YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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ORATION

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FOURTH OF JULY, 1826.

BY

SOLOMON LINCOLN, Jk.

HINGHAM:
PUBLISHED BY CALEB GILL, Jk.
Crocker & Bmotter, Printers.
1826.

Mr. Solomon Lincoln, Je.
Sir, — We have been chosen a Committee by a numerous meeting of the
citizens of Hingham and vicinity, who voted unanimously that their thanks be
presented you for your excellent Oration delivered before them this day, and to re
quest a copy for publication. LABAN HERSEY, Jr.
WILLIAM GORDON,
MARTIN FEARING,
JOSEPH WILDER, Jr.
JOHN KINGMAN.
Hingham, July 4, 1826.

Hingham, July 7, 1826.
Gentlemen, — A copy of the Oration delivered to the citizens of Hingham and
vicinity on the 4th instant, is at your disposal. Respectfully yours,
SOLOMON LINCOLN, Jr.
Col. Laban Hersei, Jr.
William Gordon,
Martin Fearing, and
Joseph Wilder, Jr. Esqr's.
Capt. John Kingman,

21 6 1

ORATION.

Fellow Citizens, —
We have assembled this day to rejoice that our
country is free. We come, from the fulness of our
hearts to make a free expression of our gratitude to
those venerable men who laid the foundations of this
empire of civil and religious liberty; and to those
whos* valour, patriotism and intelligence have sus
tained its majestic fabric. We would come forget
ting all animosities, burying every resentment, with a
liberal spirit and an enlightened zeal, to call up those
recollections of the history of our country, whose in
terest can be destroyed by no circumstances; and to
retrace those hallowed impressions, which can be
obliterated by no time.

4 .,

More than two hundred years have elapsed since
the little band of pilgrims abandoned that classic land
where reposed the ashes of their fathers, to which
they were attached by the most endearing associa
tions; to seek, "on earth's remotest bounds, and
ocean's wildest shore," the more perfect enjoyment
of the rights of conscience. The settlers of Plymouth
were distinguished for the possession of all those qual
ifications requisite to promote the success of their un
dertaking. Firm, intelligent and persevering, — fear
less of danger, and patient of suffering, when exposed
to the severest trials, and afflicted by the most dis
tressing calamities, in their continual conflicts with
nature and man, they triumphed. If the ardour of
religious feelings imparted some portion of enthusiasm
to their character; it also inspired them with a manly
independence of thought, and a noble elevation of
sentiment. It was long after the settlement of Plym
outh, before the colonists acquired sufficient power to
relieve them from the apprehension of danger from
the revengeful sons of the forest. The red men when
they saw the hand of industry felling the fine orna
ments of their hunting grounds; the favoured spots
where they had kindled their council fires, occupied
by an unknown race; and the progress of civilization
urging them farther and farther into the recesses of
the wilderness — felt, deeply felt the operation of a

power which they could not comprehend. It was not
until they saw in the desolation of their villages and
in the ravages of disease, that all their valour and in
vention could not save them from extermination; that
their proud spirits yielded, "that the path of peace was
laid open, and the chain of friendship made bright."
The colonists not dispirited by the most deadly con
tests with their treacherous enemies, still increased in
numbers and in power. The acquisition of new ter
ritory, the gradual developement of their resources,
their own industry and perseverance, soon gave them
an ascendency over the savages. It was when they
exhibited some indications of commercial and agricul
tural prosperity, that they more strongly attracted the
attention of Great Britain. It was when success
crowned the untiring efforts of your fathers; when the
blessings of wealth began to accumulate around them;
that the mother country formed the design of binding
still stronger the ties of mutual friendship, and of ex
hibiting a striking proof of parental affection, by tax
ing the colonies for the purpose of replenishing the
royal treasury. I would not allude to events that
occurred in those days of great excitement before the
Declaration of Independence, for the purpose of reviv
ing any unkind feelings, or of cherishing any unwor
thy resentment. But it is bur duty as freemen and
as patriots, on this occasion to refer to the folly and

weakness of that mistaken policy of the British Cab
inet, which led them to impose on the colonies tax
after tax, and insult after insult, in opposition to the
clearest principles of justice, and in violation of the
spirit of the British Constitution. And when by the
perverseness and obstinacy of ministers, measures
were taken to enforce the arbitrary edicts of the
crown, and the no less arbitrary acts of Parliament;
when petitions couched in the most respectful terms,
appealing to the sympathies of a kindred people, and
to the magnanimity of a British Parliament, were
treated with derision and scorn; who that is proud of
the name of an American citizen can express any
other feelings but those of honest exultation, that the
arrogant, the powerful, and the corrupt, were not per
mitted to triumph over the free, the virtuous and the
brave? Fellow Citizens, — We have some local recollec
tions that should be associated with revolutionary
events, which justice to the living and the dead re
quires me to notice. The citizens of this town early
participated of those feelings which were excited by
the numerous aggressions upon the rights of the colo
nies. They devised every judicious and discreet meas
ure to obtain a redress of their wrongs, as well as to
heal the wounds which the cruelty of an unnatural
parent had inflicted. They instructed their represent-

7,

atives, "to take every legal and constitutional method
for the preservation of their rights, and liberties,"
and they Resolved "That a virtuous and steady oppo
sition to the ministerial plan of governing America,
was absolutely necessary to preserve even a shadow
of liberty, and was a duty which every freeman in
America owed to his country, to himself, and to pos
terity." And finally, when every exertion to obtain
redress had proved fruitless, every remonstrance un
availing, and every entreaty had been despised, with
an independence, and a devotion to the cause of free
dom, honourable to themselves and to us, within these
walls, on the Twenty-third day qf May, One Thou
sand Seven Hundred and Seventy-six, they gave the
following instructions to their representatives.* "Ask
nothing of Great Britain but Peace, Liberty, and
Safety. You will never recede from that claim. And
agreeably to a resolve of the late House of Represen
tatives, in case the honourable Continental Congress
should for the safety of the United States, declare
themselves independent of the kingdom of Great Brit
ain, solemnly to engage in behalf of your constituents
that they will with their lives and fortunes, support
them in the measure." And that pledge was nobly re
deemed; for when the fire which had been kindled by
* The Representatives were Enoch Lincoln, Theophilus Cushing and John
Fearing.

the masterly eloquence of James Otis and Patrick
Henry, burst into a flame with electric rapidity in
every section of the country; when the Declaration
of Independence was solemnly proclaimed, your citi
zens with distinguished liberality devoted their earthly
treasure, and flew to the banners of their country to
give their lives to a cause to which they were attach
ed by every principle of duty and every sentiment of
honour. Many of them acted distinguished parts in
the perilous scenes of the Revolution, — and some of
them, thank God! are yet living to enjoy the repose of
honourable age; and to receive the thanks of a free
and independent people.
The Declaration of our Independence, whether
we consider the circumstances under which it was
made; the energetic eloquence with which it was
enforced; or the character of the distinguished patriots
who pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honour" to support it, is a subject of great his
torical interest. But when we look back to it as the
origin of our national exfstence, as clearly and undis-
guisedly exposing the wrongs of our fathers, and as
declaring not only their unalienable rights but those of
all mankind; we cannot listen to the sacred, the pow
erful pledge with which it concludes, without form
ing a firm resolution that the glory of such fathers,
shall not be impaired by the degeneracy of their sons.

9

That instrument was an appeal to justice, — to
the everlasting principles of truth, — and it remains,
and for ever will — an imperishable monument of the
fame of its illustrious author, and of the glory of his
native land. It roused the master spirits of the age
from their dark delusion; it touched the sympathies
of the British people; and it elicited the most bril
liant displays of eloquence for the American cause in
Parliament. It wounded the pride, and it provoked
the indignant invectives of Fox and Chatham against
the perverseness and obstinacy of the cabinet.
The events of the war of our revolution are
familiar to all of us. The history of that protracted
struggle for liberty, aud its glorious termination, is an
everlasting beacon to warn tyrants of the danger of
infringing on the rights of the people; its events finely
illustrated the truth, that the energy and power of a
free people when united in defence of their unaliena
ble rights, are irresistible. Nearly all of those illus
trious men who devoted themselves to the cause of
their country during that noble conflict, are slumber
ing in their graves. Their names — their actions —
are consecrated in our memories. A few only, a
favoured few, whose laurels were won at Bunker's
Hill, at Saratoga, at Monmouth — whose silvered
heads and bended forms indicate that their earthly
pilgrimage is short, «are yet living to rejoice on this
2

10

day, and to reflect with honest pride on the glory of
their deeds. They see in the
"Peace
That smiles on all they fought for, and the wealth
That clothes the land they rescued,
Monuments more lasting, than the fanes
Reared to the kings and demigods of old."
And shall we suffer any considerations of econo
my, any calls of interest, to repress those feelings of
gratitude which prompt us to open the liberal hand
of charity to any of those venerable heroes, who are
repining in obscurity, or who feel the cold hand of
penury and want pressing heavily upon them? Shall
the man, whose arm, once raised to shield his devoted
country from the attack of a mercenary and ambi
tious foe — is now enervated and palsied by age;
whose eye once sparkling with delight, has now lost
its lustre and its fire; upon whose hopes and recollec
tions the cold dew of death, perhaps, has already been
sprinkled; shall he not find all his wants anticipated,
all his distresses alleviated, and the poignancy of every
pang assuaged by the liberal offerings and the cheer
ing voice of a nation's gratitude? Shall we not, when
eulogizing the virtues and valour of the dead, do
something more to wipe off the stain of ingratitude to
the few who are living, of our country's best bene
factors?

11

Let us pause and reflect a few moments upon
the character of our government and country. We
possess increased means of deciding whether our free
institutions have disappointed the high, though anxious
expectations of their founders; or whether they have
confirmed the wishes of those who saw in the last
traces of royal power over this beautiful land the
shadows of its departing glory. The predictions of
those high-souled and generous patriots who sounded
the alarm at the era of the revolution, and of those
who gathered doubt and fear from the pages of falla
cious history; can now be reviewed by the light of
a brilliant and complete experiment.
There were some among the distinguished, afflu
ent and highly gifted men of this country, who used
every effort to avert what they considered a national
calamity — a Declaration of Independence — and who
when they saw the cord which bound the colonies to
the parent country snapped asunder, anticipated de
feat and shame, or anarchy and civil war. Their
fears had been excited and their imaginations dark
ened by contemplating the magnificent ruins of the
republics of antiquity. The colossal statues of
Egypt, — the shattered columns of Palmyra, — the
stupendous ruins of Balbec, — the history of the over
throw of the most gigantic despotisms furnished them
no refutation of their doctrine, that instability was

11

the characteristic of republican institutions. They
were dazzled with the splendour of that government
"whose constitution and laws were considered ihe
production of the accumulated wisdom of ages;" whose
resources and wealth were inexhaustible; whose
literature had ripened almost to perfection; the valour
of whose armies was celebrated in every land; and
whose navies rode in triumph upon every sea.
But there was another and a more numerous class
of patriots who dispelled these clouds of doubt and
fear — who scorned all comparisons, and denied the
justice of all conclusions, drawn from the history of
the ancient republics. They contended that all rea
sonings concerning the future fortunes of any country,
so far as they were founded merely on the experi
ence of other nations, in other ages, were unphilo-
sophical and inconclusive. They reflected on the gen
eral diffusion of knowledge, without which no nation
can long be free; they looked to the unbending firm
ness and unyielding virtue of the people; they claim
ed something for the native energy of liberty; they
declared the colonies free and independent, and ap
pealed to the God of armies for succour. And 'we
are this day proud to say, that their reasoning was
sound — their principles well founded — their confi
dence justified by enlightened reason and sound phi
losophy,— and their success triumphant. The falla-

13

cious observation that every revolution contains the
seeds of another, and scatters them behind it — which
was received as a maxim by politicians of the school
of Machiavel, has been exposed and conclusively-
refuted by the experiment in this country. That
experiment has given a sanction to the principles pro
claimed on the day which we now commemorate, and
has satisfactorily tested their stability and power.
It is delightful to look around us and to witness
the rapid developement of our national resources
— giving strength and energy to the character of pur
government — the wide extension of our territory —
the salutary effect of wise, mild and equal laws — the
activity of enterprise^— and the excitement which the
richest rewards give to cultivate industry, and to
cherish talent: science lending her aid to the arts-"
the inventive powers of man tasked to strike out new
paths in which to emulate the improvements of the
old world: our mighty rivers diverted from their
channels to , subserve the wants of a vast population,
and covered by the magic of human genius, with a
commerce that courts not the propitious gales of
heaven to give speed to its course: every waterfall
resounding with the voice of industry; and almost
every wave, that beats upon our shore bearing to us
the rich commodities of every nation and every clime.
All — all—made happy in the repose of honourable

14

peace, by tae prosperity which smiles upon this
home of the free and independent.
I would not, in attempting to describe the hap
piness of our country, use the language of inflation.
I would not hold up to view a picture false and decep
tive. I speak of nothing unobserved by any one who
will look abroad upon the land in which he lives. —
The simplest allusion to facts indicating the happiness
of our country cannot fail of exciting a generous glow
of American feeling, and of destroying a spirit of
coldness or indifference toward our native land. We
cannot reflect a moment upon the fact that we are
permitted to exist at this epoch, — the witnesses of the
triumphant success of that bold experiment of our
Patriot fathers which affects not only our happiness,
but that of all posterity, and all nations, an experi
ment which has given a new direction to the exertions
of intellect, new vigour to the principles of virtue and
religion, without being deeply penetrated with the
consciousness of our high responsibility of handing
down to posterity our blessings and privileges unim
paired — and of preserving the light and purity of our
example. And how, Fellow Citizens, shall we preserve
our example? Shall we not look to the interests of
learning? We believe that intelligence is essential
to the permanency of a free government; and, that

lo

constitutional and well regulated liberty cannot long
exist without it. The American people have never
been indifferent to the interests, or insensible of the
value of practical learning. If the infancy of our
nation, the necessary and indispensable duties of our
highly gifted men have in some measure precluded
the cultivation of the higher branches of literature
and science, we have no reason for self reproach.
Our ancestors acted wisely in cherishing the useful,
rather than the elegant arts. They were struggling
with the elements — with uncivilized man, for a rest-
ing place in which to enjoy the repose of peace, and
liberty of conscience. They were, instead of court
ing the muses, laying the foundation of a mighty
empire. They left to posterity, the duty and the
pleasure of embellishing the superstructure. They
saw, in the melancholy ruins of ancient freedom, the
most striking illustrations of the truth, that, the inspi
ration of poetry, and the finest efforts of eloquence,
were not alone sufficient to preserve the liberties of
a people. The literary character of our nation is
rapidly developing itself. Our literature is advancing
rapidly to a high degree of excellence: and we re
joice at its moral worth. Infidelity has not here
called in the aid of genius to promote its triumphs,
or to mask its danger; our poetry breathes the simple
language of purity and truth, and eloquence finds few

16

admirers unless enlisted in the sacred cause of equal
rights and common privileges. Fancy has gleaned
from our history many scenes of romantic interest
and moral sublimity, to weave into the gay web of
fiction; for the purpose of exciting an enthusiastic
admiration of the valour and patriotism of our
ancestors. The influence of learning in enlarging
the mind, and purifying the morals, is unlim
ited. It imparts a spirit of independence, and
of enlightened patriotism to the character of a
people. A well educated freeman will never breathe
the air of despotism; he never will quietly surrender
his birthright, nor tamely permit it to be rudely torn
from his possession. A passion for the elegant arts
should be cherished; that the most beautiful pro
ductions of painting and sculpture, may be among
the many rich memorials of American worth. The
Press should be free and it should be pure. There
should be thrown around it the ample protection
which is found in the wisdom and liberality of our
laws. We should not forget that we live in a
country, and in an age of religious freedom. It is
our duty as patriots, and as philanthropists to perpet
uate those laws which give to our citizens the perfect
enjoyment of the rights of conscience; and which
will remain the noblest monuments of the forecast
independence, and liberality of the people. The

17

bigot may lament the overthrow of those stupendous
fabrics of ecclesiastical tyranny, whose chilling-
influence tended to destroy all religion; but the
enlightened philanthropist rejoices that man can here
range through every shade of belief, from orthodoxy
to infidelity, without molestation. Religion needs
not the aid, and it borrows little lustre from a union
of its institutions with those of civil power.
We should look to our military institutions.
Although the spirit of our government is pacific:
although we wage no wars for conquest or to gratify
ambition; and amid the commotions of the old world
adhere to the strictest principles of neutrality, uni
versally respecting the rights of other nations; we
profess to maintain our own. We would permit no
interference with our domestic institutions, or great
commercial interests. We should resist, — and our
history bears testimony that in our two wars for inde -
pendence, we have resisted with success any invasion
upon our rights. We rely too, for protection, not upon
corrupt and degraded mercenaries, but upon a stand
ing army of freemen. The militia, and I name it
with veneration, should be cherished, supported and
honoured. One of our best patriots and most accom
plished statesman has said, that whenever the militia
is despised or neglected, he shall consider the union
dissolved, and the liberties of North America lost
3

18

for ever. Is it not a subject of alarm, that those
whose duty it is to watch over its interests suffer them
to languish and decay? Is there not a regenerating
spirit among the people, to make the duty of the
soldier as honourable, as it is necessary? Will the
reputation of our militia be sustained with honour,
when affected dignity or inconsiderable offices exempt
large classes of free and able bodied citizens from
an enrolment under the banners of their country?
As important as wise laws and liberal institu
tions, are intelligent, independent and honest rulers.
They should be men who look with a single eye to
the good of their country; who are capable of appre
ciating the nature and importance of the duties
devolving upon them, and who fearlessly discharge
them; neither deterred from the adoption of wise
measures by the bitter sarcasm, and personal invec
tives of the ambitious and disappointed, nor seduced
by the blandishments of flattery, or servility of
intrigue, to project a policy injurious to the interests
of the country, or disreputable in the estimation of
other nations. The illustrious men who have been
called to the highest office in the gift of the American
people, have been distinguished as men, as patriots;
and as statesmen; and, excepting him who is
enjoying the richer rewards of immortality, whose
fame is blended with that of his country; all are

19
living to receive the warmest, the most affectionate
expressions of the gratitude and veneration of a free
and happy people. And whatever have been our
partialities, whatever our prejudices, we should make
one magnanimous sacrifice, and give honour to the
measures of our present national administration;
which are elevating the character of our country,
commanding the respect, and conciliating the good
will of all other nations. We will not withhold from
the statesman on whom has fallen the mantle of a
father of revolutionary fame, the tribute of praise
for the talent, learning, and independence which he
has displayed in defending the rights, and maintain
ing the honour of his country.
Fellow Citizens — What is the prospect before
us? It is gratifying to the American patriot to
perceive in the prevalence of liberal principles, the
strongest indications that the spirit of the age is
friendly to republican institutions. The doctrines
proclaimed by our fathers fifty years since have re
ceived the sanction of enlightened statesmen in both
hemispheres. The age is one of intelligence; and if
I mistake not the character of free institutions, they
must soon displace those systems of pageantry and
parade, which are upheld by the ignorance of the
people. Rulers are conforming the principles of
their government to the character of the times;— the

20

forms may remain unchanged, but the spirit is
changing. The feelings that are spreading gradually,
and which are occasionally expressed in France, in
Germany, and even in Austria, must restore, by some
violent convulsion, the sovereign authority to its
only legitimate possessors — the People. The mili
tary power of France cannot long stifle the voice of
liberty south of the Pyrenees. A parade of foreign
bayonets may protract the moment when the rights of
the people shall prevail over the prerogatives of kings;
but —

"The holy flame, though sometimes slow,
Is certain, as the deep tides roll;
And who shall say it will not glow
Around the brave Castilian soul? "

The Italians degraded, dispirited and oppressed,
feel too sensibly the shame of their servitude; and are
all too often reminded by their ancient monuments, of
their duty as patriots, not to unite every heart and
every hand in making one more noble effort to be
free. The mind cannot be shackled by power; it
gathers strength from confinement and a crisis must
arrive when a reaction will take place. The longer
that crisis is protracted — the stronger the arm of
despotic power which prevents the free operation of
the regenerating spirit pf Freedom — the more violent

0\

will be the change; and the more destructive its
effects to the glory of royalty*
We wait with breathless anxiety to learn the
issue of the contest for liberty in Greece. We there
see the most elevated spirit of freedom, struggling
with a power the most gigantic for its existence.
The most enthusiastic love of liberty is spreading
over that fair land, the light and glory of the ancient
world; from whence sprang the beauties of art and
the delights of learning; and is inspiring the breasts
of her patriots with that resistless energy which in
the days of her highest glory repelled the mercenary
hordes of despotism from .her borders. Shall the
scholar, the republican, the christian look upon those
descendants of a brave people, struggling over the
graves of their ancestors, for the unalienable rights
of man; and give nothing to their cause but unmean
ing words and unavailing sympathies. Is there not
in the whole civilized world, enough of philanthropy,
enough of chivalry, to offer some generous succour,
some substantial aid, that the cause of humanity
may not fail and Grecian liberty expire? Will all
mankind listen to the bitter sarcasm, "Greeks only
should free Greece" and go not to the rescue? The
new republics which have sprung into existence in
our own hemisphere, afford the most cheering confir
mation of the popularity and excellence of free princi-

22

pies of government. The emissaries of royal power
and the ministers of superstition have vanished before
the influence of a power which they could not con
trol. The spread of intelligence and of a purer relig
ion, will give stability to the character of those fabrics
of free government, which we trust will long stand
the cherished monuments of the wisdom and valour of
their founders. And now fellow Citizens, animated
by these reflections upon the history of the valour
and patriotism of our fathers; and upon the happiness
and prosperity of our country; cheered by the glorious
signs of the times; let us cultivate the purest Amer
ican feelings. Let us pledge ourselves this day, to
use every effort to preserve our rich inheritance of
freedom. Cherish above all things the Union of the
States. Suffer no local prejudices, no geographical
distinctions to blend themselves with your reflections
on men and measures. Indulge no invidious com
parisons; pay your honest tribute of applause whether
it be to the Glory of the East, to the Patriotism of
the South, or to the Valour of the West. Collisions
of interest must necessarily arise from the habits,
customs and wants of different portions of our exten
ded republic; but it is the noblest effort of patriotism
to make a generous sacrifice of local interests for the
public good. Let the flame kindled in 1776, burn
pure, everlasting, unquenchable, that those who come

23

after us may not blush at our indifference, or weep at
our degeneracy: but that all posterity may gather
around the altars of their country, and celebrate with
higher interest and increased delight, The Jubilee of
American Independence.