle has
fallen, who can find their account in exciting popular prejudice
against institutions of Learning.
The Grecians and Romans, and even the Arabs and Saracens,
knew better than this. They honored and cherished learning ; and
they have their reward. The imperishable glory that beams over
their history derives its brightest radiance from the light of letters.
But for their poets, their orators, their historians and philosophers,
their fame would have been a shadow — and their story, so rich in
wisdom and virtue, would have been like the dark and unmeaning
fables of tradition.
Who have been the champions of Freedom in all ages of the
world ? Who were the most able assertors of the rights of man in
the great struggles for English and American Freedom? Who
framed our own glorious Constitution, and who have been its great

* Injustice to Cade, it ought to bo mentioned, that although the prima facia
evidence is that he came to tbe gallows ; still the authorities do not agree as
to the manner of his death. Shakespeare says that he was killed fighting
valorously sword in hand, by a gentleman into whose garden he had broken lo
get something to eat, or in his own words something " wherewith to cool his
stomach" after five days of starvation. Tho historian also gives him the
credit of saving London from pillage several days ; so that it is probable that
Cade had more honesty and valor than some ofhis modern disciples.
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defenders, if not those men whose minds r^ ,mbued with solid
learning ? There were some indeed amo ag them, who were not
hred in the halls of learning, but they all showed by the power of
their eloquence that they had drawn inspiration from those great
works of genius which never could hav e existed but for institutions of
learning. These institutions are t'ue great lights of knowledge
which fill the schools with able teachers — the press with able
writers — the learned professions with able physicians, divines and
jurists ; and in ten thousand voys apply the principles of science to
promote the arts and enjoyrjents of life. They are the fountains
from which go forth those ^streams which diffuse sound and whole
some knowledge among tlie people. That knowledge which is the
living breath of Freedom, without which, she pines and dies. That
knowledge which never can live with despotism, and before which
ihe shades of slavery disappear as the mists of night before the
rising sun. It has been well said — Liberty and Learning have al
ways flourished and expired together.
Another favorite topic with the demagogue is the -'danger of a
union of Church and State."
What have we in this country that has a shadow of resemblance
to a union of Church and State ? We have no Church establish
ment — no House of Bishops, or body of Lords Spiritual or Lords
Temporal — no ecclesiastical jurisdiction — no immense Church pat
ronage with its rich livings, its beneficies, advowsons, and tempo
ralities, which makes its influence felt in every comer ofthe land1 —
no tithes — no taxes to support one church, or any church, unless by
our own consent.
It is believed that the influence of the clergy is not very great in
affairs of State — and not very dangerous even at the capital ; — where
there are some other dangers from a somewhat different sort of in
fluence. Among other astounding disclosures, it does not appear
that the most alarming is that the clergy stand in dangerous proxim
ity to the fountain of power ; — or have exerted undue influence in
the disposal of government patronage. It is doubtful whether, for
the purposes of Church and Slate union, their whole united influence
is sufficient to appoint even a tide-waiter. It is not known that anv
13

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clergyman excels in producing "healthy majorities" at elections ; or
can even exercise his own indisputable right and duty to vote at the
polls, without being exposed to vulgar abuse.
What then are the alarming dangers of a union of Church and
State? What then is it which these clamorous patriots so much
dread ? When we hear so much clamor for such causes and from
such sources, is it not to be believed that much of this great fear, is
not, lest the Church should be united to the State — but lest there
should be any Church at all in the State ? They fear not any dan
ger to the country, but danger to themselves ; lest there should ex-
ist such a state of morals as would be produced by the general pre-
valence of religion ; a state of things which would greatly abridge
their liberties of doing wrong ; and above all, which would forever
destroy all their influence, and sink them into the insignificance
which they deserve. This would indeed be a dreadful state of
things !
If any man wishes to serve his country in a way the most effect
ual of all others, let him by his precept and example, by all his influ
ence from learning, or wealth, or talents, or from whatever source
derived, do all in his power to impress deeply upon the whole peo-
pie a profound respect for religion, and to make universal that living,
spiritual Christianity which purifies the heart. This is the only
effectual antidote to the. tendency of human nature to evil. This
is the only living stream which can wash away the impurities of the
land, and preserve our institutions, and save us from that degeneracy
and ruin which have overwhelmed all the free governments of for
mer ages. Let every insidious attack upon its ordinances, its
oracles, its ministers, or its solemnities, from whatever source, or
under whatever specious form, be met by the decided, and solemn
disapprobation of every good man.
On this subject, the father ofhis country in his Farewell address
to the American people, has the following words :
" Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political pros
perity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain
would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to
subvert these great pillars of human happiness — these firmest props
of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally

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witli the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume
could not trace all their connexions with private" and public felicity.
Let it be simply asked where is the security for property, for reputa
tion, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths
which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ?
And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the
influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason
and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in the exclusion of religious principle. 'Tis substantially
true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular gov
ernment. The rule extends with more or less force to every spe
cies of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can
look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of this
fabric ?"
We have considered some of the arts of these dangerous popular
leadera ; but it would be endless to trace them in all their wander
ings and turnings. They have not the bold and desperate character
of those turbulent spirits who scattered firebrands and death in more
bloody times — but what they want in audacity and courage, they make
up in cunning and intrigue. Their system is described by a pop
ular writer as " a mixture of fawning sycophancy — a traffic for of
fice — a selfish speculation on political chances — a town dividing,
county splitting policy — a stock jobbing experiment — a system of
rewards and punishments — a little, tricky, maneuvering, skirmish
ing, selfish, noncommittal spirit — unknown to men of patriotism,
spirit, purity, and tried talents. It is working with small agents, —
controlling weaker minds — basking in the sunshine of other men's
influence — watching the turns of the market — ploughing to-day with
the workingmen — to-morrow with the alien and adopted citizen —
pulling every string and moving every wire that makes up the polit
ical capital of these ambitious and mischievous little men." * By
these petty intrigues, a sort of " electioneering machinery" has been
invented " by which the people become spell bound and taught to
play the part of automatons at their own elections." Where this

*Noah. 1'5

ORATION.
machinery has been put into the most successful operation, the peo
ple are no longer in any proper sense of the term " free agents, '
but act as acted upon ; and the " great question, in calculating the
probability ofthe election of an individual is not, " is he honest, is he
capable," but " is he a good engineer with powerful machinery ?"*
Such are the scenes which are witnessed in many parts of our
country — equally disgraceful to the actors, and dangerous to our
institutions. Another evil equally dangerous, which I mention with reluctance
on this occasion, is the demoralizing influence of Intemperance.
You know the number and character of those wretched men, who
swarm around the dram shop — the gambling house — the haunts of
wickedness and pollution, like a flight of foul and ominous birds, to
darken the face of this fair land. You know their influence on the
right of suffrage, and the purity of elections ; — Fit tools as they are
in the hands of the vile demagogue, who cares more for party than
country, and more for self than both : — fit ingredients to work up
popular tumults and commotions : — fit fuel to light up the flame of
civil discord, when another Cataline shall arise, and another Caesar
who shall set at nought the wholesome administration of law and jus
tice, and subvert the liberties of the land.
We would not unnecessarily mar the festivity and harmony of this
occasion by saying any thing, which may savor of the spirit of party,
or disturb the feelings of any honest lover of his country. The pre
ceding remarks are intended not exclusively for this party, or that
party, this State, or that State, but for all parties, and the whole
Country. But in the present aspect of our affairs, we feel compelled
to go one step further, than we should justify in ordinary times, on a
day like this. If we say any thing contrary to the feelings or opin
ions of any one present, we request that it be not set down in malice,
but to a deep and solemn conviction of its truth, and a desire to pro
mote the true interests of the whole people.
In considering the dangers which surround us, another still more
grave and formidable evil stares us in the face, of which we would
speak rather in sorrow than in anger.

* Wirt. 16

ORATION.
The Government itself lias been converted into a great political en
gine to subserve the purposes of party.
We have seen a man elevated to the highest office in the nation,
not remarkable for his wisdom, his experience, his self-control, his
respect for the laws or the counsel of wise men, when opposed to his
own will ; owing his elevation not so much to any of these qualities
as to popular favor, — a recommendation at all times suspicious, but
delusive and dangerous when founded on the admiration of military
glory. We have seen him possessing some natural good qualities, and
abilities for other pursuits ; but surrounded by designing men, who
have availed themselves of his inexperience in civil affairs, and the
excitability of his passions, to engage the Government in a course of
measures, and a mode of execution, equally unknown to our former
history, disastrous to our present prosperity, and dangerous to our
future liberties. We have seen the Executive descending from his
high station, to become the President, not of the country, but of a
party ; to distribute the immense patronage of the Government, not
by " a conscientious preference of virtue and talent, independent of
party or local considerations," as practised by Washington, advoca
ted by Jefferson, and promised by himself ; not with a single eye to
the welfare of the whole country, but as a reward for partisan servi
ces rendered ; a retaining fee for work to be done ; as "the spoils
of victory," to be shared among personal adherents and to be ap
propriated as the grand safety fund to build up and strengthen the
party. We have seen the increase of the executive over the other powers
of the Government ; the legitimate barriers which separate the ex
ecutive, judiciary and legislative powers, impaired ; the Executive
claiming to expound the Constitution and execute it as he under
stands it ! the acts of Congress set aside by expedients, and for pur
poses never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution ; one
House acting under the influence of party discipline, with military
' precision, in subservience to the Executive will ; and the other, while
asserting its rights and defending the Constitution, attacked in its
privileges and honor, and denounced to popular indignation by inflam-
matory appeals to the people ; — we have seen treaties and chartered
h-(b)

ORATION.
rights violated; the public money disposed of without law and be
yond the control of law ; loans without the authority of Congress ;
a corrupt bankruptcy in at least one of the departments ; a general
derangement of the currency ; and a spirit of distrust, agitation and
alarm, throughout the nation. In short, we have seen more in the
last few years, to break down the great bulwarks of freedom ; to frit
ter away with insiduous progress the spirit and sacredness of the
Constitution ; to destroy the independence of the press and the puri
ty of elections ; to break down the proud, independent, patriotic
spirit of the people, and convert the love of country and honor into
the love of office, and a base, cringing and fawning spirit of slavish-
ness to the will of political leaders, than in all our former history.
Fellow-Citizens : In taking this view of the dangers which sur-
round us, we cannot but look with deep and solemn concern at the
prospects of our country. It becomes us to look around for the safe
guards of the Republic. Our nicely modelled Constitution will not
bear the shocks of every ruthless hand ; its sacred provisions must
be watched and preserved with a jealous care, or its charm is lost
and its power is gone. The purity of elections — the freedom and
independence of the press — the vigorous growth of sound and health
ful knowledge — and above all, the morals of the people, purified by
the spirit of the Christian religion, are the pillars on which rests the
temple of freedom. These are safeguards which no other nation has
ever fully enjoyed. If they are cherished and preserved in their
strength, we may hope that our country will be as enduring as it is
blessed. We do not now call on you to battle with weapons of blood. —
There is a small weapon, called a ballot, insignificant in appearance,
peaceful in its operations, but mighty in its effects. Let this little
weapon be faithfully, constantly, and perseveringly used by every
good citizen, whatever be his name, sect or profession, and the first
step to the preservation of our national safeguards is taken. The
others will follow — the dangers which threaten our institutions will
be arrested — and the legacy which was purchased by the toils, the
sufferings, and the blood of our Fathers, will descend to their chil
dren's children forever.
Our ancestors have left us an inheritance which no people ever
enjoyed before. They were

ORATION.
porary patriotism, no narrow philanthropy. They looked not for
themselves only, not for the countless generations of their own chil
dren only, but for the unborn and untold multitudes of the human
race in the whole circuit of the earth, and in all ages to come.
They looked upon themselves as the instruments of Omnipotence, to
work out a fabric of social and civil order, upon the success of which
should depend the destinies of the human race. Never were men
so well qualified for executing so vast and so beneficent a design.
Their minds had been nurtured in the school of great events, and
partook of the greatness with which they were surrounded. They
knew all that was worth knowing in the history and policy of former
nations, and had before them the examples and experience of all
ages of the world. They were deeply versed in all the great ques
tions of human liberty, which had been discussed by the master spir
its of the British nation. They brought to the work their own ex
perience in self-government, their knowledge of mankind, derived
not from books, but from constant and thorough intercourse in hu
man affairs ; and what is more than all, they were deeply versed in
the oracles of God, and knew that no building could stand the storms
of time which was not founded on the Rock of Ages.
With such examples before us, and such blessings to preserve,
shall we despair of the Republic ? Shall we suffer this magnificent
fabric of Liberty to crumble and fall, burying in its ruins whatever
we love, and honor, and hope for, on earth ? Shall we suffer this
sun of Liberty to be extinguished ; thereby casting the shade of ob
livion over the glories of our own history, and blotting out forever the
hopes of all the unborn millions in ages to come 1 Shall the Amer
ican Republic perish! — or shall she rise, "rousing herself like a
strong man after sleep" — " shaking her invincible locks" — " casting
off the wrinkled skin of corruption" — and going forth to declare unto
the nations, in the words of her most gifted son, that the spirit of
human liberty which she has nurtured, "is a spirit of health as well
as a spirit of power ;" "that its benignity is great, as is its strength;
that its efficiency to secure individual rights, social relations, and
moral order, is equal to the irresistable force with which it prostrates
principalities and powers."* * Webslpr. 19

ORATION.
Freemen ! are you ready to answer ? I almost seem to see the
shades of your Fathers starting forth from their graves, and calling
upon you, as they bend their awful forms, in tones of unearthly so
lemnity : " Freemen are you ready to answer !"
The answer is given. I see it in the beaming eye ; in the breath
less lip ; in the unblenched cheek ; in the speaking look of holy
invincible patriotism. The deep murmuring of the people heard
from afar, forebodes that the storm which is to purify the political
atmosphere is at hand ! The signs of the times denote, that the
spirit which dwelt in the bosoms of our Fathers still lives, and will
continue to live and flourish in its original strength, in the bosoms
of their children. That spirit which has ever defied unlawful pow
er, with determined and undaunted resistance ; and has ever been
ready to peril all earthly good in the cause of civil and religious
freedom. Whether among the whig conventiclers who prayed and
fought among the hills and glens of Scotland ; or the whigs of old
England, who have been ever ready to meet the slavish "tory
doctrines" of " non-resistance and passive obediance," either in the
chamber of debate or the field of battle ; whether in the Puritans
who bade adieu to home and country for "freedom to worship
God ;" — or in the whigs op the American Revolution, who
" pledged their lives, fortune, and sacred honor" to secure to them
selves and their children the glorious heritage of Freemen. That
spirit has always been the same ; though defeated not disheartened ;
though overwhelmed not conquered ; though bruised not broken ;
though overcome still invincible : and at last triumphant ! That
spirit still lives and will be triumphant again !
The venerated patriots of the Revolution, where are they ? Like
the grey hairs that thinly shadow their aged temples, we see but few
lingering here and there among us. Some of whom we now be
hold to cheer us, and honor us by their presence in these solemni
ties. Venerable men ! we bid you welcome to the festivities of this
auspicious day — to you made mournful by the recollections of the
past, but brightning in the beams of present ahd future happiness.
We hail you as the survivors of that band of heroes and sages whose
memories shall never die ; we cherish you as the last ofthe soldiers
and the whigs of the Revolution. When the eye seeth, it shall
20

ORATION.
Wess you ; when the ear heareth, it shall honor you. May you yet
live many years, in peace, happiness, and honor, to enjoy the fruits
of your former toils, and to reap the reward of your virtues, in the
delightful contemplation of a free, happy, and united people.
Your companions in arms and in councils have almost all gone
before you to their long home. The signers of that immortal scroll,
the Declaration, are all gone. The Apostles of Liberty, Adams
and Hancock, Otis and Henry, Franklin and Jefferson, Sherman and
Livingston, and their illustrious compatriots, are no more. Wash
ington, too, and most of his comrades in arms, the brave and gallant
spirits, who bore their country in triumph through difficulties, dan
gers, and sufferings, with a fortitude scarcely known in the history
of man ; — they too rest under the silent clods of the valley. But
their memory still lives, and the example of their wisdom and vir
tue will live forever.
And he too, the friend of Washington, of liberty, and of man ;
he, the child of rank, nobility and fortune ; the noble youth who
bade adieu to the splendors of a court, the fascinations of pleasure,
and even the endearments of home thrice happy in the attractions of
youth, beauty, and virtue ; and devoted himself with enthusiastic
affection to the exalted and sacred cause of Freedom even in a
foreign land ; — he who has passed through the most terrible ordeal
of bloody revolutions with spotless purity, and the most lofty and
disinterested patriotism; — he, our nation's guest and benefactor,
who ten years since enjoyed the glories of a triumph, far transcend
ing all Roman triumphs, in the spontaneous burst of affectionate ad
miration from the whole American people : — The hero, the patriot,
the philanthropist — La Fayette, is no more. His body has de
scended to the tomb, but his spirit lives — his example shines over
the habitable earth — and his name shall be coupled with that of
Washington in the everlasting gratitude and admiration of the
human race.
Fellow Citizens : I cannot in any way so well do justice to my
own feelings, and the feelings of every patriot who hears me, as to
close these remarks in the words of a great statesman and orator,
pronounced in honor ofthe centennial anniversary of Washington-
words worthy such an orator, such an occasion, and such a man—

ORATION.
Words which cannot be too often repeated, nor too deeply pondered*
upon by every lover of his country and the human race.
" Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If
disastrous war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, another
generation may renew it ; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry
may replenish it ; if it desolate and lay waste our fields* still, under
a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to future
harvests. It were but a trifle, even if the walls of yonder Capitol
were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous dec
orations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All these might
be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished gov
ernment? Who shall rear again the well-proportioned columns of
constitutional liberty ? Who shall frame together the skilful archi
tecture which unites national sovereignty with state rights, individu
al security, and public prosperity ? No, gentlemen, if these columns
fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and the Par
thenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy immortali
ty. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than were ever
shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art ; for they will be
the remnants of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome ever
saw — the edifice of constitutional American liberty.
"But, gentlemen, let us hope for better things. Let us trust in
that gracious Being who has hitherto held our country as in the hol
low of his hand. Let us trust to the virtue and intelligence of the
people, and to the efficacy of religious obligation. Let us trust to
the influence of Washington's example. Let us hope that that fear
of heaven, which expels all other fear, and that regard to duty, which
transcends all other regard, may influence public men and private
citizens, and lead our country still onward in her happy career. Full
of these gratifying anticipations and hopes, let us look forward to the
end of that century which is now commenced. A hundred years
hence, other disciples of Washington will celebrate his birth, with no
less of sincere admiration than we now commemorate it. When
they shall meet, as we now meet, to do themselves and him that hon
or, so surely as they shall see the blue summits of his native moun
tains rise in the horizon, so surely as they shall behold the river on
22

ORATION.
whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he rests, still flowing to
the sea — so surely may they see, as we now see, the flag of the Un
ion floating on the top of the Capitol ; and then, as now, may the
sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely,
than this our own country."*

* Webster.  22.