AN

ORATION

DELIVERED
‘WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1827, IN COMMEIVIORATION

O F

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,

BEFORE THE

SUPREME EXECUTIVE OF THE COMMONWEALTH,

AND THE

an-at cotmczzc. AND INHABITANTS

OF THE

CITY OF BOSTON.

an-nun-:-

BY WILLIAM POWELL MASON.

u-—-an-can

Printed by order of’ the City Counrail.

BOSTON!

FROM THE PRESS OF NATHAN I"IALE———--CITY PRINTER.

189.9.

®1I:fl¢i®M,+

‘K.

ONCE more, N my Fellow Citizens, have We laid
aside, for a few hours, the engrossing cares of
individual life, the minor pursuits of private gain
and personal ambition, to animate ourselves with
the contemplation of the characters of those illus-
trious men, to whom We owe it that we now meet
as we do. A

We have assembled to bear Witness, once more,
to the civilized world, that our bold attempt to erect
an independent government, to establish free insti-
tutions, and to support republican principles, was
not the visionaryi project of unsound philosophers,
of inexperienced statesmen, of ambitiousand des-
perate leaders, and of a Weak minded and misguided
people; but was the natural and necessary result
of the feelings, manners and principles, of our
ancestors.

4

We have assembled, once more, to hold up the
cheering light of our example, to those portions of
the world yet Wasting under the blighting influence
of foreign or domesticltyranny, and to declare to
them the vivifying and happy effects of pure and
rational liberty. 

The same glorious occasion which has brought
us together for so many past years, has brought us
together now, but yet are We assembled this day
under novel and peculiar circumstances.

That omnipotent ruler, and governor of all things,
Who first breathed into the spirits of our illustrious
Fathers the aspirations of liberty; and opened
upon their prophetic minds, those glorious visions
of independence and happiness, which have been
made realities to us; and who confirmed their
hearts and strengthened their hands, that they
might carry into etfect these great conceptions of
their minds; and who guided, protected and pre-
served them through the vicissitudes of our revolu-
tion ; was pleased in his infinite Wisdom, to lengthen
out the lives, of some of them, and continue to
themitheir faculties to the very verge of human
existence, that We their descendants might enjoy
the benefit of their labours, their counsels, and
theirexample, until We had become perfect in their
principles and feelings. Until the last election of

5

the Chief Magistrate of our nation, some one of these
distinguished men have presided over our country,
and when at length they retired from the labours
of public life, they retired not topass the short
remnant of their lives in that state of sluggishness,
indolence and insensibility, which is natural to
advanced age, but continued to issue forth to us,

from their retirement, such maxims of vvisdom, as

experience like theirs, alone could dictate. ‘Who V

of you, my Fellow Citizens, who were members
of the last convention of this our native state, who
of us who witnessed its deliberations, can ever
forget the feelings excited in us, by seeing the
venerable sage of Quincy, one of the first movers
and one of the principal instruments of our inde-
pendence, the patriarch of a former age,take his
seat in that assemblage of his sons? But he will
meetvvpith us nomore. Whilst we were last 6301--

“ lected on this very occasion, Whilst the united and

imperishable names of Adams and Jefferson were
bursting from our lips ; whilst their deeds and their
virtues were the theme of every tongue; whilst

the recital of the benefits they had conferred upon

us, was kindling every heart, their immortal spirits

were together on the way to heaven. They were
rising amid the shouts and acclamations of this
vast continent, amid the cheers and blessings of

6

twelve millions of freeman, of twelve millions of

men whom their toils and exertions had eminently

contributed to render free and happy. We knew .

not indeed at the moment of our rejoicings, that
we were Fatherless, but had we known it, what
more appropriate knell could we have sounded,
for departing spirits such as theirs P a They
have gone to associate again with their copat—-
riots, gone to render an account, with them, of
their deeds, to‘ that» Being who entrusted to their
stewardship this fair portion of his creation. The
remnant of that sacred band yet lingering amongst
us, have resigned into our hands our-Patrimony, and
we their descendants have assembled this day, our
minority past, to examine the inheritance thus
handed over to us.

In the year 1761, in that old building, which still
remains a monument to the eloquence,patriotism
and fearlessness of our Fathers, James Otis, first
boldly expressed those sentiments of independ-
ence, those maxims of eternal right, those principles
of natural equality among men, which lighted up
in the minds of his willing hearers, that flame of
liberty which was never to be extinguished.

It was then, that our future statesmen were first
roused to thought. It was then, that their imagina-
tions were first led to conceive the bold outline of

'7

our future destinies. It was then, that their minds

were first prepared for those momentous events
which were soon to follow.

The injurious policy which Great Britain had
determined to adopt towards her colonies, then first
displayed itself. The eloquence and Wisdom of a

Chatham and a Burke, arrested for a time, the

blind impulses of men, but they availed not to
impede the decrees of Heaven.

It was at this time, that our immediate ancestors
and the authors of our Independence, may be said
to have come to their inheritance, to have entered
into possession of that talent, for the faithful man-
agement of vvhich,_ they became responsible to us,
their descendants, and to their God. And ‘what
was then the situation of the country? The twelve
unconnected governments nowrforming a part of
these United States, were the dependent colonies
of a nation three thousand miles distant from
them. Receivingrfrom the hereditary head of
that nation their chief magistrates and principal
public officers, and virtually and practically, if
not confessedly, bound by laws enacted by the
Parliament of that nation, in which they were not
represented. Without a navy, without an army,
without commerce, without manufactures, Without
money, possessing but limited means of educa-

8

tion, divided in opinion as to the course which
ought to be taken to obtain a redress of their
grievances, and about to enter into a contest with
the most powerful nation of the world. I shall not
attempt to portray to you,.the exalted and pure
sentiments of. liberty which induced them to peril
their fortunes and their lives in the cause of Inde-
pendence. Their entire freedom from all personal
motives and private objects. The firmness and res——
olution with which they met, and overcame, the

numberless trying difficulties and unexpected obsta-

cles which obstructed their course. , Their una-
bated zeal and cotnposure in times of disaster and
defeat, and the moderation and dignity of their

conduct in moments of success. I will ask you

only to judge of the merits of these men by what
they have accomplished. VVhat is the inheritance
which they have handed over to us?

Extend your View to the South, until you catch
the glancing Waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and
see in that direction an acquisition of territory,
the history of which discloses no scenes of military

conquest, to render its value uncertain, or its tenure

l doubtful. l ”

Pierce, if you can, the illimitable forests and
boundless prairies of the vvest,and ask the flying
native, as he retreats before the pioneers of civil-

9.

ization, where your western boundary is P and he
will point you to the setting sun, as it sinks into the
swelling bosom of the Pacific ocean. M V ,
Listen to the voice of that a mighty cataract,
vvhoseever rushing Waters aredrawn through the
vast lakes of the north. It proclaims with its cease-

less roar the course of your northern boundary.

Turn you to the east, and the shores of the
Atlantic indeed describe your territorial limits, but
cast your eyes far over its waters, look abroad over
ocean under whatever name it rolls, and see the
flag of your country displayed in the remotest parts

of the World, bearing thither convincing evidences

of your wealth and povver.

Look where you may over this extensive conti-
nent, and the scattered cabins have given place,
Within a few years, to populousftovvns, and towns
become populous cities. Temples consecrated to
God, and edifices devoted to science and literature,
have with equal rapidity, spread themselves over
our lands We are furnished with a navy, which
already acknowledges but one rival; with an army
peculiarly adapted to our character and situation.

Inheriting the language, the laws, and the litera-
ture, of the most civilized and improved nation of
the World_, and assisted by the energy, activity,

industry and spirit of improvement, which institu-,

5)

now‘

10

tions such as ours are calculated to infuse; from
being the deprest and dependent colonies of that

nation, we have at once become an independent

and powerful people, competing with our parent

, country in every thing which tends to advance and

strengthen us as a nation,‘andto improve and ennu-
blel us as human beings. This is the patrimony
which our Fathershave left us. But great as it is,
is it all that vvereceive from them? Oh no, far other
wise. This fair continent; these growing cities;
this excellent form of government; these free
institutions,‘ and all the care, labourand danger they

have undergone for us, make up but a small part of

What we receivefrom them. 1

It is the example they have left us ; the virtues
they practised; the spirit of liberty which they
cherished; their high and ennobling sentiments;
their pure patriotism; their untiringzeal; the
resistless energy they displayed in the service of
their country and fellow men ; their freedom from
low and selfish ambition ; their manners, principles
and feelings. This is the priceless gift, which calls
for;our gratitude and praise. i

Let every other vestige of these men be
destroyed and forgotten. Let our fruitful fields

again become pathless wilds. The savage return

to his ancient hauntsgv Let all the institutions of

11

civil government, all the establishments of religion,
science and the arts be erasesd, and these twenty
four united and powerful states again dwindle into’
twelve disconnected and dependent colonies, and
yet inheriting the manners, principles and feelings
of our ancestors, estimating them as we ought, and
practising upon them, and a few years would again
restore us to our present state of wealth, power
and happiness. A ,

Possessing as we do, these advantages, at peace
with all nations, advancing with the most rapid
steps, in the sciences and arts, successful in all our
plans of self-government, exercising the most per—-
fect civil and religious liberty, prosperous and
happy both as a nation and as individuals, beyond

the most sanguine hopes of the most ardent disci-

ples, of liberty ; what. have we of l this generation

to do, what isleft for us to do, but to enjoy with
thankfulness the glorious heritage whichva benev-
olent Providence and our patriotic ancestors have
provided for us. Fellow Citizens, be not deceived,
layvnot aside, at your peril, the armour so success-
fully worn by your Fathers.» Much indeed has been

i done by them to obtain the countless blessings we

enjoy, but much remains to be done by us, to main-
tain and secure these blessings. True, we may

not expect to hear again within the halls of this

12 l
our native city, and throughout our land, the bold
language of the excited patriot, discussing the
rights of man, and calling upon us to throw
off the chains of a foreign domination. True, we
may not have again to stake our fortunes,our lives,
and our liberties in the cause of National Independ-
ence. True, we shall not be called upon‘to,adj'ust
again in ourcouncils, thelimits of natural and praoti—
cal liberty, nor have the merit of claiming and as
suming an equalstation among the ruling powers. of
the earth. These" things havebeen accomplished
for us. But for all that has beendone, let not
those who burn with" an honourable emulation of
these deeds, fear that no field is left for their exer-—
tions. .Patriotism is not a virtue which is needed
only in l a particular generation or peculiar period,
it is in constant demand wherever civil liberty
exists. Its services, although less imposing, may
not be less important now, than in the days of our
Fathers. , I would not withdraw one sprig of laurel
from the many verdant garlands that hang around

W their graves, but if we would discharge with

fidelity the duties which they have left us to
perform, We must examine with impartial judg-
ments, the relative difliculties of their situation and
our own. i A

They had indeed to contend with many ohsta--V

I3

ales, from which we are happily relieved, but at
the same time they possessed many aids which we
may sorely lack. , A i . A y

We must recollect that it is in times of the
greatest danger, responsibility and excitement,
that our noblest passions and highest virtues are
most fully and readily developed. Then itis then
that, high resolve, bold daring, unslackning zeal,
unyielding firmness and a generous self’--devotion
to the public cause, come willingly to our assis-
tance. Then it is, that the latent powers and
untold T resources of individuals, and nations,
burst forth into action, with an omnipotency
which could not be foretold. T T A

On the other hand, it is in seasons of in-—
dividual and national security, prosperity and
quiet, that all the lower passions, and impulses of
the human character spring up inrank luxuriance.
Then it is, that an ignoble, selfish ambition, takes
the place of patriotism, and urges us to personal

. aggrandisement at the expense of the public good.

Then ‘it is, that a debilitating self—indulgence, a
craving for pleasure and ease, spreads itself through
society, and weakens and destroys all the better
principles of our nature. Then it is, Whilst luxury
and efleminacy, aredebasing the more affluent and
least active part of the community, that the disor-

 

14

ganizing spirit of faction scatters its firebrands
among the more needy and restless.

It was through a period of the former description,
that our ancestors so manfully conducted this
country. It is through a periodrof the latter
description, that it has fallen to the lot of this
generationto conduct it. i t T

They did much. They acted greatly. They

emancipated us from a foreign servitude. They T

defended use from a foreign foe. They conceived
and put into operation, and first administered for
us, that National Constitution’, which is the source
of our prosperity and happiness, and the glory of
the age. Great have been their labours and exer-
tions, great their merit, and great and lasting shall
be their reward. p

But much also remains for you to do, and greatly
must you also act, if you would complete the noble
undertaking which they have so successfully com-
menced. You have not indeed to rouse your
country to a just sense of its rights, or to conduct
itlthrough the throes of a revolution, but you have
the more arduous, though less splendid task of
preservingit from the attacks of those, destructive
passions which have ever accompanied and finally
overthrown all other free governments; from unprin-

ycipled ambition, local prejudices, and a blind, unre-—

15
lentiugr and selfish spirit of party. You have not to
go through the labour,or to enjoy the glory of having

first put into action, our free institutions; but i

yours is the still more diflicult duty of keeping
them in pure and healthful operation, when the
excitements in which they originated, and which at

first supported and preserved them, have ceased; V

and when other objects, other passions, and other
circumstances, than thosewhich gave them birth,
are diffusing other, and far different influences,
through the community. T
Great indeed were the responsibilities of our
ancestors, but how infinitely greater are those which
press upon us. Had they failed in their attempts at
independence, they would have failed in a newand
glorious undertaking, originating With themselves.
They would have beenresponsible for this failure,
to their coternporaries and countrymen, whose for-
tunes had been used, and blood expended ; and the
penalty of their rashness would have been the loss
of their lives, and the confiscation of their estates.
A They would have been adjudged traitors, yes,
they would have been adjudged traitors by
an incensed king, traitors r to arbitrary power.
But so long as there remained on this globe, a
single disciple of liberty, they would have been
hailed as her most loyal and faithful sons. The

 

16

spirit of liberty, although repulsed and repressed
by their failure, would not have been extinguished,

but would have been connected and enshrined with A

their memories, in the hearts of‘ their descendants,
ready to burst forth again at some more propitious
moment. pi i A

But what are our responsibilities 3’ We are
responsible for the discharge of our political duties,
for the careful preservation of thesefree institutions,

to the preceding generation who have thus obtained A

and established them for us. i If we allow them
to be impaired, the spirit of them weakened, or
their purposes perverted, then are we answerable
for all that has been done and suffered in their
attainment.

i We are responsible to the existing generation;
to our cotemporaries ; to each other; for we have
each of us a right to require of allpthe rest, that
their conduct and sentiments should be such as to
support the privileges, which are the equal inherit-
ance of us all. ,

We are responsible to the countless, coming
generations, who are to follow us in this wide spread
land. 7 The effects of our conduct are not confined
to ourselves and our immediate descendants, but
are to influence the destinies of our country for

untoldcenturies. f

 

'17

We are responsible not only to our own country

and to the millions of human beings who now do,

or may hereafter people it, but to every other coun-
try of this globe, and all its present and all its future
inhabitants. A

VVe , have advanced sentiments concerning the
natural and political rights of man, which are ex-
citing the minds of men, who live under the most

despotic governments, to reflections on this subject,

and awakening hopes, which must eventually lead
them to liberty or sink them into the deepest de-
spair.

We have lighted up ‘a fire, which must be kept
alive by us, until it has spread itself over the Whole
habitable globe, and purified the entire World of
despotism, tyranny and oppression, or it must be
quenched here, and elsewhere, by oceans of blood.

There are two great principles operating in the
World, in relation to the political rights of men. One
of them is founded upon the virtue and intelligence
of the mass of the people, and their capability and
right of governing themselves. The other upon
their vice, ignorance and incapacity, and maintains
the divine and hereditary right of certain individuals

to govern them. There is no neutral ground, no

mid—vvay,course. These principles are so inborn-U

patible with each other, so diametrically opposed,
3

18

that the preponderance and success of’ the one,

must in time entirely subvert and destroy the other.
It is our boast that the former of these principles
originated here. By our bold and confident asser-
tion of it in the face of the world, we have given a
pledgethat we will support it. If we maintain
this pledge, the name of anAmeric-an will be an
honor and glory to the end of time, if We fall from
it, that name will become a reproach and by-word
among the nations.

Nor are we responsible to man alone. If We
believe, with our pious Forefathers, that it was an
omniscient , God who first impressed their minds
with the desire of religious liberty; that it was his
hand that led them across the ocean to this then
Wilderness, and protected their little band from the
ruthless savages and stormy elements. If we be-
lieve that he has continued to watch over, guide

and protect this growing people, and brought them

to the moral and political eminence of which we

this day boast, then are we in the highest degree

responsiblepto him for the manner in vvhich we

treat his favours. This glorious revelation of hu-— 

man liberty, is not the birth—right of Americans

alone, that theymay receive or reject it at their

’ pleasure, but is the equal property of the Whole hu—-

man race,andWe are but the favoured instruments

19

of its promulgation. Great indeedshall be our
reward if we prove faithful and zealous agents, and
proportionably great and signal shall be our punish-
ment if we prove weak and unworthy servants.

These are some of the responsibilities, which at— t

tach to Americans of this age. * And they are
responsibilities, from which We cannot escape.
There are periods of t the World, and portions of
the earth, in which Whole generations of men may
go down silently and unnoticed to their graves, and
at least enjoy the p1*ivilegeiofbeir1g forgotten; when,
if they may not dare‘ to   expect the praises of pos-»
terity, they may yet hope to escape its reproaches.
But such is not the period in which we live, nor
such the country we inhabit. i
r y I will not endeavour to stimulate you to the per-
formance of your duties,‘ by promising you an im--
mortality of fame in after ages. N o, this is your
birth-right, you cannot lose it. N eglect these du-
ties, ruin your country, and disappoint the world,
yet, fear not, your names shall be immortal, as im-l
mortal as your ancestors’. On the same page of
history on which their names and deeds are record-—

ed, and in as irnperishalole characters, shall yours

also he inscribed. Andtwhen the future heroes of

far distant centuries shall turn back to that page i

for stimulants to their exertions; future states—

‘E8

men and patriots look there for lessons of wisdom
and virtue»; and the future poet draw thence a
noble theme for his aspiring muse; your names
shall not be passed by unnoticed by them, the same
voices that swell with praises and benedictions to
the memories of your ancestors, shall load yours
with execrations and contempt. Let us, my coun-—
trymen, escape so disgraceful an immortality.
Let us avert so disastrous a termination of our
hitherto brilliant career. Let us turn from the
contemplation of the deeds and virtues of our an-—
cestors; from felicitations on our own happy cir-
cunxstances; and from musings on the many bright
and glowing objects which spread themselves out in
the splendid prospect before us, and endeavour to
expose, whilst we may yet avoid them, some of the
rocks, and precipices which lay in our path, and
which are not the less dangerous because they are
decked with flowers. The moralist truly tells us,
that the most perfect things of this world, yet carry
with them the taint of imperfection. The all glo-
rious works of nature, require the constantly sus——
taining and corrective hand of their great creator.
And in man, and in all the labour of his hands and
all the emanations of his mind, are contained the
seeds of decay and dissolution. We may not hope
to obtain for ourselves or our country, an exemption

21

from this universal law, but We may hope to effect.

what is Within, the power of man to do, What it was

meant he should do. We may hope, by constant

Watchfulness and exertions, to repress the growth

of every noxious principle in our natures, and to _
stimulate and quicken into perfect operation all the

great and noble ones.

What then are the principles and passions of the
human character, to which the institutions of this
republic are most exposed, and from which they are
most to apprehend danger. Andamong the first
and most prominent of them all, I name combitsion.

An eminent scholar and statesman of the present

day, has said on an occasion similar to this, “ Re»-

publics, We are told, are ambitious,” and he adds,
‘ta seemingly wise remark devoid of meaning.”
And with regard to our Republic, I agree with him
that this is a remark devoid of meaning, but he
refers to that general, national ambition, which

leads a people to desire and attempt the acquisition

 

of by territory by military conquest. We are indeed
safe from such an ambition ; our local situation, our
habits and principles; the peculiar confbrmation of
our government and of our military establishments;
the genius of the people; the relative position of
other nations, and the character of the age we live
in ;‘ all tend to prevent the indulgence of such an

22

ambition as this. , But Ido not speak of such an
ambition. . I do not speak of that ambition which
enabled the Adamses, Whilst they viewed with
ardent and determined gaze, the liberties of the
people and the independence of their country on
the one hand, to look, with as undaunted eyes upon
the gallows, on the other. ‘ V

I speak notof that ambition vvhichinduced‘ an
Otis to declare and propagate the principles of
liberty, regardless of threats and personal abuse
from the Worthless hirelings of arbitrary power.
Nor of that which influenced at Quincy to part
from a doating wife and a dependent family, to
quit the gains of  lucrative *professional business,
and the managernentof a scanty fortune, that he
might gather friends for his countrymen, amid that
people Where rulers were attempting to oppress
them. Whicli enabled him, when returning with an
exhausted frameand depressed mind, when Within
sight of his native shores, Within view of, the out-
stretched hands of his expecting friends, to resign»
without a murniur, that patriot spirit to his God,
and leave to the embraces of that disconsolate
wife and an only surviving child, but his cold and
lifeless body. t Oh, thisvvasindeed ambition; a
noble, pure and true ambition. An ambition which
men may emulate, and God approve. It was the

23

exercise of such an ambition which conquered for
us, our liberties. It is by the exercise of such an
ambition alone, that they can be preserved.

, But I speak not of such an ambition. I speak
of a cold, heartless, selfish, individual ambition.

An ambition which is the prolific mother of a

motley progeny of vices. An ambition whose

object is inequality, self'-aggrandisement, power;  

whose means are corruption, faction, discord; and
whose ultimate consequences are slavery.

An ambition, which, Whilstit declairns in well
set language about the rights of the people, would
trample upon them. VVhilst it vaunts of the intel-
ligence of the people, fears and dcprecates it ;i and
whilst it praises the virtue of the people, undermines

it. It is of ,su_ch,an ambition I would speak.  :It_.'lS

against such an ambition I would warn you, as

being so much the more dangerous to us, because
although opposed intevery particular to the genius
and spirit of our institutions, it is yet the natural
and abundant growth of them. If the ark of our
liberties is yet to be wrecked, it is on this gilded
rock that it will strike. If this Republic is fated,
like all former ones, to fall from the high eminence

to which it has attained, it is over this flower-

crowned precipice that it will be dashed.

'24

r It is the ground--‘work of our institutions, that
allvmen are equal, that neither birth, nor fortune,
nor any other adventitious circumstances, not even

talents, shall secure a pre»-eminence’l in political

privileges; that all offices of trust, profit and

honor, shall be within the reach of all classes of the

"community. Nor do these equitable principles

exist in theory only, but are fully supported by our
practice. What incentivesare here to ambition!

What other country, ancient or modern, ever pre-

sented to its citizens any so wide spreading and

powerful E’

Thisambition is imbibed by Americans in their
earliest youth. iThe fond mother as she rocks
the cradle of her sleeping son, soothes her maternal
cares with the belief, that she is rearing a future
leader of her country’s councils ; and the ambitious
father tempts the stripling to his letters, with the
common promise of the presidential chair.

The embryo aspirant, under such flattering
instructers, soon receives, into his pliant mind, that
germ A of ambition, which once dwell fixed there,
becomes a part of the mind itself, and can never
be eradicated. He soon begins to weave his own
ambitious web. He soon begins to entertain feel-—
ingsof jealousy andrivalry towards his youthful
competitors, and to devise schemes for their defeat

25

and his own advancement. r A He loves his country

because it is the only field for his growing“ambi-

tion. He praises her free institutions and the equal in

rights of the people, because Without these his own
selfish hopes would be cut off. He soon perfects
himself in the political dogma, that the magnitude
of the end to be obtained justifies the means that
are to be used- If circumstances are propitious
to him, he becomes the violent leader of a domi--
nant party. If unpropitious, the willing and Worth—
less tool of some more successful demagogue.

The peculiar conformation of our political sys-~
tem not only presents stronger incentives to a wide,
and more general spread of this ambition, than any
other, but it also furnishes infinitely more abundant

means of gratifying it. The country divided into

a great and ‘unlimitednumber of equal and inde-—
pendent governments,ieach having its supreme and
subordinate oflices of distinction and emolument to
be filled ; and these all connected together by
another and more extensive system, comprehend—
ingin its range all our foreign relations, and pre-—
senting to the ambitious, a still greater number of
more lucrative, more distinguishing and more im»
portant oflices. The occupancy of these innumerax
ble offices, not co—exteusive with the lives of the in-—

cumbents, or with their fitness or capacity for the
:1

'26

discharge of the duties of them, but limited, either

by the spirit of our institutions, or by positive law,
to aishort term of time, so that the hungry oflice-—
seeker need not become faint from waiting for the
loaves and fishes,nor the disappointed politician,
from one defeat, give up n his country as lost, and
abandon forever his hopes of saving her.

This is the common course of that ambition
which is generated by institutions like ours in times
of national prosperity; andtthese the excitements
and aliments which promote its growth. It is

 the same ambition, in principle, which induces

the kings and emperors of the World, still to hold,
with unrelaxing grasp, the chains which bind their
degraded subjects. The same which induces their
princes and nobles to support a system, which main»
tains their own hereditary rank, and privileges, and
preserves them from the competition of the people.
It is the same ambition which has corroded the
liberties of all former republics, and finally destroy~

ed them.

It may be said, that the power and influence, by

the aid «of which, the leaders of these republics,

overturned the liberties of their country, were ob-
tained through the means of military renown, and
were conferred by an illiterate and warlike people .;

andthat the situation of our country, and the supe-5

2'7

rior information of its inhabitants, will effectually
preserve us from a like danger. And yet have
We not at this verymoment, the most convincing
proof, that in this unwarlike, intellectual and
intelligent community, military reputation opens
no uncertain road to popular favor. And should
this unhallovved ambition, working for its own
selfish purposes, and gathering strength as it
advances, eventually excite such rancorous party
feelings, such local prejudices and sectional jeal-
ousies, as should terminate in a dissolution of the
union of these states, Where would there then be
a greater demand for military talents, or where a
fairer field for the exercise of them, than here 5’

It may be said, that notwithstanding the intrigues
and exertionsof aspiring partisans, party spirit,
faction,and a devotion to particular individuals, can
never be carried to an extreme, in this country.
That the sound and sober sense of the community
Will, in the end, always unite it in the choice of the
best men to fill the chief offices of the government.
And yet, have we not already seen that those dis-
tinguished personages, Whose eminent services in
the establishment of this government had given
them almost an indefeasible right first to administer
it, no sooner resigned their official duties, than ea-
ger candidates, each supported, by numerous faithful

 

28
adherents, rushed at once from every quarter of
the union, to seize upon the relinquished robes of
state, and occupy the national palace? Have we
not seen, that the people at large, so far from
readily uniting in a selection from this generous
list of Patriots, were unable to come to any choice
at all ? And when aselection was finally made, in
the only remaining yconstitutional mode, have we
not heard the disappointed , Ininority, a minority
embracing some of our great and gifted men,
boldly and confidently assert, that ambition, cor-—
ruption and intrigue had already placed an indi-—
vidual at the head of the government, against the
will of a majority of the people? Have we not
heard it as boldly and confidently asserted by the
friends of the successful candidate, that this
determined opposition to him, arose from an
unprinciplecl, ambitious and disorganising faction F
And if either of" these assertions have any thing of

truth in them, is the danger which I suggest alto-
gether unreal .7’

y " Witnessing these things, at this early period of

our national existence, shall we be considered as
indulging foolish fears and groundless ,alarms, in
viewing, with some apprehension, the growth of‘
that ambition, which has ever been the root of

bitterness, the chief instrument of discord, , wars,

‘29

R and despotism, in every otherflpart of the world?

Least at some future period, when the great events
of j,our revolution, and the elevated andnoble senti--
ments which animated the actors in it, shall no
longer be matters of ‘personal knowledge, but
known only through the medium of’ history; and
when luxury and Wealth, and a more commanding
rank among the ruling powers of the earth, shall
have diffused through an increased population, the
passions which such circumstances naturally pro-—
duce; this ambition maytgain such an ascendancy,
as to checkthe operation of all nobler and more
disinterested sentiments, and finally overturn our
boasted liberties. A

It may be said, that this passion is so inherent
in thecharacter of tman;that it is so intimately
connected with all human affairs and circumstan-
ces; so intervvovenvvith our better feelings and
affections ; the spring and origin of so much good
as Well as so much evil ; that it is neither possible,
nor perhaps desirable,*to extinguish or permanently
control it. A t‘ i

If this be so, then is the fate of this country
already past upon; then are our liberties yet to be
subverted; and We are again to be reduced to a

more severe and disgraceful bondage than that

from which we have escaped ; for the very founda-A

30

tion of our political system is laid in public and
private virtue ; andvirtue,private or public, has no
more determined and deadly enemy, than this low
and selfish passion, miscalled ambition. But I
reject this degrading theory, it is the theory of
hereditary and arbitrary power, the fashionable
cant of despotism and usurping ambition. Far
happier views of the human character, and of its

A capacity for improvement, present themselves to

my mind. Notwithstanding the dangers and trials
to which we may be exposed, and which it becomes
us duly to estimate, and provide against, I believe
that this favoured country is yet destined to prove
to the world, that political energy and national and
individual virtue are not incompatible. That man
requires not to berestrained from evil, and driven
to his duty by the physical force of his fellow man.
That self-interest and self-advancement are not the
only motives which can excite us to great exertions
and personal sacrifices. I believe, that although
dark clouds may occasionally arise in our political
horizon, they will not be permitted entirely to over-
cast it, but thatwhen they become most dense and
threatening, future Franklins will be raised up
amongst us, to draw from them their destructive
fluid, and cast it harmless at our feet.

But, my fellow—citizens, be the future fortunes of

31

our country what they may, let us never forget that
it was here, in our native state, here in our native

A town, that the standard of liberty Was first erected,

and here let it last be taken down. Let us rally
around it, not in the spirit of party, not with feel»-
ings of sectional jealousy, not to gratify our ambi-
tion, but to maintain and defend our rights. Here

amid the graves of our illustrious Fathers, amid

the graves of the Hancocks, Adamses, Otises, and
Quincys of the past generation, let us study the
volume which records their glorious deeds and
exalted virtues, like the sacred book Which pre-
scribes our religious faith, We shall ever find in it
new lessons of Wisdom to guide and improve us,

We shall ever rise from its perusal, wiser men,

better citizens and truer republicans.

Let us, my fellovv--citizens,‘ catch those exulting
words which fell last from the lips of the dying
patriot of Quincy. Let them compose the motto
engraved upon our arms, the talisman ever Worn
next our hearts. Let them be the first words that
We teach our children, and the last that We utter
ourselves---“ Independence for ever.”