YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
Mrs. H. C. Tracy

AN

ADDRESS,

BY JOHN B. DERBY, ESQ.

AND

BY SILAS P. HOLBROOK, ESQ.
SBLIVEBED BEFORK THE ¦*
INHABITANTS OF-^MEDEtELD,
JULY % 182S.

DEDHAM :
IBZHVED BY H. & IT. H. MANIT.

Cht9

I-

U

< I
o

ADDRESS.

Before reading the declaration of our Indepen
dence, it has been customary, to endeavour to illus
trate the peculiar circumstances under which it was
promulgated, and the spirit which animated its au
thors. In performing this duty, imposed on me by
your committee, I will suggest some of the feelings
which it is calculated to excite, and the lessons of
political wisdom it offers for our instruction. On this
great national festival, when ten millions of people
find themselves in the enjoyment of a free govern
ment, in a land teeming with fertility, in the exercise
of civil and religious liberty, in the strict administra
tion of justice, in the successful cultivation of litera
ture and the arts, in peace with all the world and
pressing onward in a tract of glory so brilliant as to
confound all the speculations of the wise — what oth
er emotions should swell in our hearts, but the most
fervent gratitude to that Bein g, who has mercifully
preserved to us these inestimable blessings — and of
ardent love and veneration for those illustrious men,

4
who secured by their blood and faithfully t|3,nsmitted
to their posterity, these precious institutions. We
come not here, to endeavour to rekindle the expiring
embers of political animosity, or to say to a brother,
"stand afar off, 1 am holier than thou." We come
not, here, to perpetuate an hostility, to any nation,
that respects our rights, and violates no principles of
justice ! We rear no altars to Moloch, we offer no
sacrifices to the '' horrid king!" We are assembled,
unitedly to offer the pure incense of our gratitude, to
recal to our remembrance, through what perils and
hardships this great empire was established. We
walk among the tombs of our fathers — we read the
record of their virtues, their sufferings, their achieve
ments — we are surrounded by the monuments of their
wisdom and valour, we are inspired by the genius of
the place, we feel that it is hallowed and consecrated
to the puresft emotions of the heart.
The august assembly that published this declar
ation, was composed of men, who seem in a peculiar
sense to have been raised up by providence, to effect
bis great designs. In these peaceful times, when
"grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front,"
we can hardly conceive of the sensations, which agi
tated their minds, in subscribing this valuable docu^
ment. They were not convened in the midst of an
united people, to legislate for a country enjoying the
repose of peace and of an est^bUslied system of gov-
ernn^ent. Tbey were surrounded by storms and
commotions. They stood on the briak of aa abyss,
that threatened to devour them. They well knew

that the sacred cause, in which they were engaged,
was stigmatized as rebellion, and in its failure was
involved the fate of themselves,' their fortunes and all
they held most dear. They saw an infant people,
without arms, wiihout wealth, without resources.
abont to engage in a contest with a nation, unexam
pled for her wealth, for hep naval and military pow
er, and for the celerity with which she could accom
plish the most formidable designs. They saw this
powerful enemy already in possession of many of
their strongest posts, and actuated by no principles of
humanity, about to call forth the savage tribes of the
west, in a desolating torrent upon this devoted peo
ple. Yet with all these considerations to depress and
intimidate them, impelled by that sacred ardour in
herited from the pilgrims, which neither the frosts of
winter could chill, nor oppression, famine and disease
extinguish, and feeling that they were acting not on
ly for themselves, but for their posterity, not for this
people alone, but for all nations groaning under op
pression —they did not hesitate to stake their all up
on the hazard ; to assert the principles of free gov
ernment, and in support of their declaration, to
" pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honour." Happy people ! if we preserve these prin
ciples inviolate ! wretched ! if we should lose them.
The spirit which animated our fathers, at this
period of our history, never deserted them. In the
gloomy scenes which succeeded, no persuasions, no
calamities, no sufferings, could ever turn them from
their iuflexible purpose. When victpry had desert-

6
ed our standard, when our army scarcely existed but
in name — when worn out with watching, with hunger
and cold, the little patriot band that remained saw
defection creeping into their ranks and even treason
rearing his horrid front — when the exultations of a
frantic enemy rang in their ears, and they heard iu
imagination, the clanking of the chains, that were to
bind them in servitude — io this dreadful hour of na
tional despondency, when hope scarce shed her ex
piring light — " when all seemed lost" — the uncon
querable spirit of liberty still survived. "That spirit
is we trust in God not extinct." We trust that it
lives in our hearts — that it has not degenerated in the
children of these illustrious men.
My friends, our rights and privileges, so hardly
won, so dearly purchased — must never be surrender-
ed. Our fathers *' stood on an eminence and glory
covered them." On this foundation, watered by
their tears, enriched by their blood, and hallowed by
their achievements, what a nation hath arisen. What
was heretofore supposed to exist only in the visiona
ry raptures of the sage — is here matured into a sys
tem, gathering strength in its progress, and cement
ing by time. The philosopher in his retirement could
**feel the kindling majesty" of the subject, "dilate
his strong conceptions," but regarded it as a blissful
vision, transitory as a summer cloud, which the vices
and ignorance of mankind would never suffer to be
realized. Here it is reality — here the foundation has
been laid and the superstructure has ascended, beau
tiful for its simplicity, terrible for its pqwer — direct-

ing the benighted steps of the patriot, and announcing
hope, and joy, and liberty to all the kindreds of the
earth. Other nations have had their infancy, their
manho|l'[d, and the decrepitude of old age ; — our coun
try spij^^g into existence, like Minerva, " all armed,"
in the pride of her strength and beauty. Other na
tions have enlarged their limits, by the desolation of
the sword. — -Our territory is so vast, as to leave noth
ing for ambition to desire, and might endanger our
strength, were not, the tide of population rolling on
ward in so mighty a torrent, that as the forests are
swept away by its force, the land is overspread with
the joyous habitations of civilized and enlightened
men — " Sincere, plain-hearted, hcspitable, kind,
" Yet like the mustering thunder, when provoked ;
" The dread of tyrants, and the sole resource
" Of those, that under grim oppression groan."
In the contemplation of this wonderful prosper
ity of our land, what care we if rival nations, envious
of our greatness, deny us any excellence in the culti
vation of literature and the arts. V\ e have already,
produced, by the universal consent of all nations, the
most perfect model of a patriot the world ever knew.
We have had philosophers who have " snatched the
lightning from heaven and the sceptre from tyrants,"
and who have caused those mighty leviathans to
traverse the ocean, and laugh to scorn the winds and
the tides. — ^^We have had commanders, who had only
to "meet the enemy and they were ours," — States
men and orators, who have rivalled the boasted or-
tiaments of ancient times, and spread by the charms

of their eloquence the knowledge of our free institu-
tions and of the rights of man, to the most remote
corners of the civilized world. Our offerings to thft
muses, have been the productions of a vigor^bs and
fertile soil, and we anticipate for our bards tlh^dawn-
ing of a brighter day. Already in our western
wilds is heard the. music of their voice, and every
breeze from our mountains is softened by the melody
of song. Our land, offers an asylum to the oppressed of
all nations. — Here the weary exile, expelled from
his native soil, by the injustice and tyranny of its ru
lers, may find a relief from his woe, a refuge from
bondage, — Here his soul can "walk abroad in its
own majesty" — the paths of wealth and honour are
open to his steps. To whatever faith he may be de
voted, here he may erect his temple and offer up his
sacrifice, — and if wounded by persecutions and sink
ing under unmerited injuries, our fountains of justice
send forth pure and unsullied streams, — he has
only to approach,— an angel shall trouble the waters.
he washes and is made whole.
Let us, fellow-citizens, assembled round our al
tars to commemorate by a civic festival our national
independence, be mindful of the high character we are
called upon to sustain, and the great objects it is the
destiny of our country to accomplish. Let us resolve,
that the free institutions we enjoy shall be transmitted
to our children in the sam« purity we received them
from our fathers. Let us imitate their ardent patri-

otism, their severe virtues, their hatred of oppression,
and their real in defence of liberty. Let us observe
in reading this declaration of our rights, the piety
they exhibit in their reliance on divine providence
for protection. He did not disappoint their hopes :
He was indeed seen to " walk with the sufferers
thro' the flames," — he was their cloud by day and pil
lar of fire by night — and from small beginnings, has
raised us up to be a great people — a name and a
praise throughout the earth. Our country shall be
the abode of every thing that is great and excellent,
and we will impress it on our own minds and engrave
it on the minds of our posterity, that "a day, an hour
of virtuous liberty — is worth a whole eternity of
bondage."

ORATION.

AN undertaking that would be discouraging to
others, who have better grounds for confidence than I
have, may well be formidable to me; but if my brief
time for preparation cannot separate censure and crit
icism, it will at least disarm censure of its sting.
The very anxiety that we feel to do well, is
sometimes an obstacle to success : and from this anx
iety I have no wish to be free. But there is a differ
ence, (and it is much in my favor) between a reputa
tion to be gained and to be hazarded. In this in
stance, it is gaming without a stake ; something may
be won, but nothing can well be lost.
The occasion that has called us together, is one
that should awakeu all our pride, and all our patri-
otism. We have not convened to vow hereditary al
legiance, where it may be well requited, and where
it may he abused ; nor d'o we come to our country's
altars, to swear like Hannibal, eternal enmity to any
nation. Our national animosities burn not in peace.
If there is one man present who nurses in his besom
that spark of hell, let \\ixa retire ; this time and place

13
are consecrated to better feelings. With all rancor-
ous recollections, let us put off the shoes from our
feet, for the ground whereon we stand is holy.
As long as gratitude is a virtue, and patriotism
not a reproach, so long shall we delight in the asso
ciations of this day. In its beneficent effects upon
the whole human race, it is second only to that, on
which was proclaimed "peace on earth and good will
to men." For it is not we alone who have reason to
rejoice at the success and duration of our republic,
but the eyes of all, who are in the darkness of despo
tism, are intently watching the progress of our star.
xilte a light to the mariner, it points to the haven of
safety and repose. As our independence was the tri
umph of intellect over force ; to other nations a diffu
sion of knowledge is the only anchor of hope.
Our pilgrim fathers were wise and reflecting
men, and estabUshed early means to render knowl
edge accessible to all. Had they been merely good
and moral men, T)ut had discouraged as much as they
did promote the cause of education, this anniversary,
with its proud train of recollections, might not have
called us together. As it is the first spark which
produces the explosion, it is hazarding little to say,
that in the first solitary school-house erected in the
infant colony, were sown the seeds of our indepen
dence. Oppression hastened its declaration ; but
with )at oppression it must have taken place. The
love of country, like the holy flame that leads to wed
lock, faiiiot be shared by two objects. This was
the country df our birth, our attachments, and our

13
hopes. Here were our fathers bones, and the inher
itance of our children, and here must have centred
our national character and devotion.
Time will not allow us to refer to the less obvi
ous causes, which produced the immortal Declaration
we have convened to celebrate, and which we have
heard so impiessively read. These causes are not
unknown to you ; and still more familiar to yonr
memories is the drama itself of our revolution. Be
sides, I see venerable men who were actors on that
honorable stage, and to them any retrospect would
be idle and vain. I see a little remnant of that gal
lant band, to whose privations we owe our enjoyments
and to whose dangers we owe our security. I see a few
of the chosen instruments of those inflictions, which
compelled a mighty monarch when he could no lon
ger contend, graciously to consent *'to let Israel go."
But, though we shall indulge in no retrospect of
our revolution, we must not omit our acknowledg
ments to those who fought its battles. The calls of
duty did not allow them all in youth to make provis
ion for the wants of age; and the certificates of their
services filled only the coffers of speculators. We
rejoice that the tardy gratitude of their country is felt
at last by the brave assertors of its independence.
They do not now present that affticting and humilia
ting sight, an aged soldier asking charity, in the
country he has saved. Brave men! you had the
confidence and esteem of Washington ; you stood in
battle by the side of him, who conquered sometimes
like Fabius, and sometimes like Marcellus.

11.
Our heart-felt gratitude and deepest veneration
we offer at the grave of that perfect man, in whom
was united every thing magnanimous in sentiment,
lofty in feeling, and great in action.
Some very general remarks upon the influence
of our institutions in other nations, and some glances
at the present state of our country, are all that will
solicit your indulgence. The consequences of our
political experiment, magnificent as they have been,
are only beginning to be felt. Yet already has al
most every nation in Europe participated in our suc
cess. The iron grasp of hereditary despotism is re
laxed, and the legitimate sources of authority are
Letter understood. In governments where the peo
ple are any thing more than an abstract idea, the pop
ular branch has increased in strength. The clemen
cy, or policy of Alexander has restored to his sub
jects many of their rights ; and Ferdinand has yiel
ded what he could no longer retain.
The French revolution has given a temporary
check to the pervading influence of our republic.
Yet even that dance of death and triumph of Moloch,
savage and sanguinary as it was, has not been with
out its uses. It is a warning to other nations not to
attempt to imitate before they can comprehend the
original. It tells them also, in language terribly im
pressive, that until they are moral, as well as intelli
gent, they will dethrone one tyrant only to exalt flve
hundred in his place.
The South Americans have seen our star and

15
worshipped it. Their independence has survived
the fears of its friends and the hopes of its enemies.
Our hearts have been with those who struggled for
freedom, and who have not strove in vain ; though
the principles of our government forbade us to aid the
holy cause. We now offer a fraternal hand, and
welcome others into the little and happy family of
the free. It is a glorious triumph for our principles
and example, that they have rescued the vale of
Mexico from its spoilers, and that our tree has taken
root, in the country of Montezuma. Cruelty and op
pression have there stretched their victims on a bed
of flames ; but a hand is pointing from the grave of
Guatemozia to a bed of roses.
The spirit of freedom is walking the earth ; and
we rejoice that it is a spirit difficult to lay. The arm
of Spanish despotism is weakened, and we hope to
see revived the lofty honor and chivalry of Spain.
That country has seen the black above the purple ;
the cowl above the crown. But H.q first day of free
dom, is the last of superstition. The time is past,
when the "sandalled foot" was upon the neck of
princes ; and we trust that it will never be placed
again upon that of the people.
If the- wishes of the good and the wise, of the
poet, the philosopher and the orator, could shed a
redeeming influence upon one ill-fated country,
Greece would yet be free. The monuments of art,
which seem to have excited pity in Time itself; the
graves of men who have enlightened all mankind,
would be profaned no longer. It is pleasing, but

16
perhaps vain to hope, that Greece, which though dark
herself, still gives light to the world, is beholding
the dawn of another day. It is afflicting to believe,
that while the identity of Marathon and Thermopylae
remains, brave hearts will not beat in the country of
Militades and Leonidas.
A few brief and general remarks upon the pres
ent state of our country are all that will now be
offered. Had we remained until this day the colonies of
Great Britain, we should now have been, but what
Ireland is. Is there a country on earth, except his
own, that cannot show you an Irishman high in honor
and esteem? Yet he is but a sojourner in his native
land. His time, his wealth, and his ambition are not
for Ireland. If his lofty spirit sighs for distinction,
he must seek it in a foreign service. He would be
crushed at home, lest he should feel like Brutus, the
degradation of his country. Such, thanks to our fa
thers' firmness, and the protection of Heaven, is not
our situation. It is an excuse for pride, that the un
fortunate and oppressed of every country, find home,
and friends and welcome in ours. It is a sanctuary
which none can violate, and its portals are never clo
sed. Our laws act equally upon the mighty and the
mean ; justice iu her temple is accessible to all, and
the most humble may touch the hem of her sacred
garment. Never have our hearts been so closely united as
at this time. The stormy flood of faction has subsi-

17
ded, and the dove returned with the olive branch.
Our affections are not now bounded by local ties ; but
northern, southern, and western interest are merging
into a greater.
The reputation of enterprise and spirit has never
been denied us ; but our literary pretensions have
hitherto been answered with a sneer. In the very
fir«t rank of English literature, is now a countryman
of ours. We too offer him the tribute of our admira
tion. We conjure him to remember what he owes to
hiniselfand his country, and we trust that the com
mencement of his splendid fame and success will not
be the end of his exertions.
We have a novelist, whose early productions
would have reflected no discredit upon the Great
Unknown ; and we dare read and admire them with
out the sanction of a foreign review.
Without having exhausted the old, we are de
veloping new sources of national wealth. To our
fair country-women our acknowledgments are due,
that our waving fields of grain are doubly valuable.
As female honor is never so secure as when guarded
by industry ; long may we cherish this union of ele
gance and utility ; and long may it offer so fit an
employment for the fingers of beauty.
The present prosperity of our country, he who
runs, may read; and this prosperity is a certain in
dication of its future grandeur. On this theme the
wildest reveries of the imagination will hardly exceed
sober probability.

18
Amid all these subjects for rejoicing, there arc
some for regret. Our star is indeed splendid, but
there are spots upon its southern disc. From our
fathers, who lived under another government, has de
scended an evil, which, if it were possible to remove,
it would be most infamous to bear. But the remedy
has ever been beyond our reach ; and however we
may deplore the existence of slavei-y in our country,
we cannot accuse ourselves as a nation, of having in
troduced it. But that it has spread like a pestilence,
if it is too late for remedy, is not so for sorrow and
shame. But of these feelings, our share is small.
Sons of New-England ! our hands are clean : our
air is not tainted with the groans and curses of these
living victims to Mammon ; our servants are not paid
with stripes, and our dainties are not bought with
blood. But, if there is a wretch among us, like a fiend ia
Paradise, whose "hangman's hands" all the perfumes
of Arabia cannot sweeten ; who would steal, and sell
an image of his Maker for an image of Carolus ; it is
a stain upon our character to conceal our detestation
and scorn. If conscience cannot afflict him, let him
at least, be pursued by infamy. I will not do so much
injustice to the habits and feelings of that animal by
which Romulus was nursed, as to compare it for a
moment, with such a man.
There are other altars in our country as execra
ble and as bloody as those of M ammon. In this land
of reason, liberty, and religion, is an idol less merci
ful than Jagernaut itself. Its victims are not the

humble and the undistinguished, but they are chosen
from the eminent and the worthy. At Hoboken and
Bladensburgb, the best blood of our country has been
offered at its shrine. It is in vain to deny, that a
savage principle of honor is deeply rooted in our so
ciety. No trifling considerations compelled men like
Hamilton and Decatur to sanction by their example,
a practice which they could not approve ; and it is
not believed that enmity alone would have carried
them to the field. Their lot was happier than that of
their foes. In a contest where victory is more shame
ful than a defeat, the forgetfulness of the grave is
preferable to the consciousness of Cain.
When nothing but the Alexandrian method can
unravel an intricate knot, — when the lists of death are
prepared, and Honor is hungry for his feast of blood;
we would express as much joy as good citizens are
bound to feel, whenever his appetite should chance
to fail. As a bullet will not in every instance obey
the impulse of gravitation ; it is matter for rejoicing,
that when intended fot the heart of a countryman, it^
endangers only the toe of the assailant. Though our
sympathies are ndt much in favor of this species of
honor; yet even we regret when it is wounded in the
region of its very seat. " Strike me in front," (said
a Spartan soldier to his enemy, while wounded, and
endeavouring to turn himself on the field of battle,)
" that my friends may not blush for me after death.''
In a country where public opinion is the only
source of honor, every citizen is bound to oppose thig
Gothic appeal to arms. Let us do justice to the firm-

so
ness of that man whose sense of diity prevails against
the insinuations of the world. Let us never in the
civilities of society, take the hand of him who has
stained it with blood. If he have not the mark upon
him, let him be shunned as a murderer. Let our
daughters and sisters reflect, that to honor and merit,
they are the excitement and reward ; and let the re
ward be withheld from him, who can claim it by no
better titled than composure in single combat.
My task is drawing to a close. On the subject
of our independence, I have only to remind you, that
to keep, is at least as difiBcult as to acquire. As our
posterity will be but what you make your children ;
if they are moral and intelligent, they must be free.
Let them understand their rights, and doubt not that
they will defend them. Letthem read their fathers'
achievements, and they will emulate their fathers'
virtues. Impress upon their minds the history of
our Revolution : and when you see their little eyes
sparkling at the dangers and the fame of its heroes,
you will have kindled a flametbat can never be ex
tinguished. You will have excited;that pride in their
country's honor, which is the best security of its lib
erty. And, when the present empires of Europe
shall have faded from geography, and are to be sought
in history. alone; "the House that is fonnded on the
rock of Plyniiouth," shall endure with the rock itself.

PHOTOMOUNT
PAMPHLET BINDER
Manufactured by
GAYLORD BROS. Inc.
Syracuse, N.Y.
Stockton, Calif.