^gggsgg^f^^»^^«| Gass Er':?/2. Bnok ' <^3 \/,J>/^'^' .^^-/A^/ ^"/^ / DELIVERED IN THE FIRST BAPTIST MEETING-HOUSE, IN PROVIDEI^CE, AT THE CELEBRATION, FEBRUARY 23, A. D. 1824, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE AND IN AID OF THE CAVS& OF THB GHEEKS, By SOLOMON DROWN, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica and Botany in £rown University, BROWS & DAHrPOHTH, PBINTEftS. 1824* ESI2 .63 J7 ycleped the Holy Alliance, may still strive to hold the world in vassalage ; but all in vain. The die is cast ; and though some intervening clouds awhile * A British Lord [Elgin] has removed some of the ornaments of those '^S^mples,^. Mbavburtisfuit?' so may hide its splendour, yet universal freedom must prevail. " Great and glorious is the part (observes a late writer) w^hich this country is to act, in the political regeneration of the world. Wheresoever the chosen race, the sons of liberty, shall worship freedom, they will turn their faces to us." An extract or two from the translation of the pro- clamation of the Senate of Calamata, signed by its President, may not be uninteresting. This State paper has been published in this country, in Greek, and begins, ''Andres tes Americhanes Sumpoliteias / Men of the American connected Polities ! or. Citi- zens of the United States of America :■ — Having formed the resolution to live or die for freedom, we are drawn toward you by a just sympathy ; since it is in your land that Liberty has fixed her abode, and by you that she is prized, as by our fathers. Hence, in invoking her name, we invoke yours at the same time, trusting that in imitating you, wq shall imitate our ancestors, and be thought worthy of them, if we succeed in resembling you. We es- teem you nearer than the nations on our frontiers ; and we possess, in you, friends, fellow-citizens and brethren, because you are just, humane and gener- ous ; just, because free ; generous and liberal, be- cause Christians. Your liberty is not propped on the slavery of other nations, nor your prosperity on their calamities and sufTerings. But, on the con- trary, free and prosperous yourselves, you are de- sirous that all men should share the same blessings ; that all should enjoy those rights, to which all are by nature equally entitled. It is you^ who first pra 21 claimed these rights ; it is you, who have been the first again to recosnize them, in rendering the rank of men to the Africans degraded to the level of brutes. It is by your example, that Europe has abolished the shameful and cruel trade in human flesh ; from you that she receives lessons of justice, and learns (o renounce her absurd and sanguinary customs. This glory, Americans, is yours alone, and raises you above all the nations which have gained a name for liberty and laws. '' It is for you, citizens of America, to crown this glory, in aiding us to purge Greece from the barba- rians, who for four hundred years have polluted the soil. It is surely worthy of you, to banish igno- rance and barbarism from the country of freedom and the arts. The fellow-citizens of Penn, of Wash- ington, and of Franklin, will not refuse their aid to the descendants of Phocion, and Thrasybulus, of Aratus, and of Philopcemen.'' It seems difficult to q^uit the subject. There is a sort of magic in the name of Greece, Often in fan- cy, have I roamed about the classick fields and groves of that felicitous region, transported by a thousand agreeable associations. 'Tis true, Par- nassus' dizzy height I dared not climb. It fitted better to haunt Boeotian shades, and listen to the wood notes sweet of Hesiod, when he sung the ru- ral cares of Grecian husbandmen. Or, to ramble with Theophrastus, and gather interesting plants upon the Lesbian hills, or the delightful slopes of Mount Hymettus, or wliere " Ilissus rolls his whispVmg streams." Sometimes my footsteps uQcoiisciously would tend towards the mountain of the Areopagus, where the me bribers were assembled together, with no other roof but the canopy of heaven. *^ A sparrow pursued by a hawk, once fled into the midst of them for re- fuge ; it took shelter in the bosom of one of them, a man, naturally of a harsh and repulsive disposition, who taking hold of the little trembler, threw it from him with such violence, that it was killed on the spot. The whole assembly were filled with indigna- tion at the cruelty of the deed : the author of it was instantly arraigned as an alien to that sentiment of mercy so necessary to the administration of justice, and by the unanimous suffrages of his colleagues, was degraded from the senatorial dignity which be had so much disgraced. Here was a decision in favour of humanity, in an early age of Greece. O Greece ! thou wert indeed glorious in numerous re- spects. Thou wert the cradle of all that is elegant in art ;— of all that is fascinating in poiesy and liter- ature ;— of all that is excellent in legislation and political science, or splendid in martial achieve- ments ; — of all, in a word, that can add interest and true nobility to the human character* Thy mighty genius has slumbered for many ages ; but, is now awaking from a long night of melancholy stupor, and shedding gleams of glory round thee, emulative of that which adorned thee in the zenith of thy for- mer splendour. We, though far remote, and sepa- rated from thee by the multitudinous waves of ocean and the midland sea, yet cannot look with frigid indiffevency upon thy virtuous stnig2;les for all that mankind hold most dear. There are still some re- maining amongst us, who have participated in like conflicts, for the ennohling prize of Liberty ! Ancient nursery of freedom — Greece ! — farewell : but we bid thee not— farewell^ without an effort to assist thee. [The following Odes were performed. The first was al- tered for the occasion, and sung by Mr. Wade— and the on€ selected was sung by the Choir ; both accompanied by the Band of the Light Infantry Company.] Tune — ' Scots wha hae wV Wallace hkcV GREEKS who have for freedom bled, Greeks whom heroes oft have led, Patriot blood shall ne'er be shed In vain for Liberty. Now's the day and now's the Hour, While your proud oppressors cower, Spurn the turban'd Tyrant's power. Chains and Slavery. Descended from the great and brave. Can the Grecian live a slave? Will no arm his country save From base tyranny. As, for liberty and right, WASHINGTON upheld our fight, So, some Grecian Patriot's might Shall ka4 to Victory. By Oppression's woes and pains, By your sons in servile chains, By your desolated fanes. Swear you will be free ! Lay the ruthless Moslem low, Tyrants fall in every foe, Liberty's in every blow, FREEMEN LIVE, or DIE! 24* BY MRS. C. M. THAYER, Adapted to the Song of Miriam. Sound the loud trump o'er the -^gean sea, The Moslem has fallen, and Greece shall be freel Rous'd be the spirit that gallantly shone, When the Persian's proud host was in battle o'erthrowTH, Wake the bold harp that for ages has slumber'd, The deeds of her heroes with ecstacy tell; In Glory's bright archieves her sons shall be number'd, Immortal as those who at Marathon fell. Sound the loud trump o'er the jEgean sea. The Moslem has fallen, and Greece shall be free ! Loud let the chorus of triumph ascend, Wide may the empire of Freedom extend! Greece^ whtrP "tJ^O »&n.'