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Benedict, George ¥.
AH Oration, . .
Burlington, 1826.

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YALE UNIVERSITY
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AN

'^EXilVlSB.ED A'S BVB.IiXSJaSOSa', VX<

"ON THE

J'O Z7i2 TH OF JUL Y 1826.

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M^^raB^m m-sn-Nmjmm^m^'^

AMERICAN INDJEPENDENCE.

BY GEORGE W. BENEDICT, A. M.
Ml

BVRLIMGTOJt,
T>BIKTED BY E. & T. MIILS.
1826.

BOBLIHGTOS, JOLY 6, 182fi
The Committee of arrangements, highly gratified with the Oration
delivered by you at their request on the last Anniversary of our Indepen
dence, and feeling a desire in common with their fellow citizens that the
moral and patriotic principles which were therein so elegantly and elo
quently enforced, should have a more general and conseqently a more
useful circulation — respectfully solicit a copy for publication.
HEMAN LOWRY, "l
WM. A. GRISWOLD,
FREDERICK ORVIS, CommUtee
ANDREW THOMPSON, } of
SEJNECA AUSTIN, I Arrangemente.-
GEORGE MOORE, j
PHILO DOOLITTLE, J
To Professor BENEDICT,
University of Vermont.

» Uhivessity of VERMONt, JoLV 6, 1826.
Gentlbmen, Though the Oration of which yen request a copy, was necessarily a
hasty production and written without any expectation on my part of its
being published ; yet since you think such a measure will be agreeable to
many of those who so politely listened to its delivery, I can not do less
than accede to your request. Respectfally yours,

To H. LOWRY, Esq. and others,
Commitlet of Arrangements.

G. W. BENEDICT,

336L

ORATION.

In the existence of every nation, events occur,
so different in their nature and consequences from
most of those which take place in the affairs of the
world, as not only to merit special attention at the
time of their occurrence, but to justly claim a deep
interest in the feelings of aftertimes. Those
which are marked with great national injustice or
misfortune, — which affix disgrace to national char
acter, or bring lasting evils in their train, should
ever excite feelings of humility and sorrow, and
in no less degree, should such transactions as ex
hibit extraordinary public virtue, and involve in
their consequences, the prosperity of succeeding
generations, call forth displays of national joy and
gratitude. Most certainly if any event has occurred within
many centuries past, wortf>y of forever being an
occasion for a people to express their joy, and
unitedly to give thanks to the Supreme Disposer
of all things for the blessings which have arisen
from it, the one which we this day celebrate, is of
that character. If there can be a national day,
this should be one. It brings not to one portion
of our citizens j©y, and to another sorrow. — It is

commemorative of no victory of one faction over
another. No half smothered fires of enmity be
tween different sections of our country or classes
of men, are this day quickened into action. Po
litical animosities, religious differences and per^-
sonal feuds claim no relation to it. All can be
laid aside, while as a nation, we call to mind that
this is the anniversary of thdt day, when the natal
star of our country's liberty and glory first arose
from the ocean. On one £K5Count, this paftieular
Anniversary brings with it an interest, which could
belong to no pf eceding 6ne. It marks the lapse
of just fifty years^ since a few high-minded men
of deathless memory, delegated by what were then
Colonies of Great Britaiin, to consult on the afflic
ted state of the country and to act for the gener
al good, announced to the wor^ that these were
no longer provinces of a fbreigA power, but " Free
and Independent Statei^ ;" and trusting their
cause to Almighty God, pledged for the support
of that declaration, all that on ea:rth is dearest to
man. Is it not well then, when we have trodden
the highway of indfependent nations for half a
century, to pause on the ascent we have gained,^
and to look back on the course we have pursued ;
— ^to compare for a few momeiits oxir conditions at
the commehcetheirt of our career and at thii^ ^age
of it ; and before we again set ourselves to go for
ward, to inquire wherein the ktio~wledge which we
have gained, tmy be useful to us in our futufe pro
gress ?

5

It is unnecessary to enumerate the causes that
led to the declaration of independence. It was
however no hasty act. There was a deliberation,
a. frankness* an energy manifested in all the deci
sions of those concerned in it, which in a high de
gree evinced the rectitude of their intentions, and.
authorised a firm assurance of the result. The
emotions, caused by the act of formal separation
from the mother country, were various. In the
bosoms of those of our countrymen who had re
flected most deeply on the subject, who had care
fully traced out the consequences which, on the
one hand, must follow from submission to the un
just demands of Great Britain ; and on the other,
those which must arise from their becoming a free
nation, — v^ho were most fully aware of the difficul
ties and perils of the enterprise, it caused a ming
led sensation of joy and fear. It cannot be doubt
ed that many, feaptivated by the sounds of liberty
and independence, welcomed the declaration of
Congress with but a slight regard to the merits
of the case, and little apprehension of the ito-
mense interests involved in it. There were some
also, who from an hdneSt error of judgment, de
clared the act to be unrighteous in its nature and
pernifeious in its tendency ; and there were others
whose cruel and treacherous conduct sufficiently
showed the malignancy and selfishness of their
opposition. Feelings equally intense and diver
sified prevailed i!n Great Britain. There were in
tjiat country niany men of enlarged and generous

views, who had not been backward in declaring
their disapprobation of the course pursued by their
government, and who predicted most melancholy
effects from a perseverance in it. But the larger
part even of these, though still retaining the kind
est feelings towards their American brethren, con
demned their proceeding to such extremities, and
could give no milder name to their conduct than a
rebellion ; while they whose violent measures had
caused all the commotion, expressed their angiy
and contemptuous feelings without reserve. To
the rest of Europe, the spectacle of a portion of
an empire deliberately, openly, and formally cast
ing off its bonds of allegiance, and that too, for
reasons which in such governments are reckoned
of trifling weight, and declaring to the world that
it would on no conditions wear them longer, was
indeed a novel one, and was viewed with universal
amazement. Yet there were found, even in the
most arbitrary governments, individuals who im
bibed the same spirit which actuated our own
countrymen. They saw that it was not merely a
contest between two nations for dominion, or to
obtain some isolated benefit ; but that the estab
lishment of principles little known before, and
tending to greatly enlarge the happiness of man
kind, depended on its successful termination, Not
only were the talents and influence of such men
employed abroad to aid the cause ; but they were
seen to leave hereditary wealth and honors, coun
try and friends, that they might fight the battle*

of freedom on a foreign shore, — to endure priva
tions, and to spill their blood as cheerfully as those
who contended^ not only for their principles, but
also for their homes. All these circumstances
combined gave to the war of the Revolution pe
culiar features, and its lineaments exhibit a\l that
is noble and generous, and much that is mean and
detestable in the human character. No one of its
series of interesting events shows in a bolder and
clearer light, the magnanimity, the patriotic devo
tion and stern regard to the principles of justice
which so signally characterised the defenders of
our country's rights, than the closing one.
The long and unequal conflict had exhausted
the means of Congress, and it was found neces
sary to disband the troops with the wages of ma
ny months, and in some cases, of years, unpaid.
They were to be discharged destitute of the very
necessaries of life, — without even money enough
to bear them to their long-left and earnestly wish-
ed-for homes. Often, when hungry, naked, and
wounded, they had thought of the solicitude of
those who feared for the safety of a son or a
brother, — of the loneliness, the anxieties, the wants
and the tears of them who prayed for the return
of a husband and father, and had felt an anguish
in their bosoms which no hardships of their own
had ever produced, they had repressed the emo
tion with a hope that soon those anxieties would
give place to joy — that soon they would bear to
their destitute families the- well-saved earnings of

their toil and blood *, and that while they recounted
the scenes of peril they had witnessed and the suf
ferings they had experienced, they could spread
before the <;^jects of their love, the means of re
lieving present wants, and preparing the way for
future comfort and independ^ice. But the blast
had swept across all those hopes and cheering an
ticipations. They were gone, and nothing seem
ed to remain to them, but with enfeebled frames
to beg their way home, and to greet the smiles and
joy which would welcome their return, with a de
tail of their weakness and their poverty, and the
prospect of adding to the feurdens which they had
thought to relieve. Their love of country had
been often tried before, but with no such touch
stone as this. There were not wanting moreover,
exertions to excite them to do as victorious armies
had often done in other countries and other times,
— -to make that country, whicb their arras had res
cued from foreign dominatixwi, bow beneath their
own. But the light which had ever accompanied
their course was not dask&aed ; — it shone with re
doubled brightness. Their united execrations
confounded and sfruck dumb the insiduous voices
that urged them to ddshonor tiieinselves, and dis
grace the sacned cause of liberty. Yet their re
sistance to tlie iniquitaus temptation was not from
insensibility to the trials which awaited them.
Their feelings were intensely acute, and while in
dignation burst from itheir lips at a suggestion to
trample on their country's rights, sorrow dimmed

9
many an eye which never quailed on the battle
field. There may be within the sound of my
voice some who can testify to the deep and min
gled emotions of the last few days spent on the
banks of the Hudson, — who can witness to the
unwavering attachment of ofiicers and men to the
cause they had ever supported — who can tell
too, how the friendship commenced and matured
in both disaster and success, then manifested its
genuineness intiets of mutual assistance — how they
who had little, imparted to them who had nothing;
and they who could give nothing else to an afflic
ted comrade, gave him at least their blessing —
who saw too, the heroic spirit and chivalrous gen
erosity of those noble men of other climes who
had aided in upholding the banners of freedom,
still appear in unceasing benevolence — who per
haps saw the generous Steuben, when he had
shared what was left to him with the gallant Coch
ran, a veteran colonel from the Green Mountains,
down whose war-worn cheek atear was trickling, not
i>ecause he was destitute, but because he had not
the means of removing his wife and daughters
from the distressful scene, yet give his only re
maining dollar to the wounded negro who wept on
the wharf that he had no way to get to the place of
his friends.
Such were the traits of character displayed in
the war of the Revolution. The physical force
employed in it was small compared with what is
.often marshalled in European warfare ; but the
2

10
amount of intellectual energy called into action
was unrivalled. This, with the chain of stupen
dous events, of which it was the first link, has giv
en it an impress of moralgrandeurwhich time will
never efface.
The clouds of war had at length rolled away.
Theirlastthunders had been heard in the distance,
and the sun of peace sbed his beams, not on chas
tised and humbled provinces, but on an indepen
dent nation whose sovereignty wlas upheld by the
hands of three millions of freemen. It soon ap
peared however that the season of rest had not ar
rived. Exhausted as the confederated states were
with war and anxious for repose, a task of equal
difficulty, though of a different kind, was before
them. The load of public and private debt had
become exceedingly oppressive. Credit seemed
irrevocably gone. The new relation in which the
States were placed to themselves and other na
tions, with the pecuniary distress of the country,.
called for the greatest unanimity and wisdom.
But local jealousy showed her hydra head on every
side. The cord of foreign danger which had
so firmly bound them together, was broken; and a
total disruption of all union and order seemed
about to ensue. The minds of all who ardently
loved their country, were filled with most melan
choly forebodings. They began to fear lest the
temple of free government which it had cost so much
to rear, would be shaken to the ground by the dis
sensions of those whose united efforts had erected

11
it. Its enemies already exulted in its anticipated
downfall, and prepared to raise the shout of tri
umph over its ruins. But the spirit which had ac-*
tuated its builders, broke the spell which seemed
to benumb their faculties. They saw the im
pending desolation, and agam united their strength
to remove the defects which threatened to over
throw the building of their hopes. The hastily-laid
and crumbling foundations were removed and. re^
newed, its unconnected and tottering columns
were immoveably bound together and made to
join in supporting the superstructure ; and within
six years it was seen again towering to the heav
ens, the pride and glory of Americans and the ad
miration of the world. Since then, foreign in
trigue has in vain sought to undermine its walls —
the impotent shafts of faction have been broken
against its pillars of adamant, and the bolts of
war have fallen harmless on its pinnacles. Time
has but strengthened and beautified it : the light
of prosperity has ever been reflected from its pol
ished dome to all parts of our favoured land, and
the fire of patriotism has never ceased to glow on
its altar.
The question whether a government resting en
tirely on a just representation of the people, is ful
ly competent to discharge all the functions of
peace and war, is now completely answered.
Where now are they, who fifty years ago pointed
to the popular institutions of former times, and in
their perpetual commotions, — in the unceasing

12
triumphs of the cabals of the vicious over the fee
bler union of the virtuous, — in the frequent des
truction of private excellence by the determina
tions of an infuriate multitude, and in the sacri
fice of all peace and justice before the shrine of
a mad and unprincipled ambition, with oracular
emphasis, bade republican America behold the
picture of what she would be ? Most of them
sleep in the dust ; and their predictions also moul
der in the heap of false notions,- — the accumula
ted lumber of age after age, now thrown aside to
be neglected forever. Was it said that a repub
lic, to subsist, must be anation of mere soldiers.'' —
that in peace, arts and agriculture would alike be
disregarded, while the people would be listening
to factious demagogues and wasting their time and
substance in ceaseless wranglings ? — that the peo
ple who considered the laws to be of their own
forming would ever feel superior to their control;
and that practical anai'chy would be the conse
quence ? — ^^that private rights would be disregar
ded and public eredit unknown ? Let the forests
that have fallen by the axe of cultivation, let the
numerous cities and villages that are found, where
but a short time since wild beasts had their lairs,
and the canals and public roads, where the foot
path of the savage was the only sign of human
beings ; — let the hum of business which arises
from all parts of our territories, — the incalculable
benefits conferred on mankind by the mechanical
inventions of american genius,— the en6rgetfc

18
administration of the laws, and the order and
quiet character of our most numerous assemblies
compared with the riots and wanton destruction of
property in other countries, which not even an
armed force can always prevent, — let all these
furnish a reply. Ask a citizen of the world to
mention the land where the path of industry and
rectitude ever leads to plenty and respect, where
the channels of individual enterprise are unob
structed by impolitic restrictions, — where every
man, no matter what be his country, his occupa
tion or his opinions, may come and go unques
tioned — where knowledge is most widely diffused
—where in fine, every one is at liberty to do what-
everis right, and finds the greatest restraint against
doing wrong, and he will name the land which,
thanks be to God, we call our own.
Though we cannot exhibit in detail, the nature
and tendency of our institutions, yet it may be well
to point oat in a few words, the principles which
from the basis of all our regulations for promoting
the happiness of our own citizens and a beneficial in
tercourse with other nations. With regard to our
internal system, the spirit which pervades it, is
simply this ; to give to m&ry one his weight in
the national scale, and to impress on his mind that
in using his influence for the general welfare, he
advances his personal good ; — lo rest the weight
of supporting the government on the whole com
munity, and to leave iJie reaAs to honor and trust
open to all ;— 4o give exclusive orhereditaiy privi-

14
leges to no class of citizens ; and to allow e^'erf
individual to pursue unimpeded the course which
his own genius and interest point out, so long as
he interferes not with the natural and constituted
rights of those around him. Thus, no one pos
sesses power independent of the will of the rest ;
and if he misuses the authority delegated to him
by their suffrages, he soon is shorn of the locks
of his strength, and his hands become weak as
those of another man. No order of men is free
from the restraints to which others are subject.
The arm of legal authority is as quickly extended
to protect the poor and friendless from abuse, as
to save the property of the rich from the spoiler.
No class of citizens is known in our land to whom
inferiority and wretchedness are an hereditary por
tion, who ever feel that they may gain but cannot
lose by tumult and revolution. The tree of social
order is not cherished by a ievf, who share among
themselves its choicest fruits. It draws nourish
ment from the interest and affection of all, even
the humblest. All sit beneath its shadow, and its
bounties are impartially distributed. He that
serves his country faithfully, enjoys her smiles and
receives her rewards ; but the strength of the na
tion is not wasted in feeding the insatiable vam-
pyre of sinecure.
Much has been said of the ingratitude of popu
lar governments. That in those of ancient times,.
the very individuals to whom they were under the
greatest obligations were as liable as others, some-

15
tames apparently moreso, to be the victims of sud
den resentment or the objects of a cold, unfeeling ne
glect, is doubtless true ; but that as heavy a charge
might not be maintained against those of an op
posite character in the same period, is yet to be
shown. At any rate, the dissimilarity between all
governments in the days of Greece and Rome and
those in modern times, is so very great, and the
circumstances of society are so widely different,
that there can be little reasoning from one to the
other. We do not think facts will warrant an as
sertion that any of the existing governments of
Christendom are remarkable for the trait we have
mentioned. None of them are particularly re
gardless of them whose strength and talents have
been devoted to the service of their country.
•Their regard is manifested however in different
methods, in conformity to the genius of their res
pective institutions. In monarchical countries,
where a seat with the noble and highborn is a
chief object of desire, a star and garter, or a title of
honor rewards the general or statesman whose
services have been eminently useful to the govern
ment which employed him. Such rewards aro-
unwished for by an american citizen, who would
not exchange the respect and confidence of his
intelligent equals for the highest peerage in the
gift of a king. What would induce the man, who,
after helping to lay the foundations of his coun
try's freedom, finds himself yet able by his voice
and suflrage to use his influence in perpetuating

10
the blessings he foOght to secure,— who spends the
evening of his days in the midst of his friends,
land knows that he shall live in the memory of
those who survive him, to barter his enjoyments
for the privilege of frequenting the purlieus of a
count, or having his remains lie in a mausoleum
on which might be inscribed all that would keep
him from being forgotten .'' Show me the veteran
who would exchange his privileges as a freeman for
a certificate of admission to a hospital, where he
would indeed be supported by royal bounty in tol
erable comfort, but would live and die unheeded
and uncared-for, any more than a brute who had
spent his vigor in the service of a benevolent mas
ter.'* Other rewards than pecuniary ones are
more valued by the brave. Tell us who it is,
whose gray hairs are ever respected by the middle-
aged, and the sight of whose wounds brings tears
into the eyes of youthful enthusiasm, whose name
«ver entitles him to a seat of honor in the assem
blies of his countrymen. Is it not the soldier of
the Revolution .'' What voice of sorrow is heard
throughout the extended union.'' Is it not that which
tells us that another of our heroes has gone to the land
of silence ; and when the mournful tidings shall
be proclaimed that the last of that venerable band
has been gathered to his fathers, a general burst
of grief will declare a nation's gratitude to them
who gave their country its freedom.
Though we claim for our political institutions
in general, a, superioiity over those of other coun ¦

17
tries, we do not think them free from defects.
Perhaps many instances could be adduced where
in useful alterations might be made. Time may
dothis ; or if the defects remain, the detriment from
them will be too small compared with the general
welfare, to cause special anxiety.
There is however, one evil, of such terrific mag
nitude, which is so glaringly inconsistent with the
general principles of our government, and ha^such
a pernicious influence and tendency, that we can
not pass it unnoticed. Humbling as the fact is, it
is but too true that our constitutions, having for
their basis, the memorable declaration : " We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights — that among
these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi
ness," do in direct contravention to these funda
mental principles, authorize the bondage of hu
man beings guilty of no crime ; and place their
happiness, their liberty, and their lives in the pow
er of those who may coerce them at will, with
scarcely more restraint on their conduct towards
them than towards the beasts af the field. Who
is there whose warm blood does not gush tumul-
tuously through his bosom, as he this day thinks of
his country's prosperity, and in imagination listens
to the acclaim of nine millions of freemen .''
Does it not also ebb coldly back to his heart, when
he calls to mind that their feet are on the necks
of eighteen hundred thousands of their fellow-be-

18
TOgs ? Nay, if on this day consecrated to free
dom, they are not driven to the field, it is because
the petty tyrants who are hired to exact their ser
vice, have laid aside what are alike the instruments
of torture and the ensigns of their authority, to
join in shouts and anthems to liberty.
We need not recount the steps by which slave
ry Was brought Upon our hemisphere. It would
however seem incredible to one not familiar with
the fact, were he informed that in the most en
lightened age of the world such an evil took root,
and spread so widely, — an evil, if we consider all
its attendant aggravations, unparallelled since hu
man society began to exist. A child scarcely
needs to be informed that the slavery known among
the Jews, resembled that of our own times only
in name. The Hebrew slaves were protected from
abuse to their persons — no disgrace was attached
to their condition-^they were treated as children
and could, and often did, intermarry with the chil
dren of their owners and even with their owners
themselves ; nor could their servitude exceed six
years in duration. This, instead of being slave
ry as we know it, was little but an honorable ap
prenticeship. But let us go to the Greeks and Ro
mans, who both, and specially the latter, consider
ed all men but themselves as barbarians', and made
slaves of all whom they could conquer. Even
with them the situation of a slave might be envia
ble compared with that of our own. The owner
might indeed torture and put to death his servant

19
with impunity — yet a son was no more protected.
The freed man, instead of forever bearing the un
tarnished bg,dge of his former degradation, was
often chosen to places of high trust and honor ;
and even the slave himself, because of his learn
ing and wit, often received from the wise and no
ble, an attention and regard which were not be
stowed upon his rude and uncultivated master.
Degrading to Christian nations as these compari
sons may seem to be, a more degrading one can
yet be made. Let us turn our eyes to those pirat
ical nations, so long the objects of dread, hatred
and abhorence to the whole of Europe and Amer
ica, the Barbary* states. They too enslave their
captives, and buy and sell human beings as chris
tians do, and treat them with a severity which
they manifest not to the dogs whose name they so
often apply to them. Yet let the most miserable
wretch that wears, an Algerine fetter, confess a
faith in Mohammed, and his master talks not of
his right to retain what he bought. — No matter
how great the price he paid for him, he cheerfully
knocks off his chains, clothes him as his son and
receives him as an equal. We know that slavery
in our country is an evil of so long continuance,
that our feelings of horror are less intense than
they would be, were it of recent introduction.
Palliatives of its enormity, and excuses for its
continuance are sought for ; but in vain. They
are all absurd or deceptive. He that supports
slavery on a plea of self-interest is unworthy of

20
the name of a man ; and he who asserts the con
dition of the slave to be not inferior to that of
many who are free, knows not the value of liberty.
We know indeed that some are found who assert
that they whom we hold in bondage are in a bet
ter condition than freedom and equality could con
fer on them. This, though heard from the lips of
freemen, is the genuine language of Tyrants, and
is as false in sentiment as it is odious in sound. —
Let him who believes that our slaves are happier
than they could be, if relieved from their servi
tude and degradation, go then to the one, who, when
driven with his manacled companions past the
doors of the Capitol, lifted his fettered hands to
the representatives of the nation, who unconcern
ed looked on, and with sublime irony raised the
patriot's song ; " Hail Columbia, happy land :" —
Let him go even to them, whose vacant laugh at
night fall has furnished him with an argument for
his preposterous opinion, and offer them their lib
erty, and to remove them to a land, where no de
gradation is attached to the color which their Ma
ker pleased to give them, and see if they reject
"his kindness. But if he thinks that inexperience
might dictate an erroneous choice, let him go to
Sierra Leonne, and visit a flourishing City, its
places of WOTship, its schools and halls of justice,
remembering that it was peopled with the ignor
ant and the squalid from various and hostile tribes, •
Who were taken, maimed and emaciated from the
holds of slave ships. — Let him visit Liberia, our

own happy colony, and see a flourishing traffic ia
the productions of the country where formerly the
slave-merchant received his victims ; — let him see
cultivated fields luxuriant from the labor of free
men where once the thickets concealed the man
stealer, fellest of savage beasts, lurking for his
prey ; — let him behold the house of God where
stood the cabin dedicated to the worship of Devils ;
and if he be still incredulous, and attributes ail to
the wisdom and assistance of whitemen, let him
visit that land not far from our own shores, where
the people, whom nature is said to have stamped
with an imbecility incompatible with freedom, by"
one mighty effort burst their chains, and wrote in
characters of blood and fire, their claims to the
rights of men. — Let him notice their progress in
twenty-three years, from extreme degradation to res
pectability, their ignorance yielding to the gradual
diffusion of knowledge, — their rapid advancement
under the greatest discouragements to importance
in the scale of nations ; — let him then offer to all
these their former badges, and promise them the
highest load of slavery that was ever borne, and
listen to their scornfiil and indignant reply. The
truth is, there is nothing to be said in favor of
slavery. Mingle with it what you will, it is still
the bitterest draught, that man ever held to the
lips of his fellow.
Authorised as it is by our laws, and existing to
sueh a degree in our country, it affixes guilt to the
nation, and unless removed, will bring upon us

22
the vengeance of a benevolent God. The expe
rience of six thousand years confirms the truth of
that memorable sentiment of the father of his
country, a sentiment that should stand in letters of
gold in the halls of national legislation ; " Tho
smiles of heaven can never be expected on a na
tion that disregards the eternal rules of order and
right, which heaven itself has ordained,"- It avails
us not to throw back the blame of slavery in our
land upon them who first introduced it. That was
their crimej — the voluntary continuation of it is
ours. That a part of the union cannot alone act
for its abolition, is the very reason why the feelings
of all should be interested in it. If it be said
that the subject is beset with difficulties, we grant
it ; yet they are not insuperable. The disease
strikes so directly at the life, that no remedy can
be named which is not preferable to letting it take-
its course. Better even that the national treasu
ry should pay the appreciated value of every slave
in the union, and transport them to the land of
their fathers, than that this foul stain should con
tinue on our national character. The lover of his
country can not look at the coi^tinuance of slave
ry, unanxious ; for he sees in it the already sprout
ing seeds of commotion and blood-shed, which
nothing but their complete eradication can pre
vent from ripening to maturity. We live too late
in the world for the present state of things to con
tinue long. The spirit which has freed a contin
ent — which has broken the massy yoke of Span-

25
ish superstition and cruelty is not quelled, nor will
it suffer them whose necks were first liberated
from the chains of unjust control, to retain in their
hands the far heavier ones of despotism. We
must free our slaves, or the time is not distant
when they will free themselves. It is idle to say
that such an event is impossible — to speak of their
want of means, their ignorance and inability to
act in concert ; and of our precaution, our muni
tions of war and our strength. A God of justice
can give wisdom and strength to the feeble and
palsy the arm of the strong. It is in vain that the
selfish policy of a few prevents our recognizing
the Independence of Haiti — a nation that has
for years been as free as we are. — It is in vain that
the same wicked policy has extended the evil
through the fertile plains of Missouri. — It is in
vain that arguments are still adduced even from
Scripture to support it, which would equally well
prevent the destruction of the Romish Inquisition.
All such obstacles are but the accumulated mate
rials over an ignited magazine, serving only to in
crease the horror and ruin of the explosion. He
then who has influence, and will not exert it in
the cause of liberty and humanity, — he that has a
voice and a vote in the legislative councils of the na
tion and lends them to the cause of slavery, must
see to it lest the curse of posterity rest on his
name. But we will not anticipate so disastrous an event
to our beloved country. A happier vision arises

:24
io view. Emancipation has planted her standard
and thousands, even fVom among those who were
hostile to her cause, are gathering around it. The
voices of Humanity, of Liberty, and Religion, are
heard in favor of it on every side. Even Interest
— cold-hearted Interest has found that not slaves,
hut freemen, most advance his wishes. Freedom
has lighted her watch fires on the benighted bor
ders of Africa, and she will soon protect them from
the minions of cruelty. Who will not enlist in
this sacred cause ? Who will not this day swear
an implacable hatred to slavery ?• — Who will not
join to hasten forward the day, which ere long
will come, when Africa shall have her curse re
moved — when in our land, the South shall begin the
true song of jubilee and the North shall joyously
respond, and a nations voice, like that of ocean
in its might, shall send to heaven the chorus of
freedom .''
Of our intercourse with other nations we have
not time to speak. We will only remark that the
principles of our action have been substantially
the same as those which have produced happiness
among our own citizens. We leave wholly to oth
ers to institute and support such forms of govern
ment as they please, and endeavour to act with
those which may exist according to those plain
rules of mutual forbearance, accommodation and
equality, which conduce to prosperity and good
will between man and man. We can not wonder
that such pacific dispositions were for a time mis-

25
interpreted, and that they who were accustomed
to regard mildness of language as an indication
of infirmity of purpose, and who acknowledged no
right but that of the strongest, should conclude
that they might make unjust requisitions of us
with success and trample on our rights with impu
nity. If they thought so once, they think so no
longer. They have learned by experience that a
regard to right does not enfeeble the minds, nor
peace unnerve the arms of freemen. Long may
those principles which our venerated Washington
made the rule of his conduct and left to us an in
valuable legacy, — which extricated our political
bark from the more dangerous whirlpools that
succeeded the storms of the Revolution, and which
have safely guided us thus far in our course, — long
may they remain our chart on the ocean of hu
man affairs.
But the great events of fifty years are gone from
our view, and while we contemplate with deep in
terest their important existing consequences, we
can not avoid glancing our eyes anxiously forward,
and striving to discern, through the veil that hangs
before us, atleast some faint glimpses of our coming
destiny. Shall we go on in the ascending path of
prosperity ? Or will the day come, when we shall be
found only in the records of history, and our ru
ins be pointed at by the future statesman as anoth
er instance to show the frailty of national gran
deur and the mutability of all human things ? But
one answer can be given. So long as we remain

26
¦virtuous, so long are we safe. Here is the Palla
dium of our ^ecul ity^ — this the Citadel that must
be held or all will be lost. Our systems rest solely
upon the character of the people ; and if corrup
tion shall have ever pervaded this foundation, in
vain will be our remoteness from foreign powers —
in vain will be our numbers, our wealth, our institu
tions. Infatuation will rule in our councils, in
justice will mark our conduct towards others, dis
sension will rend the cords which now seem to
bind us indissolubly together; and no earthly pow
er can stay the ruin that will succeed. The whirl
wind and the storm will follow the calm that now
prevails, and that star of our freedom, which fifty
years since, arose in beauty and now sparkles glo
riously in the serenity of heaven, will set in dark- .
ness and in gloom forever. Freemen, Patriots,
Christians ! Let our exertions and prayers be that
our Palladium may be secure, and our Citadel re
main forever impregnable. Then may we look
forward with joy and confidence. The now new-
laid ramparts Of our free institutions shall be
gveen with the moss of liges, yet uninjured by time;
and when peace and goodwill shall fill the earth,
no longer needful to guard us from the foe, they
shall still be regarded with veneration as the first
that stayed the progress of despotism in this wes
tern world ; and the star spangled banner shall yet
float on the breeze, the beauteous symbol of a
mighty people, united in serving God and promo
ting the happiness of mankind.

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