THE

’76 AND ’63.

AA FOURTH OF JULY ADDRESS DELIVERED AT QUINCY, MASS.

BY

CHARLESIR.ADAMS,JR.

’ BosToN: 1
”WM.PARSONSLUNT.
186m

 

 

  

. I . Qumcr, July 8, 1869.
Dean Sm: I v I
I take’ great pleasure in communicating to you the enclosed Resolution,

fully assured that an Address so entirely in harmony with the true spirit of the occa-

I COL. CHARLES F. Amine, Jay

sion, and of the great events then commemorated, deserves the warmest thanks of all
who were so fortunate as to hear it; and I sincerely hope, that by assenting to its
publication, you will enable the public to profit by the valuable sentiments which it
embodies. _
I am, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,

- HENRY LUNT,
Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements.

AT a meeting of the Committee of Arrangements for the celebration of the Fourth

of July, 1869, holden at the Selectmen’s Room on Wednesday evening, July 7, it was ‘ v

unanimously \

‘Voted, That the thanks of this Committee, as well as of the whole community,
are due to C01. CHARLES FRANCIS ADA Ms, Jr., for the very able, eloquent and impres-
sive Address delivered by him before the citizens of Quincy on Monday 1ast;——and
that in furtherance of the expressed wish of the audience then present, a copy of the
same berespectfully requested for publication. '

‘Voted, That the Chairman be requested to carry into effect the above Resolution.

, ' I I-IENRY LUN T, Cnarnmarr.
C. H. CURTIS, Secretary. I
Qmncy/,.July 7, 1869.

—Q.UINCY, July 12, 1869.
HENRY LUNT, Esq., , p
Chairman, .30.
DEAR SIR: C _  .
Your favor of the 8th instant, enclosing a copy of the Resolutions of your
Committee of Arrangements, has been received. I feel much gratified at the appro-
bation you express of my effort on the 5th, and enclose you a copy of it, as you
request. ' C A C - i
To: prevent any undue weight attaching to my utterances, I will take this opportu--
nity to observe, that, in so far as I am aware, they reflect in no degree, either directly

p or indirectly, the sentiments of any one but myself.

I With great respect, &c., ~
CHARLES F. ADAMS, Jn.

Annssss

 

I IIOLD‘ in my hand a letter dated the 23d of June, 1793.
It was Written by John Quincy Adams, then a young man of six
and tWenty,to his brother, Thomas Boylston Adams, at the
time a student of law in”1’hilade1phia. Both he who wrote it

I and he who received it are long since dead; and the first, an aged

man of over eighty, We laid beside his father beneath the Walls
of this church now one and twenty years ago. A few short
lines from this letter I shall put in theforefront of my address,
that they maycover up with you my own shortcomings; for to
me within the last few days this passage has possessed a peculiar
force and meaning. l I I I I

“I have an oration to deliver on the 41th of next month, as you i

know. I have written‘ and committed itptofmemory, and am

thoroughly disgusted with it. While I was writing, I thought
myself? quite brilliant as I advanced; and was pleasing myself i
with future applauses at almost every sentence that issued from

my pen. Now it appears to me amass of dull common—place,
composed of stale facts, hacknied sentiments, veteran similes and
trite allusions, with scarce aisingle gleam of originality, shooting
through the solid darkness of the composition. The humble
merits of the average of similar performances are now my greats-
est consolation. However indifferent my execution, I shall not

easily place myself i in a style of inferiority upon comparison.”

If such were the trials of the 4th of July orator in 1793, What"

must theybe now? The Declaration which has just beenfso

well read to you was but seventeen years old,-4-comparatively A

 

4

. speaking, the ink with which it was written was not yet dry.
Since then, upon a moderate computation, seventy thousand l

orators have celebrated our national birthday with eloquence of

every conceivable description,and each single orator has racked V
3 his brain for something new or culled his choicest flowers of
irhetoricto make the old appear attractive. It is useless, there-

fore, to try on an occasion like this to be original; it is out of
place to try to be profound,---it only remains then to try to be
natural and to give utterance as best We may to such thoughts
as spontaneously suggest themselves to us. I shall attempt,
therefore, at this time no formal oration,----I shall offer you

r nothing that is elaborate or carefullyiprepared. r The day must

inspire the orator, and you must have patience with the address.

And yet our reflections on this day,—-—-or, at least,rny reflec-
tions,——-—-are not wholly those which inspired my seventy or eighty
thousand predecessors. The 4th of July is a day peculiar and
sacred inour calendars even as it was in those of our fathers. Six
years ago on this anniversary we,-—--and not only we who stood upon
the scarred and furrcwed field of battle, but you and our whole
country were drawing breath after the struggle of Gettysburg.
F or three long days we had‘ stood the strain of conflict, and now,
at last, when the nation’s birthday dawned, the shattered rebel
columns had sullenly withdrawn from our front, and. we drew

that long breath of deep ‘relief which none have ever drawn who

have not passed in safety through the shock of doubtful ybattle.
N or was our country gladdened then by news from Gettysburg
alone. The'army that day twined noble laurel garlands round
the proud brow of the mother land. Vicksburg was, thereafter,
toibe forever associated with the Declaration of Independence,
and the glad anniversary rejoicings as they rose from every town

and village and city of the loyal North mingled withthe last
i sullen echoes that died away from our cannon over the Cemetery
Rildgrel, and xwyereanswered by glad shouts of victory from the far

Southwest. it To all of us of i this generation,---y--and ‘especially to
such of A use as were ourselves" part of those, great events,-——l-this
celebration, therefore, now has and must _ever retain a special
significance- It belongs to use, as well as to our fathers. As

upon this day ninety,-three years ago this nation was brought »

i into existence. through the efforts of others, so, upon this day six , .

5  

a years ago, I am disposed to believe, through our own efforts, it

dramatically touched the climax of its great argument. 1
The time that has since elapsed enables us now to look back

‘and to see things in their true proportions. We begin to realize
” i that the years we have so recently passed through, thougli we

did not appreciate it at the time, were the heroic years of American
history. 5 N ow that their passionate excitement is over, it is
pleasant to dwell upon them,-—-—to recall the rising of a great
people,-—--the call to arms as it boomed from our hill tops and
clashed fromour steeples,--y-tl1e eager patriotism of that fierce
April which kindled new sympathies in every bosom, which
caused the miser to give freely of his wealth, the wifewitli eager
handsto pack the knapsack of her husband, and mothers, with

A ‘ eyes glistening with tears of pride, to lookout upon the glisten-

prealized the grandeur of the situationr-—-~ltI1e dramatic power of

ing bayonets of their boys ;,---—then came the frenzy of A impatience
and the defeat entailed upon. us by rashness and it inexperience,l
before our nation settled down, solidly and patiently, to its work,
determined to save itself from destruction ;—-———-and then followed
the long weary years of doubt and mingled fear and hope, until
at last that day came six years ago which we now celebrate,-W
the day which saw the flood-tide of rebellion reach l’1lgl‘1~W:tter
mark, whence it never after ceased to recede. At the moment,
probably, none of us, eitherat home or at the seat of war,

the incidents‘, or the Titanic nature of the conflict. o';:[‘o you who

were at hon1e’,—-4--mothers, fatliersrjwives, sisters, lbrotherrs, iciti-if

zens of ~ethe° common countrytif nothing lelse,~4~+-the agony, of
suspense, the anxiety,“ the i joy and , too’ often,'t’he"‘ grief which was
to knowno end, which marked‘ the ppassage ‘of c those ‘days, left
little either of time or inclination to" dwell upon ‘aufght save the
horrid reality of the drama. Tolothers, who more immediately
participated in those great events,'lthe daily vezications and annoy-‘
an.ces,—--l-the hot and dusty day,-—--the sleepless, anxious night,-—-~
the rainfuponthe unsheltered bivoulac,-1-uthe deadlassitude which
succeeded the excitement of action,-A-—l—the cruel orders which i
recognized no fatigue and made no allowance for labors under-3 _
gone,»-—-all these smalltrials of the soldier’s life made it possible
to but few torealize the rgrandeurr of A the dramalina rothey" A o y n
were playingaa part; Yet we were gnotrwholily oblivious  * ‘ s p

   

6

N ow and then I come across strange evidences of this in turning
over the leaves of the few weather—stained, dog»-eared volumes
which were the companions of my life in camp. The title page of
one bears witness to the fact that it was my companion at
Gettysburg, and in it I recently found some lines of Browning’s
noble poem of Saul marked and altered to express my sense of
our situation, and bearing date upon this very 5th of July. The
poet had described in them the fall of snow in the spring time

from amountain, under which nestled a valley ; the altering of a ”

few words made them well describe the approach of our army to
Gettysburg. I T   l

“ Fold on fold, all at once, we crowd thundrously down to your feet, if

A “ And there fronts you, stark, black but alive yet, your army of old

“ With its rents, the successive bequeathing of conflicts untold,
“ Yea I--—each harm got in fighting your battles, each furrow and sear
“ Of its head thrust twixt you and the tempest,-—al1 hail! here we are 1”’

And there we were, indeed, and then and there was enacted
such a celebration as I hope may never again be witnessed there
or elsewhere on another 4th of July. Even as I stand here
before you, through the lapse of years and the shifting expe-
riences of the recent past, visions and memories of those days

rise thick and fast before me. . We did indeed crowd thundrously  

down to their feet! Of the events of those three terrible days I
may speak with feeling and yet with modesty, for small indeed
was the part which those with whom I served were called upon
to play. Whenpthose great bodies of infantry drove together in
the crash, of battle, the clouds of cavalry which had hitherto
covered up their movements were swept aside to the flanks.

Ourwork for thetime was done, nor had it been an easy or y

a pleasant work. The road to Gettysburg had been paved ,with
ourbodies and watered with our blood. Three weeks before, in

the middle days of ‘ J nne, I, a Captain of Cavalry, had taken the ad

add at the headpof one hundred mounted men, the joy and pride
of my life, Through twenty days of almost incessant conflict
the hand of death had been heavy upon us, and now, upon the

eve of Gettysburg, thirty»-fourof the hundred only remained, and a

our comrades were dead on the field of battle, or languishing in

hospitals, or prisoners in the hands of the enemy. Six brave young \

7

fellows we had buried in one grave where they fell on the heights
of Aldie. It-was late on the evening of the first of July, that
there came to us rumors of heavy fighting at Gettysburg, near
forty miles away. The regiment happened then to be detached,
and its orders for the secondwere to move in the reariof Sedg-

,wick’s corps and see that no man left the column. All that day

we marched to the sound of the cannon ; Sedgwick, very grim and
stern, was pressing forward his tired men, and we soon saw that

I for once there would be no stragglers from the ranks. gAs

the clay grew old and as we passed rapidly up from the rear to
the head of the hurrying column, the roarof battle grew more
clistinct, until at last we crowned a hill and the contest broke
upon us. ‘ Across the deep valley, some two miles away, we
could see the white smoke of the bursting shells, while below the
sharp incessant rattle of the musketry told of the fierce struggle
that was going on. Before us ran the straight, white, dusty
road, choked with artillery, ambulances, caissons, aininunition
trains, all pressing forward to the field of battle, while mixed
among them, their bayonets gleaming tlirougli the dust like
wavelets on a river of steel, tired, foot-sore, hungry, thirsty,
begrimed with sweat and dust, the ga1lant,infant1~ylof Sedgwiclsfs

I corps hurried to the sound of the cannon as men might have

flocked to a feast. Moving rapidly forward, we crossed the
brook which runs so prlominently across themap of the afield of

I battle and halted on its further side to await our orders. Irlardly

had I dismounted from my horse when, looking back, I saw that

the head of the column hadlreaehed the brook, and deployed and I
halted on its other bank, and already the stream was filled with

naked men shouting with pleasure as they washed off the sweat
of their long day’s march. Even as I looked, the noise of the

battle grewilouder, and soon the symptoms of movement were

evident. if Tlierappel was heard,r the bathers hurriedly clad

themselves, the ranksiwereformed,”and the sharp, quick snapof

the percussion caps told usthe men were preparing their weapons I

for action, iAlmost immediately as general oflicer rode rapidly to
the front of the line, addressed to it a few brief energetic words,

the short sharp orderto move by the flank was given, followed I 
irnmediately by the ”‘ double quick,” the oflicer placedliimself * at

 the head of the column, and that braveinfantry which had “

 

 

8

it marched almost forty miles since the setting of yesterday’s sun,---i J l
‘ which during that day had hardly known either sleep, or food, or

I rest, or shelter from the J uly‘heat,——-now, as the shadows grew r a

long, hurried forward on the run to take its place in the front of

l battle andito bear upthe reeling fortunes of the day.‘

It is said that at the crisis of Solferino, Marshal McMahon
appeared with his corps upon the field of battle, his men having

i run for seven miles. VVe need not go abroad for examples of

endurance and sioldierly bearing. a The achievement of Sedgwick
and the brave Sixth Corps, as theytmarched upon the field of

n r Gettysburg on thatsecond day of July, far excels the vaunted

efforts of the French Zouaves. h \

Twenty-four hours later. we stood on that same ground,---«-
many dear friends had yielded up theiriyoung lives during the
hours which had elapsed, abut, though ‘twenty thousand fellow y
creatures were wounded or dead around us, though the flood i
gates of heaven seemed open and the torrents fell upon the quick
and the dead,iyet the elements seetmedi electrified with a certain
magnetic influence of victory, and, as the great army sank: down
overwearied in its tracks; it felt that the crisis and danger was
passed,9—-—-that Gettysburg was immortal. ‘ i
l iM:ay I not then well express the hope that never again may we

l or ours becalled upon so ‘to celebrate this anniversaryt Andi

Q yet now that the passionatehopes and fears of those days are all “ t

over,-—now that the grief which can never be forgotten is it

softened and modified by the soothing hand of tirne,~—-—i—noW‘ that y i i

the distracting doubts and untold anxieties are buried and almost
forgotten; welove to remember the gathering of thehosts,--———to

hp hear again in memory the shock of battle, and to wonder at the  ‘

magnificence of the drama; The passion and the excitement is \

gone and we can look at the worl; wehave done and pronounce
upon it; do notfear the sober second judgment, Our work

i l l  aioo worlz,--~it‘vvas well done,‘ and it lwas done thoroughly. ; h
Some onehhasrhstaidae-“yHappy« is the -people which has no his-_§ it

tory.” r Not so‘ll—As  fbetter to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at allele, soit is better to have W livedh 
even thoughwe have ,sutfered greatly, than to have passed a  w

 life A035 ling-;‘10Tio0UlS tltrelasies 0rurgeneratio+n,g-~yes lf we‘ri:orursi:elvve§=
 havevbe*en apart of fgreatirthingis.iTlvlv 5ilz1atve“slufi7elr~ed g1~att1yan* A

“‘W.,‘ 

9

greatly rejoiced ;----we have drunk deep of the cup of joy and of
sorrow ;---—we have tasted the agony of defeat and We have supped
full with the pleasures of victory. "We have proved ourselves
equal to great deeds, and have learnt wliatqualities were in us,
which, in more peaceful times, We ourselves did not suspect.

Those times, however, are now over and have passed into
history. The period of the commonplace has again succeeded to
the days of the heroic. As we turn, therefore, from these
exciting memories of the past to the more alluring realities which

SL'II‘1li'C)l.'.1”I1(.l us, We realize one useful purpose to which the celebra-

tion of this anniversaryr-~this double anniversary of birth and
preservation from great dangei~,-m-inay be turned. It may be

made a day of 1"eel<onim3~. As We rernernbcr the efforts tliroiigh A
which our fathers founded, and those other efforts tlirougli which

we have preserved the common countr ,---—"-L9 We remember with
gratitude, how, under favor of’ an over~seeing l?rovidence, the
freedom we enjoy was Won by s1;1fFe1~ing; and has been preserved
tlirciiigli suirfe1*ing,-—-it is also Well that on this day we should call
ourselves to account and consider‘ what we are now doing to

perpetuate the great legacy we have received. This day ‘of all A

days should be for us a day of refleoztion as Well as of exultation.

Let us then look a little into the course of events and the
spirit of our times, since peace wasorestorediwitliin our borders,
and, while juclgiinyg of the past, draw inferences in regard, to the
iiituie. It is now more tllltLIZ1if()11I‘i}7f:321,I'li’: since anyoarmedlhand
has been raised in rebellion within the limitsiof this broad land.
How have We in that period demeaned ourselves ‘P--—I-Iave we
held out the olive branch since we sheathed the sword ?-—--Have

A we proved ourselves conquerors in peace as well as in war ?-———He
who rulethhisspirit is greater than he who taketh a city 3---~"VVe  

havetaken omanyicities, have vverulcd our own spirits as well?
These are momentous questions, and when our country and

r ogeneration, shall standas the republics of Greece and Rome‘ now
do at the bar or posterity, the answers we shall give to these‘ A,
questions will, not ‘least of a1l:,i affect the verdict to be rendered. ,

I-<‘o:rg ylsielf I glory in one ‘ answer which is ialreadiyi, recorded.

 gloryin it pmoirefmoan in urevictory at Grcttylsbrurg5r--+1n01‘e than

;  the  A  

 

1 in 



 

jtriumphal march rte streets of _ A

 

s 10

burning Richmond. Our hands are not stained with civil blood. w l

Our country and our generation alone among the sons of recorded
men have emerged from deadly civil strife and refused to exact ”
that vengeance which is wrecked through the scaffold and the
gallows. N o bloody assizes disgraced our triumph ;—---no crowded
prison or vengeful confiscation is a blot forever upon our scut-
cheon. We have a right to glory in this memory, and to hold
high our heads before our brother men as we make this boast.
The" provocation was not wanting ;----nay, it existed for us as few
have felt it before. . VVe all remember the national agony which

i was mixed with the joy of our victory g---i-«the gall which was poured t
into, our cup of triumph. VVe remember how the beloved Presi-« t j l

dent who had guided our destinies during the dark and evil days
was murdered before our eyes just as the light had dawned. Wllztt
mattered it thatthe foul deed was not matured in rebel councils,
---was not wrought by one who had worn the rebel grey I---Masses,
it is said, do not reason, and then as how each man knew that it p
was the spirit of the rebellion which had nerved the hand of the
Northern murderer. The victim too was Witllflll our grasp ;---—--~-
the sowcalled President of the so-called Confederacy had not
surrendered himself to us---—-he had not come like a Coriolanus or
a Napoleon and sat himself down on our hearthstone a suppliant

before a generous enemy ;--—he was the captive of our bow and l

our spear ;---he had no claims on our generosity“-none on our

  mercy. Then I feel sure took place the noblest event of our

history ;~—-a great victory of peace was won. ~W'e spared the‘
victim. N o servile judge strained any point of law,-—-no packed
jury returned a vindictive verdict,-—~—.-no lawless mob broke down

‘ arprrisonrdoor,~-——but every safeguard which the lawyer’s cunning

has thrown around the meanest criminal was jealously secured to ..
the great traitor, and finally he walked forth through "his prison
doors at free man, smitten only forever with the blighting curse of

 an injured and forgiving people. Could  stand at thebar of l i

posterity as representing my own page and nation, I would boldly
put inthis single fact andiupon it demand a verdict. , it

e Let us pass on in thehrecord. i Have we fulfilled in the hours
of peace the great pledges which were wrung from us in the",
agony of t our danger ?-«Again imaywe  the favorable judg-- ,

it ment of history ?-—--j-Airs we jrleitlectgon i this subject, “there crises  l

11

before us the sad story of that unfortunate race which is with us,
but not of us,----which has played so great andso unworthy a
part in the drama of our history. The African could not help

himself‘,-——-he could not compel the redemption of our pledges,-—-I-I

he could but rely on our generosity and sense of abstractright.

He might Well have been made the victim. He could soeasily r
p and so safely have been offered up as the burnt offering of recon-

ciliation,---—-the pletlgc of returning brotherly love. Is there any
promise We ever made to the black man,--———no matter under What
duress or sharp strain of necessity,——--no matter how much or
how little we received in return back from the emancipated
bondsman,-—-——is there any pledgge which remains unredeemed
either in the letter or in the spirit ?----Irlere again we may stand
at the bar of‘ history with head erect.

After a savarre war ~—---a war the horrors of which this o~enera--
zrn 9 2::

tion will never forget,»-——we found three million of enemies, liable
to confiscation of goods if’-not to a traitor’s death, prostrate at
our feet. lilovv have We borne ourselves towards them?--In
what spirit have We dealt with them ‘?---~I*Iave we tempered justice
with mercy ?---—-_And on this subject I feel that I speak as one
without prejudice. Not seldorn have I differed greatly, almost

angrily, from those into whose hands devolved the responsibility _

of acting on these’suhjects. I have ofteniofelt myself inopposi-

tion. I have frequently in my own place indulged in strong,

criticism_.,----sometimes, I fear, in hasty criticism. Perfection,
however, is not given to the action of masses any more than to

that of individuals, and the Work must at length be judged as a
Whole. As time throws its veil over the record of‘ the last few A V

years,-was passions subside and events assume their true proper»

i tions, we shall look at matters, which are now too recent to be

calmly judged, with‘ differenteyes. In place, for instance, of a
reckless majority, savage at the loss of their prey, yelling on

  their party blood-hounds upona few independent judges, vvho, 

respecting their oaths, had pronounced an unpopular verdict,vve a a
I shall hereafter recognize’ only the great fact that the nation bowed
to the law, and, the object of anrunprecedented popular odiurn, a i I
is chief magistrate who had shocked every sense of decency and

I , humiliated every citizen ,-—i-whopwas hated bythe ppartyp iunconee " v

trolled” power and"respected byno I one,--I-that thismagistrate was

 

 

12'

retained in office without abreathpiof resistance simply because
one vote was lackingto convict him according to law. We may

surely claim that this great episode will not discredit" us in

history. It will be the same with other things. Details vanish
before the touch of time; leading facts only remain. The low
speech of the demagogue appealing to vulgar passions and
exhorting to acts of vengeance is forgotten,-—--the great fact
remains that he spoke in vain. The angry crimination and
recrimination,———-the vindictive attack and foolish reply,-7-——the par-
tizan language on one‘ side and on the other are ever forgotten
where they do not result in overt acts of evil. So it will be in
this case. Taken as a whole, as the record of a people and not
of a party, We can see that certain leading results of the last five
years have passed into history. They cannot but go far to
justify our conduct in the eyes of posterity. Our policy has
never been cruel. No uprising of our vanquished and high-

spirited opponents has proclaimed to the World the existence of ~

harsh measures of repression,-——no Poland or Vendée or Hungary
or Venetia blots our map ;---State after State of the late Confed--
eracy has wheeled into line ;--—--our most severe demand has been,

----not indemnity, not ransom, not victims, nothing of all that

which history and precedent would have justified us in exacting’,

but simply that our erring sisters would not oppress those whom i

we had made free. To-day it is a conceded fact that the South
is more prosperous than ever before,———that the “ lost cause ” is a
cause. lost indeecl,-----that peace reigns within our borders. It is
such results as“ these which history records. You cannot cavil or
pick faults at the bar of posterity. By their works ye shall
know them, and our generation must stand, and I confidently
believe, need not fear to stand on the results of its workings.

 we not then with confidence claim that the victories of

V the last five years are more ‘glorious than those of the five years
preceding.-——-VVho can say that we have not spared the conquered ? .

——Whoi A can say that we a have not protected the oppressed ?---

Havewe not yielded obedience to the laws ?----May We not on p

i this pointsummon the President of the rebel Confederacy and a A A

President of the Riep”*ublic,,ibroithii unwilling witnesses, to appear at l
the bar of posterity, each of Whom, must say‘ that whatever might ,
behis crimes, whatever might behis ipmisderneanors, yet, as long i

. ‘M

13
as he was protected by the utmost letter of the law, he could not
point to any lawless act. That we have not been cruel or

i oppressive was not because we lacked either the temptation or the

opportunity. These are leading facts,-——facts which history must
record, and upon them must she render a verdict.

To every picture there is shadow as well as coloring. As
regards those great leading features of policy upon which each

generation must present itself for judgment, I do not think that we -

have aught to fear. Yet our situation is notwithout its dangers,
and the future is no morefree from causes of serious alarm than
was the past. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and there
is more danger from the insidious poison of corruption than in the

l armed hand of rebellion. Events move rapidly. In these days .

of the telegraph and steam-engine, a century of the lives of’ our
grandfathers is concentrated within the compass of one revolving

year. t Changes which formerly demanded a generation of work»; i

ing, earnest men to bring them about, are now wrought between
the budding and the fall of the leaf’. We had best look to it,
then, for evil as well as good is rapidly maturing.

Every period of mental or material perturbation is followed by
a great quickening of forces.  see it innature,--A--E-we see it in
men. - So the recent war has been followed by this time of rapid
growth. A VVithin these nineyears just completed, aswe have
beenlavish of our best, so we have displayed some of our” worst
qualities. The time has been prolific of knaves as well as of
heroes,—--nof evil as well as of good. We have drifted from our
Inoorings, and every crude thleiory,---ievery unfledged reformer,
-——-every half?-cra_zed fanatic has been sure of a syrnpathizing
audience and an earnest backing. All this will pass away and

need cause us no alarm ;-—--not so with the dishonest, demoralizing

influences which have here found their seed-time and harvest.
They must remain. to perplex, perhaps tooverwhelm our descen-
dants. This country is no longer a sparsely settled land of
simple habits ;—-—-ithas passed out of" the earlier stages of civilizas
tion with all their security from danger and freedom from want,

into the phases of later development in which extremes ‘are ever

. foundin closest proximity,--«where ignorance crouches under: the)
caves of your colleges, where-poverty [skulks behind affluence, A J A

14.

and squalor crouches at the portals of magnificence. Our future

is not to be as our past. Centralization is the order of the day  l
and centralization breeds corruption and abuses. We see it ever - p

where,.. and everywhere that we see it we may also see, if We only
choose to look, the rank evils which mingle with its good and
ever follow in its train, growing with its growth. The Govern--
ment at Washington draws power away from the individual
States, and the Government at Washington is aniAugean stable
of “ abuses. Our great corporations draw to themselves the

A smaller ones, or crush opposition out of existence, and the great

corporations are reducing corruption to a science. Our great

cities are absorbing our country towns, and the records of our
great cities are orninous of the failure of free institutions. The

evils that follow centralization must be sought in the centres of
centralization. Go to VVashington, and what do you find?-———A
city of oflice seekers.~ A mob of scheming, reckless men who
ravin like wolves around the President and the heads of Depart-
ments, and snap like hungry hounds at each others’ bones,
while they disgrace our age and our country by a system of

government founded on what is known as "rotation in oflice,”

and illustrated by such maxirns as “ to the victors belong the

spoils.” Wluere now is heard that nobleutterance of J efl°erson— it
"gWe are all Republicans--~we are all Federalists; ”—+—it is not i
heard in the White House, it is not heard in the Custom House; ‘

I --——--more frequently it appears in another rendering to the effect. 

that an associated thief isbetter than an opposingangel. w p
Go to New York city, so rapidly becoming at once the heart

i and the brain and the canker spot of the continent. VVhat do

we find there asindicative of the results of centralization ?--Is

the tone of the market--place and of "the exchange,—is the

character of the city governrnent,-—-are the i morals of the
people,-——-is the elevation of public opinion, greater or better

than heretofore or elsewhere ?—We all known it is not. ’The

sad story neednot. be retold. Every one knows the history
of fraud, of depravity yyia.n=d of corruption, which is forever
recorded against the first city of the continent 3-l--every one

knows a of p the morals of the gold-board and _ stock—exchange, “

‘ iwherep gamhlingcisra recognized ptursuit,--every one knows the p
i _ a history of thiosae bubble fra'u,ds and avast swindling enter151‘irSreS ; 

15

which seem in their rnagnitucle to be peculiar to our own
time. i l i
We had best recognize the truth ;—---a new and very terrible
lien is in our path ;-—-we have overcome one enemy only to
encounter another. Wliztt J uvenal, in the bitterness of’ his
satire, exclaimed of imperial Rome, that luxury more savage
than arms had fallen upon her and avenged a conquered world,
--—-this may yet,--—-~vvill yet be true of us. We are getting to
pardon everything so it be but gilded hysuceess. Examples of
this force themselves on the memory ;----they rise unbiclclen like
thoughts or evil. Ilavo We not seen unconvicted thieves flinging
their millions about the St()0l«£-GXC5l'1tt11g0, ancl even proucl of their
own iniiu*r:1y‘E’--I?rl"ave we not seen the fit inmates of our State
prisons and inebriate asylums in communal of armies and army
corps and elevated to llig;l‘1 civil liuncticns amid the plaudits ofvad-l
Iniring throngs ?---I*I:avc we not seen outlavvetl rutiians appoiiited
to ezxtecutc the sente1.1c:e of the law on the:ir accomplices in or-irnve,
While brother r'tifliar1s sit upon the bench ‘.9-—---{Iis this rcf'orr.n?---
An ancient proverb tells us that all roacls lead to Rome I»---It
may be that they (lo, but if tliis road leads there, it is to the
Home of‘ the lihnpire, not to the Iirnne oi’ the Republic.

The same tenciericies and influences are seen in our party

,politics,--~success is the one thing which must be secured, and
the obetlienee and cliscipline which secure success by reduciinog‘

the voter to the level of a rnachine is thetgreat political virtue.
If there is, however, one quality which the citizen, yvvlioideserves
the great name of citizen, should encleavor to culitivate, it is the

quality of indepencfleint thought and action in himself and a patient up
respect foriit in others. To do his duty to his age and his country

he shoulcl, however obscure may be his position, and however

limited his sphere of inftluence, rise above party lines ancl do his i
own, thinking. Our public men, whatever their opinions may be,
are the propertyiof, the whole country anclnot of a party. The

A loss of’ thesemen either by death or failure, or incompetence, or

ostracism, is a loss to those who oploosee as Well as to those W110

sustain them. i What is sadcler than to see an honest citizien,g-be it

vi:rtuous,even reasonableiin his ovvnway, exultingyfrornpmtytg A
' i    A  it    owunfall of some public man who  raj V
position in which he :1-ms  u    '

       
   

16

fortune, or who has been unable to resistitemptation or the

allurements of a low ambition. Such all of us have witnessed.

To exult in such a misfortune is to Dexult in a defeat of our coun-
try. a So, on the other hand is it yet more s-ad to see, as We often

D .see,independence, the best pledge of honesty, stigmatized as a
political crime. To hear the cry raised, as we have heard it
raised so recently that it yet rings in ouruears, that the deserters

should be brought to the front to be shot. Shoot men because
they think for themselves I

_ “ The times have been,
“ Thathwhen the brains were out, the man would die
“ And there an end,-”

and let us hope those times still are, and will ever be, and that when

any party has raised that infamous cry and has done the deed, D

and those whom it sees fit to call its deserters are shot,-—--when
the discipline of faction rules supreme, and all independence of
political thought is extinguished,——--~wl1en no appeal lies from the

a decision of the caucus, and the Senate is drilled into a guard- ,

room,-—then, let us hope that the brains being indeed gone out

» from a party which has inflicted such a wrong’ on the dignity of

man and the Welfare of the common country, it may “die and

y i there an end” and its name be blasted forever. I-Iere to-day we can   D
, all, Republicans and Democrats, afford to hear these words and  

think these thoughts, for to-day, at least, i of all days in the year, ~

we are not partizans,—-.---no matter how we may be divided by
faction at other times, on this anniversary of the Declaration and
of Gettysburg and of Vicksburg we can allbe Republicans ,~——-—-we
ean all be Fedteralists,-—-we can all be Democrats. D

D .' And, indeed, I would here in closing fain address a few words
to.such of y=o;u,Dif any such are here, who like myself may have

D i been sioldiers during the War “of D the rebellion. We should never Di
pl mores be perti.zants., We have. been a part of great events in the
D service of D

~1D?7=e eoimon country, vveDhave Worn her. uniform,t we
have raeeceived here  ~  devoted ourselves, to the death, if

 

a need be, in her  we wereiblackened by the stoke

L s f a whether tthose Who. D sue?

 

 
 
 
 

of Antietam, e  i not” ?ask or care 'Wl1Detl1;e:1‘. those he is
sfl1oulderD to shot dear ~beside2u:s.,+—4ewhtether he who   1   
 , tetocrtats or    p  

 

 D

17

conservatives or radicals; We asked only that they might prove

as true as was the steel We grasped, and as brave as we ourselves
would fain have been. When We stood like a wall of stone
vomiting fire from the heights of Grettysburg,-——nailed to our

position through three long days of mortal Hell,~—-«did vve ask, ‘
each other whether that brave officer who fell While gallantly
leading the counter-charge,-——-whether that cool gunner steadily

serving his piece before us midst the storm of shot and shell,--—~
Whether the poor wounded, mangled, gasping comrades, crushed
and torn, and dying in agony around us, had voted for Lincoln
or Douglas, for Breckenridge or Bell? VVe then were full of
other thoughts. We prized men for what they were Worth to
the common country of us all, and recked not of empty Words.

Was the man true, was he brave, was he earnest,———was all We

thought of’ then,--—not, did he vote or think with us, or label
himself with our party name. This lesson ‘let us try to remem-
ber. We cannot give to party all that we once offered to coun-

try, but our duty is not yet done. We are no longer, what we i

have been, the young guard of the Republic ;-——--we have earned
an exemption from the dangers of the field andcamp, and the
old musket or the crossed sabres hang harmless over our winter

A fires, never more to be grasped in these hands henceforth devoted

to more peacefultlabovrs ; ,but the duties of the citizen, and of the

” tcitizenvvho has received his baptism in fire, are still incumbent
upon us. Though young in years, we should remember that‘

henceforth and as long as We live in the land We are the ancients,

--the veterans of thelztepublic. As such, it is for us to protect

in peace what We preserved in war,--it is for us to look at
all things with a view to the common country and not to the
exigencies of party politics,—-—it is for us ever to bear in mind the

s higher allegiance we have sworn, and to remember that he who
has once been a soldier of the mother-land degrades himself a

' forever when he becomes the slave of a faction. Then at last, if ‘

Wthroughlife We ever bear these lessons freshly in mind, will it be

r A ; well for nus,---ivvill it be Well for our country,——-—-will it be well for

those whose names We bear, that our bones also do not moulder

i  with thoseof our brave comrades beneath the sods of Gettysburg,

or-that our graves do notlook down on the swift flowirig Missis-

V dd :3  sippifm historicheights of “Vicksburg. in  ” v r ,

 

 

APPENDIX.

THE l\Tinety-third -Anniversary of’ the Declaration of American ,
Independence was celebrated in Quincy on llgonday, July 5, 1869, in
a fitting and appropriate manner. i“ C i

There had been no public observance of the National Holiday in

this town for many years previously, and the project‘ of having a cele-
_ bration this year was started early in the spring among the young men
C of the place, and met with a ready and earnest response from the

citizens generally.

'1‘I~IEC CELEBRATION.

A Committee was organized, to raise funds and to make such
arrangements as they should deem expedient; and for the carrying.
out of the differeent details of the Celebration, this Committee was

divided into sub-committees, composed of the following persons :

C Salutes, c§~c.—-C.C H. CURTIS.
.Process'zIon—-—W. H. H. Rmnour, W. M. FRENCH, R. H. DEXTER, E. .
WH1oHmn,lLCnvIlSrnAnNs, Grnonene RANDALL, J. PARKER HAYWARD.
Exercises in C’}zurc/z-——--=I—I. LUNT, W. O. I~IoWLAN1:>, Gm). L. GILL,
C. S.FR1i‘.1\TOH,.JAMES Enooorc, G. H. FIELD.
Musice-H. LUNT, Gr.  FIELD, CSTEBHEN PENNIMAN. . e p
Entertainments in I{aZZ-—-C. H. CURTICS, CH. GRAY, C. P. TIRRELL,

C LEVI STEARNS, F. I-Inrmwrcx, D. J. BURRCILCL.

e t iCRIDE;OU',[‘, Geo. M. .WAps1:mUm~r.

C relftreworks,--0. r.,Tmm.x.. H. LUN'1‘,.E. Wrxxonnn, W. H. C .

_ CC  ll,Polt'aeArrttazgemerzts-W. H. CH. RIDEOU'.1‘,C E. WHICHEii,C C.   - C
 ’CURT1S:CCE-UNDERW00D.~C . - l l   r  it  r A *

 

  so

The nightprevious to the Celebration was unusually free from noise
or disturbance, to the surprise and gmtification of all who are accus-

i tamed to look forward with dread to the “ night before the Fourth”

as a season of broken‘ rest and untold horrors. At sunrise, however,

ttheifestivities of the day began in earnest, with the joyous peeling of

bells mingled withithe roar of cannon.

SALUTE S .

National salutes were fired, and the bells of the churches were rung
for half an hour, at sunrise, noon and sunset. C

THE PROCESSION.

At7 o’cloel<, A. M., a Procession was formed near the First Con-
gregational Cliurcliw, on Hancock Street, and moved through several of

h the principal streets in the following order :

Oitief ...7l1ars7&ctl.
VVILLIAIVI H. H. Rxitoreotrr-

Aids .

‘ Geo. M. Wasnnums, GEO. W. MORTON, Non-1 Germs, W. D. Sr:ex.MAN.

QUINCY Bmss BAND.

Dioisiovz I.
WILLIAM H. FOLLIG'1‘T, .ZL{cm~s7uzZ.

McClellan Guards, Capt. 'W1:L:r.IA1u: Born.

‘ Carriages containing the Orator, Chaplain, Reader of the Declaration, and i

the Selectmen, School Committee and other Town Ofiicers.

o o Dimision IL
‘ Chief Engineer WASIIINGTON M. Fnnnorr, Mmfe7zal.

Quincy Fire Department. The several companies in uniform,tand»with
i theiroengines beautifully decorated with evergreen, flowers,e&c. so

Divisioaz III.
Lnvr STEARNS, Marshal.

Representativesioflvariousbranches of business andmechanical trades, in

“vehicles, carrying specixnenso of their goods and worlcmauship. i r o

o  iP_ersons‘repr_esenting the ‘Stone-‘cutting, Boot-making; 
i . W Currying ands Printingiib!ousi.ness oiowereibousilyo "  i
i i C engagedat work. g _ ~ 

 

21

i a Division I V. ‘
GrIiiORGIil RANDALL, Marshal.

Inmates of the Sailors’ Snug Ii-Iarbor, and Pupils of several of the Grammar
‘ Schools, in carriages decorated with flags, doc. ‘

])~im'st'on V.

Eowaan Wnxomca alias Oarmxooaaxman LAI..NADEJUGr, Marslzal.

Antiques and Horribles, headed by a Tin Pot Band, A. Ooflin, leader, and
y attired in various fantastic costumes, which excited ‘
much aninsement.

'l‘heiCireat Fiddle (that was not played at the Coliseum) was carried on a
l large wagon, and nndertlie manipulation of Mr. Lewis
Newcomb gave forth sounds that would
have struck anguish to
y the breast of
r * 4 Ole Bull.

il\Te:xt came the “Remnants of the Jnhilee”--very well conceived and
carried out by Messrs. Pattee and Newcoinbs.

i l A Velocipede and Donkey Cart created a great deal of fun; while the
V Battery connnanded by Capt. Paclcarcl, and the Steam Fire
Engine, representing the Quincy Fire Department
‘in 1630, eoimnancled by Capt. Delno,
provolted much curiosity i l
l and mirth.

A squad of Indians, with Mr. D. F. French as Chief, did escort duty to at
Delegation of about forty Antiques from Charlestown, who i
brought with them the venerable “ Sword of Bunker.
Hill,” which was presented with due cere-
mony to the Marshal of the Divi-
sion at the conclusion
of y the march.

JDuring the passage of the procession‘ the streets were crowded

with citizens and strangers, who were evidently much pleased with

it the~display.v ‘ i it y  a l i i - d l

' A ll ‘ A i A rneooaarxons. y r  
 This “ Tiger” Engine rI~Ionse and the residences of Colonel Packard, i
ii a Dr;  1’.at.tee,yMi'ss E. lC.,Acla_n1fs, Mrs. ‘Cass, Mr. French M i

and   were quite elahaorately decorated, whiile from A

many of  iloiayfthei3roatei ofthieyproicessionl, theL%i;ii’at9i%o1na1r-Colors s  <

A  iweredisplayedlia  

     

22
After a march of about two hours and a half, the column returned

to the church, where the several divisions were reviewed by the Chief'-
Marshal and dismissed. A

EXERCISES IN THE ‘CHURCH.

The exercises in the church began at half—past'teno’c1ock, and
were as follows : A

1 .-VOLUNTARY on the -Organ.

2.—-—CHo1=tUs, “ Star Spangled Banner.”

3.3»--PLRAYEE, by the REV. J. D. WELLS.

4:.---I‘i.EADING of the Declaration of Independence, by HENRY LUNT.
5.--KELLEa’s AMERICAN HYMN.

6.--ADDRESS, by Crmnnns FRANCIS Anams, Jn.

.,7.---NA.'1‘IONA’L ANTHEM, “ America.”

The choruses were sung by a choir of about fifty persons, and were
finely rendered. a

A profusion of’ rare flowers, arranged by the ladies, adorned the

pulpit and platform, and presented a beautiful appearance.

ENTERTAINMENTS FOR THE ‘CHILDREN.

Entertainments, consisting of performances in Natural Magic,

\ Ventriloquisrn, &c., 850., were given at the Town Hall at 103; o’cloek,

A. M., and at 3 o’clock, P. M., and were enjoyed by large numbers

is of the children of the public schools, for whose benefit they were

arranged.

. FIREVVORKS.

In the evening there was a magnificent and entirely successful

“display of Fireworks, furnished by Benjamin M. Wetlger, Pyrotech-

9

nist, of West Roxbury. They were sent off’ from “the Plain,’ ‘near

. . the QuincylAdams ‘Railroad Station, and were witnessed by a dense

A crowd of people, variously estimated at from six to twelve thousand. . E

A The Quincy.Brass Band entertained the spectators with an excellent

, selection of populate‘ and patriotic music, from sunset until the close of “

the display. . 

A Celebration was over..

By ten o’cloek, P.M.,* the lastrocket had been fired, the vast

multitude had melted away in a quiet and orderly manner, and the E