^UNIVERS/A AVlOS-AHCEl&>,
 
 ORATION 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 CITY COUNCIL AND CITIZENS OF BOSTON, 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, 
 
 GEO. FRED. WILLIAMS. 
 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXVI.
 
 CITY OF BOSTON. 
 
 IN BOARD or ALDERMEN, July 12, 1886. 
 
 Ordered, That the thanks of the City Council be 
 expressed to GEO. FRED. WILLIAMS for the Oration de- 
 livered by him before the city authorities on the fifth 
 instant, in commemoration of the one hundred and tenth 
 anniversary of American Independence, and that he be 
 requested to furnish a copy thereof for publication. 
 
 Passed unanimously. Sent down for concurrence. 
 September 9, came up concurred. Approved by the 
 Mayor, September 13, 1886. 
 
 A true copy. 
 
 Attest : 
 
 AUG. N. SAMPSON, 
 
 City Clerk. 
 
 566577
 
 ORATION. 
 
 FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN : 
 
 This province began it : I might say this town, for here 
 the arch- rebels formed their schemes long ago. 
 
 This is the tribute of General Gage, one of our 
 early governors, to the responsible conspirators for 
 American independence. 
 
 With what reverence, yet what exultation ; 
 with what gratitude, yet what joy, should we 
 celebrate this festival! We who daily tread where 
 Adams, the " chief incendiary," poured his patriotic 
 fire into the hearts of men; where Hancock laid 
 his ease and fortune upon the altar of liberty; 
 where Quincy impetuously forestalled the bitter 
 struggle, and Warren courted his martyrdom; we 
 who move under the walls of Faneuil Hall, the 
 Old South, and the old State House, which first 
 resounded with the imperious calls of independ- 
 ence, we should deem it no mere form to gather 
 here. There is no spot on earth where the God 
 of nations may demand account of a higher 
 stewardship.
 
 6 ORATION. 
 
 And to this day with what promise and por- 
 tent Heaven has pointed! On this day Adams 
 and Jefferson, united on earth in freedom's ser- 
 vice, together answered the eternal summons. 
 
 Was it not a gracious monition that the hands 
 which moulded could not perpetuate, and that the 
 foundations built by the fathers must ever be 
 renewed by the patriotism of the children? On 
 this day the heavenly sign appeared above the 
 red fields of Gettysburg and Vicksburg; the 
 anniversary was heavy with the groans of the 
 wounded and the agonized cries of the bereaved. 
 Oh, glorious sacrifice, which bought that day 
 the promise that the union was to live ! 
 
 * With your lives," said the God of battles, 
 " shall ye keep the ark of liberty." 
 
 If we be now in the presence of those pa- 
 triots whose toil, devotion, and blood consecrated 
 this institution; if it be vouchsafed to them who 
 founded to watch over it, what account shall 
 we here give of the keeping of their sacred 
 heritage? Each may answer for himself. Let 
 him recount the hours which he has given to 
 his country; let him relate the works he has 
 done, the duties performed, the sacrifices made, 
 the obloquy borne, the truths championed, the 
 dangers courted. How pitiable is our confession!
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 7 
 
 And yet, indeed, this day is set apart not alone 
 for thanksgiving, but that we may renew our 
 obligations, and pledge anew fealty and devo- 
 tion to our country. Let us do it, solemnly, 
 before God, now and here. 
 
 Since last we celebrated this day the tears of 
 the nation have not been spared. Many who 
 were a part of our breathing present have been 
 anchored in the dead past. Let us not forget 
 their virtues. Him, who bore up the Union like 
 an Atlas, and on whom the highest honors of a 
 grateful Republic have descended; the warrior 
 who fought for peace, who conquered to forgive, 
 let us not forget. Let us wreathe two garlands 
 of a nation's gratitude, and lay them this day 
 upon the graves of the imperators of freedom, 
 Washington and Grant. 
 
 Within a few months it pleased God to call 
 to himself four men who had been candidates 
 for our chief magistracy, and three of them 
 leading figures in the war of the Rebellion, 
 McClellan, the upright man, the loyal soldier; 
 Seymour, the sturdy citizen, the spotless states- 
 man; Hancock, the majestic patriot, whose life 
 was lived, whose blood was shed, for the Union; 
 and Grant, the idol of the nation. These are 
 now of the past, and with them may the sad
 
 8 ORATION. 
 
 discord which they allayed pass into the grave; 
 the lesson of their work, rooted in their resting- 
 places, will bud and blossom with the seasons, 
 and its leaves will whisper the promise of peace. 
 
 And let us not forget those yet among us who 
 have borne our burdens : to him who last filled with 
 dignity, and left with honor, the presidential chair, 
 who now endures lingering sickness; to him w r ho 
 has had guard and guidance of our national 
 treasury, whose rugged strength went out in 
 restless service to the people, till he was stricken 
 at his post, to all who suffer for faithful public 
 service, in war and in peace, let our gratitude 
 and sympathy be now extended. 
 
 But before this day is done not only must our 
 praise and gratitude have been spoken for bygone 
 deeds and men, we must search ourselves in 
 solemn retrospect, and, learning and unlearning 
 the lessons of the past, seek for new light upon 
 duties to come. This is a time when we may 
 lay aside our differences, our animosities, party 
 ties, and sectional prejudices. 
 
 What is this? Animosities, party ties, and sec- 
 tional prejudices, these among the heirs of liberty, 
 brothers, children of the Union? And are they 
 to be taken up again? Alas, yes! To-morrow there 
 will be fro\vns, jealousy, injustice, in this family
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 9 
 
 which now unites in common thanksgiving and 
 devotion. Here, indeed, is subject for our intro- 
 spection; let us give it our thought while we 
 may, for the morrow comes soon. 
 
 When the Father of our country laid down his 
 mantle, he spoke words of warning and advice to 
 his countrymen. Listen to these sentences of 
 Washington in his farewell address : 
 
 All combinations and associations, under whatever plausible 
 character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, 
 or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted 
 authorities, are of fatal tendency. The}- serve to organize 
 faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put 
 in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of 
 a party, often a small, but artful and enterprising, minority of 
 the community ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of 
 different parties, to make the public administration the mirror 
 of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather 
 than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested 
 by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. The 
 alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by 
 the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which, in 
 different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most horrid 
 enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. It serves always 
 to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public ad- 
 ministration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jeal- 
 ousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part 
 against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. 
 Let me warn you in the most solemn manner against the 
 baneful effects of the spirit of party.
 
 10 ORATION. 
 
 Fellow-countrymen, have we heeded this warn- 
 ing? Have we not, indeed, suffered each and all 
 the results foretold in these prophetic words? 
 
 It need not be questioned that the organization 
 of public opinion is necessary, and political parties 
 in our land have had in turn their mission and 
 justification. But even a dazzling history should 
 not blind us to their errors and excesses. 
 
 There are pillars of our Republic which must 
 be kept sacred; with new plans, new structures, 
 new beauties, these must be preserved. There is 
 nothing at last gained which violates the integ- 
 rity of the ballot, degrades public virtue, or 
 weakens the control of the people over their 
 government. 
 
 Have parties protected the ballot? 
 
 The second century of Independence opened 
 upon the most painful sight which freedom has 
 yet witnessed, the election of a great people was 
 offered by rascally officials in open market, and 
 two political parties were bidding and bartering 
 for its purchase; again and again, in cities and 
 States, the voice of the majority has been sup- 
 pressed by fraud and violence; with technicality, 
 concealment, bribery, perjury, and force have parties 
 overridden the expressed will of the people. We 
 have become accustomed to the practice of Legis-
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 11 
 
 latures to ignore returns, and settle contested 
 elections by party vote. 
 
 And yet treason itself is hardly more threaten- 
 ing to our republic than this crime, which goes 
 unpunished in our midst, and is even committed 
 by mutual consent. 
 
 What deadly torpor is upon us that we should 
 tolerate it? And, if parties practise it, should 
 they not die a thousand deaths before we par- 
 don the offence ? 
 
 Have parties promoted public virtue? 
 
 Let us not recount the gigantic robberies with 
 which our politics has been shamed, the canal 
 ring, the Tweed regime, the whiskey ring, the 
 Star Route frauds, the corruption of legislators, 
 judges, and cabinet officers, the repudiation of 
 public debts: the awful record cannot be effaced. 
 But this, it will be said, is an old story. How 
 old are the indictments of a Board of Aldermen 
 in our metropolis for receiving bribes? How old 
 the corrupt sales of franchises in Chicago and 
 St. Louis, and the charges of wholesale bribery 
 in Ohio and Indiana? How old is our Fisher- 
 Hill disgrace? Nay, these things are in our 
 midst. 
 
 Has the responsibility of the government to the 
 people been maintained?
 
 32 ORATION. 
 
 We have seen a helpless minority in the South 
 ridden and despoiled by unprincipled servants of 
 the government; gross frauds in the departments 
 and in Congress condoned and concealed in re- 
 ports of partisan committees; great criminals 
 untried or acquitted, and frauds upon the ballot 
 unpunished. And all these wrongs, hateful as they 
 are to the great majority of the people, have 
 had the shield or palliation of party power. 
 
 A single one of the great scandals in our 
 public service would have shaken the govern- 
 ments of England, France, or Germany, to their 
 foundations. Is corruption, then, an incident of 
 freedom? Perish the thought. Yet, if it has foisted 
 itself upon the country, a great duty lies before 
 us. This is the one reproach upon our govern- 
 ment. Till it is made a shame the Republic is 
 not a success. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, these evils are rooted not in 
 the immorality of the nation 7 but in a system of 
 party management, which is foreign to the prin- 
 ciples of a democracy, and which has impercep- 
 tibly usurped the free will of the people. While 
 political parties should be in our Republic the 
 tools of the people, they have become its masters. 
 It is difficult to expose the methods by which 
 this end has been reached, because they have so
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 13 
 
 long been part of our political life that they 
 seem familiar and harmless; but, in truth, we 
 shall find that popular elections have been too 
 often the puppet-shows of politicians rather than 
 the Olympics of the Republic. The usurpation has 
 been none the less real that it has been gradual. 
 
 At about the coming in of this century Aaron 
 Burr conceived this new plan of political or- 
 ganization, the people are to be managed by 
 the same rules of discipline as the soldiers of an 
 army; a few leaders are to think for the masses, 
 and the latter are to implicitly follow their leaders. 
 When, later, it was proclaimed that w to the victor 
 belong the spoils of the enemy " the plan of warfare 
 was complete. 
 
 Its basis of action is to control the caucus. At 
 its threshold the citizen must put himself under 
 command, and pledge himself to support its action. 
 But its action is skilfully controlled by the mana- 
 gers, and the pledge is to do their will. 
 
 The perversion of the deliberative and advisory 
 character of primary meetings, by stipulating loyalty 
 to its decrees, is the basal sham of party discipline. 
 It is extended to conventions, and with like rigor 
 the party caucus, in more majestic shape, extorts the 
 promise of conformity even from legislative assem- 
 blies and executive officers.
 
 14 ORATION. 
 
 The helpless citizen soon abandons the caucus to 
 its owners, and thus delivers into their hands the 
 whole machinery of politics. And the caucus is 
 easily controlled: money buys the service of the 
 grog-shop and the needy, and secures purchasable 
 voters; honors lure the ambitious, and the bribe of 
 power engages a multitude of corporals in this army 
 of discipline. 
 
 The successful party enlists wealth and influence; 
 monopoly must purchase its protection and wrong 
 must secure immunity. 
 
 But over and above these inducements is the 
 dispensation of patronage. The offices shall be 
 plundered from the people, to whom they belong. 
 This is no secret : it is openly proclaimed. The 
 offices are no longer to be places of trust, but 
 the spoils of war. Oh, shameless presumption, 
 which puts upon the peaceful service of a Republic 
 the laws of pillage and rapine ! 
 
 Hear the words of a Massachusetts statesman 
 upon the floor of Congress: 
 
 I have heard in the highest places the shameless doctrine 
 avowed, by men grown old in public office, that the true 
 way by which power should be gained in the Republic is to 
 bribe the people with the offices created for their service ; 
 and the true end for which it should be used, when gained, 
 is the promotion of selfish ambition, and the gratification of 
 personal revenge.
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 15 
 
 Nor have the statesmen of earlier days been 
 silent upon this evil. 
 
 Quincy, Randolph, Clay, and Calhoun inveighed 
 against it, and "Webster thundered against it in 
 these words: 
 
 It is the use of the power of patronage ; it is the universal 
 giving and taking away of all place and office, for reasons no way 
 connected with the public service, or the faithful execution of the 
 laws ; it is this which threatens with overthrow the true principles 
 of government. 
 
 A numerous and well-disciplined corps of office-holders, acting 
 with activity and zeal, and with incredible union of purpose, is 
 attempting to seize on the strong posts, and to control effectually 
 the expression of the public will. 
 
 But, gentlemen, the principle 'is vicious; it is destructive and 
 ruinous ; and, whether it produces its work of disunion to-day or 
 to-morrow, it must produce it in the end. 
 
 At last political warfare has secured a standing 
 army. But the conscription of this soldiery now 
 becomes the most delicate and important duty; this 
 must be secured to the politicians. To this end 
 the appointing power is invaded. 
 
 Legislators demand the power of appointment. 
 Senatorial courtesy subverts the constitution ; and 
 we have even seen senators resign their offices be- 
 cause the Executive would not perform his con- 
 stitutional duty at their dictation.
 
 16 ORATION. 
 
 Legislators create offices to supply party de- 
 mands, and raise salaries to supply party funds. 
 The holders of office know that the politicians, and 
 not the people, are their masters. At their bidding 
 they overrun caucuses and conventions; they con- 
 tribute and distribute bribes; they cajole the weak 
 and threaten the strong; the public buildings be- 
 come the barracks and fortresses of party warfare; 
 mean men are not wanting for mean business, 
 criminals for crime; the holy ballot-box is even 
 defiled. Political patronage and corruption seem 
 so unlike that they are not recognized as twin- 
 brothers. Yet what protection has the public 
 treasury from dishonest politicians, if the public 
 servants are their tools? May not, indeed, the 
 conspirators themselves be placed in charge of 
 the department they would despoil? At least 
 exposure is but little to be feared when all the 
 guardians of the public trusts are at the mercy 
 of those who violate them. 
 
 But to this great engine for national control 
 the spoils of a nation do not suffice; the patron- 
 age of State, county, town, and village is poured 
 into the hopper, and no place of honor escapes it. 
 
 That national politics have usurped town and 
 city elections is not an unnatural consequence of 
 the scheme of controlling the popular will. The
 
 JULY 5, 1886. 17 
 
 frequency of elections gives better opportunity for 
 party discipline, and there are rich rewards in 
 offices and contracts. 
 
 Parties have built a broad and smooth high- 
 way to success, which is open to the wire-puller, 
 the boss, the striker, the demagogue, any one 
 who will bring votes and yield to the discipline. 
 
 The statesman and independent, who do not 
 like this company, may stumble in the rough and 
 solitary by-ways. 
 
 But there is not alone the reward of loyalty, 
 but the punishment of treason. Abuse and cal- 
 umny, jeers and scoffs, follow the deserter, not 
 only into public, but private and professional, 
 life. No one knows the relentlessness of this 
 persecution who has not suffered from it. 
 
 It is not strange that such a system does 
 not produce statesmen, that the name of politi- 
 cian is a reproach, that talent shrinks from public 
 life, that legislators are cowardly, and that the 
 people feel helpless to remedy the evils which 
 enjoy the protection of political parties. It is not 
 strange that the welfare of the country is sunk 
 in the furor of party zeal. 
 
 "If at any time," said a United States senator 
 to a graduating class, "you find your party con- 
 trolled by disreputable methods and with corrupt
 
 18 ORATION. 
 
 men in its management, do not abandon it, and 
 seek to defeat it by going over to the opposi- 
 tion." 
 
 Though after defeat in the party yon must 
 support the successful candidate, the logic fails 
 when the people have defeated the party's can- 
 didate. It then becomes your duty to doubt his 
 virtues and his motives, and sneer at his preten- 
 sions to reform. Is it not clear that it will be 
 dangerous to allow him to acquit himself credit- 
 ably? 
 
 Can any one be so faithful to his trust that he 
 will not be shamed by a slanderous party press? 
 !Nbt even the President is to be shielded ; even 
 here patriotism and national pride shall not suf- 
 fice. For he is only the head of a successful 
 faction. Is this an exaggeration ? Even now, 
 when the whole world, with jealous or with 
 friendly eye, looks to the President of the 
 nation as the standard and personification of 
 the national character, baffled partisanship de- 
 mands, even on this anniversary of Independence, 
 that we shall not point with joy . and pride to 
 the manliness, the independence, the candor, fear- 
 lessness, ability, devotion, honesty, and untiring 
 patriotism of the present chief magistrate of the 
 United States.
 
 JULY o, 1886. 19 
 
 To quote once more : K The best results in the 
 operation of a government, wherein every citi- 
 zen has a share, largely depend upon a proper 
 limitation of purely partisan zeal and effort, and 
 a correct appreciation of the time when the heat 
 of the partisan should be merged in the patri- 
 otism of the citizen." Signed, Grover Cleveland. 
 
 We need not to recall how sectional prejudice 
 has been kept alive for political purposes ; we 
 know how party rancor has set neighbor against 
 neighbor ; we have heard that it was the pur- 
 pose of one-half the people to destroy our indus- 
 tries, to despoil the public service, to indemnify 
 rebels and oppress a helpless race. 
 
 Thank Heaven, we need no longer doubt that 
 our countrymen are fit to govern, into whatever 
 factions they may separate, or under whatever 
 name they may combine ! 
 
 Let there be no misunderstanding. 
 
 Parties, as representatives of economic and social 
 principles, are to be desired, they are inevitable 
 in a healthy political condition; but parties ruled 
 by military law are not adapted for the peaceful 
 service of a Republic; they destroy public and 
 private harmony, lower the standard of public 
 morals, and substitute the schemes of politicians 
 for the will of the people. Instead of rational
 
 20 ORATION. 
 
 organized representatives of a healthy public 
 opinion we have seen parties which aim at power 
 without statesmanship; which have ambition with- 
 out a policy; which encourage sectionalism, pro- 
 mote private and public dishonesty; which will not 
 reform or be reformed; which are organizations 
 with no soul or conscience; which are mere intelli- 
 gence offices for the servants of the nation. 
 
 There is an institution, which is purely demo- 
 cratic, which was the mainspring of American 
 Independence. It is the town-meeting. We, of 
 New England, know that corruption has not yet 
 polluted it. We discuss, we plan, we arrive 
 at conclusions, mistaken at times, but, in the 
 main, right. The leaders, who make promises 
 in town-meeting, must redeem them or abdicate. 
 
 Compare the rule of the people with the reign 
 of party. 
 
 The last Congress opened, unanimously pledged 
 by open promises to the people to a readjust- 
 ment of the tariff, honest currency, and a reform 
 of the civil service. 
 
 Its policy upon the tariff has been to do 
 nothing, not even to debate; upon the silver ques- 
 tion, to do nothing. Civil-service reform they 
 have kissed upon the forehead and stabbed under 
 the ribs ; but the policy is still to do nothing.
 
 JULY 5, 1866. 21 
 
 Nothing, though multiplied a million times, is 
 still nothing. 
 
 Such is the product of party discipline upon 
 our national Legislature ; the woof of legislation 
 is spun into the party warp, and legislators are 
 measured by their party service ; a brave people 
 is represented by timid men. Party platforms are 
 a sham; the party's promise to you is worthless 
 while your promise to the party must be re- 
 deemed, even to the limit of supporting unprin- 
 cipled men for office. 
 
 The charge that the American people is as 
 faithless as the parties in which they combine, 
 is not true. They want honesty, they want true 
 leadership, they want independence and manly 
 courage. You, Mr. Mayor, have known how 
 lavishly the votes of the people are poured upon 
 the man who has the will and the courage to do 
 the right. 
 
 At last let ambition learn the lesson of 
 Carlyle : 
 
 Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own 
 mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the 
 suffrage of the world. 
 
 The -problem of to-day is to cure these evils ; to 
 bring the government back into the hands of the
 
 22 ORATION. 
 
 people; to reestablish direct relations between the 
 voter and the laws; to recreate direct responsibility 
 of the agents of government at the public forum. 
 It is a process of removing those "who impudently 
 stand between the people and their government." 
 Until existing parties shall promote this end the 
 instrument to secure it must be independent 
 deliberations, independent nominations, and inde- 
 pendent votes. To this end the price of public 
 honors should be untiring and single devotion to 
 the public service, and to this end all venal 
 motives should be removed from the path of politi- 
 cal ambition. The caucus is not our master, but 
 our servant; parties are form, and not substance; 
 they may go out to-morrow, and not an atom 
 of our institutions be lost; if they tyrannize, let 
 us form new ones fit for freemen ; if our public 
 men can only follow and obey, let us elect those 
 who will lead and despise dictation ; but, above 
 all, let us make corruption a deadly sin. 
 
 Fellow-countrymen, let us not forget that to us 
 God has intrusted the great problem of manhood 
 government; that, as we preserve and safeguard 
 that which the bravery, the wisdom, the self- 
 sacrifice of our fathers gave us, so shall in future 
 days our names be blessed or accursed. Time was 
 when upon a single head descended the gratitude
 
 JULY5,1886. 23 
 
 or reproaches of mankind; now upon the fidelity 
 and watchful care of each of us rests the destiny 
 of a nation; none so humble that his voice may 
 not be heard, no hand so weak that its blow may 
 not be felt. From the throbbing of your heart 
 comes the Republic's mighty pulse. The sword of 
 liberty is grasped by a million hands. Be watch- 
 ful, be fearless, be vigilant unto the end !
 
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