-A ORATION, DELIVERED’ .A.'1‘ THE REQUEST 01" 'I'3’.l"E wmrmmm film: M gaaltmtm cmrmr 4, 1331.. I U C . I U I U U I I I II O I I I O O I I I I U I Oi fiahzmz rnzmmn nae -mmwxcn: r.u;.r~n‘;.s.v, J93. 1831. SALEM, Jury ‘6, 183}. SIR, . The Subscxibers, :2 Subcommittee for that purpose, have the honor to communicate to you the high satisfaction and sincere tlmnks of the Committee of Arrangements, for the excellent Oration which you delivered on the 4th innt. and to request the favor of I copy for publication. With the greatest respect, your obedient servants, V BENJAMIN F. BROWNE, I3. PULSIFER, jr. . o — EBEN. K. LAKEMAN. Ham. STEPHEN (3.. PHILLIPS. SAL'EM,VJu}y '7, 1831.. \ EENTLEMEN, I have the honor to acknowledge tho receipt of your favor of yesterzlay. I am deeply indebted to the kindness of the Committee of Arrangements for the favorable opinion, Which, through you, they have been pfeasad to express of my performance on the 4th inst. It was prepared, as you are aware, in much haste, and under the pressure ofmher en- gagements. ! submit it for publication in respectful compliance with the request of the com- mittee, and in the hope that it may serve as a. slight; memorial of the interesting occasion to which it refers. I am, Genflemen, with great respect, your obliged fxiend and sorvant, S. C.P!HLLIPS.. .1!‘ ORATION. «@0000- FELLOW-CITIZENS, THE day has returned, which to every Ameri--- can, under whatever sky he may welcome its dawn, brings with it the proudest associations that can swell the bosom of a patriot. At home or abroad»--~ upon the ocean or on the land---amidst the scenes of peaceful freedom, or in View of the miseries and horrors of civil commotion, his first and last thoughts are tluis day fixed upon his country—---his heart re» joices in her welfare-—--—his memory recals her his-- tory----his imagination pourtrays her destiny. He seeks for those with whom he may exchange com gratulations, and share his joy :3 and, with a generous enthusiasm, forgiving and forgetting, for this day at least, all personal and political irritations, he hasteins to greet in every countryman a brother and a friend. Such is the feelitigwwspoiitaneous with each and common to all---~the strong, natural, sympathetic emotion, which, far more than any or all external demonstrations, endears and oonsecrates this only holiday in our national calendar. It is eminently and universally a feeling of PRIDE. This promi- nent trait in the American character has always at- tracted observation, and seldom escaped censure. It has been reproached as weakness. It has been 4.4 derided as folly. It has provoked the sneers of the traveller, and the satire of the journalist. Foreign statesmen have affected to regard it by turns as a symptom of juvenile indiscretion, and of premature dotage. A Still the feeling has grown . stronger and brighter with time. It has kept pace with our spreading territory, our growing population, and our varying and multiplying resources. In peace and in war, the trophies of our arts and arms have been but so many stimulants of our pride. It still connects it»- self with past events, present scenes, and future prospects. It glows with equal ardor in the memo- ry of the Revolutionary veteran, and in the imagine-~ tion of the school--boy. It is imbibed from the mother’s lips by the infant in his cra.dle,—-—----it is stamped upon all our systems of education--M-it breathes in the eloquence of the Senate-chamber, of the forum, and of the pulpit. It is a sentiment which clings to its rightful possessor amidst all changes and under all circumstances. ‘While it is confessedly peculiar to an American, it is insepara- ble from him. He can never be so poor, as to be utterlygdestitute of the pride of country. However degraded by ignorance, or abject from vice, even if he be the abandoned tenant of the dungeon or laza-~ retto, the namevof his country is music to his ears, and her birth-day, if he have forgotten his own, he still remembers, aye and with pride. He can never travel so far, nor be absent so long, that time and distance can weaken or dissolve the tie, which binds his heart to the home of his fathers and the land of 4 his birth. .So farfrom this, if there be a class of our citizens, who, more thanany others, have felt, 5 and expressed, and retain the sentiment of unmixed pride and devotion to all which in their view consti- tutes their country, it is that intelligent and respec- table class, who have enjoyed the best opportunities of comparing America with foreign nations. Inquire, when you can, of those of your country- men this day assembled in the political and literary metropolis of Europe, whether, when exchanging the glance of mutual recognition, and the grasp of cordial salutation, and especially when seated to-- gether around that venerable form, to their admiring eyes the personification of the early glories of their country, they have felt aught of the sentiment. which I vainly attempt to describe ’! Inquire of them, whether, when returning, as most of them at this moment have done, from a survey of the wonderful events, which but recently have been shaking Eu- rope to its centre, they can perceive, in the state of things antecedent to, or succeeding any of the revolutions, whose results they contemplate, any thing more than an approximation to the political blessings and privileges, which mark the condition of their own country ‘I Ask them, whether, amidst it all that abounds in Europe to gratify a fine taste, " and to enrich a curious mind, they have yet found it in their hearts to think meanly, and to speak dispar- agingly of America’! Ask them whether the smiles or frowns of monarchy have seduced or terrified them into an aversion to a republic ’! Ask them Whether they have yet found themselves capable of blushing at the mention of the names of Washingtoii or Franklin, of Hancock or Adams, of Otis or Quincy '2 Ask them if they have ever yet disowned the conduct of their ancestors at Bunker-hill or 6 Lexington, at Trenton or Yorktown ? Ask them, in short, if, as this day has returned, they have been a ashamed to re-peruse A the Declaration of Indepen- dence’! I think they will tell youthat they are Americans still. I think you will hear from them nothing but an earnest assurance, tha.t, whatever were the predilectionsvvhich they carried with them from their native land for the government which their fathers i had established, they have comeback with stronger faith, and brighter hopes, and warmer hearts, and are now more ready and anxious than ever to cement and sustain the only fabric, in lvvhich liberty and ‘virtue have been permitted to dwell to»- gether on earth. I think they will tell you that your country has ceased to be an object, even of affected scorn, with enlightened minds, however de- termined in their attachment to different institutions ; and that the time has gone by, when any foreigner, be he a hireling reviewer, or some more conspicuous Ininion of aristocracy, dares to inquire contemptu- ously for an American invention, an American book, or an American battle! I think they will tell you that although an American may be proud of his country, while he knows nothing of any other, he but little knows how much reason he has to indulge such pride, until he has discovered that there is no real benefit attainable elsewhere, which is not Within his reach ; and that from the unavoidable evils, physi- cal, ‘moral and political, which are incidental to every other country and government, he is, and, if true to his principles, may continue to be exempt. I have supposed, my fellow-citizens, that I might safely, and not inopportunely, undertake to vindicate the national pride, to which I have alluded. If it has 7 been itself‘ produced by our institutions, it has, per» haps, contributed as much as any other cause to pre-— serve and support them; arrd however depreciated and even ridiculed by others, I trust the period is far distant when it will cease to be cherished and hon- ored by ourselves. In saying thus much, I mean to reserve theprivilege of judicious discrimination. I shall use the term, pride, in reference to a nation, as, in its best and true sense, we are accustomed to apply it to individuals. “ Pride,” says an author distinguished for philosophical discernment, “ is the inherent quality in man ; and, while it rests on noble objects, it is his noblest . characteristic.” It a is, therefore, by showing that our pride as a nation does, or may, rest on objects truly noble, that I wish to present it to your consideration as a national characteristic worthy to be prized. I. An American is proud of his country. He is proud, if I may so express myself, of its physical independence. 'I‘he..mi,ghty ocean, which provedfbr ages the barrier to its discovery, must prove for ages the bulwark of its defence. Embrac-~ ing already the entire breadth of North America, and gradually extending itself’ to include its length, all itsydangers lie within itself. It has nothing to fear from foreign invasion. It possesses, too, with» in itself all the resources of a nation. Stretching, as We may almost say, from the equator to the pole-—~—— including every variety of climate and soil-=---—rich, beyond precedent or parallel, in animal, vegetable, and mineral productions—--——intersected by navigable riversmcrowned by cloud-capt mountainsm-wit.h an incomparable sea-coast, indented by capacious har-~ bors and stored with the treasures of the deep, where is the country, in its physical features alone, which enjoys and is capable of improving to the best pur- poses such an independent existence '2 tWith every facility for the prosecution of foreign trade, there is no country which is or need be less dependent on it; and although at an early period of our history, a non-intercourse with Europe was fraught with tem- porary disadvantages, and can 4 never be desired on any principles of sound policy, still, under our pre- sent circumstances, what is there ,more certain or more encouraging than that, if, by any unforeseen events, we are to be shut out from the rest of the world, there is nothing to hinder us from becoming a World to ourselves, ‘.1 For what that nature ever granted to any other country has she denied to this ? The necessaries, the comforts, and the luxuriesof life are or may be easily furnished, in one quarter or another, in the greatest abundance, and variety. Whatever is not indigenous, grows upon cultivation; and whatever labor, skill, and genius have Wrought, fashioned, and contrived -upon the land or water elsewhere, may be effected here. Our country, again, is not only, for all necessary purposes, a world by itself, but it is also, in a popu-— lar and striking sense, a new world. It may have always been, indeed, a constituent portion of the planet tEarth—-wit may have undergone vicissitudes of which we have neither record nor tradition--—it may have been the scene of existence to successive races of animals and humanibeings, whose vestiges have been obliterated by time----still, however in strictness the epithet is inapplicable, the American continent exhibits to its present inhabitants the freshness and beauty of youth. Here are the ‘lands 9 scapes, which for the first time have recently un- veiled their magnificent scenery to the eyes of the naturalist ;. here are the inland seas and cataracts, which the modern geographer has scarcely yet been able accurately to describe; here is still the unex-- plored wilderness, towards which the foot of civilized man is but just beginning to advance 3 here, in short, is the entire continent, which the Genoese discoverer first brolight to light three centuries ago. To this simple Vic-viz of the actual state of our country I have supposed we rniglit attach no incon-— siderable importance-.'i It is, or, rather, to our fathers it was, a country free from settlements, desti- tute of' inhabitants, without any nionuments of pre- existing institutions, rich in all the beauties and bounties of nature, and undelbrrned by the rude in» roads of art. I do not forget that it had iI"1l"1:1l)itiLI1t“S ;-----and I remember, only to larnent, their melancholy and ir-— retrievahle fate. "Would that we Y11l{;_§'l"1t forget that we had such predecessors ! ‘Would that the entire history of our intercourse with thern niight be blotted from human records, and fi*on*1 human memory r! The simple, innocent, helpless, liarmless sons of the forest, they were here, and they are gone! The cruel policyof extermination has well nigh accom- plished its direful desigri. Inch by inch, tribe by tribe, they have gradually retreated before theater» rorsof the white, man’s power to the border of the Mississippi; and now, deserted in their utmost need by the Great Father, whose arm, stayed for a time in mercy, had been vouclisafed forftheir protect- tion;-~—compe1led,‘, in the bitterness of despair, to renounce their incipient efibrts in civilization, and to o 10 shut their eyes upon every prospect of earthly com» fort ;---—now, thrust upon the brink, they are to be forced to pass the fatal stream. Alas! better it would seem that theyshould perish in its Waves. My friends, it is a poor consolation truly, that this catastrophe is no fault of ours. ‘Our sympathies, our exertions have been all in vain. Even yet the last blow may be spared; but who, in the face of recent tidings, dares hope for such an act of tardy justice C? ‘ I I know that I address an audience, who will par- don, and perhaps commend, this momentary digres- sion. I know full well, that upon this topic I can express no feelings, which do not harmonize with your own. I say then, respectfully, but fear- lessly,-—---—others may reason for themselves,-—-——may doubt, may cavil, may affect to contemn-----but When We can forget the Indians’ sufferings and the Indians’ wrongs--—-when we can remember their past fortunes without yielding to the impulse of a gener- ous enthusiasm and an involuntary sympathy»-—-when we can View their present condition without blush—- ing, for our country----when we can contemplate their future destiny without the strongest emotions of sorrow and remorse-——-we must forget that We are inhabitants of the same continent, we must forget that we are Americans, We must forget that we are men. So long as we have minds, We must retain the consciousness of the galling injustice of which they have been the dupes and the victims; and our hearts, while we have hearts, must bleed for their misery. If the government of our country, regard- less of the public faith, solemnly plighted by ‘Wash,-, ington and Jefferson, and all their associates and ll successors in the high oflices of the Un»ion--——-unawed by the warning voice of States--mdeaf to the remon- strancles of so many of its citizens, the entreaties of the patriot, and the prayers of the christian, can so far suffer itself to feel power and forget right, as to extinguish the last hopes, and cut short the last days of this feeble remnant of a mighty race, we ‘can claim no other privilege than to shed our tears upon their grave. We can only say in the language of a favorite hard of New England, who wept for the misfortunes of’ an earlier period, but was spared in Hea.=ven’s mercy from heholcling the melancholy spectacle presented to our view-—-- “ Indulge, [our] native land, iuclulge the tear, “ Tllat steals ix1‘1possion"(l o’er a n:ttiou’s doom 3 “ To [me] eaeli twig from A<.1aI:'h°s stool: is dear, “ And sorrows lhll uporl an ludian’s tornh.” For all the purposes of the present :t1*gL1n1enl:., the Indians are, and were, are tlmugh they had never been. They used the eouxhtry only a l.11..u*1ti11g—g1~c>und, and when they fled from it, it mts an original, un- soathed Wielderrrtess. Here, tlieh, was :1. .‘L§C.t;!.l"l‘0 for human operations, new, entirely new, ihthe history of man. Here wee the new world, to which were to be t1'a11sp1ahte-«.1 the erts, the learni-ng,e and the population of the old. Irlere was the grand theatre, thus seemingly contrived for the display of the grandest experiment of the powers of educatecll amt. I ask you, whether tliere are hot, in the View which has been presented of tliie physical. 7t"eatu;-ttl the 1'i,gl1ts and interests of the whole liurnen race 5 end, to the rnoral and intel- lectnal vieien, their elemtien ie as Ioltyes the heaven €bfl”il0Z:tV01'lS.. I rep»ee.t it,tl‘1en,1t>eyond allother insti- tutiene of eur ezenritry, we runny be proud of them i; and may the day never come, that anyshall dare to call l’1i111eelt"e republican, an American, or‘, least of all, n desceiidmit efthePilgrirns, while he shrinks from glilf.-L1“(jllng, with more than Vestal vigilance, these sacred relics of patritotism and piety. Next beyond our free-«schools and churches, itwill be in course to refer to «the multitude of other litera- ry and religitoiisinstitutions, which, depending upon and eintninting fl'o1n. these, are variously contributing 20 to-i,mp1fo,x:e, adorn, and elevate, our social and moral condition. a They have grown with the growth Ofthe country in other respects; their progress, therefore, has been rapid, and it is still onward. Wye have pa- tiently borne the reproaches of older countries for our-want of scholars, and poets, of philosophers and artists, until we have ceased to deserve them; and we begin to feel that without royal patronage, costly foundations, and arbitrary monopolies, we need i not despair ofwitnessing amongst ourselves as much de-- ’ velopement of brilliant genius and practical talent, and of contributing as large a proportion to the gen» eral stock of ‘arts and sciences, as any who in these respects, have been hitherto our superiors. Our higher schools and colleges--—our University, for we may new venture to call it such--have attained to such degrees of improvement,and afford so many fa-— cilities for the prosecution even of the rarer studies, that foreign travel is no longer essential to the edu-« cation of a profound scholar. It will add to his ac-~ complishments-———-—it will perfect his taste-«---it will in-~ vigorate his mind; but it is no longer, what it has been, an indispensable requisite to necessary pure suits. Instead of i going abroad for teachers, such is the extent of popular patronage, such isthe substan-- tial encour-agement, I may say, the peculiar attrac- tion which a Republic affords, that we have only to intimate an opportunity of employment, and teachers from abroad come thronging to our shores :5 so that now, ‘every literaryseminary amongst, us, tl1a,tuas-- pires to eminence, bears upon its catalogue the names of’ as many foreign instructers, as there are foreign languages to be taught. Our literary estab- r lishments are not, and they never can be, a few ven- ' 21 erable piles, upon whichthe munificence of centuries is exclusively to be lavished. They are as numer- ous and as various as the Wants and character of our population; and although there is much of shallow- ness, and not a little of ostentation in their preten- sions, and although, from their great number and jealous competition, they are subjected» to peculiar disadvantages, it is still plain that they arein a course of constant improvement, and that, from the circum- stances under which they exist, such benefits as they afford are renrdered available to the greatest possible extent. » When We compare them as they are with what they have been, and perceive the noble spirit which every where directs and sustains them, we must have a strange indifference to the cause of‘ learning and the Welf'a1°e of the young, not to be proud of them. i t r In respect to our secondary and subordinate reli-—. gious and charitable institutions, where was there ever witnessed such a spectacle of zealous, untiring, oxhaustless devotion to whatever has any supposed connexion with the diffusion of‘ religion and moral- ity-mvvith the particular interests of each sect, and with the general objects of all ? It is not for me here, or anywhere, to analyze the innumerablepro». jects, Which, in onedirection and another, loudly call for sympathy and co-operation. It is not for me, to say, that they are or are not equally entitledktov consideration and respect. I refer to? them only as existing institutions--t-—-as distinguishing character- istics of our country andwtimes, and as, in part, the results of that entire religious ~ liberty, of which this country is the only refuge. r I am free,'however, to say, that in their combined operations, in their broad- 22 est tendency, in their general spirit»-—~—-in the magni- tude of some of the undertakings, in the boldness of others, in the comparative success of all—---I can see much to approve, much to admire, and“ much of which an American may be proud. If there be a country, where every heart and every hand is a vol- untary and constant contributor to public and private charities, and where every citizen is made to feel that he has no right to live for himself alone, but that he must of necessity if not from choice, Work with others and for others, andrgive and take accord- ing to his actual means and positive needs, that country is our own 3 and we have only to thank God and congratulate ourselves, that this law of our con—- dition is the surest guaranty of individual and social happiness, and of public peace and prosperity. “ r Thus much have I attempted to recal to your re- collection in respect to the constitution of c govern- ment, and the political, literary, religious and char- itable institutions under and amidst which we live. We may, and I have thought it not too much to say, We ought to be proud of them; for let it be seriously considered, that when they have lost their present hold upon our sentiments and feelings, we have lost our hold upon them. A A The objects of pride with which the hand“ of na—- ture has diversified and adorned the face of this Western continent are material, and so far perma-— nent. We may cease to admire them; We may grow weary of and forsake them ,3 yet here. they will re» main, mutilated and defaced, perhaps, by the ravages A of time, but substantially and constantly the same; It Inustbe reserved, at least, for the volcano, the 23 earthquake, and the flood, to change essentially the physical features of America. Not so our institutions; they are the resultsof moral and intellectual causes. The wisdom of our fathers conceived them; morality and piety have sustained them; and the blessing of Heaven has thus far prospered them. Still they are but the sport of public opinion. Luxury may undermine them; licentiousness may not tolerate them; refine»- ment may fritter away their substance; ignorance may blindly surrender them; even prejudice may overthrow them. Wlien they cease to be objects of interest, of confidence, and of pride, alas! they have perished. « A a How much then does it become us to watch and guard, to purify and enlighten this source of all dan- ger and all power»---public opinion! As much as the life of man is a state of moral probation, beset with temptation andexposed to evil, the existence ef this republic must he a perpetual struggle with the lusts of ambition and avarice, with sedition and pro« fligacy, with fraud and corruption. We have com-~~ paratively nothing to fear from open enemies with»- out; We have every thing to fear from disguised enemiesvvithin. Our safety is in our fears; there never is moredanger than when we imagine our-- selves secure. a l , in t Be it our pride to stand firm to ourprinciples; to cling to our institutions; to frown indignantly upon every attempt to Weaken their value, or to abate the veneration with which We have been accustom ed to regard them. A I t f Be it our pride to maintain at every hazard the Federal Union, in which our institutions centre, and 24.4’ which A is the only guaranty of the National and State Constitutions. By timely forecast and abun- dant precaution, letus seek‘ to prevent evils, which therpast and presentiadmonish us it maybe a hope» less undertaking to attempt to remedy. Insthe con- stant strife of local i5nterests,1et‘ us feel the necessity "of mutual‘ dependence, and exemplify the benefit of mutual forbearance. In the jarl of personal factions, let us be seasonably reminded, that principles, and ‘not men, are the prloperobjectsof primary 1'egard-—- that private merit is the only test of public virtue--- that present usefulness is rather to be regarded than former fame———-and‘: that a republic may become as odious as a despotism, if despots, civil or military, aretencouraged to; assume tsheireilnsll and Wield: the inflléuencee of government. Letit appear conspicu- ously in? all ourfrublic proceedings, in the policy we advFocate,p in. the measures we propose, in ourselec- tion: and? support of candidates for ofiice, in our ad»- herence or oppositionto, any administration, that our“ sympathies, , our views, your e immediate and ulterior ends are purely patriotic, and thoroughly American. Regardless of personal considerations——-willing and ready to forego local and temporary advantages-—~ content to share necessary burthens,let uscontend only, uponifair and liberal principles, for such encour...~ agement of foreign commerce, and protection of do-; mestic industry," and promotion of internal improve’- ments, as the people, i the whole? people, have a night to} expect, and, in justice to: their various; and‘imulti~ pliedinterests, are bound to.require; ‘ g n i . A Let us not be misled even by the spiritflof the age. I’)t~istrustful“ of visionary speculation and rash experi- ment,"-let“ us‘ doubt a the policy of sudden change, 25 v hastyiinnovation, and indiscriminate reform. Wheth- er under the pretext of renewing what is old, or of attempting what is new, let us least of all permit ourselves to tamper lightly with the fundamental laws, with established systems, and wholesome usages. Becausein the old worldevery thing once stable is yielding to revolution, let us not foolishly imagine that herealso the political foundations must be up- turned, and that amongst us a new era of fancied improvement is to be hurried forward by the arts of popular excitement. Let us rather have the wisdom to perceive, that the professed object of all changes abroad is to obtain what we are singly concerned to secure; and that we owe it to others, as well as to ourselves, to prove by our example, that our career may be as steady as it has been brilliant, and our in- stitutions as permanent as they have been success- ful. w l e Let us be on our guard against fanaticism, in every form-—-—ag«ainst profligacy under every disguise---~ against corruption wherever it may insinuate its in- fluence---—-against ambition whenever it grasps its ~sceptre—--against partyas soon as it shewsitself a; monster ;-“against the a government lest it should pervert its functions-—-~—-and even againstthe people, lest, in an evil day, deceived, blinded,ensnared,———,- the dupes of their own ignorance, the victims of their own follyém-«no longer warned by the fate of other republics---without a thought for their ances- tors, or a sigh for their posterity---they should sink their glory in their , shame,and prostrate in their downfall the hopeso-fthe world. \ III. An American _isproud; of the character of his ancest=ors. at 4; 26 What would have been the country, but for the sagacity, the prudence, the noble disinterestedness, the intrepid fortitude of its first settlers C? R-epelling by its austere climate, its bleak coasts, and its sterile soil all common adventurers, New England might for a long time have continued the undisturbed abode of the savage, and here and elsewhere mightonly now be traced the rude beginnings or the tardy pro-~ gress of feeble and dependent colonies. Where would have been the institutions, which nowspread the shade of their protection from the Atlantic to the Pacific, unless there had been such minds to conceive the grand design, and such hands to lay the broad foundation C?‘ They might, so far as the effect of «circumstances is considered, have been looked for any where sooner than here. In the old world, for ages, the science andrtherart. of gov- ernment had been subjected to every test of inquiry and experiment; schools of philosophers had risen and disappeared ; political; economists-i were striving in vain to solve the problems which they had them- selves proposed; statesmen and heroes were show» ing how by fraud and force kingdoms might be lost and won; yet, wonderful as is the fact, what the collected wisdom and experience of the old world had in vain atptempted to discover or to invent, it was reserved for the first settlers of thenew to devise and undertake. Upon this point, there is but little risk of exaggeration. If our government is, what we re-- present, and what few deny it to be, an unique and perfect model, the merit of the original, conception a belongs indisputably to the Fathers of New England. -who iwerethe» men, whose acts have been rendered thus memorable by their consequences ‘.3 27 They were men of whom the old world was not worthy; and they came here to enjoy opinions and to concert. a po1icy,which there it was heresy to avovv, and treason to execute. Their opinions com- prized the first principlesof civil and religious lib-- erty; and their policy provided for the practical re-~ cognition of these principles in all the concerns of Church and State; The statement of l their design is the best illustration of their character. They came not for conquest, nor for Wealth. " They came here to be freempolitically, . morally, intellectually fr.ee—-—-«and the moment their feet touched the Rock a of Plymouth, that moment theytwere free ! I need not say to you that adventurersof such bold thoughts vveremen of strong ininds---that they who could thus cling to the objectsof their devotion must have had warm liearts---that martyrs must have been honest—-~t.l1at the I’ilgrims were pious. ‘They had no faults but what may be considered the"ex~t- cesses of virtue; they had no weakness from which humanity is ever exempt. They subjected them»- selves to a discipline ofimind and body, which never fails to produce energy, patience, fortitude, and per- severance. WT hey were remarkable alike for «self- control and self?-respect. Their condition, as well as their principles, inculcated equality--a--an equality of duties as well as of rights, of obligations, as well as of privileges--—--and it is the crowning excellence of their character, that inthis, as in all other respects, they conformed to their condition, and adheredto their principles. t t e l T 3 n w t The sons of such men were worthyof theirsires. What was sown in weaknesswas“ raised in power. ~ The Revolution completed ‘what the settlement be- 28 gun. It was no change of principles, of purpose, or of character. It was the same work, the same spirit, and the same success. England refused freedom to the Pilgrims at home; they shook of their chains and fled. England ‘refused freedom to the Colonies abroad; they broke their chains and achieved their independence. » . The great men of the Revolution !---Silence per»- haps is the most expressive praise. To name them---.-.-. to eulogize their merits---to recount their services, will answer better at some future day when time shall have effaced the vivid impressions that may now be traced in every memory. If indeed they were bornfor the times in which they lived, the feel-‘ ing of honest pride can yield to no other sentiment than that of pious gratitude. If they created the oc- casion which has; immortalized them-m-if they scent-.- . ed oppression in;.the tainted breeze-——-if they periled life, fortune, and honor in the conflict for liberty---- with an electric enthusiasm, which spread without spending itself from Massachusetts to Carolina, they resolved, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, to sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish for THEIR ooulvtrmt, THEIR wHoLn ooumrnr, .A"“ND NOTHING BUT THEIR COUNTRY--if, twining the laurelsof the hero in the civic wreath of’ the statesman, they gave to the world the only example that the first in war might become the first in peace, I appeal to you Whether they, and such as they, shouldnot be ever first in the hearts of their countrymen '2 It was well said by Burke--—“~a great empire and] little minds go ill together”---—but it was also for his power- ful imagination to conceive, what it is our pride to- realize, that atgrerat empire, the work ogfgreat minds“ 29 reared, sustained, adorned, exalted by great minds alone--«might arise before his own eyes in a savage wilderness, and advance by rapid strides to the pin- nacle of earthly power and glory. t a v IV. An American has peculiar reason to- be proud of the condition of his own country, as com- pared with the present situation of other nations, Look where we will-—-wfrom one end of Europe to the other----from one end of South America to the other-—--throughout Asia---throughout Africa—t---and then look at home; and what is the contrast t’!---» England struggling with accumulated debt---a-her po-- pulation restless under a system of’ taxation, which has tasked the ingenuity of every Chancellor of the Exchequer to shift its burthen and at the same time to increase its weight--—-her agriculturalists demand-~ ingrelief in Corn Laws»-——her manufacturers turning out for wages-—----her bankers dictating to the treasu- ry—---her nobility compromising for their privilegesm her Church establishment a grown odious and intoler- foreign possessions ‘neglected and d:isaf'- fected—-++—Irelan aandoned eatofamine, unappeased by concessionw-and,l to leave the picture without com- plating i it, reform just preparin a the way for revolu-t tion! at V at l W i l ~ And then “ for France-—--beautiful France----the fa- vorite of nature, the emporium of art---her sons the flower of chivalry, her annals the romance of history ! How into one short year has she compressedthe events of a century I‘ The anniversary of the trauma nuts is at hand. The same month which marks our own, is, just now, alike memorable as the era of her Independence. » It commences with thanksgivings here----it will terminate with rejoicings there. But it 30 is for France to rejoice with trembling. At the fes-3 tivalof liberty, she perceives the sword of revolution suspended by a hair. Filled with combustibles, the torch of discord may at any moment spreada general conflagration. The policy of the government vvavers with every change of ministry. The influence of her purest patriots is no longer trusted 5 she fears to express hersympathy with her sufl"ering neighbors 3 to the faint cries of priest-ridden Italy she turns a deaf ear, and from the wounds of bleeding Poland an averted eye. l . l But the Poles are free I A second .Kosciusko has appeared for their rescue! The legions of the Czar retreat before the Scythe-men ! The passer of the'Balkan violates his pledge‘ before he reaches Warsaw ! Courage vanquishes despair. P Hope perches on the crest of victory. Alas ! it may be a short-lived delusion. There isno succor near. Po- land may be yet dismembered. Diplomacy and force are combined to crush her. A martyr to her constancy, a victim to her principles, shewill fall again, if fall she must, amidst the shrieks of freedom! I proceed no further. These, as we look beyond our hemisphere, are they not the brightest spots which have emerged from the night of despotism C? Of these how. dim and flickering the lustre '2 And upon our own continent--——f'rom Mexico to Patagonia, from Peru to Brazil---vvithin‘ the immediate reach of our influence, in the nearest view of our example, where our people and government have sent so many tokens ofencouragement-~-vvhat is theresult ‘ll 9 An- archy, bigotry, bloodshed; any thing but liberty, peace,orhappiness. tit » g r r P '4 .Let.uslturn"‘ou.r thoughts homtevvard. Here,but1 31 no Where else, is the good we seek. Here, but no Where else, in a true and liberal sense, is the mind or body free- Here, but no where else, are men enabled, voluntarily and fearlessly, to form their own . opinions, to choosetheir own condition, to fix their own destiny. Here, but no where else, is govern- L ment ,“ a compact by which the whole people cove» nants vvith each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people.” . Here, but nowhere else, is educa- tion the birth-right, and religion the free choice of all. Here, but no where else, is the march of im- provement,---physical, r intellectual, and moral--m steady and sure- _ Here, butno vvhereelse, is peace to be prized orexpected as a permanent blessing. Well, then, may we be proud of the Federal Re-— public—-—of' its natural advantages---of’ its admirable institutions-----of the character of its sages, heroes, and saints---—--of all that it is and is destined to be, in comparison with all the world besides. Well may we respond to the millions of our fellow--citizens, who are revolving in their minds the same topics of con- gratulation on this happy day. Let the day be given, as it always has been, to the free and full expression of the sentiments and feelings, which bind ourcoun- try to our hearts, and our hearts to ourcountry. A Let us feel that it is a day which possesses an equal interest, and an equal charm for all. Let the old and young, the rich and poor, the grave and gay, unite in its celebration. Let it be every where a truce to labor, a respite from care, a festival of joy. Let the tocsin Wake its dawn, and thecurfewtoll its knell. Let the brightness of noon be reflected in glittering decorations, and the evening twilight be illumined by artificial splendors. Wherever our 32 navy rides, or our commerce floats, let the air re» sound with the cannon’s pea], and the star-spangled _ banner be unfurled. Let the military parade, with its clustering associations, bring back to view the image of “ the times that tried men’s souls.’ ’ Let the civic procession----the mechanics, from the time of the T ea»-plot sturdy defenders of republican pre- rogative--—our gallant tars, who in their country’s cause nail their colors to the mast, and never give up the ship-———-the Firemen, ‘ always ready, at a moment’s Warning,’ to protect the property, lives, and rights of their fellow citizens'°“‘----let the civic procession,the most attractive emblem of political and social harmony, honor the day. Above all, let the doors of the temple be unclosed, and piety and patriotism kneel together in blessed union at the altar of their common faith. YOUNG MEN or SALEMl ‘The day is ours. With all its treasured recollections, it is a portion of our inheritance ; in its bright but fleeting moments, it is apart of our existence. Itis ours to commemorate, to enjoy, and to improve. It is ours to dedicate anew to the holy cause of liberty and patriotism. It is ours as young men, who desire no better lot than to live in the country, and aspire to no higher honor than to live for the country. It is ours in trust, as the successors of one generation and the representa- tives of another. Be it ours, then, by such a faith» ful, resolute, and independent discharge of all the duties of good citizens, as that, while we do not fail to be proud of our country,our country may have early, constant, and increasing occasion to be proud of us. i * The Salem Charitable Mechanic Association, the Salem Charitable Marine Association, and the dentin Fire Department of the town, appeared in the procession on this occasion-«See Ap- pen nu. .. . i it t &ZP?@W’®HX