YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
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Smith, Oliver
An Oration. . .
Burlington, 1826.

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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1942

AN

PRONOUNCED AT JOHNSON,
JUL Y FO UR TH, 1 826,
jBEING THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
OF THE

BY OLIVER SMITH, A. M.
COUNSELLOR AT LSW.

BVRLmGTOK;
PRINTED^ gY E. & T. MILLS
1826.

334s

ORATION.

Fellow-Citizens,
^ We assemble to rejoice in our liberties ; — this
is our National Jubilee ; — for this day, fifty years
past, gave birth to our national character. — Then
It was we began to exist as a people by our
selves. — Then it was that delegates from various
^arts of the country, having duly deliberated the
steps they were taking, gave forth to the public
that Declaration of Independence which has just
been read in our hearing. By that bold deed, at
which the whole world were astonished, we assum
ed a respectable rank among the nations of the
Earth. Small was our power then — our numbers
were few — but now, inthe short space of only half
a century, behold a mighty and spreading people,
acknowledging no superior but the God of Heaven,
and subject to no laws but those of their own
choice !
As members of this vast Empire it is, that we
meet, on the present occasion, for mutual congrat
ulation. — Such is our prominent object. — Still, how
ever, let us remember, we have other relations, ren
dered doubly dear by our national freedom, which,
at a time like this, ought not to be wholly disre
garded. Let us, therefore, bear in mind, that we are neigh
bours in a rising village — inhabitants of a rich and
populating town, — citizens of an independent and
respectable State, — people of a powerful Republic,
— members in the great family of man, — individu
als in the grand order of intelligences, — and crea
tures of the Almighty Author of all. With all
these relations in prospect, we meet, to review the

past, rejoice in the present, and indulge such an
ticipations of the future as may be consistent and
rational. The present is a time of general peace. — For
many years past, the people on the southern part
ofour continent, have been boldly struggling for
the rights of man ;-^a prerogative not to be alien-*
ated, though too often extorted, that of self govern
ment. That struggle has ceased, — in the brilliant
triumph of the pt triot cause ; and the feeble re
mains of Spanish power, this side the Atlantic, con
stitute no longer any formidable obstacle, either
to national liberty or individual happiness, but ex
hibit only the last convulsions of final dissolution.
True it is, an unfortunate rupture has lately ta
ken place betwixt the governments of Buenos Ayres
and Brazil ; but to what state of warfare it will ul
timately lead, is yet problematic. Be that as it
ihay, the fact is certain, that however bitter their
mutual animosities may be, and however much they
may injure each other, their martial movements
must, from their very situation and power, contin
ue to occupy no very conspicuous or prominent
stage of^ction ; causing but little interruption, of
consequence, to that commercial intercourse and
godd understanding, which at present, so happily
subsist among most other nations.
Turning to the east, we behold, or rather hear
of, a long oppressed and muchinjured people strug
gling to be free. But their exertions, however in
teresting and noble, are distant ; — far beyond our
common observation ; — and the consequence is,
their real condition and future prospects are but
very imperfectly understood.
Ill short, we find ourselves borne along upon a
uniform course, by the gale of prosperity. — All is
serene and tranquil around us ; and, casting the
interminable vision abroad, we find no prominent

object upon which to restthe attention. Party spir
it and popular commotion, which, but a few years
past, were so extensively prevalent and threaten
ing, are now almost entirely subsided ; — and what
ever rises to view, disappears again, like the swell
ofthe sea, as soon as we begin to observe it. We
behold the present, and all is prosperity and hap
piness. We look forward to the future, and noth
ing threatens the least diminution, but every thing
promises the greatest possible augmentation of
what we enjoy. We revert to. the past, and the
mind is insensibly led from one, step to another,
through the different eras of our country's history,
and unexpectedly brought to the close of the fif
teenth century. In iraagination we begin to par
ticipate in the general wonder "^that echoes from
people to people throughout the continent of Eu
rope, a neAC icorld is discovered ! The intrepid
Genoese, spreading his bold sail to court the At
lantic trades, in direct opposition to the earnest en
treaties of every friend, has dared the fearful cas
ualties of the mighty deep, and found a new con
tinent, far to the west, where sleeps the wearied
sun ! Surely, in the language of the poet, tripple
brass and durable oak must have girded his flinty
heart, committing himself as he did, in a fragile
bark, with but little preparation, to be rudely tum
bled and buffetted upon the stormy billows of an
unknown sea! But nothing, almost, is too ardu
ous for huraan ingenuity and perseverance to ac
complish ; — not only fearlessly daring the seas,
which appear at first sight to have been originally
designed as the impassable barriers betwixt differ
ent nations, but even mimicking the winged tribes,
by ascending the Heavens, and sailing at pleasure
in the aerial regions above us.
Columbus perceived that the earth must be
spherical ; and that consequently, in all probability,

6
there was land upon the opposite side, betwixt Eu
rope and Asia. But the present will not give lime
to tell the herculean contest he had, with all the
stupidity of ignorancfe, and all the superstition of
the tiraes, which, if possible, was far more stupid.
What ! said the wise of the day, (supposing they
inhabited an extensive plain that rested upon, no
body knew what,) if the earth is round, you must,
necessarily, descend to the west beyond the possi
bility of returning !
At length Issabella, to the praise ofthe female sex
be it spoken, leaving the ridicule ofthe whole Span
ish Court, consents to patronize the importunate
adventurer, furnishing him with what eventually
proved sufficient, but which, at the present day,
would be considered as wholly inadequate to such
an undertaking.
The result is well known ; and, even if it were
not, the present would not be calculated to give tbe
particulars. Suffice it to say, that the cruel treat
ment he subsequently met with, confined in a dun
geon — loaded with chains, and robbed, or attempt
ed to be robbed ofthe honor of discovery, even by
those who ought to have tendered him the warm
est congratulations and the richest reward, resem
bles only the sufferings described in the eleventh
of Hebrews, of a long hst of great and good men,
of whom the world was unworthy, and who were
consequently taken away, at the proper time, from
the evil to come. But the name of Columbus will
sweetly dwell on the tongue of posterity, while
that of his bigoted, cruel persecutors, will be de
servedly cast out as evil, and trodden forever un
der foot in the mire of forgetfulness.
Here then, going back in the imagination about
three centuries, we behold America, — a wide-spread

continent, covered with gloomy forests, and peo
pled only with beasts of prey,
"Or men aa fierce and wild as they."
And thus the whole northern part of it remained
for more than a hundred years ; the southern part
being overrun by the Spaniards, early in the six
teenth century.
But religious persecution arose in Europe ; and
a small company ofpeople, denominated puritans,
willing to sacrifice most of the comforts of life, for
the privilege of thinking and acting according to
the dictates of conscience, assembled in England,
and bidding adieu to all the endearments of home
and of country, and committing their destinies to
the unerring guidance of God, whom they wor
shiped, directed their unknown way, across the
pathless ocean, to the then new world ; and, on
the 22d of December, 1620, landed upon the bar
ren shores of Plymouth. About the same time a
settlement commenced in Virginia, and another in
New- York ; and these may be considered as the
germs of population, which have since increased
to more than twelve millions of souls, and over
spread so vast an extent of country, from Maine
to New-Orleans, and from the shores of the Atlan
tic to the gfeat mountains beyond the Mississippi.
The Plymouth colony has been, doubtless, far
more prolific than both the others. It has not on
ly peopled the six northeastern states, but furnish
ed more or less inhabitants for every part of the
Union. Hence the arrival of the Pilgrims, is em
phatically called, by all the New-England states at
least, the arrival oftheir ancestors. And toPlym-
outh it is, in commemorarion of their landing, that
crowds of citizens, ladies and gentlemen ofthe first
respectability and rank, assemble annually, and seat
themselves down upon the sandy beach, to eat clams
and oysters raw from the shell, or cooking them in tlie

8
rudest manner, use the shells for knives and spoons ;
for thus did our fathers, on their arrival, as a matter of
necessity.— A laudable custom, calculated to remind
the nation of the rock from whence they were hewn,
and of the hole of the pit from whence they were
taken. The Israelites had a similar one, strictly en
joined upon them to be punctually observed through
out all generations, of erecting booths in remem
brance of what their fathers'di^, for want of better
habitations, on leaving the house of bondage.
North America now begins to be settled under
the auspices of the English Government. The
land was to be cleared and cultivated — the wild
beasts to be destroyed, — and what was still worse,
the savages were to be pacified and rendered friend
ly, or driven far into the interior wilderness. All
this was a work indeed, but nothing could daunt
the persevering spirit ofour hardy ancestors. ^V'hat
they endured, was calculated only to add a new
spring to their elastic genius. They may well be
said to have laboured and suffered for generations
to come.
But our country was a colony; — subject to a o-ov-
ernment three thousand miles off, and bound by
laws that were made by those who could feel no
further interest in our welfare, than they did in that
of their animals. The question was not, how shall
the Americans be rendered the most prosperous
and happy ? but, how shall they be made the most
serviceable to England ? And such will always
be the relation betwixt the mother country and a
colony at a distance.
The causes that brought about our separation
from England, were no more than whajt most oth
er bodies of dependent people have continual oc
casion to complain of The fact is, there is a tirae
when all colonies or settlements, like children,
ought to becQoa^ ^dependent of the paie»t and

act for themselves. Such is the principle upon
which we form new states. When they amount to
a certain number of inhabitants, they become mem
bers of the Union, and adopt their own system of
government. But fifty years past, this principle
seems to have been wholly unknown. Few na
tions ever thought of acting upon any thing like
it. England knew of no other imethod of treating
her colonies except to coerce them. The Boston
Tea party, however, an occurrence too well known
to need explanation, soon taught thera the first ru •
diments of a lesson, which was afterwards practi
cally enforced by the example of an eight years
contest, that we meant to be considered and treat
ed as freemen. Our forefathers made no objec
tions, in the first instance, to being considered as
a part of the English nation ; but they meant to
have a voice in the administration of that govern
ment to which they were subject. To this the
English would not consent, and the revolution com
mences. Now was the time that tried men*s souls. Now
was the problem to be solved, whether we should
think and act for ourselves, or be reduced to the
condition of slaves. For however well the Eng
lish raight treat us, we could not be considered as
freemen, as long as they had the power to impose
rules of action upon us against our consent ; and on
the Contrary, however badly we might manage our
own concerns, as long as we continued to raanage
them at all as we chose, we must be entitled to
^he full character of freemen. And let it be re
membered that the difference betwixt the slave
and the servant is, the latter undertakes the ser
vice voluntarily for some consideration, while the
former is forced to it with no hopes of reward. So
that every servant is a freeman, and every freeman,
that is really a good man, is a servant, not a slave,
2

10
to his God, his fellow and the public. That liber
ty is an unalienable right, is considered as a self
evident proposition. That is, no contract for the
purchase or sale of it is valid. Power, it is true,
may hold raen in servitude, but the tenure, how
ever dearly acquired is wrongful. God gave to
man, dominion over the beasts of the field, the
fowls of the air, and fish of the sea, including all
the lower classes of animals, but gave him no do
minion over his fellow.
But provision is made in the sacred volupe for
the existence of slavery, and therefore, it is said
by some, the practice is right. It may also be
said, that provision is made there too for polyga
my, and divorce for trifling causes ; but our Saviour
returns to first principles and rectifies the evil, tel
Ung us it was not so in the beginning ; although
both had been practiced by tbe great and the good
of all ages. The same too maybe said of slave
ry. It vs^as not so in the beginning, a proposition
from which 1 am happy to say, but few in, our
country, even slaveholders at the south, can seri
ously dissent. It is, therefore, wholly superfluous
to undertake to show the injustice of this barba
rous practice. All know it to be wrong; and eve
ry good man throughout the country, is doing his
utmost to wipe the foul stain fronj our national
character. ?
And I would also add, that we ought to be 4ili-
gent in these exertions. Slavery is an evil of the *
greatest magnitude wherever yoU find it. If God
spared not the Egyptians who attempted to per-.^
sist in enslaving their fellow-beings, why should
he spare us while pursuing the sarae course ? Are
we better than they ? The fact is, history, wheth
er sacred or profane, is an unerring prophet. By
recording the past, she speaks the future ; and if
we bul listen to her monitory voice we may learn

11
unequivocally our own future destiny. The criesr
of the oppressed Africans of our country have long
since ascended to heaven, and reached the ears of
the Lord of Sabbaoth. Nor is his ear dull that it
cannot hear, nor his arm shortened that it cannot
save ; unless we soon let them go freely, he will
surely come down himself to deliver them. I think
I hazzard nothing in predicting that slavery will
completely disappear from amongst us before the
expiration of another fifty years. One reason for
this prediction is, that so great is our national sill
in this respect, being against the clearest light and
the greatest information, that unless we speedily
emancipate our slaves, God in his providence will
do it for us to our sorrow. Behold San Domingo,
or the Island of Hayti. But the principal reason is,
the great exertions that are making by all classes
of people throughout the Union, to give freedom
and information to the blacks. Slavery is already
abolished in the State of New-York ; for which,
much credit is due to the late Governor Daniel D.
Tompkins. So that the practice is flow found to
exist in only about one half the states of the Union.
To abolish it entirely is a work of time to be sure,
but let another fifty years roll away and then see
if this prediction is not in sorae measure verified.
I have stated the reasons that separated us from
Engl§«id; — notfor the purpose of showingthatthat
sepiafation was right, for that was deraonstrated
fifty years ago ; but simply in order to bring up to
view the rights of man; — that he is a free agent, en-
.titled under fell circumstances to think and act for
himself; — a prerogative given him by his great Cre
ator, that he has no right to dispose of, or patient
ly to suffer to be extorted from hira.
Such are the sentiments that ever have actuated
the people of this country ; though they began to
be more thoroughly understood, and more openly

12
avowed in 1776. Then was the time that our
fathers, a small nuraber of people, about two or
three millions, almost unanimously resolved upoa
liberty or death. The prospect, however, was
gloomy. They had long been accustomed to the
tomahawk and scalping knife, to Indian ravages,
and all the horrors of savage warfare, but now the
contest, being with one ofthe most powerful of
nation-s, was fer more appalling. Without was
the enemy, within was no inconsiderable number
of traitors, and not a few professedly hostile. Anx
iety palpitated every bosom,, and doubts and fears,
notwithstanding an unshaken confidence in final
success, occasionally clouded every countenance. —
Long is the story of their immense <»sacrifices, toils
and sufferings. It must not be expected, at this
distance of time, that I should descend to particu
lars. Even should 1 attempt to do so — you would
doubtless many of you anticipate every word I
should say. You venerable fathers, and several
present I behold, whose silvery locks and furrow
ed visage give us to understand, you were entering
upon the stage of active manhood during the mo
mentous period of which I am speaking. Well you
remember the arduous conflict, — the deep anxiety,
— the mingled emotions of fear and anticipation, —
the alternate elation and depression of the pub
lic mind, as success or reverse oceasionally^tten-
ded our arms. Well do you know, perhaps, the
particulars of this campaign, of that hard fought
battle, or dear bought victory. Well do you know
the unison of feeling, — the concentration of views,
— the simplified harmony of opperation that char
acterised the eventful contest. And well do you
know the free will offerings that were constantly
made, by all classes of peope, upon the altar of
their country's liberty. I shall, therefore, only add,
that so small a number ofpeople, scattered over so

18
wide an extent of country, struggling to extricate
themselves from the unjust domination ofthe great
est power on earth, presented a spectacle in which
the whole world were interested. England al first
began to treat our resistance with sovereign con
tempt ; but soon learnt she had' men lo deal with.
Other nationsconsideredour exertions as the wild
est desperation, and others again, secretly wished
we might succeed, but scarciely dared to believe
we should do so.
It is needless to add, that success eventually
crowned our exertions beyond the most sanguine
anticipations. But let us not attribute our eman
cipation to the strength of our own arm. The
Lord of Sabbaoth, be it reraerabered, fought our
battles. Washington, to be sure, was the osten
sible leader, but Washington, as well as every oth
er good man in the country, doubtless beheld like
Joshua, the great Captain of our salvation, leading
the way with a drawn sword in his hand.
Liberty triumphs, — but the work is not yet done.
A new government is now to be instituted, diflfer-
ent from any in existence, laws are to be also en
acted, internal regulations to be adopted, and trea
ties of peace and amity to be formed with foreign
nations; — all which was brought about in due time,
under the wise superintendence of the father ofhis
country. Prosperity now begins to attend us be
yond all parallel in the annals of nations. In a few
short years we rose to a high grade of respectabil
ity in every part of the known world. Our com
merce whitened every sea, and we fed upon the
luxuries of every clime. In 1 798 a misunderstan
ding arose, to be sure, betwixt France and Araer
ica, but that was soon obviated to the satisfaction
of all concerned. But in proceess of time, new
difficulties arose; — or rather an old one presented a
more formidable aspect. England claims as suh-

14
|ects, all to whom she gives birth, denying the right
of expatriation in any case whatever. She also
exercises greater authority over her subjects than
most other nations do.
We act upon a principle widely diflTerent, — allow
ing every individual to leave the country and re
turn at pleasure ; or become a citizen of any other
nation he chooses. All citii^ens, whether by birth
or naturalization, remain so as long as they please
and no longer, — or become so without any formal
ities, on returning home with a view to remain,
even after they have been abroad and sworn alle
giance to some other power.
It must not be supposed that, upon the princi
ples here stated, the soldier or sailor can desert
with impunity, because he is bound by his con
tract. Neither can the citizen, in time of war,
pass over to the enemy without being considered
a traitor ; because, being in the country at the
time war was declfired, or returning afterwards in
a peaceable manner, he is presumed to have ac
quiesced in it, and promised to aasist in carrying
it on. But persons abroad are not to be called
home in any case whatever, against their consent,
merely because they were born in America.
Such I believe to be the principles upon which
our government act, with regard to the subject of
expatriation. And, as to the authority she exer
cises over her subjects, the constitution expressly
provides, they are not to be called upon to
bear arms, with hostile intentions, except to sup
press insurrection and repel invasion.
Not so with England ;— she not only forces her
subjects abroad, for the purpose of carrying on
foreign wars, but claims, as a subject, every one
that is born within her dominions ; and takes him,
if occasion requires, wherever she finds him.^^
And, in exercising this pretended right of impress-

15
iiient, she took from our merchant vessels, and
other places, many thousands, not only of those
who had expatriated themselves and become citi
zens of this country, but even of native Americans.
In vain was remonstrance; — in vain was every
proposition our government could make, to rectify
an evil so alarming.
Nor was this all. France and England were
at war, and we endeavored to maintain a perfect
neutrality. But vain were all our endeavors. The
British orders in council, retaliated by the famous
Berlin and Milan decrees, soon drove us almost
entirely from the ocean. If we attempted to trade
with France, England, in pursuance of her un
precedented orders in council, would take our ves
sels. If we attempted to trade with England,
France, to retaliate, would lake them also.
"At length the genius of liberty arose, — likea gi
ant from his slumbers, — and directing her raarch
across the raountain wave, vindicated the right of
her favorite America to an undisturbed enjoyment
of the great highway of nations. The lightning
of her long slumbering wrath, flashed upon the
billowy deep, and the thunderbolts of her extorted
indignation, rived the floating bulwarks of the ty
rant foe, scattering to the winds of Heaven that
proud flag that had so long been waving in tri
umph o'er scenes of oppression, rapine and plun
der." Nor less execution was done upon land. Upon
many a well fought field, was haughty Britain

¦ made to feel, through peril and alarm,

The might that slumbers in a peasant's arm.'
Jackson, Perry, McDonough, a long list of milita
ry and naval heroes, reap those laurels that will bud
and bloom around their sainted memories when the
last vegetable shall have mouldered away in the
final dissolution of systems.

16
' Oar second war for independence, is terminated
far more happily than could have been reasonably
expected. Peace is restored, and our national
character retrieved from the unjust imputation of
pusilanimity. All nations begin now to fear and
l-espect us. We have shown to the world,'that al
though we can suffer long and patiently, under the
most aggravated insults and abuses, still we can
fight, if occasion requires, and conquer the con
querors of Europe.
Our object is peace ; and much can we sacrifice
in order to have it. But there is a point, in suffer
ing abuses, beyond which, not even the peaceable
Americans will go without resistance. The lamb
is suddenly transformed to a lion, and woe to the
power that dares persist in doing him wrong. —
Twice have we beaten Old England, with all her
thousand ships and numerous armies, and what
other nation have we to fear ?
Passing over the wars we had with the French,
in conjunction with the savages, before the revolu
tion, the difficulties we have since had with Spain,
the States of Barbary, and the Indian tribes, we
have taken a general retrospect of most other lead
ing events, in our country's history, from its first
discovery down to the present time. And we
now find ourselves at peace with all the world,
respected abroad, and tranquil and happy at home
— in the full fruition of that government of liberty
and law, for which our fathers fought so bravely,
and so freely bled ; — in pursuit of which they mu
tually pledged to each other, their lives, their for
tunes, and their sacred honor ; — and in establishing
which, they so dearly redeemed that pledge of hon
or, by cheerfully sacrificing life and property, and
all that was dear to existence, when occasion re
quired. That liberty, even the dubious prospect
of which, cheered and animated the war-worn sol*

17
dier, and urged him on to the contest ; — whose min
istering spirits, — sent forth in anticipation, perched
on his standard and hovered around his person lo
ward the deadly missile from their favorite hero ; —
which converted the cold ground to a downy
couch by night, and smoothed and softened the
pillow beneath his weary head •,- — whispering peace
to his conscience, — courage to his heart, — strength
to his nerves, — protection to his person, — and sure
success to his enterprise. — That liberty whose
infallible advent, even in the darkest period of the
revolutionary contest, was prophetically announc
ed, to the watchful guai'^ans of huraan welfare,
hj all superior geniuses ;- and whose orient star, at
length glimmering faintly upon the dubious hori
zon of eight dark years of anxiety, toil and priva
tion, arose upon the delighted vision, in all its full
orbed effulgence, pointing the wise and discerning
of all nations, to the humble cradle of the world's
last hope ; — and is now triumphant in meridian
splendour, over the most of this wide- spread con
tinent. — That liberty, even the distant prospect of
which, dubiously trembling upon the verge of the
future, — scarcely apparent through the long tele
scope of the most accurate observation, though
magnified with all the powers of romantic desire,
prompted the young, the gallant, the ami.ible ,
Frenchman, to tear himself from the erabraces of
conjugal affection, — the endearments of home and
of country, to hasten across the wide ocean to join
his kindred spirits in these then western wilds
•of America, to associate his fortunes, his honours,
his hopes of future greatness with theirs, and pass
the flower of his days amid the toils and privations
of the tented field. — That liberty, — to witness the
enjoyment of which, induced him, after the lapse
of near half a century, now in the decline of years,
to leave his flocks,- his herds, his rural avocations
3

18
and domestic employments amid the fine s hady
bowers of Le Grange, and undertake a long te
dious passage to America. — Yes, fellow-citizens, —
it was the consideration that he had been eminent
ly instrumental in the hands of Providence in se^
curing that government of liberty and law, those
rights and privileges, civil and religious institutions
with which we are now blessed, that on his arri
val, prompted the universal burst of gratitude from
all classes ofpeople, young men and maidens, old
men, women and children throughout the country,
populated by more than twelve millions of souls.
This it was, which electrified the venerable veter
an,* whose hoary head, bowed down by the weight
of age, had long been whitened by the nipping
frosts of fehree score years and ten, raised himfrom
his midnight slumbers, led hira on a considerable
journey, travelling by night and by day, unmindful
of all the infirmities of age, to clasp the withered
embrace around this long separated, yet never for
gotten brother in arms ; in iraagination to fight all
their battles o'er again, and drop the tear of fond
recollection o'er the delightful retrospect of days
that were past. — This it was, that caused that
heavenly feast and flow of soul araong the illustri
ous asserablage of great and good raen of our
country, whose names stand first on tbe fair cata
logue of man's benefactors, and whose sainted
memories will be so dearly embalmed in the war
mest affections of countless ages ; — men who stand
here and there in diflTerent parts of the Union, like
the aged solitary oak of the forest, stripped of foli
age and branches, and dead at the top, and de
serted by the generation to whom they belong, —
yet remaining firm against the sharpened scythe of
time, — disdaining to succumb to the rude blasts and
•A Revolutionary officer, whose name does not occur to me at nresent
of Westchester County, N.Y. ' '

19
tempests of life, which beating upon them from
every direction, have whistled through their lonely
and broken lirabs for nearly a hundred winters!^ —
Liberty for which men like these have borne to
live and clared to die ! How then should we value
and cherish it ?
The queen ofthe south came far to witness the
wisdom and greatness of Solomon, but behold a
greater than Solomon is here ; for where there is
liberty, there is also the spirit ofthe Lord. How,
let me ask again, should we prise institutions that
are so much the wonder and admiration of all peo
ple at horae and abroad ! which you will hear of,
as the first salutation perhaps as you enter the hum
ble cottage, even at the foot of the An^es or up
on the far distant solitary isles of the sea. Even
there, far in the interior, where but few foreigners
of any nation have wandered, and where you would
suppose the gloom of profoundest ignorance would
brood forever undisturbed upon the soul of man, —
the American is hailed with undissembled cordial
ity, and treated as a brother. Even there, the un
taught son of nature, erect and bold as though con
scious of priraitive innocence, raising his hat and
addressing you in a raanner, the ease and the
gracefulness of which would surprise you, and which
the raost refined courtier would be emulous to im
itate, will bid you welcome to his rude habitation,
assuring you that whatever you find there will be
wholly at your service ; and if you belong to these
states, he will heartily congratulate you upon that
distinguished birthright, adding emphatically, in
the native sincerity ofhis untutored genius; I re
joice to see you. The Americans are free, and
by the blessing of Heaven, we are so also. I am
happy to see you. — You enter this dwelling, built
perhaps of a few bushes, set up on end, and dawb-
ed over with mud, and covered with palm leaves.

and resembling more a swallow's nest in the bank
ofa river than a human residence; and here is the
family, sitting upon the ground, with no furniture
scarcely, except wearing apparel, and but little of
that ; and yet, not the least disconcerted or embar
rassed at the presence of the stranger, all are com
posed, and gladness bearas frora every counten
ance. And the feraales, — naked almost perhaps, as
when they were born, except a little piece of stuff,
curiously fabricated from the bark ofa tree, and
fantastically painted wilh figures and images, and
loosely thrown around the waist, — yet chaste as the
driven snow, and fair and lovely as Eve in paradise,
will begin to prattle music in your ear about your
country, wHose laws and customs they would wish
to have adopted in their own, as the surest safe
guard of that liberty they have so dearly purchas
ed and so highly prize. But let us not forget our
neighbours at the south. Much have I wandered
across the wide plains, along the frightful preci
pices and over the stupendous mountains of that
romantic region, "where nature labours on herrudest
plan," with one hand, scatterng in wild profusion
all that is precious and lovely and beautiful in the
estimation of man, and with the other, stamping
the seal of desolation tnd barrenness upon the face
ofthe earth. Here a huge pile of mountains, ris
ing in awful sublimity, like whitened thunder
clouds in the heavens where sleep
"The gathered winters of four thousand years ;" —
there an interminable plain as level and barren
almost as the ocean. Interesting people ! well
do I know their generous hospitality, — their native
suavity of manners, — their undissembled politeness .
They too have arisen in the glory of their strength,
from the slumber of ages, and have out-done the
valorous deeds of Arauco. They too have known
how to sacrifice freely and largely of blood, treas-

21
ureand time upon the altar of liberty; burning their
cities, their crops, thousands and thousands of
acres, all whitened to harvest, in order to put them
beyond the reach of their rapacious pursuers. —
Long, long will the plains of Chacubuco, the banks
ofthe Muypo, the regions of Peru and Colombia
and many other places be reraerabered in the an
nals of story, — for there the invincibility of their
spirit and the prowess of their arms were attested.
They have began to think and act for thera
selves ; — their moral condition ameliorates fast ; —
the priests are divested of much oftheir unhallow
ed power and influence — and the bloody inquisi
tion is gone ; — disappearing from among them, like
salan frora paradise, at the first glimmering dawn of
independence and reason ; and the horrid ravages
of that raonster of wickedness begin to be ahead)'
considerably restored, by the coraraercial inter
course they have with all nations, — aided by the
numerous volumes distributed among them by the
various bible societies in Christendom. It is not
to be expected they will do all at once ; but soon,
it is hoped, they will settle down to a state of tran
quility and happiness, — far more perfect than what
their forefathers enjoyed in the golden age of the
Incas, and advance lo wealth and prosperity be
yond what was realized in the luxurious days of
the unfortunate Montezuma.
Greece, ill fated Greece, what heart feels not for
Greece ! — How is her present condition calculated
to arouse into action all the slumbering energies
oflhe generous soul ; — the kindest sympathies of
civilized man,-' the tenderest sensibilities ofour na
ture. — Once the seat of the arts and sciences, — the
court of civilization and refinement, — the land of
liberty, — where Leonidas fought, — where Demost
henes spoke, — where ^^schylus played,-- where Ho-
,mer sung, — ^but now little known except on the page

22-
of history. Scarce a monument of its former gran.-
deur is left to tell the traveller where it existed.
There it is that the listless Turk now dreams a-
wav his life, while wandering thoughtless over the
ashes of heroes, — poets, — statesmen, — philoso
phers and orators, ; unconscious how hallowed that
soil has been upon which he is treading.
But of Greece there is hope. The barbarous
crescent may yet succumb to the victorious ban
ner of civilization. There is reason to believe she
is not yet dead, but only sleeps^ The genius of
liberty, weeping o'er her entombed independence,
has already spoken the potent word, as we trust,
for Greece to corae forth. And soon may she rise,
in all the bloom and vigour of youth, and bursting
the funeral enveloperaents in which she has slum
bered for so many ages, — ascend to power and
o-lory far superior to the height and splendour of
her ancient greatness;
Of Rorae, the once proud raistress ofthe world,
we have no hopes at present. — 'Tis now but a
heap of ruins. — Her independence of Empire, is
long since gone. — It lies undistinguished, unmark
ed and unnoticed in the great cemetery of fallen
institutions. The present degenerate inhabitant
gazes upon the classic scenery ofthe country, with
careless indifference. No heart-felt nobleness en
livens his countenance ; — no independence throbs
in his bosom ; — no patriotic ardour fires his soul
as he passes along the rivers, the vallies, the moun
tains, whose names were immortalized, twenty
centuries past, by the effusions of poetic inspiration.
The peasant, as he plows up the bones of ancient
warriors, passes heedlessly over them,: — little thinkj
inw they fell in defence of that liberty which he
himself never realised, while encountering the
troops of a Hannibal, or the iron-bound phalanx
of the Cimbrii.

23
France. — About thirty years past, we held out
the right hand of fellowship to France, and hailed
her as a sister republic. But France has aposta
tised and gone away backward, giving herself up
to the arms of tyranny.
Spain and Portugal have long been endeavouring
to institute a freedom of thought and of speech,
and establish a rational government. But vain
have been their exertions. No real good appears
to have resulted to the people from what they have
done. They are sunken with France — deep in
the gulf of despotism. A horrid night of oppress
ion broods heavy upon them, with scarce a ray to
cheer the awful gloom !
The English, as a people, will doubtless long re
main independent and powerful. But their pres
ent system of government and internal policy, can
not be durable, — not being founded upon the gen
uine unrestrained expression of the wishes ofthe
people. It has long since reached its meridian of
power and splendour. — The sun of its glory is fast
descending ; — and, with prophetic ken, I look for
ward to no very distant period, when it will verge
beneath that horizon where the ghosts of departed
greatness flit about forever, in sad lamentations at
being deprived of embodied existence.
Russia, one century past a horde of barbarians, is
now, as to power, population and extent of territory,
among the first Empires upon the globe. The
arts and sciences, and the christian religion, rising
at the palace of the Czars, are sheding their gen
ial influence in every direction, — extending even to
the shores of Azof, the cold regions of Siberia,
and the plains of Kamskatka. Alexander did
much for his country ; and although tyranic and ar
bitrary, like all other despots, he was, perhaps, as
good a ruler as the Russians, in their present state
of civilization could have. May his successor im-

24
'prove in liberality, as the people do in the true
science of governraent. Thanks be to Hira who
does his full pleasure among the inhabitants of
earth, as well as in the armies of Heaven, — we
have no need of any such guardianship from the
bands of any man.
As to the other nations of Europe, many altera
tions have taken place, with respect to them, for
the last fifty years, — some being wholly dismem
bered and united with other powers, and others
robbed of their government and reduced to a pro
vince.— And considering the rise and fall, the rev
olutions and changes of empires, ancient and mod
ern, who can avoid entertaining some dismal ap
prehensions of that awful day, when the finger of
posterity, pointing to the map of nations, may say,
there once stood the American republic ! there rose
the proud columns of her national fabric ! there
shone afar the splendid temple of liberty with open
doors, an asylum for the oppressed of all nations !
But let us not indulge thtise sombre anticipations.
Let us rather cherish the hope, that the pillars of
our republican institutions will stand unmoved till
the last rock shall dissolve in the final conflagra
tion of systems.
These pillars are knowledge and virtue. True
it is, that government is founded upon the mutual
interests of the governed ; — but people cannot be
made to perceive their own best interest without
some knowledge, nor induced to pursue it while
destitute of virtue. These then are the Boaz and
Jachin that support the great temple of liberty, —
and the basis upon which they rest is truth. Hence
we easily perceive the secret by which our civil
and religions institutions maybe rendered perma
nent. The only sure foundation is truth. Virtue
and knowledge must constitute the pillars,---and
a moral imperishable structure arises, without the

25
sound ofthe axe or the hammer, — clear as the sun-
fair as the moon — and terrible as an army with
banners. Vain ostentation may form a store of
golden shields, but they are wholly unfit for actu
al defence ; and calculated only to tempt the
avarice of some plundering Pharaoh. Freemen's
hearts, by the blessing of Heaven, are freemen's
only sure defence.
Our government is called a republic, because it
is instituted for the benefit of the whole. In fact
there is always a mutual relation betwixt the gov
ernment and the governed. While the people owe
to the government all that our forefathers mutual
ly pledged to each other, in establishing ours, their
lives, their fortunes and their sacred honour, the
government owes to the people, encouragement,
protection, and redress of all grievances. To this
encouragement, protection, and redress, when oc
casion requires, each individual, amongst us, is
equally entitled ; — and therefore ought to feel an
equal interest in supporting the government. Our
government is sometimes called a democracy, be
cause all power originally exists in the people. A
pure democracy, however, is where the people re
tain the power, and exercise it when occasion re
quires ; — delegating none, or but little, to any one
person. But such a government never did, —
cannot exist. Power must be occasionally delega
ted. The people cannot act, in all cases, in a body.
The government under which the ancient Isra
elites lived, is called a theocracy ; — because Deity
himself condescended to give them special direc
tions by the mouth of his prophets, more immedi
ately than he ever has to any nation, either before
or since.
We mean to be governed also, by the same unerr
ing rules of right ; — though we do not expect to re
ceive them directly from Heaven, but ascertain them
4

26
from the instructions already given us. There ap
pears to be, therefore, some propriety in coining a
new word, and calling our government an aleihoc-
racy; — by which 1 mean that truth prevails, or
holds the power. For we have no laws or cus
toms too sacred to be examined. Even our very
constitutions of government, contain provision for
their own amendment. With us the question is
not, what is said to be true, right, or expedient, but
what is really so. And when a political subject
has been fairly examined, the voice of the majori
ty must govern us respecting it. Mutual sacrifices
of opinions and interests, must be continually made
to be sure ; but as long as \ve continue to act upon
this simple principle, we shall have no dangers to
fear. And in order that each individual may be
enabled to examine the subject for himself, he must
have knowledge ; and, to be disposed to pursue
what he knows to be right, he must have virtue.
A people may be, in one sense, free and inde
pendent, and yet have the worst of governments.
Many slaves are better provided for than some that
are freemen. In fact every people who manage
their own concerns in their own way, are as free
and independent as we are ; but few communities,
of any description, are blessed with so much real
enjoyment. Liberty to act, is not, alone, sufficient
to make a nation or an individual happy. There
must be, also, a knowledge and a disposition to
act. What we boast' is not a vague undetermined
privilege of doing as we please, but a rational lib
erty—the genuine offspring of salutary laws and
illurainated reason— the true spirit of the Saviour
— the undoubted forerunner of his second appear
ance — and perhaps the only one he will ever make
to mortal vision. Many individuals, and even
small communities, in different ages, have acted

27
upon it as fully as we do ; — but no nation as such ;
— not even the ancient Israelites, Greeks, or Ro
mans, ever enjoyed it to any considerable degree
of perfection. The great mass of the people,
among those nations, were grossly ignorant ; — know-
ing but little of the proper manner of conducting
the affairs of state ; — and were consequently com
pelled to submit to the dictation of a few ; and to
act, in most cases, without being able to perceive
the reasons why they should do so. Not so with
us. — Every man, on going to the poles, is presum
ed to know the full extent ofthe measures he means
to support ; and to be ready to acquiesce, cheer
fully, in what shall eventually prove to be the will
of the majority, fairly expressed. So that, without
being chargable with any dereliction from the so
berness of truth and of reason, we may say,
that rational liberty, though a tenant of the skies,
and coeval with Deity — was born, as a general
blessing, on the fourth of July, 1776 — was cradled
in the American Revolution — has advanced to ma
turity, during a residence of fifty years amongst us ;
— -and soon may the heathen be given her for a
lasting inheritance, and the utmost parts of the
earth for a permanent possession ; and her king
dom extend from sea to sea, and from the river to
the end of the earth.
Much we enjoy,— and where much is given,
much will be also required. God, in his Provi
dence, has not thus opened the treasures of Heav
en to every people. — And we have now to act in a
manner that may be, in some degree, worthy of
the exalted privileges that are lavished upon us.
Let us then all reraeraber that we sustain various
relations in the great scale of being, and have, in
each, an important part to perform. As created,
let us never forget what is clue to the gre^t Authoj-
and giver of all.

28
As intelligent, let us never degrade our reason
or character by any species of intemperance what
ever ; but endeavour to do hoofiur to rational na
ture. As human, we ought to^ remember that eve
ry man, whatever his complexion or country may
be, is our brother; entitled to respect and affection
in proportion to the rectitude ofhis conduct. As
people of these United States, let us never forget
we are freemen ; nor becorae remiss in guarding
our liberties, as well against domestic encroach
ment as foreign invasion.
As citizens of an independent and respectable
state, we have our own interests ; and we ought to
cherish them as we do our own lives. They con
stitute an integrant part of those rights and privi
leges of which we boast so loudly, and which our
fathers so dearly purchased. Let them never be
merged in those of the nation. A consolidation of
all the states into one homogeneous government,
to say the least of it is possible ; — and however im
probable it now appears, there is certainly no harm
in guarding against an event that would prove so
deplorable. Though an inseparable part of the
whole, we must never surrender a single particle
• more than what we expressly stipulate to do in
the United States constitution. On the one hand,
let us be careful not to weaken, or otherwise dis
order the general compact by selfish withdraw- •
ment, disregarding its interests and contracting
our views to the narrow circle of our own state
pohcy ; — and on the other, we ought to beware lest
we loose the exact equilibrium, by tending too much
to the great center of attraction. Each state should
be careful to move on its own orbit ; guarding against
the least aberration from its well known course,
and punctual to perform its part in the general sys
tem ; — and then will the Union indeed be "proper
tied as all the timed spheres." The government

t

29 ^
and internal policy ofthe state, — as well as that of
the Union, admits of much able discussion, but the
present is not the Jfefct suitable occasion to enter
minutely upon it. ^R to Vermont, a senate added
the legislative department, would give more sta-
ty, permanence and respectability to thai branch
the government. To continue our ]udges0t
office with a competent salary, till special cause be
shown for their removal,-^to the satisfaction of
two thirds, or a large majority of the legislature
would undoubtedly have the same effect upon the
judiciary. And to prohibit judges and other in
ferior magistrates from entering the legislature as
members, would be acting upon the salutary max
im, that the sarae raan who makes the laws ought
never to administer them. But upon these sub
jects people think differently.
As people of this vicinity, — as inhabitants of the
town, — as neighbours in the village, v^ also have
our peculiar interests, and peculiar duties to per
form. But as members of society generally, we
have still more to do. To us is committed the
richest pearl that man can possess under Heaven,
the privilege of governing ourselves. I have points
ed out the only possible method in which this can
be rationally done ; and that is by disseminating
knowledge and virtue. "There needs but thinking
right and meaning well," to constitute every indi
vidual amongst us a sovereign, and every officer of
evjery description, litterally speaking, a servant and
subject. The way is easy and plain, and the moHe
of pursuing it, is simple as simplicity itself. Let
our schools be encouraged and amply supported ;
and then if we have any raoney or time to ^pare,
let it be given for a public paper or a tract. ""The
higher institutions of learning will take care of
themselves. "Small streams to rivers — rivers run to
seas." It is our common schools, aided by the press,

) 30
that will prove the incipient means of ushering in
the happy millenium. From the school-book, in
cluding the sacred volume,|Bfe youth is led to a
tract or other public paper ; Slwrom that to geog -
raphy and history ; and so oh', if he pleases, io
«truse branches of science. It is a cheering ,re^
tion to every philanthropist, that so much is
ing at the present day, in this, and in some few
countries in Europe, for intellectual improvement.
The effects are not confined to any one place ; but
appear, unexpectedly, in the most retired parts of
the world. Even the small Female Tract Society
that has lately been formed in this place, deservxjs
to be honourably mentioned upon the present oc
casion. Those women, fellow-citizens, are real
patriots. They mean, by the blessing of heaven,
to. perpetuate the independence, the civil and re
ligious institutions ofour country. Let us march
on, like thsu-ising sun, scattering blessings beyond
our destined sphere of action, till all people come
to liberty's light, and kings to the brightness of
her rising.

Fellow-citizens of the Johnson Volunteer Militia
Company. — Appearing as you do, under arms, J
address you as soldiers. The great pains you have
taken to acquaint yourselves with military tactics,
entitles you to public applause, and public thanks.
In time of peace prepare for war, is a salutary max
im. Volunteer companies constitute the best
part of a nations defence. Their superior disci
pHne gives them an eminent advantage over the
comraon militia ; — and, the circumstance that they
have their own homes and fire sides to defend,
ought to make them better in case of an actual in
vasion or insurrection, than regular soldiers. Your

31
discipline is alreadifcuperior. Your ambition is
. admirable. Let i^^^r abate. You are liberty's
life gujifds — a gral^p the first respectability and
J hojQour ; Ih comparison to which, to attend a mon
arch, and bask in the sunshine of royal favour,
would be mean, servile and despicable. To you,
principally ioyou, as the foremost ranks of militia,
your country looks for protection. Keep those
arms continually bright and in readiness for her
defence, allowing them never to be soiled except
in the blood of her enemies. Let not your exer
cises be considered a burden, but as a distinguish
ed privilege enjoyed only by freemen. Remem
ber that despotic governments dare not allow the
common people use of arms. And fellow-citizensj
although we all look forward with pleasing antici
pation to the near approach of that au^|Uiious pe
riod, when wars of every description wrall cease,
and all nations enjoy the blissful reign or EJmanuel,
still that period is to be hastened on, we believe,
by the use of means. Even the soldier has part
to act in bringing it forward. For although we
have the promise of God, of escaping eventually to
the shores of peace, from the storms and commo
tions that have thus far torn and distracted our
fallen race, still unless we have able bodied men,
prompt to their duty, on board the ship, we cannot
be saved.

ERATA. * *
Page 4, lise 12 from top, read constitute for constitutes.
Page 6, Une 12 from top, read braving for leaving.
Page 8, line 7 from top, read throughout for through.
Page 15, liae 20 from top, read rights for right.

1 > •