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 DIVISIONS 
 
 OF TIIK 
 
 S©H3 (IDIF =iriSMIPIEEAH€IE, 
 
 AT HILLSBOROUGH, 
 
 Fourth of July, 1S50. 
 
 BY SAMUEL F. PHILLIPS 
 
 PUBLISHED BV ORDER OF THE TWO DIVISIONS. 
 
 HILLSBOROUGH. 
 
 TKLNTED BV DENNIS IIEARTT. 
 1850. 
 
 ^V OF CO^Q^ 
 
 h U.S.A. 
 

(D®iRIRISSIP©HID2H'SISo 
 
 HilUborough, 13tii July, 1850. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 The Union and Mountain Spring Divisions of the Sena of Temperance, 
 at their meeting on the 5th and 6th inst., unanimously adopted resolutions 
 expressing their warmest thanks for the very interesting and instructive ad- 
 dress with which you favored them on the 4th lust., and appointed ua to re- 
 quest a copy of the same for publication. 
 
 By complying with the request of the Divisions you will not only confer 
 a favour on them, but on us as individuals. 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 ALEX. Wn,SON. 
 ROBT. BURWELL, 
 E. A. R. HOOKER, 
 J. WITHERSPOON. 
 WM. NELSON. 
 A. C. MURDOCK, 
 R, H. GRAVES. 
 D. D. PHILLIPS, 
 
 6. F. Phillips, Esa. 
 
 Chapel Hill, July 19th, 1850. 
 
 fiENTLEMEX : 
 
 I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your kind letter of the 
 13ih instant. 
 
 My thanks are due to the Union and Mountain Spring Divisions of the 
 Sons of Temperance for the flattering notice they have been pleased to take 
 of my Address before them on the Fourth : and I hope to be able to comply 
 with their request in the course of a few days. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 SAMUEL F. PHILLIPS. 
 
 a 
 
 Messrs. Wilsox, ^ 
 
 BuRWELL, 
 
 Hooker, { 
 
 WrTHRHSrOON, V 1 
 
 Nr.Lsoy, ( ~. 
 
 MuRDOCK, j ^ 
 
 'jIraves, I 
 
 PafLLIPS, J 
 
- ^!^ 7!^ V^x 
 
 Fellow Citizens: 
 
 It affords me a very sincere pleasure to make one of 
 so large an assemblage of American Freemen, engaged in 
 commemorating the birth-daj of their country. It was thus, 
 twenty-five hundred years ago, that the citizens of republi- 
 can Rome joined in sacrifice and purification and congratu- 
 lation upon the twenty-first day of April, to which tradi- 
 tion assigned the honor of giving origin to their city. With 
 increasing fervor, year after year, did they continue to recall 
 the memory of their early heroes, and of the foundation of 
 their free institutions, until, after nine hundred years of pros- 
 perity, a monster of cruelty and degradation ruled their fallen 
 fortunes, and having insulted their renown by electing his 
 horse to fill their proudest magistracy, decreed that his own 
 birth-day should thereafter be celebrated in the stead of that 
 of the Imperial City. With the best auspices of race and 
 of religion, we have renewed the solemn custom under these 
 western skies; with a worship so pure, a liberty so well ba- 
 lanced, and so rich a heritage of Heroic Memories, that, were 
 it not for this poor human nature which sometimes breaks 
 down within us, we might trust it shall continue until nine 
 times nine hundred years have rolled this Earth, and all that 
 it inherit, upon the very latest time — " in the which the 
 heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works 
 thereof shall be burnt up." 
 
 I cannot but esteem it a happy omen for us all that the 
 Fourth Day or July is so firmly fixed in the affections of the 
 
People. I cannot believe that so long as t\icy remember wiih 
 pleasure the ^vords and deeds of their fathers, they will 
 bring themselves to throw away or to undervalue the great 
 legacy which these have bequeathed. I cannot believe that 
 so long as the proud memories of this day are equally che- 
 rished in Massachusetts and North Carolina, in Georgia and 
 Pennsylvania, — that Massachusetts and North Carolina, 
 Georgia and Pennsylvania are willing to sever the bonds 
 which have enclosed them to their joint prosperity and glo- 
 ry without interruption for two generations. I believe that 
 whatever extravagance may pervade the world of politicians ; 
 however aspirants from the North, and aspirants from the 
 South may vie in slander and detraction ; — even had the great 
 men of the country been as false to the Republic as they have 
 been true ; — even had not the illustrious Senator from Ken- 
 tucky, the brave and good man from Michigan, and the wise 
 and eloquent son of Massachusetts come shoulder to shoul- 
 der to the rescue ; — the People, claiming this as exclusively 
 their government, and recognizing the fact that the sun in 
 his revolutions of six thousand years has never looked down 
 upon twenty millions so happy and so free, would not have 
 failed the institutions to which they hjivc given existence 
 and strength. It is a day of experiment, and political ad- 
 venturers sire dinning into our ears that this liberty we enjoy 
 is not necessarily connected with any part of this system of 
 States ; that its life does not reside exclusively in the arms, 
 the heart or the head, and that they will insure us against any 
 bad consequences threatened by the separation of these parts. 
 That luck for which a certain class of the community is pro- 
 verbial, may prevent their madness from depriving our liberty 
 of its existence, but we are sure that the country can lose no 
 member; no hand, nor foot, nor eye, without being essentially 
 weakened and deformed. Some excitement prevails, some 
 well-grounded apprehension exists, but the feeling is general 
 that we arc sure to do Avorsr by any change whicli we may 
 make ; that it is one thing to j)ull down, and altogcthci anoth- 
 
i'V to build II j) ; and tliat liovvrvei- readily we mav put out the* 
 lii;lit we have, no one »an tell wlience we shall get the Pro- 
 iiiethoaii heat whirh sliall that li<i:ht relume. A wanton child 
 with a hatchet may in a feu moments destroy the oak which 
 required the rain and sun of two centuries to bring to its pres- 
 <fnt perfection : 
 
 " A thousand years scarce serve to foim a State, 
 
 An hour muy lay it in the dust ; and when 
 
 Can man its Hhaltered splendor renovate, 
 
 Recall its virtues back, and vanquish lime and fateV 
 
 I am conscious, fellow citizens, tliat there glows within 
 me but little of that eloquence whose spell is wont to detain 
 3'ou upon such occasions as this. I have no power to summon 
 those gorgeous sentences in which we have heard the past his- 
 tory of our country described, or to catch that spirit of pro- 
 phecy which exalts her future career to a height and splendour 
 hardly of this world. In the absence of ability to attempt 
 higher things, I hope I shall have your consent to consider 
 some of thefactv which made the American Revolution. If 
 we would arrive at the perfect stature of admiration for our 
 lathers, we must better acquaint ourselves with the detail of 
 their deeds and designs ; and in the mean time, we shall be 
 lefreshed bv a contemplation of true sublimity — the sublimity 
 and eloquence of lives of labour, of conquered disappointment, 
 subdued despair, of a moderated ambition, and a self-govern- 
 ment better tlian taking a city. AVc very mucli deceive our- 
 selves by calculating the height to which our fathers' glory 
 reaches, from the eminence upon which we are standing. We 
 do them injustice by looking around upon this continent of 
 States, these unsurpassed political institutions, this noble re- 
 ligious liberty, this name we have made us like to the name 
 of the great men whicli be in the earth ; — and then imagining, 
 that tcith all (his in vieiv they entered upon that fearful con- 
 test. Read their history ; and learn that thry were blessed 
 with no such prospect ! Deprived of their rights as English 
 
Freemen ; tlu'ir humble prayers to the British Throne un- 
 heard ; repulsed from every hope ; encompassed with toils ; 
 with division in their ranks, and despair in their hearts; in- 
 sulted, trampled upon, betrayed, — they set their lives in 
 pledge for their liberty, and resolved that they must fight ! It 
 was only after that fight had considerably progressed, that they 
 determined to strike a higher blow for Independence ; — only 
 after that fight had ended, that they looked forward to a per- 
 manent Union. Through the dark, dark night they struggled 
 in that deep morass to escape dangers which lay behind ; they 
 lost their foothold, wounded their feet, plunged almost hope- 
 lessly into bottomless gulfs; still they struggled onwards. 
 But it was only after the mire had been left behind ; after they 
 had surmounted the rough and difficult hill before them, and 
 the morning mist and cloud had broken away, that their eyes 
 were rejoiced by the magnificent prospect of hill, valley and 
 plain bathed in the golden light of the Sun of Freedom. Ah ! 
 that long lowering day, which passed over Washington and 
 Adams, from September 1774 to June 1790 ; how did it alter- 
 nate hope and deep despair ! Happily, we have voluminous 
 records of its events ; but much that is of the highest interest 
 has been lost forever. That which remains covers so much 
 ground that few M'ill go over it, and those few will close their 
 researches with an impression tliat the half has not been told 
 tliem. They will return with a most exalted opinion of the 
 intrepidity and self-denial of our fathers, and with a most 
 solemn impression of the value of their labours. They will 
 know, that with the Pilgrim of Bunyan's Progress, the Patri- 
 ots of the American Revolution had to pass the Slough of 
 Despond, to defy the Lions in the way, overcome the Devil, 
 break from the enchantment of Doubting Castle, and pass a 
 Valley dark as that of the Shadow of Death, before they 
 stood upon the Delectable Mountains, or looked up into the 
 Celestial City. 
 
 The war of the American Revolution did not propose as its 
 ol)jcct the establishment of our present Union, or even (he 
 
settling of our Government upon a Republican plan. Both 
 of these questions were left open, and so far as the issue of 
 that struggle was concerned, its authors might have been sa- 
 tisfied with the formation of thirteen separate States, each 
 based upon the principle of Monarchy. I do not mean to say 
 that those who engaged in this War were not deeply imbued 
 with republican doctrines, or that they did not prefer a Con- 
 federation of the States. The event indeed shows the contra- 
 ry. What I assert is, that the immediate issue of the contest 
 was nothing further than a separation from, or, in the language 
 of the day, an Independence of Great Britain. So it may be 
 remarked that the Resolution which makes this day memorable, 
 was limited to the attainment of the same separation. It is true 
 that in this resolution the United Colonies are mentioned ; but 
 by United is meant nothing more than united for the War, as 
 in 1776 not even the old and imperfect Confederation was in 
 being. They were united, as History informs us that many 
 weak states have united in all ages of the world, solely to 
 carry on war with better chances of success ; as the States 
 of Greece united against the power of Persia ; but so soon 
 as peace returned, separated, and engaged in war with one 
 another. Indeed, the first battles in the war of our libera- 
 tion were fought not even for our Independence ; and when 
 that had been resolved upon, it was more than doubtful if the 
 Confederacy could be maintained after the immediate result 
 of it had been eftected. If we would have a correct notion of 
 the grounds upon which this Union stands, i't is necessary to 
 extend our study of the revolutionary era beyond the Peace 
 of 1783. Much doubtless was done for it on the heights of Bun- 
 ker, on the banks of the Hudson, and on the plains of York- 
 town ; " the battles, sieges, fortunes" which the Colonies had 
 passed together, produced a unity of suftering and sympatlvy 
 which went far towards rendering them one people. But much 
 remained to conquer still, and the era from 1783 to 179.0 
 proved that " Peace hath her victories not less renowned than 
 
 War." Bear with me, fellow citizens, whilst by a cursory 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 review of ihoso pveiit;* I oiideavor to icfVesh your memorv of 
 this important trutli. 
 
 Since the year 1297 it lias been a leading principle in the 
 English Constitution that the People are not to be taxed un- 
 less by consent of their representatives in Parliament assem- 
 bled. The benefits of this provision extended, of course, to 
 all subjects of the British Empire. By a series of acts pass- 
 ed by the Parliament, and extending over several years, we 
 were deprived of it. I instance especially, the Stamp Act 
 and the famous Tea Bill. Our fathers remonstrated, and ap- 
 pealed to the King, and to the people of Great Britain, for a 
 restoration of their undoubted birth -right. George the Third, 
 Avith that peculiar and unsound obstinacy which distinguish- 
 ed him through life, refused to interfere; and, although we 
 succeeded in raising up eloquent defenders in Parliament and 
 among the people, yet the large majority continued to sup- 
 port the madness of the Prime Minister. It was for this rea- 
 son that in September 1774 a Congress of Delegates from all 
 the Colonies, except Georgia, met at Philadelphia. This was, 
 as you bear in mind, not quite two years before the Declara- 
 tion of our Independence. We may well imagine that this 
 Congress contained some bold spirits even then I'ipc for se- 
 paration; but such was not the general disposition of the mem- 
 bers, nor indeed of the people, especially in the Middle and 
 Southern States. A petition to the King was drawn up ; al- 
 so an address to the People of Great Britain ; a Declaration 
 of their Rights as British subjects was framed ; and the odious 
 acts of Parliament were enumerated and protested against. 
 The most important movement was the formation of the »^mf- 
 rican Association, the members of which pledged themselves 
 to commercial non-intercourse with the Mother Country, and 
 to abandon all use of British productions. I call attention to 
 this step as the first united endeavor of the Colonies to secure 
 their independence. It may be true that the large majority 
 of those who entered into the obligation did not so intend it. 
 If so, it is another example under the proverb — " Man pro- 
 
u 
 
 poses, but God disposes j" or it may be regarded as shrewdly 
 designed by tlie few bold men who were looking forward to 
 separation from England, as the sure entering wedge between 
 the counties. In whatever light we regard it, there can be no 
 doubt that it served an admirable purpose as a commencement 
 of the struggle. After a session of eight weeks the Conven- 
 tion adjourned. Delegates from the same Colonies re-assem- 
 bled at Philadelphia on the 10th of May, 1775. In the mean 
 time the battle of Lexington had been fought, and a tremen- 
 dous excitement pervaded the country ; an excitement which 
 a few days later resulted in the adoption by the citizens of 
 Mecklenburg county, in this State, of the memorable resolu- 
 tions of the 20th of May, 1775. Notwithstanding, no murmur 
 in favor of Independence escaped the Convention. On the 
 contrary, although they resolved to defend their colonial rights 
 against the sword of the Government, they actually disclaim- 
 ed all intention of throwing off" their allegiance, and expressed 
 an anxious desire for peace. Another petition to the King 
 was drafted, and again the people of England were memorial- 
 ized. As a set oft", on the 17th of June, George Washington 
 was chosen Commander-in-chief of the Army of Defence ; on 
 the same, auspicious day the lamented Warren fell fighting for 
 the Colonies on Bunker Hill, and the last Royal Governor of 
 North Carolina made a precipitate retreat before a body of 
 militia, and escaped on board of an English ship in the Cape 
 Fear. On the 4tii of July, 1775, Georgia acceded to the Un- 
 ion. Whatever may have been the sentiments of the county 
 of Mecklenburg upon the question of Independence at this 
 particular period of our Revolutionary History, it is but fair 
 to remark in this place, upon the directly contrary action of a 
 Convention of the State held in Hillsborough in August, 1775, 
 three months after the meeting in Charlotte, In this Con- 
 vention Mecklenburg was represented by six gentlemen, four 
 of wiiom had been concerned in the resolutions of May. Un- 
 der date of the 4th of September, 1775, William Hooper laid 
 before the House an Address To the Inhabitants of tlie Rritisli 
 
12 
 
 Empire, and the same having been read, was unanimously re- 
 ceived. I make the following extracts from this Address out 
 of the original published journal of its proceedings. " Trai- 
 tors, rebels, and every harsh appellation that malice can dic- 
 tate, or the violence of language express, are the returns which 
 we receive to the most humble petitions and earnest suppli- 
 cations. We Jhave been told that Independence is our object ; 
 that we seek to shake oft* all connexion with the Parent State. 
 Cruel suggestion ! Do not all our professions, all our actions 
 uniformly contradict this ? We again declare, and we invoke 
 that Almighty Being who searches the recesses of the human 
 heart, and knows our most secret intentions, that it is our most 
 earnest wish and prayer to be restored with the other Unit- 
 ed Colonies to the state in which we and they were placed 
 before the year 1763. This -declaration we hold forth as a 
 testimony ot loyalty to our Sovereign, and affection to our 
 Parent State, and aa a sincere earnest of our present and fu- 
 ture intention." A test, in which the subscribers protested 
 their allegiance to the King, was also proposed and entered 
 upon the records, and received the signatures of every mem- 
 ber of the Convention. The last day of the year 1775 was 
 marked by the death of the brave and accomplished Montgo- 
 mery under the walls of Quebec. Early in 1776, the battle of 
 Moore's Creek Bridge, near Wilmington, gained by General 
 Caswell, gave strength to the Whig Party in North Carolina ; 
 and in March, General Washington inspirited the whole 
 country by driving the British from Boston. 
 
 I have been thus particular, and I fear tedious, in order to 
 draw your attention to the fact that much of the fighting in 
 the Revolutionary War was done without any desire upon 
 the part of many who were engaged in it to sever their con- 
 nexion with England. In the Spring of 1776, however, other 
 sentiments were heard ; and Common Sense, a pamphlet by 
 Thomas Paine, showing the absurdity of longer endeavor to 
 maintain our old relations, produced a decided impression 
 upon the people. On motion of John Adams, Congress m 
 
13 
 
 May recommended to the several colonies to establisli Go- 
 vernments adequate to their present exigencies. On the 7th 
 of June, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, introduced his fa- 
 mous resolution for Independence into Congress. It was de- 
 bated for two days. Being opposed by some of the most dis- 
 tinguished members as premature, it was at length passed by 
 a vote of seven »States to six ; New Hampshire, Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Noi-th Carolina 
 and Georgia voting in the affirmative, against New York, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Delaware and New 
 Jersey. The resolution was then postponed until the 1st day 
 of July, in order to insure a greater unanimity. The result 
 is well known. Together with Mr. Jefferson's eloquent 
 manifesto, it has this day been read in your hearing ; and in 
 1850, after seventy-four years, thirty great States hail 
 with loud acclaim the anniversary of that day on which our 
 fathers resolved that " these United Colonies are, and of 
 right ought to be. Free and Independent States." Hence- 
 forward the struggle was for separation. Our own State bore 
 the brunt of the War in 1780 and 1781 ; Lord Cornwallis 
 surrendered on the 19th of October, 1781; and our Indepen- 
 dence was formally acknowledged by Great Britain on the 
 3d of September, 1783. 
 
 I have already said that the renown of the Fourth of July 
 is not necessarily connected with that of our glorious Union. 
 The struggle for the latter, though in some sense growing out, 
 and a part of the former, was yet, on the whole, collateral, 
 and for some time a sort of bye play to it. A committee was 
 appointed to draw up Articles of Confederation as early as 
 1776. As soon as these could be matured, four States, of 
 which I am proud to say that North Carolina was one, enter- 
 tered into its bonds. It was not, however, until March, 
 1781 — the same month in which the battle of Guilford was 
 fought, and but seven months before the virtual close of the 
 war, that it was completed by the accession of Maryland, 
 I need not put you in mind that this Confederation Avas very de- 
 
14 
 
 foctivc, and but ill calcuiatL'd for peiinaneiicc. A struggle for 
 a mme perfect Union commenced upon the part of some mem- 
 bers of this Confederacy even before the signature of the 
 treaty of Peace. It was carried on with zeal, but with doubt- 
 ful hopes, for several years afterwards. In ir89 our present 
 Constitution was adopted, and this Republic commenced its 
 high mission upon earth. 
 
 I trust, fellow citizens, that wliat I have said will con- 
 vince you of the threefold character of our Revolutionary 
 Era. For the first twenty-two months the contest was only 
 for our rights as subjects of Great Britain ; and in that we had 
 the sympathy and co-operation of many distinguished citi- 
 zens of the mother country. Lord Chatham, Lord Camden, 
 Edmund Burke, General Conway, Colonel Bane, Mr. Hart- 
 ley and Mr. ^^'ilkes insisted upon our rights with a zeal and 
 boldness which did them infinite credit, and gave them an 
 extensive popularity throughout tlie Colonies. In connnem' 
 oration of their services, counties and towns were named al- 
 ter them from Maine to Georgia. North Carolina has in this 
 way perpetuated the gallantry of Chatham, Camden, Burke 
 and Wilkes ; the three latter at the same session of the Leg- 
 islature in which the merits of two of her own patriotic sons. 
 General Nash and Governor Caswell, were similarly honor- 
 ed ; and in Pennsylvania the names of two of these disinte- 
 rested advocates have been remembered in the town of 
 AVilkesbarre. The aid of tliese jj-enerous Enslishmen, how- 
 ever, we had no right to expect, and did not receive after the 
 Fourth of July, 1776. We all recollect the thunders of Chat- 
 ham as he blasted the ministerial policy of taxing America, 
 in 17G6 : — " The gentleman tells us," exclaimed he, " that 
 America is obstinate ; America is almost in open rebellion. 
 Sir, I rejoice that America has resisted ! 'J'hree millions of 
 people 60 dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to 
 submit to be made slaves, would have been fit instruments to 
 make slaves of all the rest. 1 come not here armed at all 
 points with law cases and Acts ol" Parliament, with tiie i^t^- 
 
1.) 
 
 (lite Kouk tiirnod down into dons' ears to defend the cause of 
 Liberty. But for the defence of lil)i'rty upon a general prin- 
 cij)le, upon a constitutional principle, it is a ground upon 
 wliich 1 stand firm, on which ] dare meet any man. Upon 
 the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is mv opin- 
 ion. It is that the Stamp Act be repealed, absolutely, total- 
 ly, immediately." How changed were the tones in which he 
 addressed the House of Lords some twelve years later ! In 
 April 1778, the Duke of Richmond h.aving moved an Address 
 to the Throne, advising the recognition of the unqualified In- 
 dependence of the American Colonies, Lord Chatham, whom 
 age and infirmity had prevented for some time previously 
 from an active interference witli aftairs of Government, tot- 
 tered down to his seat, and gave the last remains of his 
 strength and abilities to its defeat. " I have this day," he be- 
 gan, " made an eftort beyond the powers of my constitution, 
 to come down to this House, perhaps the last time I shall en- 
 ter its walls, to express my indignation against the proposi- 
 tion of yielding the sovereignty to America. My Lords, I 
 rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me, that lam still 
 alive to lift up my voice against the dismemberment of this 
 ancient and noble monarchy. Pressed down as I am by the 
 load of infirmity, I am but little able to assist my country in 
 this most perilous conjuncture ; but, my Lords, while I have 
 sense and memory, I will never consent to tarnish the lustre 
 of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and 
 fairest possessions." Indeed, history is compelled to record 
 that some in our own countrv, who had been foremost in the 
 contest for our rights previously, Avhen affairs took this turn, 
 gradually cooled and became hostile. Although, standing 
 upon our present high vantage ground, we plainly see their 
 mistake, and wonder at and condemn their resolution, we 
 must not do so in terms of undistinguishing severity. The 
 poles are not farther asunder than is conduct like this from 
 that whicli brands (lie infamy ol" Benedict Arnold. They 
 midit ^\ell wonder at the audacitv of thoj-e claims which the 
 
16 
 
 feeble colonics were piopai iii:^ to vindicate witli the sword; 
 and, if deficient in nerve, might well anticipate, from the now 
 undivided power of Great Britain, disastrous issue not only tO' 
 the new counsels, but even to those to which they had wish- 
 ed the most complete success. We will satisfy ourselves 
 with the share which falls to them of that malediction pro- 
 nounced upon all who, having once put their hand to the 
 plough, grow faint-hearted and look back. They narrow- 
 ly missed high honour ; but an evil star presided over their 
 destinies, and they have fallen upon oblivion and disgrace. 
 
 Almost contemporaneously with our Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, was the first attempt to erect a permanent Union 
 of the States. Of all the labours of our Revolutionary Fath- 
 ers, this involved most trouble and came nearest to an unsuc- 
 cessful issue. 1 have before remarked that the War was near- 
 ly concluded before the Articles of the Confederation were 
 adopted. For seven long years of exertion and disaster, the 
 only ties which bound the Colonies were their common dan- 
 gers. Their only formal connexion, if we except such as 
 had entered into the American Association, was the resolu- 
 tion, passed^at tlie time that General Washington was com- 
 missioned as Commander-in-Chief, — in these words : " Re- 
 solved, unanimously. Whereas the delegates of all the Colo- 
 nies from Nova Scotia to Georgia, in Congress assembled, 
 have unanimously chosen George Washington to be General 
 and Commander in Chief of such forces as are or shall be 
 raised for the maintenance and preservation of American Li- 
 berty ; this Congress doth now declare that they will main- 
 tain and assist him, and adhere to him the said George Wash- 
 ington, with their lives and fortunes, in the same cause." 
 Very true is it that the formation of this Union is no excep- 
 tion to the maxim that great pains is the price of all excel- 
 lence. It was with difficulty that the resolution to defend 
 our rights as British subjects was taken ; it was with great 
 opposition that our Independence was declared ; but the ob- 
 stacles in the way of the first steps were as nothing in com- 
 
ir 
 
 pavison with the labour which accompanied the Union of these 
 States. Leading men had looked to such Union as the pro- 
 per basis of our strength as far back as 1754 ; but after somfe 
 examination and negotiation, it was concluded bj such men 
 as Benjamin Franklin, that thB obstacles thereto were insupe- 
 rable. Such, in fact, they well nigh proved — under far more 
 favorable circumstances — thirty-five years later. 
 
 I shall not detain you with a detail of the struggles which 
 resulted in the establishment of our present Federal Consti- 
 tution. The injunction of secrecy, under which th« Conven- 
 tion which framed it acted, was never removed. Of late 
 years notes of its proceedings, taken by some of its members 
 at the time, have come to light ; but they are exceedingly im- 
 perfect. From them we can learn that its action was far 
 from unanimous; and it is known that some of the delegateu 
 refused to sign the draft to the very last. Among them were 
 the distinguished names of George Mason, Edmund Randolph, 
 Elbridge Gerry, and Luther Martin. Alexander Hamilton 
 gave in his adhesion with the remarkable protest — " that no 
 man's ideas were more remote from the plan than his own ; 
 but is it possible," added he, " to deliberate between anarchy 
 and confusion on one side, and the chance of doing good on 
 the other?" Of those who gave their signatures to it we are 
 told that there was probably not one to whom all the pro- 
 visions were satisfactor3^ When the Constitution was laid 
 before the separate States for ratification, the heats of debate 
 were yet more violent. Massachusetts adopted it by the close 
 vote of 187 to 168. Virginia, in which Patrick Henry lent 
 all his influence to its defeat, accepted it by a bare majority, 
 the numbers being — 31 for it; against it, 29. North Caroli- 
 na, having at first rejected it in a Convention held in Hills- 
 borough, in August 1788, by the overwhelming majority of 
 184 to 84, did not ratify it until November 1789, [by a vote 
 of 194 to 77,^ more than two years having elapsed since it had 
 first been proposed ; and Rhode Island held out until the 29th 
 
 of Mav, 1790. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 It Iras becoiue fashionable in tliese days *» represent the 
 action of our Revolutionary Fathers on all points connected 
 with our Independence and our Union, as un^imous. We 
 imagine that the path which they were called upon to tread, 
 although high and difficult, was at le'a&t plain. We bring 
 yurseives to believe that the political questions which our own 
 day produces are new in principle, and that had so great a 
 contradiction of interests appeared then between the various 
 members of the Confederacy, as has sprung up in these latter 
 days, the Union would never have oome into being. Such is 
 a safficiently convenient theory for those who may wish to 
 shrink from the difficult duties of the day. It is one, in fact, 
 countenanced by the earlier histories of the republic, but 
 which has of late by more perfect investigation been render- 
 ed wholly untenable. There was a perplexity, an intricacy 
 of dispute and division for Washington and bis compeers to 
 unravel, such as wc have never seen. None but heroic hearts 
 could ever have looked upon the path which lay before them 
 without despair ; and I may add that none but the giants 
 which our country saw in that hour of distress, could have 
 trodden that path with success and with glory. There were, 
 unquestionably, real oppositions of interest between the dif- 
 ferent sections of the country? as unquestionably were there 
 honest divisions of opinion upon great principles of govern- 
 ment: add to these -the disputes about details which always 
 spring up in legislatiTe bodies, and the voice of faction, 
 which was hushed not even during our Revolution ; and we 
 gather some faint idea of the dark prospect before the friend* 
 of the Constitution. Let us listen to such parts of the dis- 
 cussions as have come down to us. Edmund Randolph, of 
 Virginia, denounced the plan of a single Executive as " the 
 fsetus of Monarchy," and was for a time supported by the 
 votes of New York, Delaware and Maryland. Alexander 
 Hamilton expressed doubts about a republican government 
 at all, and his admiration of a limited Monarchy ; he closed 
 by proposing to elect the Senate and President of the United 
 
19 
 
 Stales during good behatwur, ««•, in other words, for life. 
 Hit plan, at least as far as regarded the President, was, 
 at one stage of the proceedings, favored by a vote of New 
 Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The smaller 
 States insisted upon their rights, as soreieigfi communities, 
 to an equal representation with the larger ones, in one branch, 
 at least, of the Natioaal Legislature. This was strenuously 
 resisted by the great States, and, having once been rejected, 
 was only carried, after long debate, by a vote of five States 
 to four- South Carolina and Oeorgia atysolutely refused to 
 come into the union if the Slave Trade with Africa was abo- 
 Jished; and their determination reduced the others to a compro- 
 «uise, by which this traffic was secured up to the year 1808, 
 South Carolina insisted that her slaves should be entitled t© 
 an equal representation in Congress with free white citizens. 
 The North replied, that all descriptions of 'iier property were 
 sequally entitled. After much violence upon both sides, Mr- 
 Williamson, of this State, proposed, as a compromise, that 
 ithree-fifths of the slave population should be entitled to rep- 
 resentation. This was carried 5 New Jersey and Delaware 
 voting against it; South Carolina and Massachusetts being di- 
 <vided, the former desLriEg them to be fully represented, and 
 the latter not at all- It will be seen from this vote, thattli« 
 .compromise upon this question of slavery was effected ex- 
 clusively by neither North nor Soeth ; one State from each of 
 ithese sections voting agai^Kt it, and ORe from each losing its 
 vote by a division of its representatives. The decision of 
 this question aftords a good insight in,to the history of the 
 Convention. We find that the advocates of extreme views, 
 however diametrically opposed in their policy to each other, 
 ■aniformly united against the propositions of the moderate. 
 Some of the opponents of the Constitution conteadesd tliat it 
 went too far in the p&wers which it conferred upon the Gene- 
 ral Government ; the oppositioii of these gentlemen was 
 «tren«rthcnei(J bv that of those who contended that it did not 
 •go far cnougli. >.Son».c declaimed upon lire amount to Sssrhitl; 
 
20 
 
 particular subject!* were compromised ; others insisted witli 
 warmth that too little of that spirit had been exhibited. In 
 opposition to the views just mentioned as those of Edmund 
 Randolph, Charles Pincknej, of South Carolina, stigmatised 
 the weakness of the proposed President as contemptible. 
 On several occasions the Convention was upon the point of 
 adjourning without having effected its purpose. Especially 
 was this the case in the debates as to the constitution ot the 
 Senate between the large and small States. Luther Martin, 
 and the delegates from New York, excepting Hamilton, re- 
 tired from it in disgust; and I have before observed that some 
 of the members never did give their signatures to the draft. 
 By moderation and compromise upon the part of most, the im- 
 mortal victory was at length obtained, and this Republic gi- 
 ven to the w^orld. After sixty-one years of glad experience, 
 we are privileged to declare calmly and with all confidence, 
 that there never yet was the country which so entirely belied 
 the forebodings of its enemies; that there never yet was the 
 country that so completely deserved the hearty allegiance of 
 its citizens ; that there never yet was one whose course was 
 so constantly and sb unmistakably upwards, or that had the 
 prospect of so brilliant a career for the future. At this day 
 we can hardly forbear smiling at the objections frequently 
 proposed'by some of the ablest men in the Convention ; and 
 it may be remarked, that the amendments as to the tenure of 
 office for the President and Senate, proposed by Alexander 
 Hamilton, have entirely failed in the South American Repub- 
 lics to impart that stability to government which he anticipat- 
 ed from their adoption in our Federal Constitution. Mr. 
 Hamilton was, perhaps, the very ablest man in that congress 
 of genius. He was then hardly thirty years of age, and it is 
 well known that afterwards he gave an unqualified support 
 to the Constitution which was adopted by the Convention. 
 
 We have a report of the proceedings of the Convention in 
 this State which rejected the Constitution in 1788. Some of 
 the objections then made were well grounded, and weroafter- 
 
21 
 
 wards engrafted upon that instrument as amendments; verj 
 few, however ! while the great mass was such as no sound 
 man with common information would venture to propose at 
 this day. The Convention contained the first men of the time 
 in North Carolina; and while the influence of Willie Jones, 
 Samuel Spencer, David Caldwell and Timothy Bloodworth 
 was exerted against the adoption of the proposed Constitution, 
 its provisions were ably defended by Samuel Johnston, (at that 
 time Governor,) James Ii-edell, Archibald Maclaine, Richard 
 Dobbs Spaight, William Barry Grove, John Steele and Wil- 
 liam Richardson D.avie. Although the leaders of the opposi- 
 tion adduced reasons of weight for their rejection of the la- 
 bors of the Convention which had drafted the Constitution, 
 it must be admitted that much misapprehension, unworthy 
 suspicion, and gross ignorance and confusion pervaded the 
 rank and file. Mr. Goudy, of Guilford, said that he did not 
 wish to be represented by negroes — alluding to the provision 
 which gives the Southern States additional representatives 
 for their slave population. If his objections could have pre- 
 vailed upon the country to blot out that clause, the South 
 would lose twenty of her present representatives in Congress, 
 and North Carolina would have seven instead of nine. Mr. 
 Joseph M'Dowell would not permit to the General Govern- 
 ment the power of laying taxes ; he argued that any income 
 Avhich could be raised by a tariff" must be trifling, and hence 
 poll taxes would be very high ; he proceeded to give a high- 
 ly colored picture of the tyranny which would be the neces- 
 sarv result. Other members agreed with him in his forebod- 
 ings. The experience of the country during peace has al- 
 ways been, that any amount of revenue may be raised by a 
 tariff"; and in practice the only question has been, how this 
 power may be exercised within proper limits. Mr. Locke 
 said that he " considered the Constitution neither safe nor 
 beneficial, as it granted powers unbounded without restric- 
 tions." Mr. Bass " took a general view of the original and ap- 
 pellate jurisdiction of the Federal Courts. He considered 
 
22 
 
 tlie Conslitutloii noitlicr necosiiai y nor proper. He feared 
 that under the Federal Courts dreadful oppression a\ ould be 
 committed by carrying people too great a distance to decide 
 trivial causes. For his part he could not understand the 
 Constitution, although he took great pains to find out its 
 meaning, and although he flattered himself with the posses- 
 sion of common sense. He v/islied to reflect ou no gentle- 
 man, and apologized for his ignorance, by observing that he 
 never went to school, and had been born blind. Mr. Abbot 
 said, that some people feared tlvat, as the President and Se- 
 nate could bind the nation by a treaty with foreign powers, 
 thej might make a treaty to adopt the Roman Catholic reli- 
 gion in the United States, which would prevent the people 
 from worshipping God according to their own consciences. 
 Many, he went on to say, wished to know what religion shali 
 be established. He believed that a majority of the people 
 were Presbyterians. For his part he was opposed to any ex- 
 clusive establishTaent, but if there were any, he would prefer 
 the Episcopal. He added that many thought the exclusion 
 of religious tests da ngerotis and impolitic. They suppose, if 
 there be no religious test required, Pigans, Deists and Ma- 
 Jiometans might obtain office amongst us, and that the Senati* 
 and Representatives migiht all be Pagans. Every person em- 
 ployed by the Oeneral and State Governments is to take an 
 oath to support the former. Some are desirous to know how 
 and by whom they are to swear, since no religious tests are 
 required; whetlier they are to swear by Jupiter, Juno, Mi- 
 nerva, Proserpine, or Pluto! 
 
 My object, fellow citizens, in this particular conjuncture 
 of public aftairs, in dwelling at length upon this portion of 
 our history, is, I hope, apparent to all. Our country was 
 cradH^d amid storms such as her subsequent history has not 
 again seen, Wildness of language and bitterness of denun- 
 ciation werexiscd with regard to her probable character, such 
 as have hardly been equalled in this day of reproach and ol>- 
 loquy. But amid all, the good hearts of AVashington and his 
 
9.? 
 
 coiTi patriots never failed them ; and >\lien tlie heat and dust 
 of the battle were over, all joined in acknowledging the vie- 
 tory to be theirs. If they, to secure blessings which at least 
 were only probable, animated only by hope for the future, 
 could be so prudent, so persevering, so laborious ; what is 
 not demanded of us in behalf of a liberty now grown old, of 
 blessings long enjoyed, and with all the encouragements of 
 the past and the sympathy of the present, amid heats, at 
 worst, only transitory, and which have not come to Us, as to 
 our fathers, by legions ? If they, for a people which were 
 not a people, for a union not yet united, dared and did so 
 much; why may we not adventure something of our leisure 
 and ease to save what tiiey procured ? They made mutual 
 surrender of dear and undoubted rights ; they even compro- 
 mised questions which our over-punctilious chivalry might 
 associate with their honor ; and from that investment have 
 had large return of enduring and best deserved glory. The 
 least that we can do for our country is, laying aside all no- 
 tions of duty and aftection, as a mere cold-blooded specu- 
 lation, to try the same policy which has resulted in the 
 abounding wealth of their reputation. If we do, whatever 
 be the innate sordidness of our natures, it may turn out that 
 a coming age shall hail us as patriots second only to those 
 of 1787! 
 
 A French historian very properly remarks, that Napoleon 
 never reached a prouder eminence than when, in 1802, hav- 
 ing restored victory to the French arms — every where during 
 his Egyptian expedition foul with disaster, having negotiated 
 an honorable peace with Great Britain — he turned his atten- 
 tion to the reorganization of France, reconciled her to the 
 Church, restored a healthy tone to the finances, projected an 
 extensive scheme of popular education, and published the 
 system of Law known as the Napoleon Code. It was after- 
 wards, it is true, that he conquered proud Austria, demolish- 
 ed Prussia, and sacked the metropolis of the Northern Cae- 
 sar ; but he who truly appreciates the magnitude of his for- 
 
':24 
 
 tunes, will pronounce that their star culminated amid the 
 peaceful occupations of 1802. So, with more truth, may we 
 say, that, to the philosopher, Georok AVashinctox appears 
 so great at no period of his life, as when he was soothing and 
 moderating the animosities of the Convention of 1787. Bj 
 his wisdom and valor he had given to his country peace and 
 independence ; he had adreadj discharged all that was due 
 to her, and his generation would have risen up and called 
 him blessed, had his labors closed with the resi'mation of 
 his military command. But God had a still nobler work for 
 him to accomplish ; and it was ordered that he should not on- 
 ly provide for the sovereignty of his county, but place her in 
 a path of honor and happiness that may be prolonged to the 
 most distant generations. 
 
 " Oh victor, unsurpassed in modern song ! 
 
 Each year brings forth its millions, yet how long 
 
 Time and its generations shall roll on. 
 
 And not the whole combined and countless throng 
 
 Compose a miml like thine ? though all in one 
 
 Condensed their scattcr'd rays, they would not form a sun !" 
 
 It is very true that we have no such high mission upon 
 earth as our fathers had. So much the greater obli-^ation up- 
 on U8, then, clearly to fulfil it! It is impossible "that in a 
 country hke ours there shall not be real and important dif- 
 ferences of interest. We measure il by many degree of lati- 
 tude and longitude. When the beams of the early morning 
 are just breaking upon Oregon City and tlie Bay of San 
 Francisco, the sun has mounted already more tlian three 
 hours high upon Boston. Leaving a shoi'e upon the waters 
 of the Atlantic of a thousand leagues, and advancing with the 
 rush of our population and tlie setting sun over three thou- 
 sand miles of mountain, river, plain and forest— over every 
 square inch of which our Flag flies supreme, we find ouV 
 Eagle screaming, and asserting dominion throughout twenty 
 degress of latitude along the Great South Sea. It is the mer- 
 est stupidity and folly not to be certain that over such an ex- 
 
tent of tenitorv, among a people oi" ever active intellect, 
 there shall not be grave diversities of opinion upon almost 
 every subject. But these are not necessarily fatal to our 
 Confederacy. Those of us who have travelled in rail cars 
 and steam boats will recollect to have been somewhat start- 
 led at first by their jar and shudder ; but in no long time their 
 other advantages completely reconciled us to the slight in- 
 convenience, and meanwhile we were whirled upon our course 
 with a rapidity which put to shame the clouds and the wind. 
 As our Country speeds her citizens along untrodden tracks 
 of peaceful glory, outstripping in her bright career all an- 
 cient and modern competitors, his must be a captious and 
 minute mind that can afford him leisure among these thou- 
 sand blessings of home, liberty and religion, to calculate 
 whether she varies from her course by the millionth part 
 of a degree, or to value the exceeding accuracy of those 
 metaphysical faculties which can " distinguish and divide a 
 hair, twixt west and north-west side." We must make up 
 our minds to anticipate disputes with our brethren, and we 
 must prepare ourselves beforehand with that temper in which 
 they should be conducted. We must pay frequent visits to 
 the graves of our fathers, and consult their spirits upon the 
 difficulties which surround us. The answer to the sincere 
 inquirer will not be in vain. So long as we can reproduce 
 in our own breasts their thoughts and feelings, the Republic 
 will be safe. The times may demand of us to speak plainly, 
 and to act with firmness : the dictates of liberty were never 
 yet reconcilable with tame submission to undoubted injury, 
 and he who inquires for such a response from the mighty dead 
 of our Revolution, v*-ill inquire in vain ! If I am asked what, 
 in practice, is that nice medium of firmness and compromise 
 which should be resorted to upon such occasions, I can give 
 no answer so complete, or, as I trust, so satisfactory to my au- 
 dience, as by reference to the pages of Inspiration. I hope 
 that, to them, it would appear an unwarranted neglect upon 
 my part, if I did not confess that, however upon days sych 
 
 D 
 
as thU there \^ much matter for boasting and congratulation/ 
 there is still more for meditation and humble thankfulness to 
 the Giver of all Good, for having distinguished our history 
 with a series of providences the like of which I challenge 
 any country to produce. And I may say specially, that I 
 am unable to solve the problem here presented, as to what is 
 the proper degree of submission which one sovereign and high 
 spirited State may make to another, or a common cause, other- 
 wise than by the formula given in the New Testament — " Do 
 to others as you would have them do to you." In carrying 
 this fully out, there can be no tear of degradation upon one 
 side, or of ill-advised and fatal rupture on the other. I know, 
 fellow citizens, that I take you all with me, when I assert 
 that the Christian Religion is at the deep foundation of every 
 political privilege we enjoy ; and that according as its lessons 
 are followed or despised, so will our civil liberty rise to per- 
 fection, or sink into nothing. Above all,, we should avoid 
 hasty counsels. To one engaged in controversy, anger is 
 hardly better than folly, and in their results they are general- 
 ly the same. How, I beseech you, how shall we answer at 
 the bar of posterity, if arraigned upon a charge of having dis- 
 solved this Union in a fit of hasty, ill-considered and uncal- 
 led for ill temper.'' When God gave to Solomon wisdom, he 
 added thereto " largeness of heart ;" and I can sum up my 
 meaning no better than by quoting a remarkable passage 
 from a speech delivered by Edmund Burke, in behalf of our 
 colonial rights, in the British Parliament : " Magnanimity in 
 
 POLITICS IS not seldom THE TRUEST WISDOM, AND A GKEAT EM- 
 PIRE AND LITTLE MINDS GO ILL TOGETHER." 
 
 Fellow citizens, you have kindly lent me your attention 
 while I endeavored, with some confusion, I fear, to trace the 
 foundation of this republic, in the compromise of important 
 principles and the surrender of dear rights^ You have recog- 
 nized, I trust, that in the preservation among our people of the 
 spirit which gave life to our Constitution, is our only hope of 
 preserving the Constitution itself; and may I not indulge the 
 belief that you are resolved henceforward, in all questions of 
 
27 
 
 genei-al dispute and difficulty, to consult and abide by tlie 
 Oracles of the Revolution? A few words more, and I shall 
 have done. 
 
 The period of three quarters of a century which includes 
 our history, is in many respects one of the most remarkable 
 in all time. It has witnessed tremendous overthrows of em- 
 pires, revolutions in opinion no less important, advances in 
 science that are unparalleled, and there is no department in 
 which the mind has not advanced from conquest to conquest 
 as with the steps oi a giant, or through which it does not 
 stand ready, rejoicing like a strong man, to run a race. Ve- 
 ry difficult is it for us, living in this blaze of the nineteenth 
 century, to realize the situation of men who lived within the 
 last hundred years. ' 'We can hardly conceive the revul- 
 sion we should experience v/cre we suddenly carried back to 
 the condition of the patriarchs of the Old Thirteen. Fancy 
 their rude cabins thinlj' scattered through the dreary wilder- 
 ness, the small patches of half-cleared and half-tilled land 
 around them, the solemn silence of the boundless wood scarce 
 broken but by the echoing strokes of the axe ; follow through 
 the dark and gloomy forest, the rugged, steep and winding 
 foot-path that formed the only means of communication with 
 the distant neighbor; remember that they had neither church 
 nor school, no physician to heal such maladies as art can 
 master, or to relieve the dying pangs of the incurable ; no 
 tnan of God to smooth the passage to the tomb. Observe the 
 Father of the family at his heavy toil in felling the woods and 
 breaking up the virgin earth. How rude his implements, 
 how formidable the resistance of the primitive forest, how 
 slow his conquest of the untamed soil ! Compare his clumsy 
 plough, his ill-for^^ed axe and his heavy hoe, v/ith the light, 
 well-balanced and neatly finished tools of his descendants. 
 Watch him as he painfully bears upon his shoulders, or drags 
 upon a hand-sled, a full day's journey to the distant mill, the 
 bushel of grain that is to furnish a scanty supply for his fa- 
 jnishing family, llemeniber, too, that with all this toil he 
 was compelled to be ever ready with loaded musket to repel 
 
28 
 
 the lurking savage, and believe, if you can, that such is a pic- 
 ture of the lives of your fathers, and that the now smiling 
 fields and verdant hills of our Southern States were its thea- 
 tre." We must also recollect that it was after the commence- 
 ment of our Revolutionary war, that James Watt invented 
 the Steam-engine. In 1776, Steam boats. Steam cars and 
 Steam mills had never been dreamed of. In August 1774, 
 within a month of the day when the Old Congress met at Phi- 
 ladelphia, Joseph Priestley, by the discovery of a subtle air, to 
 which was given the name of Oxygen Gas, extended the foun- 
 dations of Chemistry, and thereby conferred a mass of bene- 
 fits upon mankind which follow us into every day life, and 
 which would consume a volume in their enumeration. In 
 1775, Werner, a German, gave form for the first time to 
 Geology, and in so doing afforded a fulcrum, by which some of 
 the most important and best established opinions in physical 
 science have been thrown to the ground. What shall I add 
 concerning the Electric Telegraph, the obscure and fascinat- 
 ing subject of Magnetism, or the multiform ingenuity display- 
 ed in mechanical invention ; — the cotton gin, the spinning 
 jenny, and many other most valuable aids to labour which it 
 would be literally wearisome to recall } Such is the appear- 
 ance which a hasty glance at the history of science for the 
 last seventy-five years presents. Turn to the political world. 
 Poland, with her millions of subjects, has disappeared for- 
 ever. Three revolutions have almost destroyed the person- 
 al identity of France. Germany, ravaged for twenty years 
 by the most disastrous wars, has lost her political character, 
 and even while I address you, with fear of change perplexes 
 monarchs. Great JJritain has balanced her losses here by 
 winning an immense empire in the remote East ; whilst, on 
 the other hand, the conquests of Cortez and Pizarro have 
 been wrenched from Spain in this Western World, and where 
 in Central and South America allegiance was paid to his 
 Most Faithful Majesty over tiiree millions of square miles, 
 the gaudy banners of a dozen so called republics fitfully 
 wave in the southern breeze. 
 
29 
 
 But, fellow citizens, wherever we turn our eyes, what- 
 ever be the triumpli of science, or of human ingenuity which 
 we contemplate, we claim, with sober satisfaction, that no- 
 thing has been eftected for the family of man at all compara- 
 ble with the establishment of this Republic. True it is that 
 space has been annihilated ; that labor has been alleviated ; 
 fire and water yoked into service as a steady pair, hurrying 
 the trade and wealth of the sea-coast, thousands of miles into 
 the interior, among the recesses of our mountain chains; that 
 the lightning has been fain to take office under the Adminis- 
 tration as an humble subordinate in the Post-Office Depart- 
 ment ; and that what were the expensive luxuries of affluence 
 one hundred years ago, are the ordinary comforts of the poor 
 man's cottage to-day. But great as are these advances, how 
 will they for one moment compare with the magnificent hopes 
 which have been inspired in the breast of humanity by the past 
 history and present position of these United States? These 
 ara the proud tophies of a well employed freedom; but our 
 high mission is to sow freedom itself broadcast throughout the 
 Avorld ! If the Grecian States, in ruin for centuries, and Rome, 
 which two thousand years ago had lost her liberty ; the broken 
 stories of which we gather only in the scanty records of dead 
 languages ; if these were able to inflame the patriot, and nerve 
 the arm of glorious revolution in past time ; if these, in mis- 
 fortune and di'spair, were able to dissolve strong govern- 
 ments, and melt the chains of the oppressed by the mere spark 
 which lingered among their ashes ; what shall be the effect of 
 the noon tide splendor and uninterrupted good fortune of this 
 Grest Western Light? "SVhat fancy can surpass the facts 
 which demand our attention here? I appeal to history. Our 
 example has converted France, the proudest of the old mo- 
 narchies, unto a republic ; it has liberalized all western Eu- 
 rop3, and enfranchised the larger portion of South America. 
 Literally may we apply the words of Holy Writ : " The 
 kings were assembled, they passed by together; they saw it 
 and so they marvelled, they were troubled and hasted away." 
 Ihcre is no kindred nor tonsruo where the language of this 
 
50 
 
 luminarv is not heard, and tliere is nothing; liid from the lieat 
 thereof. When in November, 1789, North Carolina acceded 
 to the Union, it was composed of States, with a single excep- 
 tion, lying on the Atlantic. To-day, after a lapse of sixty 
 years, her Senators and Representatives are discussing the ad- 
 mission of a young and wealthy territory lying on the Pacific, 
 and fronting the ancient empire of China. I presume that it 
 is not generally recollected that this territory, some three 
 thousand miles to our west, was originally a part of North 
 Carolina. In the charter given by Charles the Second of 
 England to certain of his courtiers, Carolina contained all the 
 land lying between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans w ithin the 
 parallels of 29° and 36^° of North Latitude. Its northern 
 limits entered the Pacific at t!ie bay of Monterey, only a few 
 miles south of that of San Francisco, and is famous as the 
 line of the Missouri Compromise. Its boundaries contained 
 the present vS tales of North and South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, al- 
 most all Texas, a large part of Florida ; a large jjart of the 
 territories of Old and New California, and New Mexico ; and 
 portions of the Mexican pro\ inces of Sonora, Chihuahua, and 
 Coahuila. This magnificent grant, feeding at present five 
 millions of inhabitants, was made in consideration of a year- 
 ly rent of sixty-four dollars and thirty-seven cents, together 
 with one fourth of all the silver and gold ore which might be 
 found within it. Although this might during late years have 
 been a respectable income, yet it is well known that the roy- 
 al donor never realized anything from his stipulated return, 
 no gold or silver having been discovered within these bounds 
 — at least to any considerable amount^ — until after the Re- 
 volution. Such continued to be the limits of Carolina until 
 the Peace of 1763, when the land lying west of the Missis- 
 sippi was ceded by Great Britain to France. Having subse- 
 quently become the property of Spain, it participated in the 
 revolt which some thirty years ago resulted in the erection 
 of the republic of Mexico : our own eyes have seen a large 
 part of it reaniicxcMl to the doslinics of its parent State. 
 
31 
 
 ?>ucii IS OUR Country I Beautiful i'ur situation, the jov of 
 the whole earth. And every where ; among the busy cities 
 of the East, in the crowded marts of the Middle States, along 
 tlie Jjakes of the North, beneath the orange groves of the 
 South, on the rushing rivers of the West, in the ancient Spa- 
 nish city of the Holy Faith, by the shores of the Land of 
 Gold, and where the Columbia swiftly descends from the per- 
 petual snow of the Great Chain ; every tvhere, is this day held 
 in glad remembrance; all other business, and all other plea- 
 sure stand still, in order that many millions of Freemen may 
 keep holy-day in honor of the Fourth Day of July 1776i 
 Every where is the name of Washington mentioned with so- 
 lemn reverence ; every where loud plaudits greet the mention 
 of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Nathaniel 
 Greene, Richard Henry Lee, the Marquis La Fayette, and 
 their kindred heroes j everywhere the sigh of deep and gene- 
 rous sympathy is heaved to the memory of Warren, Nash, 
 De Kalb, Montgomery and Pulaski ; every where congratula- 
 tions are exchanged upon the prosperity of the country and 
 the continuation of our Free Institutions ; and every where, 
 from Maine to California, from Wisconsin to Florida, the dis- 
 cordant cries of faction and fanaticism are hushed before that 
 mighty swell of patriotic emotion which witnesses that it is 
 ONE PEOPLE that pays allegiance to the Constitutiow^of the 
 United States. 
 
 Note. It is proper to say that I am inJabteJ for tho facts relating to th« 
 proceedings of the Convention of 1787, to a late History of the United States, 
 by Richard Hildreth, Esq., of Boston. For much that is specially connecl- 
 eJ with North Carolina, I acknowledge my obiigations to the Collectiona 
 which President Swaix has iQade for the Historicai. Societt of tub 
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