YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 05423 2393

Bailey, 13. F

.

An Oration

• • •

Burlington ,

1828.

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1942

AN

ORATION,
DELIVERED AT BURLINGTON, VT.

ON THE

FOURTH OF JULY 1828,

BEING THE

iW&¥ S2S©©NB a3mXTTIBM«»¥

OF

AMERICAN HffDEPENBEMTCE.

BY B. F. BAILEY, Esq.

BURLINGTON,
PRINTED BY E. &, T. MILLS.
1828.

Burlington, July 5, 1828.
Sik, Your fellow-citizens, entertaining a just sense of the patriotic and Amer
ican sentiments contained in your Oration, delivered al Burlington, July 4,
J828, respectfully tender their thanks, and request a copy for the press.
In behalf of the General Committee. C. P VAN NESS,
H. LOW BY,
G C\TLIN,
N. B. HAS WELL,
T. CH1TTKNDEN,
J J LAJNGDON,
SAMUEL BLISS,
JOHN MUISSON.
To B. F. BAILEY, Esq. Burlington, July 7, 1828.
Gentlemen, You are fully aware of the peculiar circumstances under which the Ad
dress, of which you have been pleased lo ask a copy, was written. The ve
ry short time allowed me for its pri*p»"'«iion, and the present political ex
citement which makes the public mind averse to Ihe discussion of general
topics, have caused me to doubt the propriety of consenting toils publica
tion. But ss, with all its defects, it may claim Ihe humble merit of being
free from party allusions and party sentiments, and of conforming, in that
respect, t'i fhe spirit of a Hay which is Ihe common property at all parlies,
and all citizens, I have thought proper to comply with your request.
I am with respect, yours &c. B. F. BAILEY.
To C. P. VAN NF.SP, Esq.
and others, Committee, 8io,

Fellow-Citizens, Fifty-two years have now gone by, since the
first fire was kindled on the altar of American free
dom. Through the midnight gloom of the revo
lution, its vigil flame animated the hearts and nerv
ed the arms of our patriot ancestors, and, steadily
increasing in height and splendor, it now sheds its
benignant radiance on twelve millions of freemen.
The temple, whose foundations were laid on the
ever memorable 4th of July 1776, has lifted its
summit to the skies, opened wide its portals, and
offered a sanctuary to the oppressed and the cap
tive from every nation and every clime. The an
them of liberty which was first chanted within its
walls, now swells the morning and the evening
breeze from the Atlantic to the Kocky Mountains.
On this d >y, who would not be an American
citizen ? What heart so dead, that it does not
thrill with joy and exultation at the glorious recol
lections and associations which belong to the anni
versary of our country's birth ?
We have assembled, not to recount the person
al sacrifices, the chivalrous exploits, the more than
Roman virtues, which signalized the momentous
contest with the mother country, not to excite or
cherish causeless resentment or hostility against
our former foe, but to commemorate this day, as
patriots, as philanthropists and as christians, and
to contemplate some of the moral and political ef
fects resulting from the establishment of free gov
ernment upon the just and immutable basis of e-
qual rights.

At the commencement of the American Revo
lution, the world afforded no example of a free, rep
resentative government. The nearest approxima
tion to civil or political liberty was a qualified or
limited monarchy. In Great Britain and France,
the representative principle had been partially re
cognized and adopted, but it was ingrafted upon a
system essentially hostile to popular rights, and
was counteracted and neutralized by the corrup
tions which the profligacy of a thousand years had
accumulated. That man is capable of self government, and
that the stability of civil society, and security of
life and property, are compatible with free insti
tutions, were regarded as splendid heresies, as fit
themes of speculation for the schools, but as too ab
surd, and of too dangerous a tendency, to be re
ceived by grave and practical statesmen. The
grand problem on which were depending the digni
ty and hnppiness of man, the full developement and
right application of his intellectual faculties, and
the harmony and permanency of social order, had
not then been solved.
One of the two fundamental errors which divid
ed the Whigs and Tories of Great Britain was,
under some modification, the basis of every gov
ernment on earth.
The assumption and exercise of political power
were declared either to be of "divine right," or to
have been conceded by an "original compact," e-
qually obligatory upon the generations of after-
times. It is true a glorious few had appeared in
different ages and countries, whose souls were im
bued with the spirit of universal emancipation, and
whose voices, feeble & i lone, had been raised to as
sert the inalienable rights of their fellow-men.
But there were none to second their efforts, they
were crushed by the arm of power, and the dun-

geon and the scaffold were the rewards of their
patriotism and virtue.
But in the American Colonies, the tree of liber
ty had been planted and reared by the hands of
the Pilgrims and Patriarchs — by the men who fel
led the wide spread forests, and converted the sav
age wilderness into the abode of peace aad plenty,
of religion, civilization and the arts. Though sub
ject to the dominion of Great Britain, the Colo
nists were in their habits of thinking, their prin
ciples, and the form and spirit of their institutions,
essentially republican.
They knew it could not be the purpose of the
Creator that a vast continent, rich in natural re
sources, traversed by mighty rivers, embosoming
many inland seas, stretching a vast distance along
the Ailantic, and thus presenting every facility to
agriculture, commerce and manufactures, should
forever remain a mere appendage to the British
crown. They saw in bright perspective the inde
pendence, felicity and grandeur of their own chos
en America. And when the day of their full man
hood came, and the hour of separation from the
parent country arrived, there stepped forth three
millions of freemen, to lift on high the banner of
freedom, and to lay broad and deep the founda
tions of a mighty Republic, whose shores should
be washed by the Atlantic and the Pacific, and
which should be free as the air upon their moun
tains, and enduring as time. They fought for
their firesides and their altars, and they conquered.
After the recognition of our independence by
Great Britain, and the restoration of peace, sever
al of the state governments underwent a new or
ganization, and were re-modelled upon principles
more strictly republican. In 1789, after the adop
tion of the "Federal Constitution, the administra
tion of the General Government commenced under

6
the auspicious guidance of that extraordinary man,
whom Providence, in token of peculiar favor to
rational liberty, had raised up and qualified to be
the deliverer and father ofhis country.
Thirteen sovereign and independent states, u-
nited in one grand confederacy to defend and per
petuate the free institutions which ihey had estab
lished, presented a spectacle to which no parallel
could be found in the history of man. When the
Declaration of American Independence went forth
to the world, kings and despots clenched their iron
sceptres with a convulsive grasp, and shrunk, with
instinctive honor, from the bold and uncomprom
ising truths which it asserted.
The spirit of liberty is contagious. Free prin
ciples, like air and light, disdain the restraints of
territorial limits. They are coextensive in their
range with the empire of mind.
At length, the torch of revolution communicated
its flame to the shores of France. America, in
her eventful struggle for existence and liberty, had
shared the treasure, been aided by the arms, and
cheered by the sympathies, of that brave and gene
rous people. The gallant La Fayette, the patriot
of two generations, had drawn his sword, and pour
ed out his youthful blood, in defence of our nation
al freedom. They listened with thrilling interest
to the story of his romantic adventures. The ori
gin, progress and triumphant issue of the Ameri
can Revolution had already become matters of au
thentic history.
Soon the wheel of revolution began to move.
The velocity and irregularity of its movement were
greatly increased by the peculiarities of the French
character. The professed objects of the most virtuous actors
in that sanguinary conflict were, to limit the royal
prerogative, to encourage industry by providing

greater security for property, to reform the intoler
able abuses of the government, and to introduce
into its administration the principles of a more lib
eral and enlightened policy.
But the day of her political redemption had not
yet dawned upon France. She was scourged and
lacerated, but not disenthralled. A licentious and
infidel philosophy had secretly infused its poison
into the public mind, and unsettled the foundations
of religious faith. The Illuminati declared war
against both the altar and the throne, and while
they denounced the abuse of civil power, they,
with equal boldness, denied the attributes and mor
al government of God. They inscribed their lib
ertine creed, "Eternal sleep," upon their tomb
stones, and these words soon became the appro
priate epitaph of their infant liberty. At length, an
infuriate and ferocious populace, stimulated by lust
and a keen sense of injuries and abuses long con
tinued, rose in the consciousness of its physical
strength, and, like a torrent, prostrated in its course
the learned and the brave, infancy and age, and
the venerable monuments of art, science and reli
gion. But humbling to our pride as was the tragedy of
the French Revolution, l here is strong reason for
the belief that it has been productive of no incon
siderable benefit to the cause of liberal principles.
A spirit of fearless inquiry has been awakened,
and has gone abroad throughout continental Eu
rope. The tone of the Press has been elevated,
and the circle of its influence enlarged. The most
important questions in civil government and politi
cal economy are now examined ami discussed with
a freedom unknown to former times. The state of
parties in .France herself, more especially the num
bers and relative strength of the Liberals, as man-*

8
ifested in the Chamber of Deputies, are a trium
phant proof of the truth of our position.
Nor have Spain and Portugal been wholly ex
empt from the operation of this subtle and power
ful agent. If has crossed the Pyrenees, and has be
sieged the very strong holds of superstition and ar
bitrary power. Repulsed, it is not extinguished
nor defeated. Mind, like water, cannot be com
pressed even by the infernal machinery of the In
quisition. The spirit of free government contains
an inherent, vital principle, and it will yet go forth
in the panoply of truth and reason, and overthrow
that stupendous fabric of civil and papal misrule
vs bich has so long enslaved and debased the Span
ish and Portuguese nations.
Within the period under consideration, the Brit
ish Government has suffered no material change
in form, but in its administration, its aristocratical
features ht:ve been softened down, respect for pop
ular rights has gradually increased, and its legis
lation and foreign policy are more in unison with
the spirit and temper of the age. The recent ele
vation of Mr.. Canning to the Premiership of Great
Britain, and the power which he exerted over the
proudest courts of continental Europe, the repeal
of (he odious and oppressive "Test and Corpora
tion Acts," and the late preliminary votes upon
the Resolution for the emancipation of the long
disfranchised Catholics, are most important con
cessions to popular opinion, and most decisive evi
dence of the steady progress of liberal principles.
But if we would witness a fuller exhibition of
the efficacv of our example in moulding the opin
ions, and determining the institutions of other coun
tries, we may turn our eye to the map of South
America. When the independence of the North
Ameiican Colonies was declared. Spanish Ameri
ca was scarcely known iu the divisions of the ci-

9
vilized world. A few weak and dependent colo
nies were scattered over its surface, with little or
no commerce or agriculture, and without any regu
lar organization of civil government. What an
astonishing transformation have they undergone !
By a mighty effort, they have thrown off the yoke
of colonial vassalage, and broken the sceptre of
European dominion. Several of the most popu
lous and important provinces have established in
dependent, elective governments, have been re
ceived into the communion of nations, and have
formed commercial relations with the United States,
and with the governments of the old world. Their
institutions are, beyond all question, extremely de
fective in many respects, but the establishment of
schools, the consequent diffusion of knowledge a-
mong the people, more liberal sentiments in regard
to religious toleration, and a higher standard of
national feeling and character, will give addition
al strength, permanence and beauty to their polit
ical systems.
Is it not a proud and cheering reflection, that a
numerous family of Republics has sprung into ex
istence in the Southern Hemisphere, to walk in the
light of our example, to adopt and propagate our
principles, and to stand up with us, a mighty pha
lanx of free states, in defence of the rights and lib
erties of man ? Could you behold the joy and ex
ultation which gladden the war-worn faces of the
Southern Patriots, on this, our nation's birth day,
could you witness the unbought demonstrations of
gratitude and respect which testify their remem
brance of your father's deeds and patriotism, could
you listen to the chorus of freedom, as, echoed
from the Andes, its sweeps along the vale, on eith
er side, to mingle with the ocean breeze, you
would cling, with a stronger affection, to the lega
cy which has come down to you, and offer up a
2

10
purer incense to the Supreme Ruler of nations.
But our own country is, after all, the theatre on
which the benign tendencies and stupendous results
of our republican system will be most clearly and
strikingly displayed.
European theorists, building their opinions upon
observation of the fate of the illy balanced democ
racies and aristocracies of the Eastern world, have
not scrupled to predict that a like catastrophe a-
waits the American Confederacy. We are told
that nations, like individuals, have their periods of
growth, strength and decline, and that the consti
tution of things inevitably leads from the perfection
of free government to the confusion of anarchy,
and thence, by an easy transition, to the iron sway
of despotism. Those who reason thus do not suf
ficiently consider the vast difference between the
origin of our civil institutions, and that of the gov
ernments of the Eastern continent.
The political and civil establishments ofthe old
world were the resultsof circumstances and qf blind
chance. The American Constitution, on the con
trary, is a new and deliberate experiment in the
science of government. It is wholly a matter of
design and choice. Its frameis were both freemen,
and the descendants of freemen. Next in hnpor-
tanceto their duty to their Creator, they had been
taught to hold a jealous eare and preservation of
their civil rights-
That our national and state constitutions are,
generally, well adapted to accomplish all the be
neficent ends of civil government, is fully attested
by the history of their operations and effects. The
American Union now holds in its comprehensive
embrace Twenty-Four Sovereign States — all es
sentially republican in their manners, habits of
thinking and feeling, in their political principles and
institutions. While the population of some ofthe

11
European nations has been almost stationary, that
ofthe United States has increased nearly fourfold.
Agriculture has been improved and extended. —
Millions of acres of land which were traversed by
the untutored savage, and covered with almost im
penetrable forests, at the close of the revolution,
now present to the delighted eye, highly cultivat
ed fields, flourishing villages and populous cities.
Where the council-fire had been kindled, and the
war-dance, celebrated, for an hundred generations,
temples, colleges and churches lift up their spires
in magnificence and beauty. The tide of emigra
tion has rolled far beyond the Mississippi, and new
generations of men have risen up to claim with
us the inestimable blessings of free government
and equal laws.
The commercial skill and enterprise of Ameri
cans are seen and felt in every port and every
country. On the Ohio, the Missouri and the Mis
sissippi, where the Indian, fifty years ago, rowed
his fairy bark, fearless of the white man, hundreds
of steam boats now float, laden with the produc
tions of every clime. By the construction of ca
nals, the ocean has been connected with our inland
seas, and by opening convenient roads, and by
the application of steam machinery to the move
ment of boats and carriages, facilities for the ex
change and transportation of various commodities
have been multiplied, and places remote from each
other are brought into close neighbourhood. One
immediate effect of these improvements is, to con
centrate the moral and physical strength of the
country within such limits that it may be most
easily and effectually directed to proper objects
in peace or war, while none of the advantages in
cident to extent of territory are lost.
In no country have the means of useful educa
tion been increased to so great an extent as in the

12
United States. Common schools, the fruitful nur-
ceries of republican principles, are established and
maintained in each state, county, and organized
town. In consequence of this ample provision for
public instruction, an amount of knowledge, ade
quate to the common exigencies of life, is possess
ed by all classes of the community. Public opin
ion is enlightened. The national character is ex
alted. Industry, in all its branches, is stimulated,
fostered and rewarded. Confidence in the stabil
ity and efficiency of the representative system is
justified and increased.
The grand experiment of elective government,
of free institutions, is steadily and successfully go
ing on. So triumphant have been the march of
our government, and the progress of liberal senti
ments, that what is now recorded on the page of
history would, before the Declaration of American
Independence, have been pronounced to be the
vain imaginings ofa political enthusiast. But the
most splendid anticipations of the patriot have
scarcely equalled the magnificent reality of our
condition. Though it is our peculiar good fortune to be re
moved from the immediate action of transatlantic
politics, and "equal and exact justice to all nations
"entangling alliances with none," is the funda
mental maxim on which our intercourse with for
eign nations should be conducted, we cannot con
template, without the liveliest concern, the pres
ent posture of affairs in Europe. We cannot be
indifferent to the policy and cabinet movements of
Great Britain, France and Russia.
The general pacification of Europe was follow
ed by the Greek Revolution. Bowed down for
ages by the massy yoke of Turkish despotism, and
shut out from communion with the civilized world,

13
Greece was scarcely distinguishable on the map
of modern nations. But enslaved and crushed to
the earth as Greece literally was, her soil was still
"impregnate with divinity." A ray of light from
the general illumination of Europe flashed upon
the "darkness visible" which, for centuries had
brooded over her, and kindled anew the sacred
love of freedom, learning and national glory.
I need not detail to you the events, the alternate
successes and disasters of that bloody and pro
tracted conflict. The Greeks have fought with a
spirit, constancy and fortitude worthy of their name
and their cause.
The contest is most emphatically a "war of opin
ions" of principles, and of religious faith. The
Crescent, dyed in blood, is arrayed against the Cross,
the devotees of Mahomet, against the professed
followers of Jesus, barbarism, against learning,
despotic power, against liberty in every form and
in every degree. The friends of civil and reli
gious freedom, and of humanity, have looked with
inexpressible solicitude to the Allied Powers for
some decisive interposition in behalf of the suffer
ing Greeks. But they have looked in vain.
England dreads the possibility of aggrandizing
Russia by the annexation of Greece to her territo
ry, and trembles with fear, lest the capture of Con
stantinople, and the subjugation of the Turks,
should open a convenient highway by which her
northern rival might reach the British Indies. —
Yet the world will hope, that England, the boasted
champion of free principles, in the Eastern Hem
isphere, and Russia, bound to the Greeks by the
strong and ever active ties of a common faith, will
not longer stand ingloriously by, while the ruthless
Turk tramples upon the mingled dust of states
men and heroes, philosophers and poets, and cov
ers with devastation and blood the consecrated

14
land where the New Testament is still read in the
original tongue, and where the Apostles themselves
planted the church of Christ.
But whatever may be the immediate issue of
this unequal strife, the recent declaration of war
by Russia against the Ottoman Porte is an event
which may change the moral complexion and the
political relations of Europe. The total expul
sion of the Turks from the confines of Christen
dom, the subversion of their power, and the ulti
mate establishment of peace, order and regular
government in some portions, at least, of the ter
ritory now under their usurped dominion, are
probable, if not certain, consequences, which may
be anticipated from this conflict.
When we bring our own happy country into
contrast with the nations ofthe Eastern Continent,
what abundant cause have we for joy and honest
exultation ? A territory of vast extent, a rich and
various soil, the full enjoyment ofthe greatest por
tion of civil liberty and of the rights of conscience,
consistent with the public tranquility, the avenues
to wealth, place rnd distinction open to all classes
of the people, colleges endowed and common
schools provided, to send forth the streams of
knowledge into every neighborhood and family —
these are some of the substantial advantages which
belong to our condition, as citizens of the United
States. The position of Free and Independent Ameri
ca is altogether novel, and transcendantly glorious.
While the rotten systems and establishments of
the old world are crumbling into dust, while the
cry ofthe people for liberty and reform is silenced
by the bayonet or the Inquisiiion, the Republic of
the United States rises in beauty and grandeur in
the Western Hemisphere, the asylum of humanity,
and the home of the free !

15
The influence which our country is destined to
exert on the cause of social order, and the ultimate
fortunesof the human race, is a theme of overpower
ing magnitude and interest. That political society is
susceptible of a more perfect organization than
has hitherto existed for any period of time, that the
scale of the rights and duties of the citizen mny be
more accurately adjusted, the public burthens more
equally divided, and the connexion between nation
al prosperity and individual intelligence and vir
tue may be more clearly established, are points
too plain to require elucidation.
But whatever may be thought ot these posi
tions, one thing is certain, that if we continue to
respect and faithfully maintain the great princi
ples ofthe Revolution, if we incorporate the light
of our own experience into the maxims of our pol
icy, if we consent to no change in the form or
spirit of our institutions which will not bring them
nearer to the republican standard, and better
adapt them to the purposes which they are de
signed to eftect, if we counteract, by a sterner in
tegrity and a purer patriotism, the tendency of
free governments to licentiousness and anarchy, if
we provide ample means for public instruction,
keep pure the fountains of justice, and make equi
ty and truth the basis of our foreign relations, not
only shall we sustain and perpetuate our own ex
cellent frame of government, but we shall be
the instruments of accomplishing an incalculable
amount of good to the whole human family.
The eyes of all nations are fixed on our course.
The cause of freedom must gain or lose by the
issue of this experiment at self-government. We
cannot be neutral, if we would, in this mighty con-
flct. Our influence will be felt. Our opinions
and example must have weight throughout the
civilized world. "We are placed at the head of

ib
" the system of representative and popular gov-
" ernments." In this connexion, how fearful is the responsi
bility we have assumed by the covenant which we
have made with our country. Our birth, the secu
rity of personal rights which we enjoy, and the
invaluable patrimony of free principles which we
have inherited, impose upon us an obligation
wliich our warmest zeal and highest efforts alone
can discharge. We are addressed by motives,
and urged on by considerations, which none but
freemen can feel or comprehend in their full force.
A trust of which no numbers can compute the con
tinually increasing value, is committed to our
hands. The last hopes of the friends of liberty
and humanity in every part of the world are with
us. Shall we disappoint them ? Shall we prove
ourselves faithless to our high destiny ?
Our country opens an interminable field, and
presents strong and manifold inducements, to in
to lectual exertion. Knowledge is the broad and
sure foundation on which the whole fabric of our
republican institutions rests. It is the aliment of
liberty, and the safeguard of public viture. To
study, simplify and improve the principles of po
litical economy, to cultivate a truly national lit
erature, to aid in building up our common schools,
and in devising the most effectual methods of in
struction, are duties of high obligation upon the
American scholar.
Could the master spirits of antiquity, the silent
depositaries of liberal principles, who conceived
v, hat they durst not express, and prayed for what
they could not accomplish, have witnessed what
has fallen within the compass of our experience,
the auspicious consequences, already realized, of
the discovery of America, how would they, in the
fulness of their joy and gratitude, have blessed

17
t*od for the vision, and have devoted, afresh, their
time and their talents to the sacred cause of human
happiness and human freedom ?
The summons of our country goes forth to eve
ry citizen of every class and condition. Each, in
his proper sphere, may contribute to the progres
sive melioration and glory of his native land. It
is the peculiar value and beauty of our system,
that it places civil distinctions and trusts, the re
wards of mechanical industry and skill, and of lit
erary merit, before the great body of the people,
as objects of fair and honorable ambition. They
are not the exclusive rights or property of any or
der or family. They do not depend on Letters
Patent. The indigent and the rich, the high
born and the low, meet in our schools and col
leges, in the liberal professions, and in the halls of
legislation, on equal and common ground. Intelli
gence, virtue and enterprise are the only valid ti
tles to public favor. It is this principle which,
like a golden cord, binds the heart of the citizen
to the government of his choice, and gives to the
sentiment of patriotism, the fervor and energy of
self love.
Let us do our duty — our whole duty. Let us
act up to the spirit of the age, and ever be found
among the strenuous and consistent advocates of
free principles, equal rights, and a humane and en
lightened national policy. Let us guard the integ
rity ofthe Union, and be strictly national in our po
litical sentiments. Let us preserve the purity ofthe
el active franchise, from the highest to the humblest
grade of office.
Of those who signed the Declaration of Amer
ican Independence, all, save one, have been gaih-
ered, in their turn, to the congregation of the m; jfity
de 1 1 It h is been the peculiar lot of the ven.ji'a-'
ble Carroll to survive his compeers on the theatre
3

18
of their glory, and, by the blessing of Heaven, Ihe-,
this day, lives, to receive the homage and gratitude
of a great and free people. And thanks be to
God, there yet, linger among us a few of those gal
lant spirits, who, on the embattled field, braved
the cannon's mouth to avouch and maintain the
great and important principles which that immor
tal Declaration proclaimed — the surviving Officers
and Soldiers of the Revolution !
Fifty years of toil, suffering and want have bow
ed down to the grave many a noble form and gen
erous heart. Many an eye that beamed with mar
tial fire in the day of our country's peril, has
wept the cold ingratitude and reproachful silence of
that country, before it closed in death.
But the time of retribution has, at length, come.
And though it comes too late for thousands who
deserved well for their deeds of valor, yet we re
joice that it comes even now. It evinces a just
national feeling. It has wiped a stain from our
national escutcheon. It will give new vigor and
animation to these venerable memorials of a bet
ter generation, and smooth their pathway to the
tomb. It was said, with great force and beauty, by a
Grecian orator, that "This whole earth is the sep
ulchre of illustrious men." What was the lan
guage of fancy and hyperbole in the age in which
it was spoken, is becoming sober truth in its appli
cation to America. No nation ever could boast, at
so early a period of its history, of so splendid a
catalogue of names, renowned in science, arts and,
arms. And when the last hero of the Revolution
shall sleep with his kindred dust, our soil will be
invested with a peculiar sacredness, will fill the
breast of the citizen with a purer inspiration, and
prompt him to higher enterprises and more gene
rous sacrifices in the cause of his country, of uni
versal liberty, and of humanity.