WILIARD An Oration. E 286 C4 1821 9 PRONOUNCED AT CHARLESTOWN, ON THE 4ft\3\JlA, 1841, AT THE REQUEST OF THE REPUBLICAN CITIZENS OF THAT TOWN, IN COMMEMORATION OF BY PAUL WILLARD, ESQ. 1 TO WHICH IS ADDED, REMARKS, INTRODUCTORY TO THE READING OF THE Declaration of Independence, ON THE SAME OCCASION, BY NATHANIEL HALL LORING. PUBLISHED BY THE REQUEST OF THE REPUBLICAN CITIZENS OJ 1 CHARLESTOWN. BOSTON: K. BELLAMY PRINTS*. 1821. SELF-GOVERNMENT is as clear and indisputable a hu- man right as self-preservation. We need not search the theories of the civilian or moralist for the truth of this posi- tion. It is derived from the very nature and capacities of man. His moral and social qualities his ability to reason and compare, to discriminate between good and evil, and above all, his unconquerable love of self and desire of hap- piness, render him capable of this elevated purpose. Yet, this principle, however true and essential to human welfare and pleasing to human pride, has been reluctantly recognized, and is comparatively the result of modern innovation. It was not the interest of the few to develope it. For its dis- covery would prostrate the power, which accident or usur- pation had given them, and which could only be secured by the ignorance of the many. Aware of this, individuals, who have seized on the government of communities, have always made it their primary concern to shut up the fountains of knowledge, and divert the attention of the multitude from an inquiry into 'their rights, to a stupid veneration of the power that oppresses them. It was reserved till the seventeenth century, for our im- mediate progenitors to embrace the doctrines of political equality and self-government, and to restore mankind to their rightful condition and original character. This was not the work of an individual, nor 4he effect of chance. It was the ne- cessary consequence of a combination of circumstances. We cannot ascribe to our ancestors, qualities which are not com- mon to men, nor suppose that they were favored with any special interpositions of Deity. True it is, they committed their lives and their fortunes to the hazard of the waves, and the uncertainties of a region but little known. Any thing was preferable to the oppression they escaped. It was even now. that the revolution, which gave us our liberties,had com- menced. The little bark, which shoved off from their native shores, amidst darkness and doubts and perils, carried in its bosom, the germ of a powerful people. Human nature received a new impulse and began now to draw from its own vast resources. The artificial restraints, which had fastened upon the society they had left, were shaken off, and the mind had free scope'for the exercise of its energies. Removed from the vicinity of courts and the influence of the idolatry and corruption which surround them, they could adopt that plainness and simplicity of manners, which qualify men for hardship and exertion. They were no longer terrified by the frown, nor intoxicated by the smile of royalty. Their senses were no more bewildered by the pomp and parade and mockery of kings. They began to receive right percep- tions of things. The greatness of their enterprize and its suc- cessful result, gave them a confidence in their own strength, and led them to contemplate their exalted powers and desti- ny. The country they adopted was peculiarly favourable to the encouragement of these reflections. Remote from the theatre, where our species has always been depressed, their spirits were not broken, and their hearts appalled by the groan of the oppressed, and the song and revelry of the oppressor. These were exchanged for the howl of the wil- derness and the roar of the cataract. But the productions of nature do not weaken and terrify man. He knows how to enjoy, to improve, or subdue them. The grandeur of its mountains, the majesty and beauty of its streams, and the innumerable glories of its soil, were substituted for towers and palaces and pageantry. These could not fail to elevate the soul and give a higher tone to the feelings and sentiments. It was here, amidst this bold scenery and on this extended scale of things, that the human faculties were to take a new bias, and human character was to be formed upon a new and im- proved model. Here, man "was destined to walk abroad in the freedom and dignity of his nature, considering all men as his brethren, md acknowledging no superior but the Supreme of the universe. It is impossible to describe the operations of the affections, or trace the progress of the mind, as we would mark the move- ment and direction of bodies. Its revolutions are silent and gra- dual, and its course unseen. No herald proclaims its march ; no force can arrest its career. It was this secret and power- ful agent, aided by the causes and facilities, already assigned, that paved the way to the great events which were about to break upon the world. Beyond the reach of the trammels which had heretofore bound them, men began to think for themselves. They found they had power to will and to do. The means of communicating knowledge had become easy and common, which wonderfully accelerated these inqui- ries and the advances of intellect. A change was impercep- tibly wrought in their religious sentiments, and in their views of social rights and duties. Christianity unfolded her pure principles, and taught men their relation to each other, and to their God that all men are equal, and that conscience is amenable to no human tribunal. The developement of these truths, which had been concealed for centuries by the digni- taries of the church, powerfully co-operated to hasten the o- verthrow of political usurpation. Ignorance and superstition were yielding their empire to truth and light and free inqui- ry. These great changes were silently going on in the new world, unobserved by the dynasties of the old. Before the ears of royalty were saluted by a single whisper of disaffec- tion, or note of remonstrance, the revolution was deeply founded in the hearts and minds of the colonists. They were possessed of the great secret, that all political power must be derived from the people that, this is the only source of legiti- mate government, and this alone is obligatory. The princi- ple of representation was understood and appreciated. Its benefits had been partially realized, in consequence of the incautious indulgence of the parent country. But the jeal- ousy of the sovereign was soon alarmed at our -'^creasing greatness, and began to abridge those privileges which had been sparingly allowed. Opposed from our principles and feelings to violence and blood-shed, petition was resorted to, but in vain. We even bent before the foot-stool of monarchy and supplicated for the enjoyment of those rights which were already ours, and of which no power on earth could deprive us. But swollen with the pride of imaginary supremacy, and blind- ed by the flattery and obsequiousness of his minions, he was leaf to our entreaties.- He sent out his legions to subdue us by force. It was vainly supposed that the roar of the British Lion would hush our inquietudes, and that we would cower in unconditional submission, or retire to our forests like the hart before the hunter and his hounds. This impolitick mea- sure of the ministry is a proof of their utter ignorance of the great moral and intellectual reformation which had taken place in the new world. Their armies swarmed upon our shores, versed in all the arts of human butchery, and secure of success and victory. They supposed they had nothing but mere flesh and blood to contend with. They little thought they were to be opposed by the mighty energies of talents, intelligence, and public spirit. The grand consummation was now approaching. The unequal conflict between power and right was about to commence. On the one side, were mili- tary skill, numbers and wealth, the main spring of human ex- ertion. On the other, justice and the hopes of humanity. It is matter of surprise and rejoicing, that the same views, and the same spirit actuated all the colonies on this momentous occasion. They were sprung from various nations, their con- stitutions of government were dissimilar, their habits and man- ners different, and their intercourse and acquaintance with each other, limited and imperfect. Upon this diversity of religions and customs and pursuits, the enemy grounded his expectations of an easy subjugation. To divide and conquer was his favorite maxim. It might have seemed to the timid and superficial mind, an attempt at impossibilities to harmo- nize these diversities and unite them in the same principles and system of action. But the same causes will invariably produce the same effects, and human nature is every where the same, when the circumstances are equal. The subject of dispute was not a portion of territory, nor like any of the triv- ial causes which usually provoke nations to war. It was a contest between arbitrary power on the one hand, and ration- al liberty on the other. And, the issue would be equally beneficial or injurious to all the colonies. The causes, which have been mentioned, had operated upon all, though perhaps not in equal degrees. All had shared more or less the in- fluence of this moral revolution. Here, then, was their com- munity of interests this the bond of their sympathies. The first blow that was struck, touched a chord which vibrated in very heart, and aroused the slumbering energies of a brave and devoted people. They drew the sword and flung away the scabbard, resting their hopes on their God and their cause. The spirit had gone forth, and, it was impossible to recall it. The history of this eventful period is fresh in our memory. We need not dwell upon the instances of undaunted valor, patient suffering and incorruptible patriotism, which signali- zed our fathers in the revolutionary war. Let it suffice to say, that they have never been surpassed in any age or nation. It would be invidious to particularize among such a host of worthies. The object was achieved, not by the skill of a commander nor the arm of individual prowess ; but by the unconquerable energies of a moral and intellectual peo- ple, determined to be free. We might challenge the straits of Thermopylae to compare with the heights of Charlestown. But, we come not here, to mingle our voices with the din of arms, nor the shouts of victory. The day we celebrate, is sacred to the triumph of principle. The effects of the revolution were not confined to the Am- erican people ; they have been powerfully felt throughout ci- vilized society. The declaration, which proclaimed these states, free and independent, was more terrible to kings, than the thunders of Sinai to a guilty world. It was the harbinger of universal emancipation. The spell was broken. The voice of truth was beard beyond the bounds of ocean. The gleam of knowledge shot through the midnight of ages ; and thrones were riven to their centre. The French, who were ever of a lively and ardent temperament, first caught the in- fluence of this new state of things. They heard of the advent of Liberty, and they went about in wild uproar and intem- perate zeal to embrace her. Their philosophers deluged them with doctrines, which they were not capable of com- prehending, and they were dazzled, confounded, and mad. Enough had not previously been done towards clearing away the rubbish, which despotism had been accumulating for centuries. It is in vain to attempt to hurry a people into the enjoyment of their rights and true interests. The pro- gress of truth is slow, and its influences to be good, must be gradual. Men must be enlightened and essentially free, be- fore they are equal to self-government. Could our Wash- ington have given freedom to France, or would Napol- ean have here dared to assume the imperial diadem? The result of this great and unsuccessful attempt at political re- formation is a sufficient proof that the real causes of our rev- 9 olution, and the basis of our Independence were not known in Europe. The recent al.'ortive efforts at constitutional gov- ernment in some of the European states resulted from the same cause want of intelligence and purity in the people. These disasters may teach mankind, that revolutions to be permanently beneficial, must not be the work of a day, nor the fruits of a fantastic brain. The revolutionists in Europe have begun at the wrong end. A people should reform them- selves, before they attempt to reform their systems of govern- ment. Innovations are always hazardous, and require intel- ligence and integrity to direct and maintain them. Individu- als may kindle the flame of revolution in vain, if the people have not already been enlightened. It will only bewilder and mislead them. They must have a steady and determined purpose, and a clear perception of their object. They must be guided by the unerring principles of justice and human- ity, and their success is certain. The friends of freedom and the rights of man, have no occasion to despair. The cause of truth must eventually triumph. The sun is but just aris- en ; its light will continue to travel on to cheer the hearts and illumine the minds of the oppressed of all nations. The pro- gress of revolutionary principles cannot be stayed. This league of tyrants, more commonly called the ' Holy J2//iaee," might as well undertake to arrest the planets in their career through the heavens. It is nature and truth who speak', and their dic- tates must be obeyed. The march of mind will proceed, maugre the millions of the meek and pacific Alexander. But we will leave the old world, where we find little to admire, and much to disgust and to wound the sensibilities of the phi- lanthropist. This is the only nation in existence, where the great doc- trines of political equality and self-government are clearly understood and exemplified. Our government is grounded up- 10 on the virtues of the people, and consists in the public will. It is a moral edifice, reared upon the common sense of man- kind. It recognizes no artificial distinctions, nor exclusive privileges, but guarantees to all, the full exercise and enjoy- ment of the excellencies and advantages, derived from nature and cultivation. It is not to be supposed, that no differences will arise in the course of human exertions. Diversity of pursuits will produce diversity of character. But this should not be a cause of uneasiness and jealousy between members of the same community. Here, man is left free to follow the bent of his natural inclination, and the occupation of his choice. He may drop in his line, and draw forth jewels from the deep ; or, he may turn up the glebe of our vallies, and find abundant treasures there. He may embark his hopes upon the mountain billow; or, he may listen to the music of the nimble shuttle and the busy loom. These confer no political distinction. He is equally a member of the same great republican family. His voice may speak with the same eloquence and power in our halls of legislation ; and his arm be as strong in defence of our common country and liberties. It is the genius of our institutions to let every thing take its natural current, and, at the same time, to keep every thing to a tolerable level. Our system abhors every species of mon- opoly, and individual and family aggrandizement. The wealth, that is piled up to-day,by some successful speculation or daring enterprise, may be seen to-morrow, spreading in a thousand channels, carrying comfort and gladness to industry and want. The great machinery of things is in silent and per- petual operation, restoring name and fortune to their proper equilibrium. It has been objected, that our system discourages distinc- tion in every department of science and of art. To this it may be replied, that it is impossible for an individual to shine exceedingly pre-eminent in a firmament, tlwt blazes with a myriad of luminaries. True it is, our institutions will not per- 11 mit particular elevations at the expense of the community. We want no factitious pre-eminence. Our object is the gen- eral sum of human happiness. We want no meteor to dazzle and terrify with the intensity of his glare. We desire no mum- mery of greatness to attract the gaze of the million. Political equality is the hoast and birthright of freemen. It is ours to enjoy the high blessings that flow from it, and transmit them to our posterity. The salvation of this people depends upon the indissoluble union of the states. Here is our strength here, the perma- nency of our liberties. The fact of so many independent sov- ereignties, united in the same principles, and their interests revolving round a common centre, is a singular anomaly in the science and history of governments. No examples can be found upon ancient record, nor in modern existence. The ad- vantages of this connection to the whole American people and to humanity, are too many and palpable to require demonstra- tion. It is a perpetual barrier against intestine commotions a paramount bulwark against foreign encroachment and subjugation. This truth should be regarded as an axiom in all our political speculations and practice. The extent of our territory is no objection to the continuance of the Union. It can never, like the Roman empire, crumble beneath its own weight; so long as the people continue in their present mor- al and intellectual condition. The people are above the mis- erable influences, which too often affect their public servants. Personal dislikes may distract our national councils individ- ual jealousies may paralize the national arm: but the sove- reign people possess a rectifying power, and will restore them to their original tone and vigour. The Union may tremble under the herculean grasp of party violence, but so long as the broad basis of public virtue remains, it will receive addi- tional strength from every shock. To destroy the Union, it must be removed from the influence of the people While Antaeus could touch his mother earth, he received new 13 strength and was unconquerable. It cannot be doubted nor' denied, that there has been and still is, an extensive combina- tion among us to destroy the union of the republic and subvert its liberties. This arises partly from anti-republican principle, but mostly from an uneasy and unprincipled hankering for power. However strange it may seem, that a system so beau- tiful and universally beneficial as our?, should have enemies, and those too, who share its benefits; it is, nevertheless, true. There is no human perfection. The same Liberty, who spreads out profusion to her honest worshippers, permits a serpent to lurk within her shrine. In the late struggle which confirmed our Independence and the stability of our institutions, it was easy to distinguish the true from the pretended patriot. When our territory was ravaged,and our cities wrapt in flames, kindled by vandal hands ; when the friends of our country were baring their bosoms to the storm and the battle what then was the con- duct of those, who arrogated to themselves the talents and the religion of the community 1 How were they employed 1 In embarrassing the finances, discouraging enlistments, and in convening on the banks of the Connecticut, for secret con- sultation, like Catiline and his associates. It were well for our honor, that this foul stain were wiped from our national escutcheon ; but it will be better for our future safety, that it remain for the instruction and warning of posterity. Teach your children to shun the fate of those unhappy adventur- ers. And, we are constrained too, to remember certain ser- vants of the sanctuary. See them in solemn mockery, at the altar of the Most High, grasping in one hand the book of life, and waving with the other, the unhallowed torch of discord and death. Withholding from the lambs of their flocks, the pure principles of the 'gospel of peace, they poured into their hearts the subtle poison of disaffection and civil war. Is there no one among us, who has seen with complacency, the steel of the enemy, stained with the blood of his broth- er ? Is there no one here who viewed with satisfaction, the smoke of the Capitol, curling to heaven ? If none " then none have I offended/' In no instance since the establishment of our government, has the Union sustained so tremendous an attack, as in the discussion of the Missouri question. The same spirit that unfurled the standard of disunion and revolt in the last war, now seized the parricidal dagger, and under the imposing robes of humanity, aimed a deadly blow at the vitals of the Union. Our feelings and principles, as freemen and christ- ians, were appealed to, and thousands of honest hearts were deluded by this insidious cant and hypocricy. The pride of New-England's morality was called upon by the champions of African rights. And, who among us, would wish to be thought the enemy of man ? Who, of proud honor and .high sensibilities, could bear the imputation of encouraging slav- ery ? By these means a respectable portion of the American people was duped, and we were led almost to confusion and ruin. Is this humanity ? is it patriotism ? is it religion ? The master spirits of this farce will receive their reward, by the inevitable re-action of public sentiment. The Union is safe. Though its pillars were shaken, they are grounded deeper and firmer in the affections of the people. It should be the prayer of every member of this Union, that all sec- tional jealousies may cease. Why indulge this illiberality and rancour towards the South and West ? They are our brethren, and we should be proud of the affinity. Our inter- ests are the same our rights a unity. It is pleasing to contemplate the sublime destinies that await this nation. Future generations will see one vast and powerful Republic, extending from the banks of Newfound- land to the Gulf of Mexico, from "the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, covered with schools of good learning and temples of 14 piety, and an enlightened people, cultivating all the arts of peace, and practicing justice to all men and all nations, and terrible to the enemies of freedom. Our Revolutionary FATHERS ! Where are THEY ? They have mingled their ashes with the soil they defended. They have gone to the " home of the just made perfect." Yet, some few are among us, silvered with the frost of years, and hending to their long repose. Let not the twilight of their days, be beclouded by the infidelity of their sons. They may sleep in peace. We will hallow their memory. The treasures they have given to us, we will give to our children. The American family and the American character shall go to an interminable futurity, gathering in strength and bright- ening in glory, till the voice of the Almighty, shall proclaim to the nations, that human governments are at an end. 15 Mr. NATHAMEL HALL LORING introduced the Declaration of Independence, which he was appointed to read, by the following remarks : BEING appointed to read to you the Immortal Document which has made this day a Jubilee, I shall hazard a few remarks which perhaps, may not be deemed impertinent. On the 4th of July, 1776, this celebrated paper was signed by the General Congress, and our Country took its place among the Nations, It was the sublimest spectacle that the world had ever beheld. The splendour of monarchies, the tinsel greatness of monarchs, and the pro- fane mummeries of the Popedom, were all overshadowed by the moral and intellectual grandeur by which that day was consecrated. Connected with our reverence for the day, is our gratitude to the great Republican, THOMAS JEFFERSON. He has imparted to this document, not a little of his own character. It is clear, plain, and des- titute of any ornament but its own vigorous thought, and noble propor- tions ; there is no redundancy of epithet no pruriency of style no affected majesty of diction : It appears throughout like the first aspira- tions of a great Nation raising itself from the slumber of slavery, and hurling back the Javelin of the Tyrant. It is a naked appeal to the common sense of mankind ; a proud pyramid of political truth, deeper rooted than the mountains. It sets forth injury after injury it details crime after crime, and presents an eloquent description of dignified and patient suffering, a hateful example of mean, and cowardly, and sense- less oppression. It is indeed a lesson to Nations a flaming beacon to enslaved man. Similar in many respects is the character of its Author. The same majestic simplicity, the same strength and compactness, distinguish his mind. His character, like this Instrument, was formed while convul- sions were rending the moral surface of society, and Devastation was at its harvest-home : Like this instrument, it survived the storms which threatened destruction, and has become, not the properly of this, or the last age, but of posterity. He has toiled for his Country from childhood to old age, and it was his singular lot while aiding in the work of her Independence, to illustrate her Literature and Philosophy. He is a philosopher, and has been placed by the old world with the Moutes- 16 quieus and tb Bacons. He is a statesman, and is ranked by the new world even with its Washington and its Franklin : He is a patriot, and mankind assign him a station with a Russell, a Cato, and a Sydney. But he is more than a Philosopher, a Statesman, or a Patriot : He is an. illustrious and almost solitary example of a pure and verdant mind, re- taining all its excellencies through every variety of fortune ; whether in obscurity, or on a seat far above the highest. The high offices which he has filled, the unexcelled services which he has rendered, are not his only titles to fame. The moral sublimity of his character does more for him, than conquests, or public works, or great discoveries, for other men : He has been prosperous, without pride ; he has mixed with the world, without acquiring its vices he has dwelt with the great with- out imbibing their vanities : Seldom, perhaps never, have we seen a man so simple and yet so great so much milder, apd yet so far supe- rior to all other men so virtuous and yet so singularly eminent. It is for these reasons that the majesty of his departing mind is even supe- rior to its splendour when it rode with meridian glory in our hemisphere ; Other great men have risen with brilliancy, but few have gathered fame with every step to the tomb. We have seen him when young, placing himself front of the front rank in the cause of liberty, and 'fixing the seal to our Independence. We have seen him seated in the chair of government, by the influence of those pure principles to which he had assisted in giving currency, and infusing new life and vigour, into the infantile frame which has since grown up to gigantic manhood. We have seen him in every stage of life, -looking calmly upon his enemies, from a height to which their calumnies could never ascend. " Like some proud cliff that rears its awful form, Swells in the vale, and midway leaves the storm ; Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head." *\ v- FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS, WE are assembled, beneath the weeping canopy of the Heavens, in the exercise of feelings in which the whole family of Americans unites with us. We meet to pay a tribute of respect to the revered memory of those, to whom the whole country looks up as to its benefactors ; to whom it ascribes the merit of unnumbered public services, and espe- cially of the inestimable service of having led in the councils of the revolution. It is natural that these feelings, which pervade the whole American people, should rise into peculiar strength and earnestness in your hearts. In meditating upon these great men, your minds are unavoidably carried back to those scenes of suffering and of sacrifice into which, at the opening of their arduous and honored career, this town and its citizens were so deeply plunged. You cannot but remember, 6 that your fathers offered ^heir bosoms to the sword and their dwellings to the devouring flames, from the same noble spirit which animated the venerable patriarchs whom we now deplore. The cause they espoused was the same which strewed your streets with ashes, and drenched your hill-tops with blood. And while Providence, in the astonishing circum- stances of their departure, seems to have appointed that the revolutionary age of America should be closed up, by a scene as illustriously affecting, as its commencement was appalling and terrific ; you have justly felt it your duty, it has been the prompt dictate of your feelings, to pay, within these hallow- ed precincts, a well deserved tribute to the great and good men to whose counsels, under God, it is in no small degree owing, that your dwellings have risen from their ashes, and that the sacred dust of those who fell reposes in the bosom of a free and happy land. It was the custom of the primitive Romans, to preserve in the halls of their houses the images of all the illustrious men whom their families had produced. These images are supposed to have consisted of a mask exactly representing the coun- tenance of each deceased individual, accompanied with habiliments of like fashion with those worn in his time, and with the armor, badges and in- signia of his offices and exploits ; all so disposed around the sides of the hall as to present in the attitude of living men the long succession of the de- parted ; and thus to set before the Roman citizen, whenever he entered or left his habitation, the ve- nerable array of his ancestors revived in this im- posing similitude. Whenever, by a death in the family, another distinguished member of it was gathered to his fathers, a strange and awful pro- cession was formed. The ancestral masks, includ- ing that of the newly deceased, were fitted upon the servants of the family, selected in the size and ap- pearance of those whom they were to represent, and drawn up in solemn array to follow the funeral train of the living mourners, first to the market- place, where the public eulogium was pronounced, and then to the tomb. As he thus moved along with all the dark fathers of his name, resuscitated in the lineaments of life, and quickening, as it were, from their urns, to enkindle his emulation, the virtuous Roman renewed his vows of pious respect to their memory and his resolution to imitate the fortitude, the frugality, and the patriotism of the great heads of his family.* Fellow-citizens, the great heads of the Ameri- can family are fast passing away ; of the last, of the most honored, two are now no more. We are assembled not to gaze with awe on the artificial * Polvb. Historiar. lib. TI. 8 und theatric images of their features, but to con- template their venerated characters, to call to mind their invaluable services, to cherish their revered memory ; to lay up the image of their virtues in our hearts. The two men, who stood in a relation, in which no others now stand to this whole conti- nent, have fallen. The men whom Providence marked out among the first of the favored instru- ments, to lead this chosen people into the holy land of liberty, have discharged their high office and are no more. The men, whose ardent minds prompt- ed them to take up their country's cause, when there was nothing else to prompt and everything to deter them ; the men who afterwards, when the ranks were filled with the brave and resolute, were yet in the front of those brave and resolute ranks ; the men, who, when the wisest and most sagacious were needed to steer the newly launched vessel through the broken waves of the unknown sea, sat calm and unshaken at the helm ; the men who in their country's happier days were found most wor- thy to preside over the great interests of the land they had so powerfully contributed to rear into greatness, these men are now no more. They have left us not singly and in the sad but accustomed succession, in which the order of nature calls away the children of men ; but having lived, and acted, and counselled, and dared, and 9 risked all, and triumphed, and enjoyed together, they have gone together to their great reward. In the morning of life without previous concert but with a kindred spirit they plunged together into a conflict, which put to hazard all which makes life precious. When the storm of war and revolution raged, they stood side by side, on such perilous ground, that, had the American cause failed, though all else had been forgiven, they were of the few whom an incensed empire's vengeance would have pursued to the ends of the earth. When they had served through their long career of duty, for- getting the little that had divided them, and cher- ishing the great communion of service, and peril, and success which had united them, they walked, with honorable friendship, the declining pathway of age ; and now they have sunk down together, in peace, into the bosom of a redeemed and grateful country. Time, and their country's service, and kindred hearts, a like fortune and a like reward united them ; and the last great scene confirmed the union. They were useful, honored, prosperous, and lovely in their lives, and in their deaths, they were not divided. Happiest at the last, they were permitted almost to choose the hour of their departure ; to die on that day, on which those who loved them best could have wished they might die. It is related as a sin- 10 gular felicity of the great philosopher Plato, that he died, at a good old age, at a banquet, surrounded with flowers and perfumes, amidst festal songs, on his birth-day. Our Adams and Jefferson died on the birth-day of the nation ; the day which their own deed had immortalized, which their own pro- phetic spirit had marked out, as the great festival of the nation ; not amidst the festal songs of the banquet, but amidst the triumphal anthems of a whole grateful people. At the moment that Jeffer- son expired, his character was the theme of eulogy, in every city and almost every village of the land ; and the lingering spirit of his great co-patriot fled, while his name was pronounced with grateful re- collection, at the board of patriotic festivity, through- out a country, that hailed him as among the first and boldest of her champions, even in the days when friends were few and hearts were faint. Our jubilee, like that of old, is turned into sor- row. Among the crumbling ruins of Rome, there is a shattered arch, reared by the emperor Vespasian, when his son Titus returned from the destruction of Jerusalem. On its broken pannels and falling frieze are still to be seen, represented as borne aloft in the triumphal procession of Titus, the well known spoils of the second temple, the sacred ves- sels of the holy place, the candlestick with seven branches, and, in front of all, the silver trumpets of 11 the jubilee, in the hands of captive priests, pro- claiming not now the liberty, but the humiliation and the sorrows of Judah. From this mournful spectacle, the pious and heart-stricken Hebrew, even to the present day, turns aside in sorrow : he will not enter Rome, through the gate of the arch of Titus, but winds his way through the byepaths of the Palatine, and over the broken columns of the palace of the Caesars, that he may not behold the sad image of the trumpets of the jubilee, borne aloft in the captive train. The jubilee of America is turned into mourning. Its joy is mingled with sadness ; its silver trumpet must breathe a mingled strain. Henceforward and forever, while America exists among the nations of the earth, the first emotion on the fourth of July shall be of joy and triumph, in the great event which immortalizes the day, the second shall be one of chastised and tender recollection of the ve- nerable men, who departed on the morning of the jubilee. This mingled emotion of triumph and sad- ness has sealed the moral beauty and sublimity of our great anniversary. In the simple commemo- ration of a victorious political achievement, there seems not enough to occupy all our purest and best feelings. The fourth of July was before a day of unshaded triumph, exultation, and national pride ; but the angel of death has mingled in the 12 all glorious pageant, to teach us we are men. Had our venerated fathers left us on any other day, the day of the united departure of two such men would henceforward have been remembered but as a day of mourning. But now while their decease has gently chastened the exultations of the triumphant festival ; the glad banner of our independence will wave cheerfully over the spot where their dust re- poses. The whole nation feels, as with one heart, that since it must sooner or later have been be- reaved of its revered fathers, it could not have wished that any other had been the day of their decease. Our anniversary festival was before tri- umphant, it is now triumphant and sacred. It be- fore called out the young and ardent, to join in the public rejoicings ; it now also speaks, in a touch- ing voice, to the retired, to the greyheaded, to the mild and peaceful spirits, to the whole family of sober freemen. With some appeal of joy, of ad- miration, of tenderness it henceforth addresses every American heart. It is henceforward, what the dying Adams pronounced it, a great and a good day. It is full of greatness and full of good- ness. It is absolute and complete. The death of the men, who declared our independence, their death on the day of the jubilee, was all that was wanting to the fourth of July. To die on that day, and to die together, was all that was wanting to Jefferson and Adams. IS Think not, fellow-citizens, that, in the mere formal discharge of my duty this day, I would over- rate the melancholy interest of the great occasion. Heaven knows, I do any thing but intentionally overrate it. I labor only for words, to do justice to your feelings and to mine. I can say nothing, which does not sound as cold, as tame, and as in- adequate to myself as to you. The theme is too great and too surprising, the men are too great and good to be spoken of, in this cursory manner. There is too much in the contemplation of their united characters, their services, the day and coin- cidence of their death, to be properly described, to be fully felt at once. I dare not come here and dismiss, in a few summary paragraphs, the charac- ters of men, who have filled such a space in the history of their age. It would be a disrespectful familiarity with men of their lofty spirits, their rich endowments, their deep counsels, and wise mea- sures, their long and honorable lives, to endeavor thus to weigh and estimate them. I leave that ar- duous task, to the genius of kindred elevation, by whom to-morrow it will be discharged. I feel the mournful contrast in the fortunes of the first and best of men, that after a life in the highest walks of usefulness ; after conferring benefits, not merely on a neighborhood, a city, or even a state, but on a continent, a posterity of kindred men ; after hav- ing stood in the first estimation for talents, ser- 14 vices, and influence, among millions of fellow-citi- zens, a day should come, which closes all up ; pro- nounces a brief blessing on the memory of the de- parted ; gives an hour to the actions of a crowded life ; describes in a sentence what it took years to bring to pass, and what is destined for years and ages to continue and operate on posterity ; forces into a few words the riches of busy days of action and weary nights of meditation ; passes forgetfully over many traits of character, many counsels, and measures which it cost perhaps years of discipline and effort to mature ; utters a funeral prayer ; chaunts a mournful anthem ; and then dismisses all into the dark chambers of death and forgetfulness. But no, fellow-citizens, we dismiss them not to the chambers of forgetfulness and death. What we admired, and prized, and venerated in them, can never die, nor dying be forgotten. I had almost said that they are now beginning to live ; to live that life of unimpaired influence, of uncloud- ed fame, of unmingled happiness, for which their talents and services were destined. They were of the select few, the least portion of whose life dwells in their physical existence ; whose hearts have watched, while their senses have slept ; whose souls have grown up into a higher being ; whose plea- sure is to be useful ; whose wealth is an unble- mished reputation ; who respire the breath of 15 honorable fame ; who have deliberately and con- sciously put what is called life to hazard, that they may live in the hearts of those who come after. Such men do not, cannot die. To be cold, and mo- tionless and breathless ; to feel not and speak not ; this is not the end of existence to the men who have breathed their spirits into the institutions of their country, who have stamped their characters on the pillars of the age, who have poured their heart's blood into the channels of the public pros- perity. Tell me, ye, who tread the sods of yon sacred height, is Warren dead ? Can you not see him, not pale and prostrate, the blood of his gallant heart pouring out of his ghastly wound, but moving resplendent over the field of his honor, with the rose of Heaven upon his cheek, and the fire of lib- erty in his eye ? Tell me, ye, who make your pious pilgrimage to the shades of Vernon, is Wash- ington indeed shut up in that cold and narrow house ? That which made these men, and men like these, cannot die. The hand that traced the charter of independence is indeed motionless, the eloquent lips that sustained it, are hushed ; but the lofty spirits that conceived, resolved, matured, maintained it, and which alone to such men, ' make it life to live,' these cannot expire ; These shall resist the empire of decay, When time is o'er, and worlds have passed away ; Cold in the dust, the perished heart may lie, But that, which warmed it once, can never die. 16 This is their life and this their eulogy. In these our feeble services of commemoration, we set forth not their worth but our own gratitude. The eulo- gy of those, who declared our independence, is written in the whole history of independent Ame- rica. I do not mean that they alone wrought out our liberties ; nor should we bring a grateful offer- ing to their tombs, in sacrificing at them the merits of their contemporaries. But no one surely, who considers the history of the times, the state of opi- nions, the power of England, the weakness of the colonies, and the obstacles that actually stood in the way of success, can doubt that, if John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had thrown their talents and influence into the scale of submission, the effect would have been felt to the cost of America for ages. No, it is not too much to say, that ages on ages may pass, and the growing millions of Ame- rica may overflow the uttermost regions of this continent, but never can there be an American cit- izen, who will not bear in his condition, in his pur- suits, in his welfare, some trace of what was coun- selled, and said, and done by these great men. This is their undying praise ; a praise, which knows no limits but those of America, and which is uttered, not merely in these our eulogies, but in the thousand inarticulate voices of art and nature. It sounds from the woodman's axe in the distant forests of the west : for what was it that unbarred 17 the portals of the mountains ? The busy water- wheel echos back the strain ; for what was it that released the industry of the country from the fet- ters of colonial restriction ? Their praise is borne on the swelling canvass of America to distant oceans, where the rumor of acts of trade never came ; for what was it that sent our canvass there ? and it glistens at home, in the eyes of the happy population of a prosperous and grateful country. Yes, the people, the people rise up and call them blessed. They invoke eternal blessings on the men, who could be good as well as great, whose ambition was their country's welfare, who did not ask to be rewarded by oppressing themselves the country they redeemed from oppression. The day we have separated to the remembrance of our departed fathers is indeed but a fleeting moment ; its swift watches will soon run out, and the pausing business of life start again into motion. But every day of our country's succeeding dura- tion, every age as it comes forward with its crowd- ed generations, to enjoy the blessings of our institu- tions, will take up the surprising theme. Though its affecting novelty will pass away for us, it will strike the hearts of our children ; and the latest posterity, looking back on the period of the Revo- lution as the heroic age of America, will contem- c 18 plate with mingled wonder and tenderness this great and closing scene. I shall not, fellow-citizens, on this occasion, attempt a detailed narrative of the lives of these distinguished men. To relate their history at length, would be- to record the history of the coun- try, from their first entrance on public life to their final retirement. Even to dwell minutely on the more conspicuous incidents of their career, would cause me to trespass too far on the proper limits of the occasion, and to repeat what is well known to most who hear me. Let us only enumerate those few leading points in their lives and charac- ters, which will best guide us to the reflections we ought to make, while we stand at the tombs of these excellent and honored men. Mr Adams was born on the 30th October, 1735, and Mr Jefferson on the 13th of April, 1743. One of them rose from the undistinguished mass of the community, while the other, born in higher cir- cumstances, voluntarily descended into its ranks. Although happily in this country^it cannot be said of any one, that he owes much to birth or family, yet it sometimes happens, even under the perfect equality which fortunately prevails among us, that a certain degree of deference follows in the train of family connections, apart from all personal merit. Mr Adams was the son of a New England 19 yeoman, and in this alone, the frugality and mode- ration of his bringing up are sufficiently related. Mr Jefferson owed more to birth. He inherited a good estate from his respectable father ; but in- stead of associating himself with the opulent inter- est in Virginia, at that time, in consequence of the mode in which their estates were held and trans- mitted, an exclusive and powerful class, and of which he might have become a powerful leader, he threw himself into the ranks of the people. Indeed it is delightful to contemplate the illustrious exhi- bition of the powers of native genius, which the conduct of the Revolution presents us, and in none of its personages more conspicuously than in those on whose characters we now dwell. It seemed the will of Providence, in laying the foun- dations of a great system of republican govern- ment, to make it the occasion of displaying before the world, the heart-cheering spectacle of states- men and warriors, springing from the bosom of a plain and simple people, from the villages and mountains of a distant and despised colony, and triumphantly conflicting in the cabinet and the fteld, with all the accomplishments, the skill, and hereditary cultivation of the most favored children of the oldest and richest states in Europe. A propitious coincidence it was, that of these two eminent statesmen, one was from the north and the other from the south ; as if, in the happy effects 20 of their united action, to give us the first lesson of union. The enemies of our independence, at home and abroad, relied on the difficulty of uniting the colonies in one harmonious system. They knew the difference in our local origin ; they exaggerated the points of dissimilarity in our sectional charac- ter. They thought the south would feel no sym- pathy in the distresses of the north ; that the north would look with jealousy on the character and institutions of the south. It seemed therefore most auspicious, in the great dispositions of the Revolu- tion, that while the north and the south had each its great rallying point, in Virginia and Massachu- setts, the wise and good men, whose influence was most felt in each, moved forward in brotherhood and concert. Mr Quincy, in a visit to the southern colonies, had entered into an extensive correspon- dence with the friends of liberty, in that part of the country. Richard Henry Lee and his brother Arthur maintained a constant intercourse with Samuel Adams. Dr Franklin, though a citizen of Pennsylvania, was a native of Boston ; and from the first moment of their meeting at Philadelphia, Jefferson and Adams began to co-operate cordially, in that great work of independence to which they were both devoted. While the theoretical politi- cians of Europe were speculating on our local peculiarities, and the British ministry were build- ing their best hopes upon the maxim, divide and 21 conquer, they might well have been astonished to see the declaration of independence reported into Congress, by the joint labor of the son of a Virginia planter, and of a New England yeoman. The education of Adams and Jefferson was within the precincts of home. They received their academical instruction at the seminaries of their native States, the former at Cambridge, the latter at William and Mary. At these institutions, they severally laid the foundation for very distinguished attainments as scholars, and formed a taste for letters which was fresh and craving to the last. They were both familiar with the ancient lan- guages, and the literature they contain. Their range in the various branches of general reading was perhaps equally wide, and was uncommonly extensive ; and it is, I believe, doing no injustice to any other honored name to say, that, in this respect, they stood without an equal in the band of Revolutionary worthies. Their first writings were devoted to the cause of their country. Mr Adams in 1 765 published his Es- say on the Canon and Feudal Law, which two years afterwards was republished in London, and was there pronounced one of the ablest performances which had crossed the Atlantic.* It expresses the *The copy I possess of this work was printed by Almon, at London, in 1768, as a sequel to some other political pieces, with the following title, and prelim- boldest and most elevated sentiments, in language most vigorous and animating ; and might have taught in its tone, what it taught in its doctrine, that America must be unoppressed or must become independent. Among Mr Jefferson's first produc- tions was, in like manner, a political essay, entitled ' A Summary View of the Rights of British Ame- rica.' It contains, in some parts, a near approach to the ideas and language of the declaration of independence ; and its bold spirit and polished, but at the same time powerful execution, are known to have had their effect, in causing its author to be designated for the high trusts confided to him in the Continental Congress. At a later inary note : ' The following dissertation, which was written at Boston, in New- England, in the year 1765, and then printed there in the Gazette, being very curious, and having connexion with this publication, it is thought proper to reprint it.' 'The author of it is said to have been Jeremy Gridley, Esq. Attorney-Gene- ral of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, member of the General Court, colonel of the first regiment of militia, president of the marine society, and grand master of the Free Masons. He died at Boston, Sept. 7, 1767. ' A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law. 1 This copy formerly belonged to Dr Andrew Eliot, to whom it was presented by Thomas Hollis. Directly above the title is written, apparently in Dr A. Eliot's hand-writing, ' The author of this dissertation is John Adams, Esq.' And at the foot of the page is the following note, in the same hand-writing, but marked with inverted commas, as a quotation, and signed T. H. ' The Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law is one of the very finest productions ever seen from N. America.' ' By a letter from Boston in N. E. signed SUI JURIS, inserted in that valuable newspaper, the London Chronicle, July 19, it should seem the writer of it happily yet lives /' T. H. This was said fifty -eight years ago ! 23 period of life, Mr Jefferson became the author of the Notes on Virginia, a work equally admired in Europe and America ; and Mr Adams of the Deforce of the American Constitutions, a perform- ance that would do honor to the political literature of any country. But, in enumerating their literary productions, it must be remembered, that they were both employed, the greater part of their lives, in the active duties of public service ; and that the fruits of their intellect are not to be sought in the systematic volumes of learned leisure, but on the files of office, in the archives of state, and in a most extensive public and private correspondence. The professional education of these distinguished statesmen had been in the law ; and was therefore such as peculiarly fitted them for the contest, in which they were to act as leaders. The law of England, then the law of America, is closely con- nected with the history of the liberty of England. Many of the questions at issue between the Parlia- ment of Great Britain and the Colonies, were questions of constitutional, if not of common law. For the discussion of these questions the legal profession furnished the best preparation. In general the contest was, happily for the colonies, at first forensic ; a contest of discussion, and of ar- gumentation ; affording time, and opportunity, and excitement to diffuse throughout the people, and stamp deeply on their minds, the great principles. which having first been triumphantly sustained in the argument, were then to be confirmed in the field. This required the training of the patriot lawyer, and this was the office which, in that capa- city, was eminently discharged by Jefferson and Adams, to the doubtful liberties of their country. The cause, in which they were engaged, abundantly repaid the service and the hazard. It gave them precisely that amplitude of view and elevation of feeling, which the technical routine of the profes- sion is too apt to stifle. Their practice of the law was not in the narrow litigation of the courts, but in the great forum of contending -empires. It was not nice legal fictions they were there employed to balance, but sober realities of indescribable weight. The life and death of their country was the all important issue. Nor did their country afterwards afford them leisure for the ordinary practice of their profession. Mr Jefferson indeed in 1776 and 1777 was employed with Wythe and Pendleton in an entire revision of the code of Virginia ; and Mr Adams was offered about the same time the first seat on the bench of the Supe- rior Court of his native State. But each was short- ly afterwards called to a foreign mission, and spent the rest of the active years of his life, with scarce an interval, in the political service of his country. 25 Such was the education and quality of these men, when the Revolutionary contest came on. In 1774, and on the 17th of June, a day destined to be in every way illustrious, Mr Adams was elected a member of the Continental Congress, of which body he was signalized, from the first, as a distinguished leader. In the month of June in the following year, when a commander in chief was to be chosen for the American armies, and when that appointment seemed in course to belong to the commanding general of the brave army, from Massachusetts and the neighboring States, which had rushed.., to the* field, Mr Adams nominated George Wa^Jiijjgton to that all-important post, and was thus far :!Jjjfe means of securing the blessing of his guidance>trf the American armies. In August 1775, Mr lelrefrsbn took his seat in the Continental Congress, preceded by the fame of being one of the most accomplished and powerful champions of the cause, though among the youngest members of the body. It was the wish of Mr Adams, and pro- bably of Mr Jefferson, that independence should be declared in the fall of 1 775 ; but the country seemed not then ripe for the measure. At length the accepted time arrived. In May 1776, the colonies on the proposition of Mr Adams, were invited by the General Congress, to establish their several State governments. On the 7th of 26 June the resolution of independence was moved by Richard Henry Lee. On the llth a committee of five was chosen, to announce this resolution to the world ; and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams stood at the head of this committee. From their designation by ballot to this most honorable duty, their elevated standing in the Congress might alone be inferred. In their amicable contention and deference each to the other of the great trust of composing the all-important document, we witness their patriotic disinterestedness and their mutual respect. This trust devolved on Jefferson, and with it rests on him the imperishable renown of having penned the declaration of independence of America. To have been the instrument of express- ing, in one brief decisive act, the concentrated will and resolution of a whole family of States ; of un- folding, in one all-important manifesto, the causes, the motives, the justification of the great move- ment in human affairs which was then taking place ; to have been permitted to give the impress and peculiarity of his own mind, to a charter of public right, destined, or rather let me say already elevated to an importance, in the estimation of men, beyond everything human, ever borne on parchment, or expressed in the visible signs of thought, this is the glory of Thomas Jefferson. To have been among the first of those who fore- saw, and foreseeing broke the way for this great 27 consummation ; to have been the mover of nume- rous decisive acts, its undoubted precursors ; to have been among many able and generous spirits, that united in this perilous adventure, by acknowl- edgment unsurpassed in zeal, and unequalled in power ; to have been exclusively associated with the author of the declaration ; and then, in the ex- ercise of an eloquence as prompt as it was over- whelming, to have taken the lead in inspiring the Congress to adopt and proclaim it, this is the glory of John Adams. Nor was it among common and inferior minds, that these men enjoyed their sublime pre-eminence. In the body that elected Mr Jefferson to draft the declaration of independence, there sat a patriot sage, than whom the English language does not boast a better writer, Benjamin Franklin. And Mr Adams was pronounced by Mr Jefferson him- self the ablest advocate of independence, in a Congress, which could boast among its members such men as Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and our own Samuel Adams. They were great and among great men ; mightiest among the mighty ; and enjoyed their lofty standing in a body, of which half the members might with honor have presided over the deliberative councils of a nation. All glorious as their office in this council of sages 28 has proved, they beheld the glory only, in distant vision, while the prospect before them was shroud- ed with darkness and lowering with terror. ' I am not transported with enthusiasm,' is the language of Mr Adams, the day after the resolution was adopted, ' I am well aware of the toil, the treasure, and the blood it will cost, to maintain this declara- tion, to support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom, I can see a ray of light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means.' Nor was it the rash adventure of uneasy spirits, who had everything to gain and nothing to risk by their enterprize. They left all for their country's sake. Who does not see that Adams and Jefferson might have risen to any station in the British empire. They might have revelled in the royal bounty ; they might have shared the imperial counsels ; they might have stood within the shadow of the throne which they shook to its base. It was in the full understanding of their all but desperate choice, that they chose for their country. Many were the inducements, which called them to ano- ther choice. The dread voice of authority ; the array of an empire's power ; the pleadings of friendship ; the yearning of their hearts towards the land of their fathers' sepulchres ; the land which the great champions of constitutional liberty still made venerable ; the ghastly vision of the gibbet, if they failed ; all the feelings which grew 29 from these sources were to be stifled and kept down, for a dearer treasure was at stake. They were anything but adventurers, anything but male- contents. They loved peace, they loved order, they loved law, they loved a manly obedience to constitutional authority ; but they chiefly loved free- dom and their country ; and they took up the ark of her liberties with pure hands, and bore it through in triumph for their strength was in Heaven. And how shall I attempt to follow them through the succession of great events, which a rare and kind Providence crowded into their lives; how shall I attempt to count all the links of that bright chain, which binds the perilous hour of their first efforts for freedom, with the rich enjoyment of its consummation ? How shall I attempt to enumerate the posts they filled and the trusts they discharged at home and abroad, both in the councils of their native States, and of the federation ; both before and after the adoption of the federal constitution : the codes of law and systems of government they aided in organizing ; the foreign embassies they sustained ; the alliances with powerful States they contracted, when America was weak ; the loans and subsidies, they procured from foreign powers when America was poor ; the treaties of peace and commerce, which they negotiated ; their participation in the earliest councils of the federal government, Mr 30 Adams as the first Vice-President, Mr Jefferson as the first Secretary of State ; their mutual pos- session of the confidence of the only man, to whom his country accorded a higher place ; and their successive administrations in chief of the interests of this great republic. These all are laid up in the annals of the country ; her archives are filled with the productions of their fertile and cultivated minds ; the pages of her history are bright with the lustre of their achievements ; and the welfare and happiness of America pronounce, in one general eulogy, the just encomium of their services. Nor need we fear, fellow-citizens, to speak of their political dissentions. If they who opposed each other, and arrayed the nation, in their ardu- ous contention, were able in the bosom of private life to forget their former struggles, we surely may contemplate them, even in this relation, with calm- ness. Of the counsels adopted and the measures pursued in the storm of political warfare, I pre- sume not to speak. I knew these great men, not as opponents, but as friends to each other ; not in the keen prosecution of a political controversy, but in the cultivation of a friendly correspondence. As they respected and honored each other, I respect and honor both. Time too has removed the foun- dation of their dissentions. The principles on which they contended are settled, some in favor of 31 one and some in favor of the other : the great fo- reign interests, that lent ardor to the struggle have happily lost their hold on the American people : and the politics of the country now turn on ques- tions not agitated in their days. Meantime, I know not whether, if we had it in our power to choose between the recollection of these revered men, as they were, and what they would have been without their great struggle, we could wish them to have been other than they were, even in this re- spect. Twenty years of friendship succeeding ten of rivalry appear to me a more amiable and cer- tainly a more instructive spectacle, even than a life of unbroken concert. As a friend to both their respected memories, I would not willingly spare the attestation, which they were pleased to render to each other's characters. We are taught, in the valedictory lessons of our Washington that ' the spirit of party is the worst enemy of a popular go- vernment ;' shall we not rejoice that we are taught, in the lives of our Adams and our Jefferson, that the most embittered contentions, which as yet have divided us, furnish no ground for lasting disunion. In their lives did I say ? Oh, not in their lives alone, but in that mysterious and lovely union which has called them together to the grave. 1 They strove in such great rivalry Of means, as noblest ends allow ; And blood was warm, and zeal was high, 32 But soon their strife was o'er ; and now Their hatred and their love are lost, Their envy buried in the dust.' The declining period of their lives presents their own characters, in the most delightful aspect, and furnishes the happiest illustration of the perfection of our political system. We behold a new specta- cle of moral sublimity ; the peaceful old age of the retired chiefs of the republic ; an evening of learn- ed, useful, and honored leisure following upon a youth of hazard, a manhood of service, a whole life of alternate trial and success. We behold them indeed active and untiring, even to the last. At the advanced age of eightyfive years, our venerable fel- low-citizen and neighbor, is still competent to take a part in the councils for revising the state constitu- tion, to whose original formation forty years before he so essentially contributed ; and Mr Jefferson, at the same protracted term of life was able to pro- ject and carry on to their completion, the extensive establishments of the University of Virginia. But it is the great and closing scene, which ap- pears, by higher allotment, to crown their long and exalted career, with a consummation almost mira- culous. Having done so much and so happily for themselves, so much and so beneficially for their country ; at that last moment, when man can no more do anything for his country or for himself, it 33 pleased a kind Providence to take their existence into his hands, and to do that for both of them, which, to the end of time, will cause them to be deemed, not more happy in the renown of their lives than in the opportunity of their death.* I could give neither force nor interest to the ac- count of these sublime and touching scenes, by any thing beyond the simple recital of the facts, al- ready familiar to the public. The veil of eternity was first lifted up, from before the eyes of Mr Jef- ferson. For several weeks his strength had been gradually failing, though his mind's vigor remained unimpaired. As he drew nearer to the last, and no expectation remained that his term could be much protracted, he expressed no other wish, than that he might live to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniversary of independence. This he was gra- ciously permitted to do. But it was evident, on the morning of the fourth, that Providence intended that this day, consecrated by his deed, should now be solemnized by his death. On some momentary revival of his wasting strength, the friends around would have soothed him with the hope of continu- ing ; but he answered their kind encouragements only by saying, he did not fear to die. Once, as he drew nearer to his close, he lifted up his lan- * Tacit. J. Ajricol. Vit. c. XLV. E 34 guid head and murmured with a smile, it is the fourth of July ;' while his repeated exclamation, on the last great day was, Nunc dimittis, Domine, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.' He departed in peace, a little before one o'clock of this memorable day ; unconscious that his co-patriot, who fifty years before had shared its efforts and perils, was now the partner of its glory. Mr Adams' mind had also wandered back, over the long line of great things, with which his life was filled, and found rest on the thought of Inde- pendence. When the discharges of artillery pro- claimed the triumphant anniversary, he pronounced it ' a great and a good day.' The thrilling word of Independence, which, fifty years before, in the ardor of his manly strength he had sounded out to the nations, at the head of his country's councils, was now among the last that dwelt on his quivering lips ; and when, toward the hour of noon, he felt his noble heart growing cold within him, the last emotion which warmed it was, that ' Jefferson still survives.' But he survives not ; he is gone : Ye, are gone together ! Take them, Great God, together to thy Rest ! Friends, fellow-citizens, free, prosperous, happy Americans ! The men who did so much to make IARY you so, are no more. The men who gave notka to pleasure in youth, nothing to repose in age, all to that country, whose beloved name filled tht - hearts as it does ours, with joy, can now do i more for us ; nor we for them. But their memory _ remains, we will cherish it ; their bright example remains, we will strive to imitate it ; the print of their wise counsels and noble acts remain, we will gratefully enjoy it. They have gone to the companions of their cares, of their dangers, and their toils. It is well with them. The treasures of America are now in Heaven. How long the list of our good, and wise, and brave, assembled there ; how few remain with us. There is our Washington ; and those, who followed him in their country's confidence, are now met together with him, and all that illustrious company. The faithful marble may preserve their image ; the engraven brass may proclaim their worth ; but the humblest sod of Independent America, with nothing but the devvdrops of the morning to gild it, is a prouder mausoleum than kings or conquer- ors can boast. The country is their monument. Its independence is their epitaph. But not to their country is their praise limited. The whole earth is the monument of illustrious men. Wherever an people shall perish, in a generous con- f oul sion, for want of a valiant arm and a fearless th f art, they will cry, in the last accents of despair. ' jh, for a Washington, an Adams, a Jefferson. ptVherever a regenerated nation, starting up in its might, shall burst the links of steel that enchain it, the praise of our venerated Fathers shall be the prelude of their triumphal song. The contemporary and successive generations of men will disappear. In the long lapse of ages, the Tribes of America, like those -of Greece and Rome, may pass away. The fabric; of American Freedom, like all things human, however firm and fair, may crumble into dust. But the cause in which these our Fathers shone is immortal. They did that, to which no age, no peoplj^of .reasoning men, can be indifferent. Their euJ6gy wjll be uttered in other languages, when thoscwe speakflike us who speak them, shall be all forgotten. And when the great account of humanity shall be closed at the throne of God, in the bright list of his children, who best adorned and served it, shall be found ijie names of our Adams and our Jefferson. UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRAR THE LIBRARY AA 000937519 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOis.rNiA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW.