i pi?/ V^J^m; fkm0^^i'0iffiw^ M-if,i :,■.,/';>;.■-.( ill' Wmmmfi. mimmm mmm ZC0- <■', d d , diA r. o.„. vc.. d!; <; < C' -t- dl- ■' dv':dc_ •■Ccc<_: cci'c-d:!^; d.c C «d ^^ccc .C r d-. ^l:^ c ^d" <'^<:' ^T ^rc ^ m. , <-■ ^aa: ■ ^^ C' C d, d^*-" -/Id^ ^d(jd^j^ ^^^^h ^ OC , <■ <: tf *^;' cc < 'C. c<: < 't ^3< c«. << ■ cc: '-\^c"«Kg:-<;<: _ _ <£<9g: ^ ' '" 'c;' GS_ c:<:.«^',c^- <: ^'--^ <£<; lin;i: < ' I.UIOM" )N 1 1: AT THE CEI.EBllATIOX <>F THE EIGilTV-FOrRTH ANNIVERSARY OF A.MEltKAN IN 1 lEl'EN 1>EN(' K. BOSTON: GEO. C. RAND & AVERY, CITY PRINTERS NO. 3 COR Nil ILL. 1 8 GO. 1^ EGT^^OIT^A 5, Vt, COHDIIAAUI • '9/ <^^ IS 30- ,^^ C 1 T Y ( ) F B S T N . J)t ('oilUllOII ('l)IUI(if. •/"/// •'). lf^()0. Ordered: That the thanks of the City ('(nuicil I.e. and they are hereby presented to the Hon. Edward Kvkkktt. tor liis ahle. elo(}uent, and patriotic oration before the ^lunicipal Autliorities oi' the City of Boston, on the Eiuhty-Fourtli Anniversary of the Declaration of the Independence of the United States of Amer- ica, and in vindication of tlieir l{epn})lican Institutions, and tbat he be requested to furnisli a copy to tlie City Council for j»nbli- cation. Sent up for concurrence. J, P. BllADLKi:. rrr^i.Jnit. In Board nf AhlrniKn. Jiilj/ i), lS(i<). Passed iu concurrence. OTIS CFAJ'P. dnnrmnv. Apjiroved July 10, 1S()0, F. W. L1X(;0LX. .11!.. Mm/or. R A J^ 1 ( ) N . 11 A T I N . Eighty-four years ago this day, the Aiiu'lo-American Colonies, acting hy their delegates to the Congress at Philadelphia, formally renonnced their allegiance to the British Crown and declared their Inde])end- ence. We are assembled, Fellow-Citizens, to com- memorate the Anniversary of tliat great day, ;nid the ntterance of that momentous Decliirjitiou. The hand that penned its mighty sentences, and the tongue which, with an elo(|uence that swept all before it, sustained it on the Hoor of the Congress, ceased from among the living, at the end of half a century, on the same day, almost at the same hour, thirty-four vears ago. The last survivor of the sio-n- ers, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, closed his vener- able career six years later; — and of the generation sufticiently advanced in life to take a part in public affiiirs on the fourth of July. 1776, how few are living to hail this eighty-fourth anniversarv ! Thev are gone, ])ut their work remains. It has grown in interest with the lapse of years, beginning alread\' 8 to add to its intrinsic importance those titles to respect, Avhicli time confers on •rreat events and memoral)le eras, as it hangs its ivy and plants its mosses on the solid strnctures of tiie Past. — and ?i'e are now come together to hear our testimony to the Day, the Deed, and the Men. We have shut up our offices, our warehouses, our worksho])s, — we have escaped from the cares of business, may I not add from the dissensions of party, from all that occupies and all that divides us, to celebrate, to Join in celebrat- ing, the Birthday of the Nation, with one heart and w'lih one voice. We have come for this year, 18G(), to do our part in fulfilling the remarkable predic- tion of that noljle son of Massachusetts, John Adams, — who, in the language of Mr. Jefferson, was " the Colossus of Independence, — the pillar of its support on the floor of Congress." Although the Declaration was not adopted hy Congress till the fourth of Jul}', (which has therefore become the day of the Anni- versary,) the Resolution, on which it Avas founded, passed on the second instant. On the following day accordingly, John Adams, in a letter to his wife, says, " Yesterday the greatest question was decided that was ever debated in America, and greater per- haps never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony, that these United States are and of right ought to )k' Free and Independent States." Unalde to restrain 9 the fulness of his emotions, in another letter to his wife, hut of the same elate, naturally assuming that the clay on which the resolution was passed would be the day hereafter commemorated, he hvu-sts out in this all but inspired strain : — The day is passed; the second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, — with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this Continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore I You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but 1 am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravish- ing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means ; and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue it, — which I trust in God we shall not. The time which has elapsed since the great event took place is so considerable, — the national experience which has since accrued is so varied and significant, — the chana;es in our condition at home and our relations abroad are so vast, as to make it a natural and highly appropriate subject of inquiry, on the recurrence of the Anniversary, how far the hopefid auguries, with which our Independence was declared. 10 have been fulfilled. Has "-the gloom" which, in the language of Adams, shrouded the 4th of July, 1776, given way on this 4th of July, 18()0, '• to those rays of ravishini!: lio-lit and iAov\ " which lie i)redicted ? Has " the end," as he fondly believed it would do, proved thus far to be " more than worth all the means ? " Most signally, so for as he individually was concerned. He lived himself to enjoy a more than Roman triumph, in the result of that day's transaction ; to sign with his brother envoys the treaty of peace, by which Great Britain acknowl- edged the indej^endence of her ancient Colonies ; to stand before the British throne, the first repre- sentative of the newly constituted Republic ; and after havino; filled its second office in connection watli him, who, whether in peace or in war, could never fill any place but the first, — in office as in the hearts of his countrymen, — he lived to succeed to the great Chief, and closed his honored career, as the elective Chief Magistrate of those United States, wdiose independence he had done so much to estab- lish ; w^ith the rare additional felicity at the last of seeing his son elevated to the same station. But the life of an individual is but a span in the life of a Nation ; the fortunes of individuals, for good or for evil, are but as dust in the balance, compared with the growth and prosperity or the decline and fall of that greatest of human Personalities, a Com- 11 monwealtli. It is, therefore, a more momentous inquiry, "svlietlier the great design of Providence, with reference to our beloved country, of which we trace the indications in the recent discovery of the Continent, the manner of its settlement by the civil- ized races of the earth, the Colonial struggles, the establishment of Independence, the formation of a constitution of republican government, and its admin- istration in peace and war for seventy years, — I say, it is. a for more important inquiry whether this great design of Providence is in a course of steady and progressive fulfilment, — marked only by the fluctuations, ever visible in the march of human aftairs, — and authorizing a well-grounded hope of further development, in harmony with its auspicious beginnings, — or whether there is reason, on the other hand, to fear that our short-lived prosperity is already (as misgivings at home and disparagement abroad have sometimes whispered) on the wane, — that we have reached, that we have passed the meridian, — and have now to look forward to an evening of degeneracy, and the closing in of a ray- less and hopeless night of political decline. You are justly shocked, fellow-citizens, at the l^are statement of the ill-omened alternative ; and yet the inquiry seems forced on us, by opinions that have recently been advanced in high places abroad. In a debate in the House of Lords, on the PJth of April, 12 on a (pR'stion relative to the extension of the elective franchise in England, (the pnnciple which certainly lies at the l)asis of representative government,) the example of the United States, instead of being held u]) for imitation in this respect, as has generally been the case, on the subject of })opular reforms, was referred to as showing not the advantages but the evils of an enlarged suffrage. It was enqihatically asserted or i)lainly inthnated by the person who took the lead in the debate, (Earl Grey,) the son of the distinguished author of the bill for the Reform of Parliament, whose family traditions therefore might be expected to ])e strongly on the side of popular right, that, in the United States, since the Revo- lutionary period, and by the nndue extension of the right, of suffrage, our elections have become a mockery, our legislatures ven;d, our courts tainted with party si)irit, oin- Liavs ' cobwebs,' wdiicli the rich and poor alike break through, and the country, and the government in all its branches, given over to corruption, violence, and a general disregard of public morality. If these opinions are well foTuided, then certainly we labor under a great delusion in celebrating the National Anniversary. Instead of joyous chimes and meriy peals, responding to the triumphant salvos which ushered in the day, the Fourth of July ought rather to be couuuemorated l)y fimeral bells, and minute-guns, and dead marches ; and we, instead of assembling in this festal hall to congratulate each other on its happy return, should have been Ijetter found in sackcloth and ashes in the house of peni- tence and prayer. I believe that I shall not wander from tlie line of remark appropriate to the occasion, if I invite you to join me in a hasty inquiry, whether these charges and intimations are well founded ; whether we have thus degenerated from the standard of the Revolution- ary age ; whether the salutary checks of our system formerly existing have, as is alleged, been swept away, and our experiment of elective self-government has consequently become a failure ; whether, in a word, the great design of Providence, to which I have alluded, in the discovery, settlement, political independence, and national growth of the United States, has been prematurely arrested by our perversity; or wdiether, on the contrary, that design is not, — with those vicis- situdes, and drawbacks, and human infirmities of char- acter, and uncertainties of fortune, which beset alike the individual man and the societies of men, in the old world and the new, — in a train of satisfactory, hopeful, nay, triumphant and glorious fulfilment. And in the first place I will say that, in my judg- ment, great delicac}^ ought to be observed and much caution practised in these disparaging commentaries on the constitution, laws, and administrations of friendly 14 states ; and especially on the part of British and American statesmen in their comments on the s^'S- tems of their two countries, between which there is a more intimate connection of national s^-mpathy than between any two other nations, I must say that, as a matter both of taste and expediency, these specific arrai^u'uments of a foreign friendly country had better be left to the public press. ^Yithout wishing to put any limit to free discussion, or to proscrilje any expression of the patriotic complacency with which the citizens of one country are apt to assert the superiority of their own systems over those of all others, it appears to me that pungent criticisms on the constitutions and laws of foreiu:n states, and their practical operation, supported b}^ direct personal allusions to those called to administer them, are nearly as much out of place on the part of the legislative as of the executive branch of a government. On the part of the latter, they would be resented as an intolerable insult ; they cannot l)e deemed less than ofiensive on the part of the fonner. If there were no other objection to this practice, it would be sufficient, that its direct tendency is to recrimination ; a warfare of reciprocal disparagement, on the part of conspicuous memljers of the legisla- tures of friendly states. It is plain that a parlia- mentary warfare of this kind must u'reatlv increase 15 the dIfFiciilty of camiiig on the diplomatic discus- sions, which necessarily occur between states whose commercial and territorial interests touch and clash at so man}' points ; and the war of words is Init too well adapted to prepare the public mind for more deplorable struggles. Let me further also remark, that the suo:o:estion which I propose to combat, viz. that the experiment of self-government on the basis of an extensive elec- toral franchise is substantially a failure in the United States, and that the country has entered upon a course of rapid degeneracy since the days of Wash- ington, is not only one of great antecedent improb- ability, but it is one which, it might be expected, our brethren in England would Ije slow to admit. The mass of the population was originally of British origin, and the additional elements, of which it is made up, are from the other most intelligent and improvable races of Europe. The settlers of this Continent have been providentially conducted to it, or have grown up upon it, within a comparatively recent and highly enlightened period, namely, the last two hundred and fifty years. Much of it they found Ij^ing in a state of nature, with no time-honored abuses to eradicate ; abounding in most of the physical conditions of prosperous existence, and with few drawljacks but those necessarily incident to new countries, or inseparable from human imperfection. 16 Even the hardships tliey encountered, severe as they were, were well calculated to promote the growth of the manly virtues. In this great and promising field of social progress, they have planted, in the main, those political institutions, which have approved themselves in the experience of modern Europe and especially of England, as most favorable to the pros- perity of a state; — free representative governments; — written constitutions and laws, greatly modelled upon hers, especially the trial by jury; — a free and a cheap- and consequently all-pervading ^^ress ; — responsibility of the ruler to the people ; liberal pro- vision for popular education, and very general vol- untary and bountiful expenditure for the support of religion. If under these circumstances, the People of America, springing from such a stock, and trained in such a school, have failed to work out a satisfactory and a hopeful result ; and especially if within the last sixty years (for that is the distinct allegation) and consequently since, from the increase of numbers, wealth, and national power, all the social forces of the country have, for good or evil, been in higher action than ever before, there has been such marked deterioration that we are now fit to be held up, not as a model to be imitated, but as an example to be shunned, — not for the credit but for the discredit of popular institutions, — then, indeed, the case must be admitted to l)e a strange phenomenon in human 1' aft'airs, — disgraceful, it is true, in the highest degree to us, — not reflectino; credit on the race from which we are descended, — nor holding out encouragement anywhere for the adoption of lil)eral principles of government. If there is any feeling in England that can w^elcome the thought, that Americans have degenerated, the further reflection that it is the sons of Encrlishmen who have deii'enerated, must chasten the sentiment. If there is any country, where this supposed state of things should 1)e readily helieved to exist, surely it cannot ))e the parent country. If there is any place wliere such a suggestion should find ready credence, it cannot he in that House of Commons, where Burke uttered those golden words: "My hold of the Colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection." It cannot be in that House of Peers, where Chatham, conscious that the Colonies were fio-hting the battle not only of American Init of English liberty, ex- claimed, w^ith a fervor that almost caused the storied tapestry to quicken into life, " I rejoice that America has resisted." It must be in Venice, it must be in Naples, or wherever else on the face of the earth li])eral principles are scofied at, and constitutional freedom is known to exist, only as her crushed and mangled form is seen to twitch and quiver under the dark pall of arl)itrary [)()wer. 18 Befoi-e adinittiiig the trutli of siieli a .supposition, in itself so paradoxical, in its moral aspects so niourn- fal, in its natiu'al influence on the progress of liberal ideas so discourao-ins-, let us, for a, few moments, loolv at facts. The first olyect in the order of events, after the discovery of America, was, of course, its settlement by civilized man. It was not an easy task; — a mighty ocean separated the continent from the elder world ; a savage wilderness covered most of the country ; its barbarous and warlike inhabitants resisted from the first all coalescence with the new comers. To subdue this waste, — to plant cornfields in the primeval forest, to transfer the civilization of Europe to the new Avorld, and to make safe and sufficient arrangements, under political institutions, for the organized growth of free principles, — was the great problem to be solved. It was no holiday pastime, — no gainful speculation, — no romantic adventure; but grim, persistent, weary toil and danger. That it has been upon tlie whole performed with wonderful success, who will deny ? Where else in the history of the woi'ld have such results Ijeen brouii'lit a])Out in so short time? And if I desired, as I do not, to give this discussion the character of recrimination, might 1 not, — dividing the period which has elapsed since the conunencement of the European settlements in America into two portions, namely, the one which 10 })recede(l and the one which has fohowed the Dec- laration of Independence, the former under the sway of European governments, England, Holland, France, Spain, the latter under the government of the inde- pendent United States, — might I not claim for the latter, imder all the disadvantnges of a new govern- ment and limited I'esources, the credit of greatly superior enei'gv aud practical wisdom, in carrying on this magnificent work ? It was the inherent vice of the colonial system, that the growth of the Amer- ican colonies was greatly retarded for a century, in consequence of their heing involved in all the wars of Europe. There never was a period, on the other hand, since Columhus sailed from P;dos, in which the settlement of the country has advanced with such rapidity as within the last sixty years. The commencement of the lievolution found us with a population not greafly exceeding two millions ; the census of 1800 a little exceeded hve millions; that of the present year will not prol)ably fall short of thirty-two millions. The tw^o centuries and a half which preceded the Revolution witnessed the organ- ization of thirteen Colonies, raised by the Declaration to States, to which the period that has since elapsed has added twenty more. I own it has filled me with amazement to find cities like Cincinnati and Louisville, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis, not to mention those still more remote, on spots which 20 within the memory of muii were frontier military posts ; — to find railroads and electric telegraphs traversing forests, in whose gloomy shades, as late as 1789, and in territories not more remote than the present State of Ohio, the wild savage still burned his captives at the stake. The desponding or the unfriendly censor will remind me of the blemishes of this tumultuous civilization; — outbreaks of frontier violence in earlier and later times ; acts of injustice to the native tribes, (though the policy of the (Jovernment toward them has in the main been paternal and conscien- tiously administered,) the roughness of manners in infant settlements, the collisions of adventurers not yet compacted into a stable society, deeds of wild justice and wilder injustice, border license, lynch law. All these I admit and I lament ; — but a community cannot grow up at once from the log-cabin, with the wolf at the door and the savage in the neighboring thicket, into the order and beauty of communities which have been maturino- for centuries. We must rememljer, too, that all these blemishes of an infant settlement, the inseparalde accompaniment of that stage of progress and phase of society and life, have their counter] )art at the other end of the scale, in the festeiing iniquities of large cities, the gigantic frauds of speculation and trade, the wholesale corrup- tion, in a word, of older societies, in all parts of the 21 world. When I reflect that the day we celel)rate found lis a feeble strip of thirteen Colonies along the coast, averaging at most a little more than 150,000 inhabitants each ; and that this, its eighty-fourth return, sees ns grown to thirty-three States, scattered tlirough the interior and pushed to the Pacific, aver- aging nearly a million of inhabitants, — each a well- compacted representative republic, securing to its citizens a larger amount of the substantial blessings of life, than are enjoyed by equal numbers of people in the oldest and most prosperous States of Europe, I am lost in wonder ; and, as a sufficient answer to all general charges of degeneracy, I am tempted to exclaim, Look around you. But, merely to fdl up the wilderness with a pop- ulation provided with the ordinary institutions and carrying on the customar}' ^^i^^i'^^^-^its of civilized life, thouii'll surelv no mean achievement, was not the whole of the work allotted to the United States, and thus fjir performed with signal activity, intelligence, and success. The Founders of America and their descendants have accomplished more and better things. On the basis of a rapid geographical exten- sion, and with the Ibi'ce of teeming numbers, they have, in the ver}' infancy of their political existence, successfully aimed at higher progress in a generous civilization. The meclumical arts have not only been cultivated, but thev have been cultivated with unusual 9^) aptitude. Agriculture, Manufactures, Connnerce, Nav- igation, whether by sails or steam, and the art of printing in all its forms and in all its applications, have been pursued with surprising skill. Great im- provements have been made in all these branches of industry, and in the machinery pertaining to them, Avhicli have been eagerly adopted in Europe. A more adequate provision has been made for pop- ular education, the great basis, humanly speaking of social improvement, than in almost any other country. I Ijelieve that in the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, more money, in proportion to the population, is raised l)y taxation for the support of common schools, than in any other cities in the world. There are more seminaries in the United States, where a decent academical education can ))e (jl)tained, — moi'c, 1 still mean in proportion to the population, — than in any other country except Ger- many. The Fine Arts have reached a high degree of excellence. The taste for music is rapidly spread- ing in town and country ; and every year witnesses productions from the pencil and the chisel of American sculptors and painters, which would adorn any gidlery in the world. Our Astronomers, Mathematicians, Naturalists, Chemists, Engineers, Jurists, Publicists, Historians, Poets, Novelists, and Lexicographers, have placed themselves on a level with their contemporaries abroad. The best dictionaries of the Emrlish lang^uafre •)•-> since that of Johnson, are those published in America. Our constitutions, ^vhethe^ of the United States or of the separate States, exchide all public provision for the maintenance of Religion, but in no part of Christendom is it more generously supported. Sacred Science is pursued as diligently and the pulpit com- mands as high a degree of respect in the United vStates, as in those countries where the Church is 1)ul)rK'lv endowed; while the American Missionary operations have won the admiration of the civilized world. Nowhere, I am persuaded, are there more liberal contributions to public-spirited and charitable objects, — witness the remarkable article on that sub- ject, the second of the kind, by Mr. Eliot, in the last number of the North American Review. Our char- itable asylums, houses of industry, institutions for the education of deaf mutes and the blind, for the care of the pauper, and the discipline and reformation of the criminal, are nowhere surpassed. The latter led the w'ay in the modern penitentiary reforms. In a word, there is no branch of the mechanical or line arts, no department of science exact or applied, no form of polite literature, no description of social improvement, in which, due allowance being made for the means and resources at command, the progress of the United States has not been satisfactory, and in some respects astonishing. At this moment, tlie rivers and seas of the u'lobe are navig-ated with that 24 marvellous application of steam us a propelling powei- wliicli was first practically effected hy Fulton; tlie mon- ster steamship which has just reached onr shores, rides at anclior in the waters, in which the first successful experiment of Steam Navigation was made. The wheat hai-vest of England this summer will he gathered hy American reapei-s ; the newspapers which lead the journalism of Enro],e are printed on American presses; there are imperial llailroads in Europe con- structed l)y American Engineers and travelled hy American locomotives; troops aru.ed with American vvea].ons, and ships of war huilt iu American dock- yards. ]n the factories of Europe there is machinery of American invention or improvement; in their observatories, telescopes of American construction; and apparatus of American invention for I'ecording the celestial phenomena. America contests with Europe the introduction into actual use of the electric telegraph, and her mode of operating it is adopted throughout the French empire. Anierican authors in almost every department of science and Hterature are found on the shelves of European libraries. It is true no American Homer, Virgil, Dante, Copernicus, Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, NeV ton, lias risen on the world. These mighty geniuses seem to be exceptions in the history of the human mind. Favorable circumstances do not produce them, nor does the absence of favorable circumstances pre- 25 vent their appearance. Homer rose in the dawn of Grecian cultnre ; Yirgil fiourished in the Court of Augustus ; Dante ushered in the birth of the modern European Hterature ; Copernicus was reared in a Pohsh cloister ; Shakespeare was trained in the greenroom of a theatre ; Milton was formed while the elements of English thought and life were fer- menting toward a great political and moral revolution ; Newton, under the profligacy of the Restoration. Ages may elapse before any country will produce a mind like these ; as two centuries have passed since the last-mentioned of them was born. But if it is really a mark of inferiority on the part of the United States, that in the comparatively short period of their exist- ence as a people, they have not added another name to this illustrious list, (which is equally true of all the other nations of the earth,) they may proudly boast of one example of Life and Character, one career of disinterested service, one model of public virtue, one type of human excellence, of wdiich all the countries and all the ages may be searched in vain for a parallel. I need not, — on this day I need not, — speak the peerless name. It is stamped on your hearts, it glistens in your eyes, it is written on every page of your history, on the l)attle-fields of the Revolution, on the monuments of your Fathers, on the portals of your capitols. It is heard in every breeze that whispers over the fields of Independent 26 America. And he was all our own. lie grew up on the soil of America ; he was nurtured at her bosom. She loved and trusted him hi his youth ; she honored and revered him in his age ; and though she did not w^ait for death to canonize his name, his precious memory, with each succeeding year, has sunk more deeply into the hearts of his countrymen! But, as I have already stated, it was \n\u-ed against us in substance on the occasion alluded to, that within the last sixty years the United States liave degen- erated, and that by a series of changes, at first appar- ently inconsiderable, but all leading by a gradual and steady progression to the same result, a very discredit- able condition of things has been broudit about in this country. Without stating precisely what these supposed changes are, the "result" is set forth in a somewdiat remarkable series of reproachful allegations, far too numerous to be repeated in detail, in what remains of this address, but implying in the aggregate little less than the general corruption of the country, — ^^^litical, social, and moral. The severity of these reproaches is not materially softened by a few courteous w^ords of respect for the American People. I shall in a moment select for examination two or three of the most serious of these charges, observing only at present that the pros^^erous condition of the country, which I have imperfectly sketched, and especially its 27 astonishing growth, during the present centuiy in the richest products, material and intellectual, of a rapidly maturing civilization, furnish a sufficient defence against the general charge. Men do not gather the grapes and figs of science, art, taste, wealth, and manners from the thorns and thistles of lawlessness, venality, fraud, and violence. These fair fruits grow only in the gardens of public peace, and industry protected by the Law. In the outset let it be observed then, that the assumed and assigned cause of the reproachful and deplorable state of things alleged to exist in the United States is as imaginary, as the effects are exaggerated or wholly unfounded in fiict. The " checks established by Washington and his associates on an unbalanced democracy " in the general govern- ment have never, as is alleged, "been sw^ept away," — not one of them. The great constitutional check of this kind, ■ as far as the General Government is concerned, is the limitation of the granted powers of Congress ; the reservation of the rights of the States ; and the organization of the Senate as their re^^resent- ative. These constitutional provisions, little compre- hended abroad, which give to the smallest States equal weight with the largest, in one branch of the national legislature, impose a very efficient check on the power of a numerical majority ; and neither in this nor in any other provision of the Constitution, bearing 28 on the subject, lias the slightest change ever been made. Not only so, but the prevalent policy since 1800 has been in favor of the reserved rights of the States, and in consequent derogation of the powers of the General Government. In fact, when the Reform Bill was agitated in England, and hy the conservative statesmen of that country stigmatized as '^a revolution," it was admitted that the United States possessed in their written Constitution, and in the difficulty of procuring amendments to it, a conservative principle unknown to the English government. In truth, if by " an nnljalanced democracy " is meant such a government as that of Athens, or republican Rome, or the Italian Republics, or the English Com- monwealth, or revolutionary France, there not only never was, ])ut never can be such a thing in the United States, unless our whole existing S3^stem should be revolutionized, and that in a direction to which there never has been the slightest approach. The very fact that the great mass of the population is broken up into separate States, now thirty-three in number and rapidly multiplying, each with its local interests and centre of political influence, is itself a very efficient check on such a democracy. Then each of these States is a, re])resentative commonwealth, composed of two branches, with the ordinary divisions of executive, legislative, and judicial power. It is true, that in some of the States, some trifling property qualifications for 29 eligibility uiid the exercise of the elective franchise h.ave been {i])iogated, but not with any perceptiljle eflect on the number or character of the voters. The system, varying a little in the different States, always made a near approach to universal suffrage ; and the great increase of voters has been caused by the increase of population. Under elective governments, with a free press, with ardent party divisions, and in reference to questions that touch the heart of the people, pettj^ limitations on the right of suffrage are indeed 'cobwebs,' which the popular will breaks through. The voter may be one of ten, or one of fifty of the citizens, but on such questions he will vote in conformitv with the will of the great mass. If he resists it, the government itself, like that of France in 1848, will go down. Agitation and popular commotion scoff at checks and balances, and as much in England as in America. When Nottingham Castle is in ruins and half Bristol a henp of ashes, monarchs and minis- ters must bend. The Reform Bill must then j3ass " through Parliament or over it," in the significant words of Lord Macaulay ; and that, whether the constituencies are great or small. That a restricted suffrage and a, limited constituency do not always insure independence on the part of the Representative, may be inferred from the rather remarkable admission of Lord Grev, in this very debate, that "a laro-e proportion of the members of the present House of 10 Commons are, from various circumstances, afraid to ad on their real opinions^' on the subject of the Reform Bill then before them. I have already observed that it would be impossible, within the limits of this address, to enter into a detailed examination of all the matters laid to our charge, on the occasion alluded to. The ministerial leader (Lord Granville) candidly admitted, in the course of the debate, that, though he concurred wath his brother peer in some of his remarks, " they were generally much exaggerated." We too must admit with reofret, that for some of the statements made to our discredit, there is a greater foundation in fact, than we could wish; that our political system, like all human institutions, however wise in theory and successful in its general operation, is liable to abuse ; that party, the bane of all free governments, works its mischief here ; that some bad men are raised to office and some good men excluded from it ; that public virtue here as elsewhere sometimes breaks down under the temptation of place or of gold ; that unwise laws are sometimes passed by our legislatures, and unpopu- lar laws sometimes violated by the mob; in short, that the frailties and vices of men and of governments are displayed in Republics as they are in Monarchies, in the New World as in the Old ; whether to a greater, equal, or less degree, time must show. The question of the great Teacher, to which the I'everend Chap- 31 lain lias Just called our attention, may as ])ertinently be asked of Nations as of individuals, " Why belioldest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? " An honest and impartial administration of justice is the corner-stone of the social system. The most serious charges brought against us, on the occasion alluded to, are, that, owing to the all-pervading cor- ruption of the country, the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, who once commanded the public respect at home and abroad, are now ap- pointed for party purposes, and that some of their decisions have excited the disij-ust of all hii>i:h-minded men ; that the Judges of most of the State Courts hold their olFices by election, some by annual elec- tion ; that the undisputed dominion of the numerical majority, wdiich has been established, will not allow the desires and passions of the hour to be checked by a firm administration of justice; and that in con- sequence the laws in this country have become mere cobwebs to resist either the rich, or the popular feel- ing of the moment ; in a word that the American Astra?a, like the goddess of old, has lied to the stars. I need not say, fellow-citizens, in your hearing, that wherever else this may be true, (and I Ijelieve it to be nowhere true in the United States,) it is not true in our ancient connnonwealth ; and that Westminster Hall never boasted a Court more honored or more 32 Avoi'thy uf honor, than that which holds its office by a life tenure and administers impartial justice, without respect of persons, to the people of Massa- chusetts. Such a court the people of Massachusetts have no wish to change for an elective judiciary, holding office by a short tenure. In their opinion, evinced in their practice, this all-important branch of the gov- ernment ought to be removed, as far as possible, beyond the reach of political influences; but it is surely the grossest of errors to speak of the tribunals of the United States as being generally tainted with party, or to represent the law, in the main, as having ceased to be respected and enforced. Taking a com- prehensive view of the subject, and not drawing sweeping inferences from exceptional occurrences it may be safely said that the law of the land is ably, cheaply, and impartially administered in the United States, and implicitly obeyed. On a few questions, not half a dozen in numl:)er since the organization of the government, and those partaking of a political charac- ter, the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, like the questions to which they refer, have divided public opinion. But there is surely no trilnmal in the world, which, like that court has, since the foun- dation of the government, not only efficienth^ per- formed the ordinary functions of a tribunal of the last resort, to the general satisfaction of the country, but 33 which sits in judgment on the courts and legislatures of sovereign States, on acts of Congress itself, and pro- nounces the law to a confederation coextensive with Europe. I know of no such protection, under any other government, against unconstitutional legislation; if, indeed, any legislation can be called unconstitu- tional, where Parliament, alike in theory and practice, is omnipotent. With respect to the partisan character of our courts, inferred from the manner in which the judges are ap- pointed, the judges of the United States Courts, which are the tribunals sj)ecifically reflected on, are appointed in the same manner and hold their offices by the same tenure, as the English judges of the courts of common law. They are appointed for life, by the executive power, no doubt from the dominant party of the day, and this equally in both countries. The' presiding magistrate of the other branch of English jurispru- dence, — the Lord Chancellor, — is displaced with every change in politics," In seventy-one years, since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, there have been but four chief justices of the United States, and the fourth is still on the bench. In thirty-three years there have been, 1 believe, nine appointments of a Lord Chancellor, on as many changes of the ministry, and seven different individuals have filled the office, of whom five are living. As a member of the Cabinet, and Speaker of the House of Lords, 34 he is necessarily deep in all the political controversies of the day, and his vast official influence and patron- age, generally administered on political grounds, are felt throughout church and state. The Chief Justice of England is usually a member of the House of Lords, sometimes a member of the Cabinet. As a necessary consequence, on all questions of a political nature, the Court is open to the same suspicion of partisanship as in the United States, and for a much stronger reason, inasmuch as our judges can never be members of the Cabinet or of Congress. During a considerable part of his career, Lord Mansfield was engaged in an embit- tered political warfare with the Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords. All the resources of the Eno;lish language were exhausted by Junius, in desolating and unpunished party libels on the Chief Justice of Eng- land ; and when the capital of the British Empire lay for six days at the mercy of Lord George Gordon's mob, its fury was concentrated against the same vener- able magistrate. The jurisprudence of this country strikes its roots deej) into that of England. Her courts, her magis- trates, her whole judicial system, are regarded by the profession in America with respect and afiection. But if, beginning at a period coeval with the settlement of America, we run down the line of the chancellors and chief justices, from Lord Bacon and Sir Edward Coke to the close of the last century, it will, in scarce any 35 generation, be found free from the record of personal, official, and political infirmities, from which an un- friendly censor might have drawn inferences hostile to the integrity of the tribunals of England, if not to the soundness of her public sentiment. But he would have erred. The character of governments and of in- stitutions is not to be judged of from individual men or exceptional occurrences, but must be gathered from a large experience, from general results, from the testi- mony of ages. A thousand years, and a revolution in almost every centur}^, have been necessary to build up the constitutional fabric of England to its present proportions and strength. Let her not play the uncharitable censor, if portions of our newly con- structed state machinery are sometimes heard to grate and jar. With respect to the great two-edged sword, wdtli which Justice smites the unfaithful public servant, the present Lord Chancellor (late Chief Justice) of England, observes, of the acquittal of Lord Melville, in 1806, that "it showed that Impeachment can no longer be relied upon for the conviction of state offences, and can only be considered as a test of parftj strength;'" while of the standard of professional literature, the same venerable mai»;istrate, who unites the vio:or of youth to the experience and authority of fourscore years, remarks, with a candor, it is true, not very flat- tering to the United States, in the form of the expres- 36 sion, that down to the end of the reign of George the Third (a. d. 1820), "England was excelled by contem- porary juridical authors, not only in France, Italy, and Germany, but even America." I will only add, that, of the very great number of judges of our Federal and State Courts, — although frugal salaries, short terms of office, and the elective tenure may sometimes have called incompetent men to the bench, — it is not within my recollection, that a single individual has been sus- pected even of pecuniary corruption. Next in imjDortance to the integrity of the courts, in a well-governed state, is the honesty of the legislature. A remarkable instance of wholesale cor- ruption, in one of the new States of the West, consisting of the alleged bribery of a considerable number of the members of the legislature, by a distribution of Eailroad bonds, is quoted by Lord Grey, as a specimen of the corruption which has infected the legislation both of Congress and of the States, and as showing " the state of things which has arisen in that country." It was a very discreditable occur- rence certainly, (if truly reported, and of that I know nothing,) illustrative I hope, not of "a state of things," which has arisen in America, but of the degree to which large bodies of men, of whom better things might have been expected, may sometimes become so infected, when the mania of speculation is epidemic, that principle, prudence, and common sense give way, in the eagerness to clutch at sudden wealth. In a bubble season, the ordinary rules of morality lose their controlling power for a while, under the temptation of the day. The main current of public and private morality in England, probably flowed as deep and strong as ever, both before and after the South Sea frauds, when Cabinet ministers and Court ladies, and some of the highest personages in the realm ran mad after dishonest gains, and this in England's Augustan age. Lord Granville in reply observed that the " early legislation of England, in such matters, [Railways,] was not so free from reproach, as to justify us in attributing the bribery in America solely to the democratic character of the government," and the biographer of George Stephen- son furnishes facts which abundantly confirm the truth of this remark. After describing the extravagant length to which Railway speculation was carried in that country in 1844-1845, Mr. Smiles proceeds: — " Parliament, whose previous conduct in connection with Rail- way legislation was so open to reprehension, interposed no check, attempted no remedy. On the contrary, it helped to intensify the evil arising from this unseemly state of things. Many of its mem- bers were themselves involved in the mania, and as much inter- ested in its continuance as even the vulgar herd of money-grubbers. The railway prospectuses now issued, unlike the Liverpool and Manchester and London and Birmingham schemes, were headed by peers, baronets, landed proprietors, and strings of M. P.'s. Thus it was found in 1S45, that not fewer than one hundred and fifty- seven members of Parliament were on the list of new companies, as subscribers for sums ranging from two hundred and ninety-one thousand pounds sterling [not f;ir from a million and a half of dollars] downwards I The proprietors of new lines even came to boast of their parliamentary strength, and the number of votes they could command in ' the House.' The influence which land- owners had formerly brought to bear upon Parliament, in resisting railways, when called for by the public necessities, was now employed to carry measures of a far difiereut kind, originated by cupidity, knavery, and folly. But these gentlemen had discovered, by this time, that railways were as a golden mine to them. They sat at railway boards, sometimes selling to themselves their own land, at their own price, and paying themselves with the money of the unfortunate stockholders. Others used the radicat/ mania as a convenient, and to themseives ine.rjM'nsire, me>de of purchasing con- stituencies. It was strongly suspected that honorable members adopted what Yankee legislators call ' log-rolling ; ' that is, ' you help me to roll my log. and I will help you to roll yours.' At all events, it is a matter of fact that, through parliamentary influence, many utterly ruinous branches and extensions, projected during the mania, calculated only to benefit the inhabitants of a few miserable old boroughs, accidentally omitted from schedule A, were authorized in the memorable session of 1844-45." * These things, be it remembered, took place, not in a newly gathered republic, just sprouting, so to say, into existence on the frontier, inhabited by the pio- neers of civilization, who had rather rushed together, than grown up to the moral traditions of an ancient community; but they took place at the metropolis of one of the oldest monarchies in Europe, the centre * Smiles'? Life of Stephenson, p. 371. 39 of the civilized world, where public sentiment is prop- ped by the authority of ages ; heart of old English oak encased with the life circles of a thousand years. I was in London at the height of the mania ; I saw the Eailway King, as he was called, at the zenith of his power ; a member of Parliament, through which he walked quietly, it was said, "with some sixteen railway bills under his arm ; " almost a fourth estate of the realm ; his receptions crowded like those of a Royal Prince ; — and I saw the gilded bubble burst. But I did not write home to my government, that this marvellous " state of things " showed the corruption which springs from hereditary institutions, nor did I hint that an extension of the rio'ht of suffrao'e and a moderate infusion of the O o democratic principle were the only remedy. I have time for a few words only on the '■ unscrupu- lous and overbearing tone " which is said by Lord Grey to " mark our intercourse with foreign nations." "If anyone European nation," he observes, " were to act in the same manner, it t-ouhl not escape war for a single year. We our- selves have been rcjieatedly on the verge of a (juarrel with the United States. Witli no divergence of interest, Init the strongest possible interest on both sides to maintain the closest friendship, we have more than once been on the eve of a quarrel ; and that great calamity has now been avoided, because the government of this country has liad the good sense to treat the government of tlie Ignited States much as we should treat spoiled children, and though the right was clearly on our side, has yielded to the 40 uiireasouable pretensions of tlie United States. There is danger that this may be pushed too far, and that a question may arise, on which our honor and our interests will make concession on our part impossible." No one is an impartial judge in his own case. If we should meet these rather indiscreet suo-ocestions in the only way in which a charge without specifi- cations can be met, — by a denial as broad as the assertion, — the matter would be left precisely as it stood before ; that is, each party in its national controversies thinks itself right and its opponent wrong, which is not an uncommon case in human affairs, public and private. This at least may be added, without fear of contradiction, that the United States, in their intercourse with foreign governments have abstained from all interference in European politics, and have confined themselves to the protec- tion of their own rights and interests. As far as concerns theoretical doctrines on the subjects usually controverted between governments, a distinguished English magistrate and civilian pronounces the authority of the United States " to be always great upon all questions of International Law.'"-' Many of the questions which have arisen between this country and England, have been such as most keenly touch the national susceptibilities. That in discussing these questions, at home and abroad, no despatch has * R. Phillimore's International Law, vol. iii. p. 252, 41 been written, no word uttered, in a warmer tone than might be wished, is not to be expected, and is as little likely to have, happened on one side of the w\ater as the other. But that the intercourse of the United States with (Jreat Britain has, in the main, been conducted, earnestly indeed, as becomes power- ful States treating important sulijects, but cour- teously, gravely, and temperately, no one well acquainted with the facts will, I think, deny. It would not be ditTicult for me to pass in review our controversies with England, and to show that when she has conceded any portion of our demands, it has not been ))ecause they were urged in " an imscrupulous and overbearing tone," (an idea not very complimentary to herself,) but l)ecause they were founded in justice and sustained l)y argument. This is not the occasion for such a review. In a public address, wdiich I had the honor of delivering in this hall last September, I vindicated the ne- gotiations relative to the Northeastern Boundary, from the gross and persistent misrepresentations of which they have l^een the subject ; and I will now only briefly allude to by far the most important chapter in our diplomatic history. I go back to it, because, after the lapse of a generation, the truth has at length pierced through the mists of contem- porary interest and passion, and because it will suffi- ciently show by one very striking example, whether 42 in her intercourse with foreign nations, America has been in the habit of assuming an unscrupulous and overbearimi: tone, or whether she has been the victim of those quahties on the part of others. After the short-Hved pe;ice of Amiens, a new war, of truly Titanic proportions, broke out between France and England. In the progress of this tre- mendous struggle, and for the purpose of mutual destruction, a succession of Imperial decrees and Royal Orders in Council were issued by the two powers, by which all neutral commerce was anni- hilated. Each of the great belligerents maintained that his adversary's decree was a violation of Inter- national Law ; each justified his own edict on the ground of retaliation, which of course as far as the neutral was concerned was no justification ; — and between these great conflicting forces the rights and interests of neutrals were crushed. Under these orders and decrees, it is estimated that one hundred millions of American property were swept from the ocean ; — of the losses and sufferings of our citizens, in weary detention for years at Courts of Admiralty and Vice-Admiralty all round the globe, there can be no estimate. But peace returned to the world ; time wore away ; and after one generation of the original sufferers had sunk, many of them sorrow- stricken and ruined, into the grave, the government of King Louis Philippe, in France, acknowledged the wrong of the Imperial regime, by a late and partial measure of indemnification, obtained by means of the treaty negotiated with great ability, by Mr. Rives, of Virginia. England, in addition to the caj^tnre of our ships and the confiscation of their cargoes, had subjected the United States to the indignity of taking her seamen by impressment from our vessels, — a practice which, in addition to its illegality even under the law of England, and its cruelty, which have since caused it to l^e aban- doned at home, often led to the impressment of our own citizens, both naturalized and native. For this intolerable wrong (which England herself would not have endured a day, from any foreign power), and for the enormous losses accruing under the Orders in Council, the United States not only never received any indenniification, but the losses and sufferings of a war of two years and a half dura- tion, to which she was at length driven, were superadded. These orders were at the time regarded by the liberal school of British statesmen as unjust and oppressive towards neutrals ; and though the eminent civilian. Sir William Scott (afterwards Lord Stowell), who presided in the British Court of Ad- miralty, and who had laid the foundations of a princely fortune by fees accruing in prize causes/^ * Sketch of the Live.-; of Lords Slowoll aiul Ekloii. by William Edward Surteos, D.C.L. fa relative], p. 8S. 44 deemed it " extreme indecency" to admit the pos- sibility, that the Orders in Council could be in contravention of the public law, it is now the almost universal admission of the text-writers, that such was the case. As lately as 1847, the present Lord Chancellor, — then Lord Chief Justice of Eng- land, — used this remarkable language : " Of these Orders in Council, Napoleon had no right to com- plain ; but they were grievously unjust to neutrals; and it is now (jenerally allowed^ that they luere contrary to the law of natiom, and to our own municipal law ! " These liljeral admissions have come too late to repair the ruined fortunes or to heal the l^roken hearts of the sufferers: they will not recall to life the thousands who fell on hard-fought fields, in defence of their country's rights. But they do not come too late to rel)uke the levity with which it is now intimated, that the United States stand at the august l)ar of the PubHc Law, not as reasoning men, but as spoiled children; not too late to suggest the possibility to candid minds, that the next generation may do us the like justice, with reference to more recent controversies.'"' Thus, Fellow-Citizens, I have endeavored, without vaini;loi\ hig, with respect to ourselves, or bitterness * I.urd CiiiiipbcU's Lives of the Cliaiic-elloi-s, vol. vii. p. 218: Story's Miscellaneous Writiiii,^s, ]). '-is:!; IMiilliiiiore's Inteniatioiial Law, vol. iii. ])i). 250, ,'5:59 ; Manning's Com- mentary on the Law of Nations, p. .330; AVildman's Institutes of International Law vol. ii. pp. 1S3, I'^^S; also, the French publicists, Hautefcuille and Ortolan, under the appropriate heads. 45 toward others, but in a spirit of candor and patriotism, to repel the sinister intimation, that a fatal degeneracy is stealing over the country ; and to show that the eighty-fourth anniversary finds the United States in the fulfilment of the glowing anticipations, with which, in the self-same instrument, their Independence was inaugurated, and their Union first proclaimed. No formal act had as yet bound them together ; no plan of confederation had even been proposed. A connnoii allegiance embraced them, as parts of one metropolitan empire ; but when that tie was sundered, they became a group of insulated and feeble communities, not politically connected with each other, nor known as yet in the family of nations. Driven by a common necessity, yearning toward each other with a common sympathy of trial and of danger, piercing with wise and patriotic foresight into the depths of ages yet to come, — led l)y a Divine Counsel, — they clung together with more than elective affinity, and declared the independence of the United States. North and South, great and small, Massachusetts and Virginia, the oldest and then the largest ; New York and Pennsylvania, unconscious as yet of their destined preponderance, but already holding the central balance ; Rhode Island and Delaware, raised by the Union to a political equality witli their powerful neighbors, joined with their sister republics in the august Declaration, for themselves and for the rapidly multiplying family of 46 States, which they beheld in prophetic vision. This great charter of independence was the life of the Revolntion; the sword of attack, the panoply of defence. Under the consummate guidance of Wash- in s^ton, it sustained our flxthers under defeat, and guided them to victory. It gave us the alliance with France, and her auxiliary armies and navies. It gave us the Confederation and the Constitution. With successive strides of progress, it has crossed the Al- leghanies, the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Missouri ; has stretched its living arms almost from the Arctic circle to the tepid waters of the Gulf; has belted the continent with rising States; has unlocked the rich treasuries of the Sierra Madre ; and flung out the banners of the Republic to the gentle breezes of the Peaceful Sea. Not confined to the continent, the power of the Union has convoyed our commerce over the broadest oceans to the furthest isles ; has opened the gates of the Morning to our friendly intercourse ; and — sight unseen before in human history — has, from that legendary Cipango, the original object of the expedition of Columbus, but which his eyes never beheld nor his keels ever touched, brought their swarthy princes on friendly embassage, to the western shores of the world-dividing Deep. Meantime, the gallant Frenchmen, who fought the battles of liberty on this continent, carried back the generous contagion to their own fair land. Would 47 that thoy could have carried with it the moderation and the wisdom that tempered our Revolution ! The great idea of constitutional reform in England, a brighter jewel in her crown than that of which our fathers bereft it, is coeval with the successful issue of the American struggle. The first appeal of revolution- ary Greece, an appeal not made in vain, was for American sympathy and (ud. The golden vice-royal- ties of Spain on this continent asserted their independ- ence in imitation of our example, though sadly want- ing our previous training in the school of regulated liberty ; and now, at length, the fair '' Niobe of Nations," accepting a constitutional monarchy as an instalment of the lono:-deferred debt of Freedom, sighs through all her liberated States for a represent- ative confederation, and claims the title of the Italian Washington for her heroic Garibaldi. Here then, fellows-citizens, I close where I began ; the noble prediction of Adams is fulfilled. The ques- tion decided eighty-four years ago in Philadelphia 2i'as the greatest question ever decided in America ; and the event has shown that greater, perhaps, never was nor ever will be decided amoni>- men. The sj-reat Declaration, with its life-giving principles, has, wdthin that interval, extending its influence from the central ])lains of America to the eternal snows of the Cor- dilleras, from the western shores of the Atlantic to the furthest East, crossed the land and the sea, and 48 circled the u'lobe. Nor let us fear that its force is exhausted, for its principles are as broad as humauity, as eternal as truth. And if the visions of patriotic seers are destined to be fulfilled ; if it is the will of Providence that the lands which now sit in darkness shall see the day ; that the south and east of Europe and the west of Asia shall be regenerated ; and the ancient and mysterious regions of the East, the cradle of mankind, shall receive back in these latter days from the West the rich repayment of the early debt of civilization, and rejoice in the cheerful light of constitutional freedom, — that light will go forth from Independence Hall in Philadelphia ; that lesson of constitutional freedom they will learn from this day's Declaration. DINNEll AT FANEIJIL HALL. THE DINNER Took place as usual in Faneuil Hall, whither the City Council and its guests marched from the Music Hall, upon the conclusion of the services at that place. The interior decorations of the hall elicited general admii-ation, for their simplicity and good taste ; the temporary aquarium, water fountain, and living flower-beds arranged ujion the platform lending an unusual air of frcsliness to the scene. Tlie company being seated, a blessing was asked by Rev. Rufus Ellis, D.D., ami immediately thereafter the repast prepared for the occasion by Mr. J. B. ymith was laid upon the tables, and received undivided attention for nearly an hour. His Honor Mayor Lincoln then rose and said : — FELLOw-riTizK>-s: Again in the progrt's^s of time our groat National Anniversary has arrived, and we, the people of Boston, have assembled to participate in its celebra- tion. As the ancient Jews went up to the Temple to commemorate their sacred festival, so we have thronged this ancient edifice, our hearts filled with tliosn joyous emotions which belong to the place and the hour. Surely no spot in this vast Republic is more fitting for such a celebration tlian old Faneuil Hall. No community lias richer blessings than ours, or has greater cause for gratitude to the Fatliers, or is more willing to sustain those principles, and transmit them unimpaired to posterity. If we had as.sembled upon some of the great battle-fields of the Revolution, (approi)riate it might have been,) our thoughts would have been carried back to the scenes of conflict and strife, with the shouts of the victor, and the groans and despair of the vanquished; Imt here we are reminded of those great principles which were discussed, those great truths of the rights of man which were here enunciated, which, carrying conviction to the hearts of the patriots, nerved their arms and inspired their courage to seek tlie tented field, and to lay down even their lives in defence of the liberties of their country. The events which took place in Boston and its vicinity at the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle, are as familiar to you as your mother tongue, and it would be useless to relate them, — they have already been recorded upon the historic page, and are known to the world. But the great principles of liberty which gave them significance and importance arc still in our charge. We have a filial duty of gratitude to the past, but our noblest ambition should be to keep the present up to that high standard of public equality and social privileges which was bequeathed to us bj' our patriotic sires. The commemoration of this day, therefore, becomes more than a mere holiday occasion ; it suggests serious reflections upon the present state of the Republic, and a most watchful scrutiny into the tendencies of the times; party spirit we would banish, partisan warfare should be hushed, as we thus mrel togethci' as brothers and i)atriofs at a eominon board. ■yi This is the sentiment which has always characterized the public celebration of this day in Boston. The public authorities, commencing in the year 17S3. by the happy choice of Dr. John "Warren, the younger brother of the patriot martyr of Bunker Hill, who delivered the first oration, hare always endeavored to provide such an ob.*ervance of the occasion as the whole people, without distinction of party or sect, could enjoy and actively par- ticipate in. To-day, then, welcome one and all to this scene of our festivity at Faneuil Hall. "We confess to some local pride for the part which our immediate ancestors took in the great struggle which we commemorate: yet, as we recollect how nobly they were supported by the people of the other colonies, all narrow feelings vanish, — we comprehend our country, our whole country, in our love and admiration. Our heart*; expand with the growth of the Kepublic, and not only the old tliirteen are embraced in our sympathies, but the whole thirty-three States, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores, are included in our fraternal embrace, and we hail their people as one and indivisible. Let us also remember that we not only have a sacred duty to ourselves and our chil- dren, to preserve the precious inheritance which has come down to us, but that we are acting upon a stage where the whole world are spectators, and that the friends of consti- tutional liberty in every nation are beseeching us, in their behalf, to be true to these obli- gations which our jiosition imposes. A portion of the people of Italy at this very moment are pa. er the country commissions to be the incumbent will ever be re- •)o cfived with that respectful response which is worthy of an assembly of patriotic citizens. r.ut, sir, in the present case, this great ottice is filled by one who for more than forty years has served his country, I am sure all here will agree, with a single regard to its best inter- ests, with a private character unstained, and with an ability which has commanded respect in the eyes of the world. In the usual course of things, in our country, this venerable ollicial is about to pass from the public stage; and when, as 1 believe, the passions and l)rejiidices of the day shall have passed away, he will be judged worthy to have occupied the place which has been tilled by a line of statesmen so able and illustrious. Mr. Mayor, from these special considerations connected with the present incumbent, allow me a retrospect as to the past. In the splendid oration we have heard to-day, the distin- guished statesman has handled Earl Grey with the same thoroughness and energy and faithfulness with which, a few years ago, he handled Lord John Kussell, on vital points of international law; and in the .spirit of this triumphant vindication of our country, may we not point, as proofs of the successful working of our government, to a succession of characters who have been raised to this highest office in the world, such as no European state can boast; and when we look back and sec who have commanded the support and approbation of the American people, in not only the great office of president, but in other offices, —who have filled cabinet places, who have been our diplomatists, who have been governors of States at times, — the thought must impress all, that when our country has had great and vital work to do, cither in the executive or diplomatic line, it has always had the good fortune to have placed in high positions the men whom it seemed Providence had raised up specially to do this work, This has been the case from the days of Washington, through all the nnitations of party, down to our own time. As our distinguished friend, in one head of his oration, dwelt on the question of international law, I thought, as he told us, we obtained usually our case, not because the Earl Greys chose to regard us as -spoiled children and granted us favors, but because we asked for rights and had to man- age our case, in every great question, such men as Jefferson, and Hamilton, and Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, and AVilliam L. Marcy among the dead, and among the liv- ing, such men as he to whose eloquence we have listened to-day. This is the reason why this country has been great on international law. Thus, when occasions have required the presentation of our side of questions involving the principles of American institutions, the splendid future and the manifest destiny of our country have been pointed out in a manner which the foreigner could understand, and which every Ameri- can could appreciate, and which commanded the assent of the patriotic of all parties. But, sir, others are here to speak; and in conclusion, I will only exjjress the hope that nothing will occur to mar the nationality of the present celebration, so nuich in spiiit like what it was in the olden time, when the fathers earliest gathered in this memorable hall to provide for the jjojiular celebration of this great day. 1 think that when they first did this, when Dr. John Warren delivered the oration to which you have just alluded, — you will find in the town records a vote of a legal town meeting, to the efiect that lioston instituted this celebration to keep alive the feelings and principles of the American Uevolution. 1 offer as a sentiment : — Our Niitionnl lloliiluij — Fitly commemorated when its observance widens and deepens the feelings and princiiiles of the Kevolution. Second sentiment : — Tke Commonweallli nf J\lnxsar/iitsitts — Jlay flie iiatriotism, love of liberty, and attach- ment to the Union, which have ever distinguished our fathers, be also true of us and of our descendants. In reply to thi.^ .seiitiiiient tlic Cliief Mar.^lial road tlie lollowiny letter IVoni (iov. BaidvS : — 54 Boston, July 3, ISHO. Dkak Siu: I regret that I am unable to participate with you iu the commemoration of the Eighty-Fourth Annivei-sary of American Independence. Tlie uninterrupted observance of tliis day, by the City of Boston, with appropriate and patriotic ceremonies, is a pleasant incident in the history of tlie city and the Commonwealth. If patriotic con- siderations alone were not sufKcient to perpetuate this honored custom, the prosperity of the city and the happiness of its people would remind them of the sacrifices made, and the privileges secured to us, by those who pledged their fortunes, lives, and sacred honor for the independence of the nation and the liberties of the people. It is a celebration that I trust may be perpetual, and so long as the city of Boston shall stand, that the peojjle may annually be jiermitted to honor the day that gave to the world a new interpretation and a nobler significance to the ideas of Union and Liberty. I am, very respectfully, yours, &c., Nathaniel 1'. Banks. His Honor F. W. Lincoln, Mayor, &c. Third sentimeut : — Patriotism — That spark from heaven which in every age and every clime has found some bosom ready to be kindled into life and action at its touch. lion. John C. Park briefly responded to this toast, and eoncluded by giving- — Life, health, and success to Joseph Caribaldi. Fonrth suntinient : — Garibaldi and his Companions — May the Italian patriots imitate the example of America ; may our example always be worthy of their imitation. Hon. Thomas Rnssell, Judge of the Superior Court, resj)onded as follows : — Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens: I gladly respond to that sentiment to which every true American heart instinctively responds. It is meet that we should turn, for a moment, from our accomplished and triumphant liberty, and send a greeting to those who are struggling so bravely for the freedom of their Italian homes. But what can I say, on this theme, to you, who have just been thrilled by the silver tones and golden words of the great orator of America, the great orator of the age ? Nothing could have added force to his eloquent eulogy upon Garibaldi, except the generous warmth of your eloquent applause. You, Mr. Mayor, have reminded us of (laribaldi's visit to this spot, seven years ago. Here he saw something of the products of our American workshops, — the noblest product of all, the American mechanic. Here he learned something of that American Liberty, which, it is hardly extravagant to say, was itself the product of our American workshops; and, as he entered this hall, the majestic forms of our Revolutionary fathers might have bent from the canvas to greet a kindred spirit, —to recognize one of those 'Men whose iiiishtv tread Brink's from the dust the sound of Liberty." As we read from time to time, and shuddered as we read, the atrocities of Bourbon tyranny in Italy ; the judicial butcheries, which were the mockery of Justice; the linger- ing torments, inflicted upon men of whom the world was not worthy : the brutal ho' rors, which I cannot even name, — we were almost tempted to lo.se our faitli in an overruling Providence. We were ready to cry out, in the language of the Psalmist, " Awake, wliy sleepest thou, oh my Ciod ? '' The fit reply to our doubts would have been, " Stand still, and see the salvation of God." See even now the aim of Omnipotence laid bare for the rescue of Italy; behold the sufferings of her children nuide the instrument of her deliverance. Believe me, no gioan nor .^igh. wiim;^ from hci-d\ iiig piitiiofs in the foifure-chambers of ■)o Maples or Palermo, was ever breatheJ in vaiu. He spends his lil'e well, who dies for the riji;ht, whether in the van of battle or in the gloom of a dungeon. He who watches the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and counts the beatings of our thankless hearts, never sull'ered anything to be lost so precious as a drop of martyr blood. You remember how Garibaldi, iu the hour of Italy's despair, recruited his forces, — " I offer you hunger, thirst, want, wounds, danger, death; whoso will choose these for liberty, let him follow me," — words that might create a nation. A little band of heroes accepted these terms, but they did not come alone. When he descended from the heights around I'alermo, to strike llinl noble blow for freedom, — " < >f' which all iMiropi' rings from .side to .sido," he was attended not only by a handful of daring adventurers, legions of martyrs thronged around his standard. The dead fought for the living. In his armory w'ere " ex - ultations, agonies," the groans of tortured patriots, the dying prayers of heroes; all the noblest feelings of our nature; indignation against wrong; pity for suffering, admiration for courage, — these were the invincible and irresistible artillery, before which the ram- parts of despotism were levelled to the ground. And when the cruel cowards pointed their cannon against the homes and the hospitals of I'alermo, sending death among innocent children and unofleuding women, every shot did the errand of freedom. Now, when the tyrant crouches, in turn, before each of the great powers of Europe, and begs for aid against his revolted subjects, they answer him, even Itussia, even Austria answers him, — " No, by bombarded Palermo, — no, by all your foul outrages upon humanity, we leave you to struggle alone with your risen people, alone against all the symj)atliies of man." Thus once more does the blood of the martyrs become the seed of the Church of Liberty. Thus is the cause of her saints judged and avenged. Do you ask, what can we do for Italy, except to feel for her? One thing is already done. America, first among the nations, has recognized Sardinia, in her diplomatic rela- tions, as a power of the first class, — an act which cheered the hopes of every friend of constitutional government in Europe. And we may all feel an honest pride that this measure was proposed and carried by the Representative of the Faneuil Hall district. I make haste to add, that he was seconded by every representative from every section ; from every party, and from every section of every party. One greater thing the American people can do for the friends of liberty in Italy and in Europe. We can daily set before them the example of a republic not only free but just: true to high motives, regardful of others" rights, jealous of its honor, radical against all abuses, conservative of every noble principle, — harmonious, progressive, united. Each year of such national life would strike a blow upon the chains of every bondman in Europe. And now, before we leave Faneuil Hall, let us give one thought, one grateful tear, one throb of our hearts, to the dead who h.we died for freedom. Fifth sentiment : — T/ie Orator of the Day — To every American, Everett and eloquence are glowing synonyms. The entire company rose and j^^reeted ]\Ir. Everett with nine cheers. After music by the hand, he a(hlresse(l the com[)any as follows : — Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens: I pray you to accept my warmest thanks for this most flattering reception. 1 cannot make you a speech; I have left my voice in yonder hall, and if some not ungrateful impression from it still lingers in your ears, as you permit me to hope, be pleased to accept that, in lieu of a more formal address, for which at present I am too much exhausted. 50 I will say, however, that I feel grateful to you, Mr. Mayor and fellow-citizensi, for allow- ing me to .speak to you on this great anniversary. It is what I have never done before. I have, on several former occasions, been called upon to deliver orations on the Fourtli of July in other places; but though once before invited to do it in Boston, I was obliged to decline, and this is the first time that it has been my good fortune to perform the pleasing, and, as I deem it, not unimportant duty, in our beloved Boston. I shall never, in all human probability, deliver another oration on the Fourth of July, and in discharging that duty for the first and last time before you, my honored and partial fellow-citizens, I rejoice to have had it in my power to bear my humble testimony to the vitality of the prin- ciples of the great Declaration, and to the success which, in the experience of eighty-four years, has crowned the labors of our fathers who formed and adopted it. Boston, Mr. Mayor and fellow-citizens, has never allowed the day to pass unnoticed : I trust she will never do so. I feel that it is good to be here. I feel that we owe it to our fathers, nay, that we owe it to ourselves, to keep alive the associations of the day, by these rational and festive observances. I never come into this consecrated hall, without carrying away from it some thoughts and emotions, some recollections of the great men who have here imparted their lessons of patriotism and wisdom, which guide and strengthen me for the duties of life. The moral sentiments, Mr. Mayor, not armies and navies, are the weapons by which the battles of humanity are fought, and her victories won ; and this hall is one of the chief armories where those weapons are stored up. The lessons we have learned from those on whose lips we have so often hung with rapture, may not find their application the next day, the next week, the next year. The ordinary duties of life furnish little scope for the great, throbbing impulses of a lofty patriotism. They may be buried for a while under the cares of life, but when the crisis arises to call them forth, they will burst into action. This miniature fountain, now bubbling up on the table before us, and scatter- ing its dewy freshness over the flowers which surround its margin, derives its waters from the distant lake. They have flowed for miles, unseen, unheard, through darksome conduits and devious channels, alike beneath the green sod and the bare gravel. They have wound their way far underground beneath ringing pavements and through narrow streets, and here at length they are gushing up in this festal hall, to pay nature's sparkling homage to that immortal name. [The name of Washington was inscribed on the gallery in front of the fountain at the Mayor's table.] Mr. Mayor, there is a mighty power in this place on a day, an occasion like this. Do you suppose that it was to no pui^ose that Joseph Garibaldi visited Faneuil Hall, (and by the way, I think, whatever may be said of the King of Egypt, " who knew not Joseph,'''' that this reproach, after what we have heard from yourself and the gentlemen who have pre- ceded me, will not lie against the people of Boston this day, — they do know him,) — I say, sir, when he visited this neighborhood and this hall, seven years ago, as you have told us, then a sojourner, gaining his honest daily bread by hard daily labor, did he carry away no lesson from Faneuil Hall? Has he not thought of the stirring words here uttered, while rousing his countrymen to resistance? As he has drawn his entrenchments around I'aler- mo, has he not thought of those thrown np on Dorchester Heights? While the Neapolitan fleet is battering the palaces of the fated city, has he forgotten the undaunted spirit breathed in Washington's letter to Congi-css, written on the day when a hundred and thirty-four British transports landed their twenty-five thousand troops on Staten Island, while he had scarce a third of that number of efhcient men and no ships to oppose them; and do you suppose he has not remembered that on that day the resolution of Independ- ence was adopted? Yes, sir, in our humble sphere, if in time to come the voice of the country shall call us to assert her rights and defend her dear-bought liberties, we shall do it with credit to our- selves, only in proportion as we are faithful to the associations of this day and the lessons w(^ have learned in this hall. Again, fellow-citizens. I pray you to accept my heartfelt thanks for this most cordial welcome •)( Sixth scntinicnl : — TIti: derail of llif llfvnlittinn — What tlioy thouiiut, one of the editors of the Boston Courier, resj)oniled as toHows : — 58 Mr. Mayoii and Fellow-Citizens: You open to me a very wide subject indeed; but 1 Khali not deem it my part here to enlarge upon a topic so fertile of thought aud associa- tion. I am proud to be selected as tlie representative, upon this occasion, of this great instrument of knowledge and civilization, — the guardian of freedom, the discoverer of truth, the promoter of right, the suppressor of wrong. For, though the newspaper press, to which I presume your sentiment more especially alludes, may certainly become per- verted in part to unworthy ends, and so far vicious and mischievous, yet it is impossible tliat error should long aud permanently prevail, when it is compared with its opposite in fair and open discussion. For in truth itself there is that inlierent virtue, that it lives as a part of the source of life, — that it is therefore indestructible, and thus immortal and eter- nal; — and though its face may be often veiled by the cloud and the storm, yet they soon pass by, and, like tlie god of day, it is still seen in the heavens, serene, resplendent, and beneficent, without a stain upon its glory, or a single beam of its native light withdrawn. For, dilleriug altogether from a recent public speaker, on this subject, I both tliiuk and feel that error is partial, but truth permanent and perpetual. Were it not so, falsehood would long ago have gained the entire victory and become universal, — men would be bar- barians and society impossible. But it is not so, — for, while one exploded falsehood after another has gone to oblivion, the same moral sentiment which touched the heart of the first man, sinks as deeply into the convictions of to-day as it did six thousand years ago. But let me say, in a word or two only, how vast a change has been wrought in social life during the present century by that great disseminator of light and knowledge, the newspaper press. Human wrong has by no means ceased, aud in the advancement of society the ingenuity of vice undoubtedly strives to keep pace with the intelligence and power of virtue. And yet, what casual glance does not show that, though oppression and terror still cling to the habitations of cruelty, — yet the echoes of one voice, the concen- trated remonstrance of the humaner and more enlightened sentiment of the world, now more than ever before, do penetrate the darkest of the dark places of the earth, and make the thrones of force and fraud now and forever insecure. Without the I'ress, then, I say, sir, none of those progressive revolutions, the signs, I trust, of a far nobler civil .state of man in the future, could have been brought about. And I need not say, that, at this moment, the two kindred nations of the world, the most con- spicuously i)rominent in the march of civilization, — the one in the maturity of its powers and the other in the ripening promise of a dominion never before beheld by mortal eyes, — are substantially the only two which can boast of a free press. Sure I am, that in our own country, and especially in this New England, which we hold so justly dear, the influence of this irresistible means of social improvement can be distinctly traced, as definitely as the inellaceable marks of every forward step. There is no portion of the world which bears any comparison with New England in the number and variety of its public journals. We have gained this advantage chiefly during the last half century. There can be no question that an astonishing advance has been made by us, during that last half century, in the diffusion of knowledge, and in general cultivation and refinement. And though I fear we are far from perfect, — perhaps not half so near perfection as we are sometimes in- clined to boast, to say nothing of growing vices, evils, and errors, and of the prevalence of opinions which T should be glad to see changed, — yet, after all, upon any fixir comparison with an equal population, I may be excused in this assembly for saying, that I deem New England the most fortunate and favored spot upon the face of the globe. But it is as the ready and efhcient means of intercommunication, in a country so vast as our own, and of keeping unbroken the electric chain of patriotic sentiment and feeling, that the press is chiefly valuable to us. So that from the heart of one people may be poured out a common stream of devotion to surround tiie holy altar of freedom, — and that thus the prosperity and glory of the country may be made perpetual, and thus the benign end. of Providence may be answered, and the nations of the earth be induced to follow in the footstej)s of a Kcpublican Commonwealth; to become, let us hope, as wise and noble as it is free, — it is tor this generous ministration that the free press of a free country should be honored and cherished by its citizens. In correspondence with these views, I beg to oiler this sentiment: — .■)!) The Union of the •States — Iiifondod by our fiitliers no loss as a safoguanl of tliuir own liberties, than as an exaniplo and invitation to the world. God bless it and protect it, tliroiigli all generations of mankind. Eighth scntiiuc'iit : — Our Representatives in Congress — Conscientiously tenacious of the just claims of their own constituents, they as scrupulously respect the rights guaranteed to their fellow-citizens elsewhere. Hon. Alexander II. Ilife, nicniber of Congress, resi)onded us follows : — Nothing could be more agreeable to mo, IMr. Mayor, than to return at this festive season from a community of strangers to the familiar scenes and the cordial hospitality of a New England home, — nothing more delightful than to exchange the narrowness of sec- tional strife, for the liberal sentiment of this place and this occasion, — nothing more refreshing than to forget the rancor of partisan invective while listening to songs of innocent children, or to the music of that eloquence from which the imagination takes us, by easy transit, to the melody of the morning stars. Little need be added, much cannot be, to what has already been uttered here and elsewhere, to-day; but the sentiment which lias just been read, alludes, if I mi.stake not, to the diversity of duties which devolve upon a representative in Congress, — the duties which he owes to his immediate constituents, and those which belong' to the people of a common country. And they may indeed esteem it i)raise, if such there be, who can with justice appropriate to themselves the language of that sentiment ; for no man enlisted in any department of the public service, need ask more of reward lor his successful endeavors, nor more of solace for his failures and dis- appointments, than the recognition of his fidelity to his constituents, and to his country. Hut, sir, this twofold relation is common as well to every citizen as to the members of the National Government; and that is but a limited and dwarfish patriotism, which, while careful of interests specially its own, neglects those which concern the honor or the welfare of the nation at large. I am reminded that it was the American Congress of 1776, which sent forth that immortal Declaration of Independence to which we have again listened to-day, and the anniversary of whose promulgation has been so uniformly celebrated, under municipal authority, by the people of Boston, for nearly fourscore years. Thus, indeed, will it always be celebrated, while this people cher- ish the spirit and emulate the deeds of their ancestors. That Declaration has revived the hope and spread abroad the love of liberty throughout the world. It was most belitting, therefore, that the same American Congress from which it emanated, still true to the sentiment of national as well as of popular freedom, should, in 1860, be the first of the great powers of the earth, as has already been indicated, to recognize the independence of the bravest and nio.st enlightened of the Italian states. And while it has always been the source of pride an Feli>ow'-Citizi;ns: I find myself for the lir>t time within the walls of Faneuil Hall, and could I have chosen the occasion, I could not have selected one of greater interest. The object of the Anniversary we this day celebrate has been happily expressed by your poet to be, to " Cliaiit asain the deathless story, Light another vestal tire." Another vestal fire has this day been lighted, [referring to the Oration,] and I trust the future will reveal that the story of our Freedom is indeed deathless, and shall yet be sung by every land. I did not anticipate being called upon for a speech, and I am not insensible to the pre- sumption of attempting it in this hall, where a Warren, Adams, Webster, Choate, Everett, and Felton have poured forth their eloquence; but, while I bow to their intellect and eloquence, as respects lore of count ri/. and admiration of patriotic sentiment, I claim these are not, and cannot be, dearer to any heart than to the one that beats within this breast. [Indorsing the remaik of the Hon. .1. ('. Park, that God raises u]) men for si)ecial emergencies.] The venerable elm of three centuries is being broken down by the hand of time, but from the same soil, other elms are coming forth whose roots will strike as deep, and their overshadowing branches will, iu time, equal those of the old elm. Warren, Adams, Webster, and Choate, have passed away, but I believe the .same gracious Being, who gave us them, can and will raise up others iu their stead, as the exigencies of the country shall recjuire. In responding to the sentiment befon^ you, I have great pleasure in bcaringtestimony to the wisdom, moderation, and justice, which characterized the diplomacy of my predeces- sors and successors in the office of minister of the United States to the government of China. In doing so, J cannot refrain from referring particularly to my highly esteemed friend, the beloved brother of the orator of the day, with whom tt was my honor and happine.s.s to be associated. In his premature death, not only his country, but China, also, sustained an irreparable l_Mrden of liberty's tree, It has been and shall >i<- 1 be, the land of the free. Let us then believe, in our heart of hearts, that our country's glorious desstiny is to be n^alized ; that the brilliant promise of its youth is to be crowned by an old age of glory. And that succeeding generations, as they celebrate the anniversaries of this day, will triumph in the full realization of those eternal princi])les of Truth, Liberty, and .lustice, of which the bow of promise was witnessed by our fathers, and which, from its distant gleaming in the heavens, it may be permitted to our generation to enjoy. May the blessed hour of the shining of that bow come quickly to our hopes, that our Union may be in truth, as it is in name, a Union of Free and Independent States. As a sentiment, I would propose : — The Deelaraf ion of Independence — Bray the conceptions of this almost divine instru- ment, as entertained by the fathers of the Keiniblic, be realized in our own and all succeeding generations. C O R U E S V U N L) E X V E CORRESPONDENCE. Aiiiuiii: the IcttciN irccivod hy His Honor the Mayor, in reply to invitations to |)ariicii>at(' in tlu' ccU'lu-ation, wen.' the followiiif;- : — LETTKi: KllOM (UlARLEfl SUMNElt. Washington. July ], 18(50. D'fir Sir : I liave btun liouored by your invitation to tlie approaching lustival, when the City of Hoston will repeat its annual vows to the support of our Declaration of Independ- ence. ( )ther en>jaj;cnients will keep nic away ; but be assured, my dear .sir, that present, or absent, I shall unite in tliese vows. Henry (May, in the noblest utterance, perhaps, that ever fell from his lips, said that the men who would re|n'(!S.'< all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, must not only blow out the moral lijihts around us, but must go back to the era of our Independence, and nui/zle the cannon which thunders its annual joyous return. He saw, of course, the luitural simple meaning of that iS'ational Act, — .-^o plain on its face that all who read or who hear nmst understand, and he little thoti;;ht that the attempt would be nnide so soon to muzzli' the Declaration itself. The open denial of the life-^ivin.^ ]irineiple of the Declaration of Independence, now unblushingly made, in stultilication of the Fathers of the Republic, renders it important that our annual celebration should be souu-thing more than a day of ceremony. The time has come when the Fathers must be vindicated. It must be shown that they were intelli- gent and honest patriots, who knew what the occasion required, and who meant i)recisely what they said; who, when announcing " self-evident truths,'" as thejustilication of Inde- pendence, were not guilty of a nuire verbal flourish, and who, when solemnly claiming natural rights for ALi, men, did not degrade themselves to the hypocrisy of meaning nat- ural rights for a particular class or caste only, fhe authors of the Declaration were not idiots or hypocrites. Were I able to take part in our annual celebration, I should I)e glad to speak on this theme, so germane to the occasion that it seems almost to exclude all other themes. I hope that I do not go too far if I inclose a sentiment in hoinu' of the day. Accept my thanks for the courtesy vou have done me. ami believe me. my dear sir, with nuich respect your faithful servant and fellow-citiztn, « 11 AKLK.S SUMXKK. To the Hon. F. W. ],inci>i..n, .Mayor, etc. Tlie Declaration nf Inrlcin ii'/eme — lUst eelebratc(l by a laithful adherence to its silf-tviilfnt Iriitlis. and by constant eflbrts to reluler them everywhere of jiractical force, — until nnlnml rights shall become legal rights, and nil men shall be admitted to be eiiual before the laws, as they are equal before (jod 6s OF THE CELEBRATION EVENTS OE THE ( ELEBKAITON. The Eighty-Fourtli Anniversary of the Declnratiou of AincTicau ln(lei)en(kMic(' was celebrated by tin- City Comicil of Jioston, under the diivetion of a joint eoni- niittce, consistinjr of Aldermen Crane, Ilolbrook, Atkins, Hanson, Faxon, Aniory, and Brijrgs, and Couneilnien Doherty, Kobbins, Bnrgess, Webster, Burr, Henshaw, Frederick, Batchelder, Stetson, -Jones, Fowle, and vSprague, to whom, by their invi- tation, was added Mis Honor Mayor Lincoln. An amjjle ]iroo;ramnie for the amusement aiul edification of the people was arrauired, and was earned out in a manner altogetlicr successful and satisfactory. The city buildings, and the entrances to the Music Hall and to tlu' Common, were decorated in a fitting manner by Messrs. Lanii)rell and Marble. The customary salutes were tired from the Common at sunrise, noon, and sunset, and the bells of the city cliurclics were rung at the same hours. At eight o'clock, a grand concert was given ujiou the ( 'ommon, by a i)and com- [losed of the Brigade, Boston Brass, (icrmaina, and (iilnu)re's bands, all under the direction of Mr. B. A. Hurditt. A programme of ten pieces of music was jier- formed, including " Hail Colund)ia " and the " Star-Spaiiglcd Banner," to height- en the elFiM-t of wliich the guns of the Light Artillery were introduced. The ( 'oucert coucliideil with " ( )ld Hundred;" the immense concoiu'se of jieople, who I'.ad been listening with gratilication to the jircvious jiicccs, joining in a grand and ]iowcrful chorus. Shortly after idiu' o'clock, the Second Battalion of Infantry, Ca]it. Harrison Bitchie commanding, nnvrched from their armory to the parade-ground of thii Com- mon, and were there reviewed by the ]\Iayor and members of the City Council- The graceful and soldier-like movements of tbe corps were much admirid. The city procession was formed at the City Hall at ten o'cl(K-k, under the direc- tion of Micah Dyer, Jr., Chief Marshal, and twenty-five assistant Marshals. Es- cort duty w^as performed by the Second Battalion of Infantry, and the procession, headed by tbe Mayor and City Council, included in its ranks many of the represen- tative men of Boston, of all ])roi'essions and classes, as well as numerous distin- guished strangers. The route of the ]irocession was from the City Hall, thr tlie juvenile choir, under the direction ol' Mr. Charles Butler. O siiij; until the Lord a new suuj- : For he hath done marvelloas tliinj(.s. With his own right hand, and with liis holy arm. Hath lie {gotten himself the victory. The Lord declared his salvation ; His rifihteuusness hath he oj)eiily showed in tlie sij^ht of the lieatlien lie liath remembered his mercy and truth toward the liouse of Israel ; And all the ends of the world have .seen the .salvation of our God 8how yourselves joyful uuto the Lord, all ye lauds : .•Sing, rejoice, and give thanks. I'raise the Lord upon the harp; Sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving. Witli trumiiets also, and shawms, (> show yourselves joyful before the Lord, the King. Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is; The round world, and they that dwell therein. (iiory be to the Father, Almighty God : Through Jesus Christ our Lord. As it was in the beginning, is now, and evertShall be : World without end. Amex. Rev. William K. Nicholson ottered a fervent prayer, which was followed by the singinf; of the followinji' original ode, written by A. Wallace Thaxter, Esq. Kai.se the pa>an 1 swell the cliorus. Hailing i'reedom's natal day! Let the men that were before us Wake a new triumphal lay! ]!e their true hearts and their glory Fittest theme for minstrel's lyre! Chant agiiin the deathless story! Light another vestal fire! fhough their ashes be around u.s And their bones in every vale, fies that bind them still have bound us; For alike the Northern gale .Vnd the soft 8outh breeze are sweejiing Over graves of lathers dead, And their sons their yireceiits keeijing Prove " the spirit lias not tied.'' Nortlnnan! Southron! slill be clinging To the heirloom of your sires ! iie the watchword, " Union," ringing From your tongues and by your tires ! May no power but One Supernal Kver lend the tie ajiart, — • Inining, in embrace fraternal. North id Soulli. and h.'arl lo heart ' i') Tlic l)ecl;ir;iti()ii of liidcpciKk'Hcc was then read liy Mr. Satnucl H. Kanrlall. The fulluwiiiL;- ori'-'inal ode was then siiiiii- : — Native Land!— Our wiinn lumt's adoiatiou. Once again at tliy >lniiK' we are bending. While our voices, w itii jrhul acclamation. K.xultingly welcome tiie hour, When our father.'* their freedom declaring. Itraved boldly the trial impenilini;-. Their bo.som.s unrtinchingly baring. Defying fierce 'JyrannyV power. -May the same jture and chi\ alric spirit (Jur hearts with like tervor inspire, And our acts .show wherein we inheril riie high love of Freedom they knew: And when ndndful in oft retrosjiection. Of their deeds that we proudly admire. .May tlie light we tlerive from reflection. .Make us to our country moie true. Not alone by the bells' Joyous ]iealing. Not alonr by the cannons" glad llninder. Shall we body the tone of our ieeling And hi\'e of our C(iniitr\ confess; I5ut, i|uickened by new loolution. We vow that no cause e"ci' shall sunder I'iie ties of our loved Coiislitutidii, Or weaken its ])owej tu ble--. Still to guard it be our lirm endeavor. With more than a lilial devotion. In the hope that its Union forever With undimming glory nuiy stand: And the thought of its claim must awaken The heart's patriotic emotion. And a faith in the future, uusliaken. For our ow u. (lur y the Mayor, and he proceeded to the delivery of his oralioii. Diirini; tlie delivery of the address, the orator was warmly eiieered, and the o\ati(>n to the S])e:iker was such as is seldom seen u|)oii a similar occasion. At the close of the oration, the Doxolofry was snnp; by the choir, the audience risiiii;- and joining- in sincrinf; tlie hist verse: — From all that dwell belnw the skies Let the Creatoi's praise arise; Let the Ivedeemer's name be sung. Through every land by every tongue. Internal are thy mercies, J.,ord. — Eternal truth attends thy word : Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore. Till .«uns shall ri.se and set no more. M» A liPiHMlictidii was ]iroii()iiiuril Ijy Ml'v. Mr. XiiluiNoii, tlic aiidieiicL' ilisjicrseii, and tlie niuiiicipal procfssiciu was aLiaiii tonufil and niarclu'd in Fancnil ilall to partako of tlic City Dinner. Ui;(iATTA. At noon, the City Heiratta for rowin<;- boats took place on Cliarles Hiver. I'lizos to the amount of $675 liad been offered by tlie sub-committee liaving the matter in cliarge, and a board of live judges, (Messrs. (reorsje H. Bramau, Charles A. Chase, S. 11. Buekinoham, Natlianiel McKay, and James Dingley) assisted in preparini;- the regulations to be observed by competinj;' I)oats, and in su]jerintendin<.i' the )-aees. Thousands upon thousands of people manifested their interest in this feature of the celebration by assembling- on the mill-dam and in other available localities to wit- ness the contests. The races commenced i)romptly, and were conducted in a man- ner which received the praise of all jieisons specially concerned in aquatic recrea- tions, as well as of the genei-al nnxss of s])cctat(irs. The piizes were woti by the followiiiiz; named jiersons and crews : — .Sliell VVlicrrii's,— :M. f?. Sniitli, .^ffiO " '• Ij. Kinsley. 25 Lapstroak Wlierrie?, — A. H. Claik GO M. F. Wells, , . 25 Double Scall Lapstreaks, — Doyle & Colbert 75 Daley & Wells, 30 Six-oared Lapstreaks. — So])liomore ("lass of Harvard Colleire, . . 100 " "Tbetis.'' — Freshman Class of Harvard Coll.. "lO Six and four-oared Sliel Is. 'Harvard.'" 175 '•J. Kiloy,' ....... 75 BAI.I.OON ASCENSIONS. Three balloons were sent nj) from the Common in the afternoon, under the direc- tion of Messrs. King and Allen. The aseensidus were witnessed by a vast con- course of jieople, and proved in every respect satisfactory, each one of the three beino- conducted in the most skilful manner. The " Zephyrus," navioated by Ezra Allen, went up at 4| o'clock, and landed in Waltham. Tli ■ " Bille of New England," navigated by Dr. Helm was the next to go up, and laiid'-d in Mat- taiian. The third ascension was made by Mr. Samuel A. King, in the large balloon "Queen of the Air." He was accom]iauied by a lady of I'hiladelphia, and Mr. E. B. Haskell, rei>orter of the Ilcrnhl. Their voyage was, according to the written account of Mr. Haskell, a most pleasant and successful one. The balloon rose from the Common with majestic grace, and for hours hovered about tlie city, Hoatin'T over and near it, so as to be visible by its residents, till nearly nine o'clock. After sailino- south as far as Dedham, it took a northerly course, and finally landed on a firm in tliftown of Croion about one o'clock, a, m. on the .5th of July. riii; FiuicwoHKS, in the evening, were from tiu' manufactory of A. Lanergan X: Co. ; and tlie ))yro- teclinic skill of that tirm was well display.-d in the varied i)rogramnie wliich they furnishfd for the entertainnicut of the great ninllitudr of spectators assend)le(l upon the (^nuinoii. ■_,3>^J» L:>i:?«i»' ?..:'3a»i^'<:.;^ .^ > ~:^3^' ;->>, -^«-. 7^r> o -^_ :^-.v. .. >^■^:^:-> 50- 32> .- " y^L^mtiy) ''?^^ ■ «5- -y^-j 5^> ^V^ -:>^ ■ . '^ ^.>-> ::> - - > 3 js>' > ^ ' --■ yy^- ^^ > r >- /^~> ^ S;j> >^ >o;> >^ ::>> ■>>:>:> ::»■ A>» ;;^ s^ ^ ■ - :>> • '^?> .:"> »; ?ii> j> -^; ,^ -^ >-;2> ^^^ > .^i>> ■ > . ^ . '5 ^"7 Mm • > r-> .:2»>^> " ■;■:>" -5^ 713^ irs_ > T ^Z> ^ 3>z> ;^:> ^^^^^^^ -^"^ 5>-S -» 5i^_ ^ : :> Sk-" 3 :> "> ^5 3 :> :> >3>. 5 :> . j^^ ::^'^-^5>^^ 3 :> >•';> J>:'^K