'w'VL 
 
 
Glass E2i4 
 
 Book lL^ 
 
 2Zd 
 

AN 
 
 ORATION 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 IN LEXINGTON, lA 
 
 JULY 4, 1838 
 
 BY JOHN ADDISON, M. D 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 JOHN W. WOODS, PRINTER 
 
 A^.'^ 
 

^ Lexington, Juli/ 5, 1838. 
 
 -^ John Addison, M. D. 
 
 :i Dear Sir : The undersigned take much pleasure 
 
 '^ ill expressing to you the gratification which they, and your fellow 
 
 cr=^ citizens generally, derived from the very handsome manner in ' 
 
 J which you discharged the duty they had assigned you, and they 
 
 i would respectfully solicit a copy of your Oration for publication. 
 
 J J. V. WHITE, 
 
 MICHAEL SWOPE, 
 W. TRUELOCK, 
 SAM'L RANKIN, 
 E. G. ENGLISH, 
 S. S. HEATH, 
 JOHN HARROD, 
 R. H. WILSON. 
 
 Lexington, July 5, 1838. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In reply to your note of this morning, I have only 
 to say, that I do not feel at liberty to decline the request which you 
 have made in so compHmentary a manner, and that the oration is 
 at your service. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with high consideration, your friend and fel- 
 low citizen, 
 
 JOHN ADDISON. 
 J. V. White, Esq. 
 M. SwoPE, " 
 
 Wm. Truelock, " 
 J. Harrod, " 
 
 Sam'l Rankin, " 
 E. G. English, " 
 S. S. Heath, " 
 R. H. Wilson, " 
 
ORATION. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : 
 
 It is with the utmost diffidence I attempt 
 the performance of the duty, to which I have been 
 called by your kindness and courtesy, and I have to 
 regret that the partiality which selected me as your 
 speaker, had not been directed to an abler individual. 
 This regret,, however, is diminished by the reflection 
 that I address an enlightened, liberal, and sympathetic 
 audience — an audience that will bear in mind it be- 
 longs not to my avocation to address public assemblies, 
 and that will throw the mantle of charity over my 
 faults. 
 
 This day, hallowed in the recollection of every 
 American, has been consecrated to our national inde- 
 pendence. It is the day on which we commemorate 
 the heroic achievements, the toils, and sufferings of 
 our gallant forefathers, and engage in the discussion 
 
of topics connected with our revolutionary history, 
 and repubhcan institutions. Its annual return is 
 every where ushered in with acclamations of triumph, 
 while the thunder of artillery, reverberating through 
 every state, proclaims to the world, that we are united, 
 independent and free. 
 
 When we reflect on the mutability of all human insti- 
 tutions, when we contemplate the number of states and 
 empires which have successively risen, and dechned, 
 and passed away, some of them, even since the forma- 
 tion of our own happy constitution, we are led to in- 
 dulge in feelings ofgratulation, that our destinies have 
 been cast in this happy land, and to render our acknowl- 
 edgements to the Great Ruler of the universe, who has 
 continued to us so long a career of prosperity and happi- 
 ness. After the lapse of more than threescore years 
 from the period of our poHtical birth, our country is 
 found in a state of unrivalled prosperity, and exhibits 
 her republican institutions flourishing in all their pris- 
 tine strength and beauty. What were the opinions en- 
 tertained by the politicians of Europe, at that time, re- 
 specting the durability of our government ? Our con- 
 federacy they averred was based on a foundation of sand, 
 which would be speedily swept away by popular tem- 
 pests, the inseparable attendants on all free govern- 
 
ments, as footprints on the shores of a sandy desert 
 which are obliterated by the waves of the ocean. It 
 was asserted that our bright inheritance, this fair re- 
 public, for which the sages toiled and our patriot fa- 
 thers bled, would speedily go to ruin, that our country 
 would exhibit a scene of anarchy, licentiousness, and 
 civil war; that it would open a theatre, on which 
 the political intriguer and military chief, would act 
 their schemes of ambition; and, finally, that we 
 should be separated into a number of petty and 
 tyrannical principalities, or reduced under a single 
 despotism as absolute as that of Russia. To the 
 , American, whose bosom throbs with one generous 
 emotion of patriotism, it must be an exulting consid- 
 eration, that the history of our country has falsified 
 these predictions, and wiped away the foul aspersion 
 that mankind are incapable of self-government. 
 
 Since the formation of the Federal Constitution, our 
 country has enjoyed an almost uninterrupted career of 
 prosperity ; and she has risen to her present state of 
 grandeur and importance, with a rapidity unparalleled 
 in the history of nations. Wherever we direct our 
 view the most agreeable prospect is presented. We 
 not only enjoy the blessings of peace, but our relations 
 with the principal nations of the earth are of the most 
 
8 
 
 amicable character. Our hardy yeomanry, devoted 
 to agricuhural pursuits, draw a rich supply from the 
 soil, and are every where prosperous and happy ; the 
 manufactures of our country are in a thriving condi- 
 tion ; commerce flourishes ; our flag waves proudly 
 over every sea ; our ports are crowded with the pro- 
 ducts of every clime. 
 
 When we survey the grandeur of our condition, and 
 contemplate the rapidity with which we have risen to 
 an important consideration among nations, it is natural 
 to take a retrospect of our past history, and retrace 
 the steps by which we have ascended to our present 
 elevation. Little more than three centuries have 
 rolled away, since this immense continent was an un- 
 discovered wilderness — when this happy country, 
 now teeming with animation and business, and this 
 day resounding with festivity and joy, slept in the 
 silence of the forest ; and it has been comparatively but a 
 short time — it is in the memory of your fathers — when 
 this great valley of the Mississippi, now crowded with 
 an active and enterprising population, was a gloomy 
 desert, where the wild flower wasted its fragrance on 
 the passing gale, and naught disturbed the stillness of 
 the scene, save the shrill yell of the wandering sav- 
 age, or the terrific bowlings of the beast of prey. 
 
But in contemplating this period, the imagination is 
 too apt to revel amid its own creations. Fancy loves 
 to rove through unfrequented solitudes, to gaze on 
 the crystal stream, as it pursues it meandering course, 
 and silently glides to the ocean, to portray the savage 
 reclining on its mossy banks, or pursuing his journey 
 through the pathless desert. But it is not my inten- 
 tion to retrace the events of our early history ; I shall 
 proceed to the immediate consideration of the revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 Whether the people of the American colonies pos- 
 sessed the right to dissolve the political ties which 
 connected them with the mother country, can be re- 
 garded, now, only as a question for idle discussion. 
 That they possessed the prerogative of revolution, in 
 common with the rest of mankind, will be admitted 
 by all ; and that they would exercise that prerogative 
 and form a government for themselves, will appear 
 probable to any who will reflect that they were an en- 
 terprising race of men, deeply imbued with the prin- 
 ciples of English liberty, and tenacious of the rights of 
 freemen. But besides this, they were, to some extent, 
 an educated people. They had read the story of the 
 great and the good — of all whose heroic deeds had 
 shed a lustre on their respective ages and nations. 
 
10 
 
 On the page of history, which records the statesman's 
 and the warrior's glory, they beheld, blazing in char- 
 acters of light, the names of Miltiades and Aristides, 
 of Themistocles and Leonidas, of Epaminondas, of 
 Demosthenes and Phocion, of Brutus, of Cicero and 
 Cato, of Alfred, of Tell, of Wallace, and a thousand 
 others, whose eloquence in the senate, and whose 
 arms in the field, had been exerted in defence of the 
 rights and liberties of man. They were not insensi- 
 ble to their rising importance, and conscious of their 
 right to a name and a place among the nations of the 
 earth, they entertained the idea of a distinct nation- 
 ality, an idea which was most congenial with their 
 feelings. A government of their own, free from for- 
 eign trammel, and independent of all others was what 
 they desired, and to make that government honorable 
 was the high aim of their ambition. Attracted by the 
 brilliant galaxy of worthies that shone on the historic 
 page, they were fired with ambition, to rival the fame 
 of the Alexanders and Caesars of former ages, and 
 invest their country with a glory, resplendent as the 
 halo that blazed round Athens and Rome. 
 
 Although the right of revolution is recognized in 
 any nation that can vindicate it by, the sword, yet was 
 that entered into by the solemn resolution of the 
 
11 
 
 American colonies, further justified by their situation 
 and the circumstances by which they were surround- 
 ed. Oppressed by the government of Great Britain 
 in the appointment of offensive rulers, and in the re- 
 fusal of a representation in the body that made the 
 laws by which they were governed, they were driven 
 to revolution as the only means by which they might 
 obtain relief. Determined to resist the oppressive 
 measures of their foreign rulers, a sufficient cause for 
 actual separation and open hostilities was not long 
 wanting. The colonies, rapidly increasing in wealth 
 and importance, attracted the attention of England, 
 then involved in a heavy debt, to the liquidation of 
 which they determined to make the colonies contrib- 
 ute, and which was to be effected by a species of 
 taxation created by the Stamp Act. The illustrious 
 Adams asserted as a principle, by which his own ac- 
 tions were regulated, that it was the "privilege of 
 British subjects, that their property could not be taken 
 from them, but by an authority in which they were 
 represented." The Americans having no represen- 
 tation in the parliament enacting the law of taxation, 
 and contending for the right conferred by the Magna 
 Charta of England, resisted its execution. This act 
 was soon followed by another, levying duties on tea. 
 
12 
 
 The fire of opposition now flamed forth with additional 
 fury, and every thing tended to hostilities. A cloud 
 of war overshadowed the land, and vengeance thun- 
 dered from the capital of England. The fleets of 
 Great Britain whitened our coasts — her armies covered 
 our shores ; but these had no terrors for men who had 
 resolved to conquer or die in defence of the rights 
 and privileges of freemen. The country arose as one 
 man — one purpose animated every American bosom. 
 The standard of liberty was every where erected — 
 the banner of war was unfurled to the breeze. The 
 cry of the Americans was — "Liberty or Death." 
 This motto, borne on her standards, and proclaimed 
 from her halls, re-echoed over a thousand green hills. 
 Without detailing the events of the revolution, it may 
 be sufl[icient to say, we fought, and after a protracted 
 contest, we conquered. The bones of our enemies 
 bleach on our shores — the haughty Briton sleeps be- 
 neath the stormy Atlantic. 
 
 This period was prolific of great characters, but one 
 among the rest shone pre-eminently. It was George 
 Washington, the great and the good, the Father of 
 his Country; one of whom it was emphatically and 
 justly said, "he was first in war,^ first in peace, and 
 first in the hearts of his countrymen." Few of the 
 
13 
 
 illustrious men, whose names have shone on the page 
 of history, can be compared to him. He was unlike 
 other great men. He possessed their virtues and 
 was free from their faults. He was not formed for 
 the conquest of kingdoms, but for the liberation of 
 his country. A contemporary has remarked, that "his 
 mind was great and powerful." He was, however, 
 chiefly remarkable for his prudence; and for this virtue, 
 he had received the distinguishing appellation of the 
 American Fabius. Like that celebrated Roman, 
 whose prudent -conduct saved Rome, by enabling his 
 dispirited countrymen to keep the field against the 
 victorious Hannibal, he effected the emancipation of 
 his country by his cautious generalship, thereby en- 
 abling his undisciplined troops to cope with British 
 veterans. But this was not all: to prudence and 
 bravery, he united a patriotism which sacrificedev ery 
 thing to the welfare of his country. After conduct- 
 ing us through a protracted war, and restoring us to 
 victory and peace, he sought, not like other conquer- 
 ors, his own aggrandizement, but, Cincinnatus-like, 
 retired to his farm, where, in the shade of private life, 
 he enjoyed a peace which crowns and sceptres could 
 never bestow. Every true hearted American must 
 honor the hero whose deeds and character have shed 
 
14 
 
 such lustre on the American name. In the affections 
 of the free, his memory shall long be enshrined; suc- 
 ceeding generations shall cherish it, and it shall be 
 delivered down from sire to son, a treasure of which 
 the latest posterity may be proud. And not only in 
 his own land, which his glorious achievements have 
 made the bright heritage of liberty, shall his name 
 and character be venerated. The free of all lands 
 shall remember him with pride, and he shall be re- 
 garded by all ages, not only as the champion of 
 American rights, but as the benefactor of the world. 
 And if the names of successful monarchists, who have 
 subverted the liberties of mankind, and deluged the 
 earth with blood for selfish ends, — if their names have 
 been rendered immortal, what shall be the award of 
 him who emancipated the American people from the 
 thraldom of civil oppression, and made them a free and 
 independent nation ? In the peril of his fortune and 
 his life, he accomplished deeds which present him 
 before the world the most illustrious of men. Having 
 conquered the oppressor, he occupied, while living, 
 the summit of human fame, and, in dying, bequeathed 
 to his countrymen the proud heritage of freedom, with 
 the noblest institutions on earth. What then shall be 
 done to the hero who has won for us such a meed 
 
15 
 
 of glory and renown ? He is entitled to golden hon- 
 ors. A crown of everduring fame shall glitter on his 
 brows, when the laurels of an Alexander shall have 
 withered away, and the mausoleum of a Napoleon 
 shall have mouldered into ruin. His name, written in 
 letters of fire on the records of immortality, shall con- 
 tinue to blaze, with inextinguishable splendor, the 
 admiration of ages and ages to come. 
 
 It was at the commencement of the arduous con- 
 test, that the Declaration to which you have so atten- 
 tively listened, was published to the world. What the 
 feelings of our revolutionary fathers were who sub- 
 scribed the instrument, cannot be gathered from the an- 
 nals of the day nor conceived by us, who enjoy the 
 blessings of liberty, independence, and happiness, pur- 
 chased by their toils, and sufferings and blood. Sur- 
 rounded by perils, and while the thunder of British can- 
 non at Lexington and Bunker hill, and the cries of their 
 expiring countrymen, still sounded in their ears, they 
 entered on the untried path of revolution, a path dark 
 and thorny, and beset with continual dangers, and on 
 which they saw, in the prospect before them, a horizon 
 deeply overcast with portentous omens ; a scene with 
 the scaffold at its termination, attended by all the dread 
 ignominy which awaits a traitor's doom. I say a 
 
16 
 
 traitor's doom, for if our revolution had been unsuc- 
 cessful, the actors in the scene, instead of being cel- 
 ebrated as the champions of liberty, would have been 
 compelled to expiate the crime of treason by the dis- 
 graceful death of the halter. According to the theory 
 of monarchists, success in revolution makes a patriot- 
 defeat a traitor. The experiments of Wallace and 
 Washington were, in many respects, the same, though 
 one died upon the scaffold, while the other secured a 
 brilliant triumph for the cause he had espoused. 
 
 In the language of the first American Congress, they 
 had "counted the cost of the contest, and found nothing 
 so dreadful as voluntary slavery." They had ^'deter- 
 mined to cast the die which should separate them from 
 England." After enumerating the causes which had 
 impelled them to the separation, and which are so ad- 
 mirably set forth in the Declaration read in your hear- 
 ing, they declare, that they, the "representatives in 
 Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge 
 of the world for the rectitude of their intentions, do, in 
 the name, and by the authority of the good people of 
 these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that 
 these united colonies, are, and of right ought to be, 
 free and independent states, that they are absolved 
 from all allegiance to the British crown ; and that all 
 
17 
 
 political connection, between them and the state of 
 Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; 
 and that as free and independent states they have full 
 power to levy war, conclude peace, contract allian- 
 ces, establish commerce, and do all other acts and 
 things, which independent states may of right do." 
 
 What have been the advantages resulting to our 
 country from the publication of this document to the 
 world ? Let our republican institutions and the pros- 
 perity they have produced, answer the question. 
 Those institutions are built upon the foundation of 
 freedom, and they guarantee to us the blessings of 
 civil and religious liberty. The American people en- 
 joy those blessings in a greater degree than any other 
 nation on earth ; and the prosperity resulting from 
 them is without a parallel in the historyof the world. 
 Our government recognises all men as equal in civil 
 and political rights. Each citizen is a sovereign, 
 whose supremacy is exercised in the elective fran- 
 chise. In the choice of the officers of the government, 
 he enjoys the privilege of participating in the enact- 
 ment of the laws by which his own conduct is regu- 
 lated ; he has a part in making the very laws to which 
 he submits, and the code by which the people are 
 governed is the result of their own act, each operating 
 
18 
 
 as an individual sovereign. And where is the nation 
 besides our own that can boast of such equality of right 
 and privilege for its citizens ? There is none. And 
 in the operation of our republican system, every re- 
 ligion is tolerated. The manner in which he shall wor- 
 ship God is committed to the conscience of every A mer- 
 ican citizen. The Christian, the Jew, and even the 
 Mahomedan, were he among us, could engage in such 
 services as are consistent with their respective creeds. 
 Such are the effects of our free institutions in their 
 practical operation. And what has been the result of 
 that operation in the production of individual and na- 
 tional prosperity? Cast your eyes backward and take 
 a retrospect of the prosperity we have enjoyed since 
 our government was settled by the formation of the 
 Federal Constitution. Compare your own condition 
 with those of the governments of Europe. Look at 
 that slave of a despot, crouching at the footstool of 
 Turkish or Russian tyranny. Take a view even of 
 the condition of England, groaning under the burden 
 of taxation, giving the proceeds of her industry to 
 support the pride of an oppressive nobility, the dissi- 
 pations of a profligate clergy, the pomp and splendor 
 of a throne : and then return to your own country. 
 Look at the prosperity which every where prevails. 
 
19 
 
 View our population increasing, and our territories 
 widening, promising to extend the blessings of civili- 
 zation from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores. To 
 the eyes of the patriot the country presents a gratify- 
 ing spectacle. Cities rivalling in magnificence the 
 capitals of Europe, and located on every eligible site, 
 are seen rearing their white steeples to the admiration 
 of the approaching mariner, as America rises to view. 
 Towns and villages, teeming with animation and busi- 
 ness, are scattered over every part of our country ; 
 their gilded spires glitter in the sun-hght and excite 
 the admiration of the passing traveller. Rail-roads 
 and canals, those stupendous monuments of human 
 genius and enterprise, are constructed through th'e 
 principal states. They tend to reconcile conflicting 
 interests by binding together parts of the Union re- 
 mote from each other. The sails of our commerce 
 whiten every sea, and the products of our agricultural 
 and manufacturing industry find a market in every 
 country throughout the civilized world. 
 
 But these are not the only advantages resulting 
 from our liberal institutions. In their operation on 
 our national character they have elevated us to a high 
 place among the nations of the earth. We have a 
 national fame of which every American may be proud. 
 The ensign of our republic is respected wherever it 
 
20 
 
 is unfurled. Our national character is honored as far 
 as civilization extends. In our struggle for independ- 
 ence against the giant arm of Great Britain, we con- 
 quered ere we were known as a nation; and in our 
 second encounter, when the same colossal power, 
 sending her fleets and armies over the ocean, sought 
 to enslave the young Hercules of liberty, which she 
 had vainly essayed to strangle in the cradle, we came 
 out of the contest, not only unscathed, but gloriously 
 triumphant. The lion of Great Britain crouched be- 
 fore the eagle of our country. The armies of England, 
 which had vanquished the conqueror of Europe, were 
 obliged to yield before the valor of our citizen soldiers ; 
 and her navy, whose sails had spotted every ocean, 
 and whose flag had floated in triumph over every part 
 of the globe, was compelled to submit to our naval 
 prowess, and transfer to her youthful rival the glory 
 of being mistress of the seas. In both wars American 
 valor was emblazoned on the rolls of fame, and it will 
 be perpetuated to the latest generations. 
 
 But we must not confine ourselves to the bright side 
 of the picture. Although the stability of our govern- 
 ment has, hitherto, disappointed the advocates of roy- 
 alty — although our country has' enjoyed, for a series 
 of years, a state of unparalleled prosperity; and 
 although she is still great, happy, and free, yet, there 
 
21 
 
 are those among us who have fears for the future. 
 We, however, fellow-citizens, can see no cause for 
 alarm. Events have occurred to shake the confi- 
 dence of some of our countrymen in the perpetuity 
 of our institutions. It has, indeed, been with re- 
 gret and mortification, that we have witnessed the sec- 
 tional jealousy, the partizan fury, the rancor of feeling, 
 which have every where prevailed, and which have 
 furnished cause of triumph to the enemies of free 
 governments. There was a time when things began 
 to wear a serious, an alarming aspect. The crisis 
 approached — it arrived ; but the cloud which darkened 
 our southern horizon, and dimmed the lustre of our 
 national character, was dispersed by the light of re- 
 turning reason ; the storm which thundered at a dis- 
 tance, and threatened destruction to our liberties, 
 passed harmlessly by, while the stars of our Union, 
 struggling through the gloom by which they were 
 enshrouded, broke again on the vision in all their ori- 
 ginal brilliancy and glory. 
 
 From a great majority of the American people we 
 have nothing to fear. They know too well how to 
 appreciate the blessings of liberty and independence, 
 purchased by the blood and sufferings of their fathers ; 
 and they entertain the laudable desire to transmit 
 them, unimpaired, to their children. 
 
22 
 
 We should do all in our power to preserve our in- 
 stitutions in their purity. We should do this, and 
 leave the event to an overruling Providence, in whose 
 hands are the destinies of mankind, and without whose 
 aid human exertions will contribute nothing to the 
 stability of our government. Left to themselves, na- 
 tions as well as individuals, are of short duration. 
 Like the flower which blooms for a while and withers 
 away, or the rainbow that glitters for an hour upon 
 the cloud, they pass from existence, and are forgotten 
 or remembered only as events before the flood. This 
 is exemplified in the Egyptian, in the Assyrian, in the 
 Grecian, and the Roman governments. And may I 
 ask where are the ancient Egyptian, the Assyrian, the 
 Grecian, and the Roman governments ? After a brief 
 existence they passed away, leaving behind them a 
 few melancholy memorials, employed by after ages 
 
 "Only to point a moral or adorn a tale." 
 
 And the greatest of warriors that ever deluged the 
 earth with blood — what was their fate ? After a short 
 career in which they dazzled the world by the splen- 
 dor of their achievements, and carried desolation over 
 the greater part of the globe, they withered from ex- 
 istence, as much the objects of the execration as the 
 admiration of their race. Alexander the Great died 
 from the effects of intemperance ; Hannibal committed 
 
23 
 
 suicide ; Julius Caesar fell by the hands of violence ; 
 and Napoleon — what was his fate? For many years 
 he was a prisoner on a barren island in the Atlantic 
 ocean. And where is he now ? 
 
 "The surges rave. 
 And beat tumultuous round his rocky cave," 
 
 The only monument left to perpetuate the memory of 
 a man who overturned the greatest of monarchies and 
 spread terror over the habitable globe. 
 
 It is the duty of every man who enjoys the benefits 
 of our happy government to devote his energies to its 
 service. As the permanency of all free governments 
 must depend on the virtue and intelligence of the 
 people, we should avail ourselves of every means, 
 which a wise and beneficent Creator has afforded, for 
 enlightening the public mind and improving the moral 
 condition of the people. We should encourage pub- 
 lic schools, where children should be instructed in the 
 nature of our institutions, and be made acquainted 
 with the advantages they enjoy compared with the 
 other nations of the earth. The numerous associations 
 which have been organized for the dissemination of 
 knowledge and the promotion of virtue, all tend to 
 improve the moral and intellectual condition of the 
 people, and they should receive from us a cordial and 
 liberal support. 
 
24 
 
 But we should promote the welfare of our country, 
 not only by contributing to the moral and intellectual 
 culture of her sons. It is our duty to stand forth in 
 her defence whenever her liberties are menaced by a 
 foreign or domestic foe ; and we should recollect that 
 we hold our lives only on the high and glorious ten- 
 ure, of delivering them up whenever the sacrifice may 
 be demanded by our country. 
 
 My fellow-citizens : Our forefathers have bequeath- 
 ed to us a country vast in extent and unsurpassed in 
 grandeur and beauty by any other on earth. They 
 have bequeathed to us a free and liberal government 
 founded upon the principles of enlightenment and 
 truth, and free institutions worthy of their exalted 
 names and characters. The trust is a fearful one. It 
 is our duty to sustain in all their excellence and purity 
 the proud government we hold in possession, and the 
 noble institutions that render it so gloriously free. To 
 perpetuate the inheritance and deliver it to posterity 
 a treasure as valuable as we received it, we must pos- 
 sess the spirit that gave it existence. Let us then 
 cultivate the patriotism that burned in the bosoms of 
 our venerated sires, and let us swear by the blood that 
 was shed to make us free, that our freedom shall be 
 delivered to a succeeding generation, nothing tarnish- 
 ed in the using, but brightened and beautified by its 
 having passed through our hands. 
 
^