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1942

ORATION

JEROME B. KIMBALL,

POEM

WILLIAM M. RODMAN.
JXTL'Y 4, 1856.

AN
O RATION
DELI VEKED BEFORE THE
MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES
OP THE
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1856,
ET
JEROME B. KIMBALL,
AND A
POEM
DELIVEEED ON THE SAME OCCASION, EY
WILLIAM M. RODMAX.

PKOVIUENCE :
KNOWLES, ANTHONY & CO., CITY PRINTRKS.
1856.

CITY OF PROVIDENCE.

In Common Council, \
July 14, 1856. ^
Resolved, That the Committee appointed to make arrangements
for the Municipal Celebration of the Anniversary of American Inde
pendence be, and they are hereby authorized to request of Jerome B.
KimbaU, Esquire, a copy of the Oration delivered by him on the fourth
of July last, and of William M. Sodman, Esquire, a copy of the Poem
delivered by him on the same occasion ; and cause the same to be pub
lished in such manner as they may deem expedient, for the use of the
City Council. Read and passed. A. G. GREENE, Clerk.

In Board of Aldekmen, same day, read and concurred.
ALBERT PABODIE, Clerk.

Approved : J. Y. SMITH, Mayor.

OEATION.

In obedience to the injunction of one of the early-
fathers of the Republic, as well as in the observance of
a beautiful and hallo-W^ed custom, we have met together,
fellow citizens, on this anniversary morning of our Na
tional Independence, to offer up our tribute of thanks
giving for the blessings which have attended iis hitherto
in our national career; to deliberate upon the duties
devolved upon us by the inheritance of a free govern
ment ; and to renew the pledge of " our lives, our for
tunes and our sacred honors " to the maintainance of
those principles which are the basis of our republican
institutions, and without which they have neither perma-
nancy nor vitality.
May the meditations of this hour confirm the devotion
of each, one of us to that glorious doctrine of civil rights
and constitutional freedom, proclaimed to the World at
the nativity of the Republic^ and increase our fidelity to
the institutions of a government which has secured to

this people an elevation of rank, an abundance of pros
perity, and an extent of influence unparalleled in the
history of modem nations.
The Declaration of American Independence, in itself
a work so grand and imposing, so fraught with the most
beneficent results not only to the American people, but
to all the nations of the earth, if we would ascertain its
full import, must be viewed in a two-fold aspect.
It was not merely a renunciation of all those ties
which had formerly bound the colonies to the mother
country ; it was not alone a dissolving of the allegiance
of tbe colonists to the British crown ; it was something
more than a proclamation to the world that henceforth
the people of the states would be free to establish a
government of their own choice ; to regulate their own
internal affairs, as well as foreign relations, without the
interference of any other power. These were indeed,
the ends which it was designed directly and primarily
to accomplish, and to which we justly accord the tribute
of our highest admiration.
But of what avail would it have been that the bonds
which held the colonies in subjection to a foreign sov
ereignty had been sundered; that our ancestors sent
forth among the rulers of the old world their proclama
tion of liberty in such tones of dignity and firmness as
made the sturdiest despot tremble upon his throne,
unless some scheme of government should be devised
which miglit give effect to the principles thus proclaimed ?
The Declaration, laden as it was with hope for the
disheartened, and peace for the troubled soul, proclaim-

ing " liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhab
itants thereof," was but the germ of that mighty revolu
tion, still to he wrought out upon this western con
tinent. It announced to the wonder-stricken nations of
the old world in 1776, the determination of the Amer
ican colonies to establish upon the ruins of a grievous
tyranny, a new power, which would claim to occupy an
equally independent and sovereign position with them
selves. It was a plain, simple, manly protest against
the usurpations and violence of the House of Hanover.
It was a formal statement, made from "a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind," of tlie causes
which impelled the people of the colonies to sunder
their connection with the British crown, and " to assume
among the powers of the earth the separate and equal
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God
entitled them." It was the first step in the direction of
a republican government ; the chief corner stone of the
great temple of liberty which our fathers reared upon
the shores of the Atlantic, and which gave shape and
character to the solid superstructure.
Thus addressing itself chiefly to the external relations
of the colonies, declaring the simple fact of national
exis.tence and independence, there was little room for
differences of opinion among the members of the con.
vention which announced it to the world. No man in
that memorable body doubted that Great Britain had
been guilty of the grossest wrong and injustice towards
her American colonies. No man could devise an adequate
remedy for those wrongs already become insufferable,

except by throwing off allegiance to the power which
had wantonly inflicted them, and setting up in the land
the standard of their own supreme and self-sympathizing
authority. No man could repress a feeling of pride and
exultation as he contemplated the picture of national
independence there opened to his view. It might be
doubtful whether the position could be maintained
against the whole force of the mother country. Thvj
odds were great. But confidence in the support of an
over-ruling Providence prevailed, and even on this point
there was a singular unanimity of opijiion and senti
ment. And not only in the convention was this unanimity
manifested. The same genial spirit of patriotism which
pervaded the oM Hall of Independence on that memo
rable birth-day of a new sovereignty had possessed the
hearts of all the people. And when, sweet and clear
as the vibrations of an jEolian harp, above the stirring
discord of drum and cannon, and the tumultuous conflict
of hopes and fears, the old bell, which stood like some
trusty sentinel in the tower, rang out, in accents of un
mistakable import, " liberty throughout all the land unto
all the inhabitants thereof," a swelling tide of exulta
tion swept over the continent, and penetrated the most
distant colonies.
There is, however, another point of view from which
the Declaration of Independence should be regarded.
And this comprehends its relation to the internal affairs
of the people who had thus asserted their nationality.
As soon as the determination of the colonies to place

themselves beyond the pale of British dominion had
been announced, efforts were immediately made to es
tablish some frame of government by which that separa
tion could be enforced, and the independence of the
youthful nation maintained.
The exigencies and pressure of the war of the Revo
lution demanding instantaneous provision, the Confede
ration was accepted ^s the instrumentality through which
the several colonies might unite in adopting such meas
ures as should be required for the common defence. It
possessed few of the elements of a permanent govern
ment, and answered very poorly the demands even of a
temporary necessity. Upon the conclusion of the war,
therefore, when peace had been honorably restored to
the States; when the independence of the nation had
been maintained against the most fearful odds, and was
recognized by the power which had formerly exercised
the right of sovereignty over it, and when too,<it had
been learned by a bitter and never-to-be-repeated expe
rience that the confederation was not adapted to ac
complish the objects of the Declaration, or to enforce
the doctrines therein proclaimed, in order to complete
the work which had been begun a few years before ; to
devise some permanent scheme for directing the internal
affairs of the nation; to establish such a system of
government as should harmonize with the sentiments
and interests of the people from all sections of the
country, at the same time that it combined, in just pro
portions, the elements of strength, durability and effi
ciency; such a government as should secure to the

10

people of each colony " life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness;" as should have "full power to levy war,
conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce,
and to do all other acts and things " which it pertained
to the States as independent sovereignties to do, while
it should exercise no power, however insignificant, which
was not "derived from the consent of the governed ; " as
should promote institutions adapted to cultivate and
expand the sentiments which had carried the colonies
successfully through all the perils of the revolution ; in
a word, to consummate the glorious work begun on the
fourth of July, 1176, the Convention which framed the
Constitution of the United States, was assembled in
1787. The records of history have made us all familiar with
the many defects of the articles of confederation. It
was wisely ordered hj a favoring Divinity that while the
issue of the conflict remained doubtful, no scheme of
internal government should be proposed which could
bear heavily upon peculiar local interests, or excite sec
tional prejudices and antipathies. It required all the
energies of all the people, induced by the most intense
and continued gush of patriotism, to maintain the strug
gle for independence. The experiment demanded for its
success the widest unanimity in the public mind, and the
concentration of all the powers of the colonies upon the
single effort to maintain their nationality. The interests
of the several States, so far as concerned the establish
ment of the nation, were only identical upon a plane of
vision to which it was not. Ukely many could attain at

11

that early day. What benefitted one benefitted all, was
true only in a restricted sense, and had measures of
government been proposed, before the war was termi
nated, which seemed to demand some concession of
right, on the one side or the other, which required an
abandonment of some local, temporary advantage to
secure the general, permanent good of the whole people,
which were likely to excite opposition, or provoke un
friendly feeling in any quarter, our revolution must have
met the fate of numberless struggles for civil freedom in
the old world, of which nothing remains to this day
but the story of their failure.
The Confederation was thus a temporary expedient,
embodying enough of the form of government to hold
together in a loose and inefficient manner, the colonies
by which it was ratified, at the same time that it in
fringed upon the sovereignty and individuality of no one
of them ; it exerted a large measure of influence in
fixing the public mind upon the necessity of union among
the States, at the same time that it avoided even the ap
pearance of hardship towards any single State.
Thus, while in no proper sense was it the successful
binding together of the separate nationalities in one
common government, it prepared the way for the build
ing up of the great American Republic as the natural
guardian of the liberties of the people. It is however
to the Constitution that the American citizen, from what
ever section of our common country, must turn with
pride, as the consummation of the glorious Declaration
of Independence which we have met at this time to

12

commemorate. This it is, which, for nearly a century,
has in so large a degree, secured to all classes and con
ditions of our fellow men, " life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness." This it is which, deriving "all its just
powers from the consent of the governed," has been
effectual to raise us, with a rapidity unknown before in
the history of the world, to the foremost rank among
nations; to develope, even beyond the most sanguine
hopes of our ancestors, the varied resources of a country
richly endowed by nature with all that can make a peo
ple strong and prosperous ; to demonstrate to the world
the practicability of a government founded upon an
equality of rights ; to create on this side of the Atlantic
a moral influence which has penetrated the proudest
palace and the lowliest hut beyond the seas, and inspired
the sorrowing victims of oppression with renewed faith
and courage ; to make us one free, united, happy people.
In vain, utterly in vain, but for this last and crowning
act of patriotic statesmanship, would have been that
soul-stirring proclamation of liberty ; in vain, the labors
and sacrifices which were endured to secure the triumph
of freedom in this western world; in vain, oh! how
much in vain ! the blood which flowed freely as the river
of life upon the battle fields of the revolution ; in vain,
the martyrdom of Warren, the persistent, self-sacrificing
unexampled devotion of Washington.
No, my fellow citizens, not alone, on this occasion, do
we commemorate the Declaration ofAmerican independ
ence. We would do homage not less to the Constitution
of the American Union. The heroes of '76 are enshrined

13
in our hearts with the heroes of '87. The name of Han
cock and the name of Washington should be inscribed
together on the nation's escutcheon, and no one of us
should ever forget, that what was commenced under the
superintendence of the one, the other conducted to a
most successful issue, and that the united labors and
struggles of both acquired for American citizens the
united blessings of Independence and Kepublicanism.
The settlement of the internal affairs of the nation ; —
the construction of a frame of government which should
give utterance to the sentiments, and exercise to the
principles embodied in the Magna Charta of the colonies,
and yet adapt itself easily and readily to all the shifting
wants and exigences of a union, composed of separate
and sovereign States, was a far more complicated task
than statesmen had ever before undertaken to accom
plish. In order that all sections might come together
on one common platform, it was indispensable that all
should surrender something of their individual rights.
In order that the government, whatever might be its
peculiar form, should receive the hearty support of all
the States, it must be adapted to promote, in some ap
preciable degree, the well-being of each individual State.
So it was that a spirit of mutual concession, of mutual
forbearance and confidence could alone accomplish the
much hoped for result. So it was that the general govern
ment came at last to be composed of little fragments of
power struck off from the sovereignties of the several
States ; a bundle of contributions from each of the colo
nies, accepted by the people, and established as the

14
source and limit of constitutional authority. The work
of American independence was fitly perfected only when
he, who by valor and magnanimity on the battle field
had become " first in war," and by his lofty patriotism
and unwavering fidelity to the cause of human rights,
had won for himself the proud distinction of being called
" first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen,''
took his place at the nation's helm, and undertook to
guide the noble ship which he had been so largely instru
mental in constructing.
In view of the intimate relation which thus exists be
tween the Declaration and the Constitution, — the one
commencing and the other completing the work of estab
lishing the Republic, it is appropriate for us to consider
at this time, how far we have adhered to the faith of our
fathers, and maintained the principles which they sought
to incorporate into the general government. If the
spirit which animated the patriots of a former age no
longer finds a lodgment in the hearts of the American
people ; if the principles which controlled their lives
and directed their conduct, receive only the empty
homage of our lips, while our affections are far from
them ; if all the accustomed paraphernalia of this famil
iar jubilee, — the booming of cannon, the merry pealing
of bells, the majestic waving of the " stars and stripes,"
the soul-stirring strains of martial music, borne on the
gentle breezes of an auspicious morn, excite not in our
bosoms responsive echoes of patriotic feeling, the days
of the Republic are already numbered, and the glory of
the nation has departed forever. I will not dwell upon

15

the possibility of such a catastrophe. I have no appre
hension that, if we try our hearts, we shall find them
thus estranged from the " Penates " of the Republic,
and following after other gods. I would do no man, and
no body of men the injustice to believe that they have
entirely forgotten the privations and struggles of their
honored sires, which have conferred upon themselves the
peaceful enjoyment of so large a profusion of the com
forts and even the elegances of a refined civilization.
Not so, not so. We claim to be men, and neither knaves
nor pigmies. By the judgment of the world, we are
worthy descendants of a thrice noble ancestry. But
may it not be, nay, is it not, that in the pursuit of those
blessings which the liberal and fostering genius of a
government like ours places within the reach of all
classes of citizens, we are apt temporarily to lose sight
of principles which should be kept ever fresh in our
thoughts ? Is it not true, to an unfortunate extent, that
we often manifest little of that nice and delicate percep
tion of political duty which our institutions are calcu
lated to develope only in the mind untrammelled by sel
fish and sordid considerations? Do not "the cares of
this world, and the deceitfulness of riches," and the hope
of personal advancement choke the spirit of self-denying
patriotism in our hearts so that it becomes sometimes
unfruitful ? There is an essential antagonism in the very
nature of our government, against the operation of
which we need to be especially guarded. The almost
unbounded license to pursue his own interest which it
allows to every man ; the inward sense of independence

16
and individuality which it loves to foster in the citizen ;
the abhorrence which it professes of even the mildest
form of religious despotism, all tend, in their influence
upon frail human natures, to persuade us to forget the
duties which we owe to that government, to society, and
to ourselves. Here, as we pursue with intense and un
remitting pain, the routine of our daily labors, no pomp
of military parade or civic procession reminds us, with
out ceasing, of our allegiance to royalty; no uniformed
police stalk up and down the streets of our busy cities,
displaying continually before our eyes the insignia of the
law ; here, no standing army, trained to all the arts and
crimes of warfare, inspires us with an awful sense of the
power of sovereignty ; no lordly mansion rising in the
midst of some " sweet Auburn," made desolate by its
extravagance, discloses to the sturdy yeoman the im
passable gulf between him and the majesty of the throne.
To every citizen of the United States liberty says,
" take care of yourself" — " make your own fortune " —
" fight your own way to eminence and luxury." The
wealthy and gallant representative from the proudest of
the old thirteen Colonies must give way to the humble,
but not less gallant blacksmith from Massachusetts Bay;
and the statesman of a score years must be content to
take his chance for the high honors of the government
with the brave " Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains."
While these numerous temptations thus beset our path,
daily and hourly alluring us to forget the hand which
dispenses so many blessings, the system of government
to which we owe allegiance, demands, on the part of its

17

subjects, the most delicate appreciation of responsibility,
the sternest and most rigid regard to all the require
ments of the law, the most complete fulfilment of all the
duties of a citizen, and a high tone of moral sensibility,
more potent for protection than any array of mere phy
sical force, or the pride and pomp of a dissolute nobility.
Preeminently is it required of a true subject of the Re
public, that he should
 "rule the Empire of himself; in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.''
The true type of the American Citizen is the man who
harmonizes these antagonisms. He must possess more
spotless virtues than embellished the fame of the old
Roman Censor ; he must display hardly less activity and
courage than the most adventurous specimen of Young
America can boast. He must have a heart large enough
to embrace, in one common fold, every section of the
Union, expanding and receiving new impulses as the Un
ion stretches out her arms ; a heart neither warmed into
unbecoming passion by the soft skies and balmy air of a
Southern climate, nor chilled into unsympathizing chur
lishness by the cold blasts of a wintry North. He must
be a man of large charity, whether in public or in pri
vate life. He must exercise the spirit of forbearance
and conciliation, tempered with firm discretion, not less
in the dazzling places of political preferment, than in the
quiet routine of private duties. He must pursue his own
interests steadily, perseveringly, yet always in subjection
to the general good. Above all he must cherish an un-
3

wavering attachment, which no lust of ambition, however
intense, can overcome, and no reverse of fortune, how
ever severe, can shake, to the two great pillars of the
Republic, 'upon whose summits sit the twin goddesses of
Liberty and Justice, dispensing in harmonious propor
tions their richest blessings through the land, — the De
claration of American Independence, and the Constitu
tion of the American Union. Of such men there have
been bright examples in the past history of the country;
of such men there are bright examples in our own day.
But, fellow-citizens, there have been, of late, flagrant
departures from these great principles, so extended in
their influence, and so public in their character, as to
demand some brief notice at this hour. In the midst of
our congratulations and rejoicings for the continued pros
perity of the country, we are called to mourn over scenes
and incidents crowded into the history of the past four
months of our national career, which the most iron des
potism could not look upon unmoved. This is no occa
sion to indulge in crimination or recrimination. It is not
the hour for reproach, even where reproach may be the
most richly deserved. But I should fail to meet the re
sponsibilities of the position assigned me by the courtesy
of your Committee, did I not attempt to express the
feeling of grief and anxiety which pervades the public
mind, even as we draw near to do homage at the altar of
freedom. The rights of a portion of the free citizens of a newly
organized Territory have been grossly outraged, and their
just privileges ruthlessly trampled in the dust. The

19
fertile plains of Kansas, rich and productive beyond any
other section of the public domain, have been made des
olate and barren by the inroads of barbarians. The
black flag of tyranical oppression has been planted,
where the stars and stripes of Constitutional liberty
should wave triumphantly this day. The wail of bitter
lamentation comes over to us, like some Macedonian cry,
from those villages and settlements which should resound
with the echo of our acclamations. The black cloud of
civil war rests over our western frontier. Upon the
evidence before the public, abating much for error and
misrepresentation, we are forced to believe that armed
hordes from an adjoining State have crossed over into
the Territory of Kansas, on more than one occasion;
that they have taken possession of the ballot boxes, —
those palladia of the people's rights ! — in many districts,
without even the form of just authority, and forced upon
the settlers an illegal, and pretended Legislature, elected
by foreign votes, at the point of the bowie-knife and re
volver ; that the Legislature so pretendedly elected, as
sumed to make laws for the invaded and defenceless ter-
itory, and to appoint ministers who should execute those
laws ; that the laws so enacted were not only atrocious
and oppressive, but contrary to the fundamental princi
ples as well as the plainest provisions of the Constitution ;
that the free settlers of the Territory have in some meas
ure resisted the efforts to enforce obedience to those
spurious laws ; that in the struggle which has resulted
from such resistance, human life has been sacrificed, and
property destroyed, and anarchy and revolution now

20

reign in the land. With the causes which have produced
this shameful condition of things, we have little to do at
this time. It is the result of no accident, and admits
of no justification. It is an outrage upon both the senti
ments and rights of the whole American people. A wise
law of Solon disfranchised and disgraced a citizen of
Athens, who witnessed a sedition, and took no part on
either side. Shall we not at least compromise our na
tional character, if, on this, our nation's jubilee, we utter
not some words of sympathy and encouragement for the
¦ victims of this unparalleled tyranny ? Shall we deserve
the name of American citizens, ifwe sit tamely by, without
endeavoring to avert the distressing calamity which hangs
over our common country ? Shall we hold our peace,
when the scourge of slavery is sweeping through the
length and breadth of Kansas, not only crippling the en
ergies, and blasting the resources of that "fair garden of
the West," but subjecting men, as free as you and I, it
may be our own brothers or friends, to the observance
of laws palpably unjust and unconstitutional ?
I wage no indiscriminate warfare against Slavery
within its proper limits. Par be it from me, to strive,
even according to the measure of my feeble capacity, to
excite or encourage a feeling of disaffection and animosity
between the northern and southern sections of the United
States. Slavery has her rights. Let the free States of the
North and West put themselves under the contribution
to secure to her the enjoyment of those rights, to the full
extent of the constitutional guaranties, promptly, vigor-

21

ously, — it must be sadly. Nay, let her not be put off
with the "pound of flesh." In the spirit of brotherly re
gard, let her be allowed to take some few " drops of
christian blood." But has Freedom no rights, proclaimed
in the Declaration, or guarantied by the Constitution?
Shall the slave power forever employ all her effective
force to cut off and destroy the dearest privileges of free
men ? Is there no limit to the encroachments of this
destroying monster ? We need not ask ourselves, What
is the Union worth? if the country must continue to be
tossed to and fro with incessant agitation, one section
arrayed in open or secret hostility against another, and
both consuming their life blood in a deathly antagonism.
Rather should we inquire at this time whether the exist
ence of the Union can be maintained, unless the rights
and liberties of all the people shall be sacredly observed.
The final overthrow of the empire of the proud "Mistress
of the World" was not more certainly foreshadowed by
the earliest inroads of the barbarous Vandals, than the
ruthless invasion of Kansas foretells the shattering of
this glorious Republic in a thousand fragments at no
distant day, unless the progress of such enormities in the
land shall be speedily and forever checked.
Closely allied with this great wrong, and if possible,
still more iniquitous, is an event which occurred, not long
since, at the Capital of the nation, the simple mention of
which must raise the blush of shame upon the cheek of
every man who possesses the soul of honor.
It is not my purpose to dwell upon the details of that
assault. They are unhappily too familiar to us all.

22
"Brutal, murderous and cowardly" are the words by
which the future impartial pen of history shall charac
terize it; "brutal, murderous and cowardly," are the
epithets with which honest indignation every where, and
in all ages, shall stamp it. The act itself was a direct,
palpable, outrageous breach of the rights and immuni
ties of a sworn officer of the general government. It
was an attempt to inflict personal violence as a penalty
for exercising the highest privilege of a freeman, and of
performing; what was believed to be a sober duty. This
was no sudden deed, perpetrated in the first flush of ex
citement under terrible provocation. It was the cool,
wary, deliberate, cautious, prudent attack of the assas
sin, seeking to gratify the most degraded passions to
which the human heart is susceptible. Serious and un
justifiable as this incident was, it would scarcely claim
our notice, at this time, had it not been attended by
circumstances of peculiar significance. In these sur
rounding circumstances, we cannot help detecting some
thing of the same endeavor to repress free speech upon
the subject of slavery at Washington, as was indicated
in the enactment of oppressive laws by the usurping
legislature of Kansas. The same men who have seen
nothing to condemn, and little to regret in the disgrace
ful proceedings at Kansas, do not hesitate to approve
the violent and dastardly act at Washington. Especially
is it worthy of notice that the man, who, since the pres
ent Congress was assembled, assumed to represent the
slave-holding interest of the country, and in that repre
sentative character, partook of the courtesies and hos-

23

pitalities of the "Athens of America"; who enjoyed,
among a community which could have little sympathy
with the doctrines proclaimed by him, the most un
bounded freedom of speech, and who was even listened
to with flattering respect, boldly and eargerly avows his
hearty approval of an assault upon a Senator from that
very City whose kindness he had so recently experienced,
and the only provocation for which assault was the in
dulgence of the same freedom of speech in the perform
ance of a public duty, which had thus been acorded to
him by the voluntary invitation of that Senator's con
stituents. Nor this alone. A large proportion of the
slave-holding interest of the country, — Oh ! shame upon
humanity ! — endorse the approval of their willing cham
pion, saying, thereby, to the people of America, that
when Slavery can be advanced in no other way, it must
be pushed forward over the lifeless form of constitutional
law; that henceforth, the representatives of the slave
interest are to be bound by no consideration of human
ity or decency. Alas ! for poor, weak, human nature !
As we fix our eyes upon this dismal spectacle, how shall
we help crying out from the depths of grief and sorrow ?
" Oh ! where is the spirit of yore,
The spirit tliat breathed in thv dead,
When gallantry's star was the beacon before,
And honour the passion that led ?
Thy storms have awakened their sleep,
They groan from the place of their rest,
And wrathfuUy murmur and sullenly weep,
To see the foul stain on thy breast :
For where is the glory they left thee in trust ?
'Tis scatter'd in darkness, 'tis trampled in dust."
The proprieties of this occasion do not permit me to
speak of the pretended provocation for this infamous

24
deed. We disgrace ourselves when we stoop to look
after a provocation. Not alone is freedom of speech
guarantied by the letter and spirit of the Constitution,
as well as the great Bill of Rights ; not alone is the
most absolute immunity from obligation to answer for
words spoken in debate in either House of Congress,
except to the House before which they may have been so
spoken, pledged to every man who takes his seat there,
under an oath of office ; not only has it ever been the
uniform, unwritten law of all civilized nations, announced
from the tribunals of every age, that " words do not jus
tify blows ;" but even in that code which has its origin
in the sentiment of Honor, it is held distinctly and em
phatically that " a man of Honor never attacks an un
armed man"; that "such an attack stamps the assailant
as a felonious coward." If there is, among a portion of
our fellow citizens, however small, and however respect
able, and from any section of the country, a disposition,
for whatever cause, to restrict the privileges of debate
in Congress, or elsewhere, beyond the restrictions which
the well-settled law of the land has imposed, it becomes
our duty, here and now, to declare to such persons our
firm resolve, that come what will, we cannot, we will not
submit to such oppression. We beseech them, by every
consideration of justice and humanity; by the past invio
lability of those rights ; by the memory of a common
origin, and a common birthright ; by the prosperity and
glory of the republic ; and, by the hope of a still more
glorious future, — forbear ! Now, while you stand upon the
threslihold of strife and bloodshed, — forbear ! Now, while

25

it is not too late, and something may yet be done to
repair the breach which your own hands have made —
forbear ! forbear ! while the banner of liberty and union,
unsullied and untorn, still waves in peace " o'er the Land
of the Pree."
Shall we put our trust in disunion, for relief from these
troubles ? — God forbid ! — while there is hope that the
land may be purged from these great iniquities, (and so
long as humanity dwells in American bosoms, we may
hope) we must cling, with the tenacity of dying men to
the Union. Separation, stormy and turbulent as it must
be, if it ever comes, is no antidote for the diseases which
now afflict the nation. We must look rather, with a
strong faith to the revival of that universal spirit of pa
triotism which pervaded the earlier years of the Repub
lic. We must demand with such an air of just authority
as shall secure acquiescence, that these injuries shall be
repaired, and these sectional antipathies healed over.
We must not permit ourselves to dwell upon the prac
ticability or possibility of a final rupture between the
States, nor seek to discover the policy which it would
become either party to pursue after such an event shall
have occurred. No matter what sacrifice of local in
terest may be demanded, in any quarter, to preserve the
Union, if so be it involves no sacrifice of principle, as it
never can, that sacrifice must be freely made. Neither
our eyes, nor the eyes of countless ages yet to follow us,
shall see the sun in heaven shining on this land, " rent
with civil feuds, or drenched in fraternal blood." The
people — thank God ! — ^have in their own hands, the means
3

26
of removing peaceably and quietly all the obstacles in
the way of a general and perfect reconciliation.
Peace will be restored throughout our borders, when
justice shall be done alike to all classes of our country
men ; when the free settlers in Kansas alike with the
free citizens of Rhode Island, shall be secured in the ex
ercise of all the rights which the Constitution proffers
to them ; when slavery shall be content to go back with
in its original bounds, or, if it must be extended, to ex
tend itself by lawful and honorable instrumentalities;
when physical force shall not usurp the supremacy of the
law, and no cowardly bully occupy the high places of
trust and honor in the Republic.
The work of averting the direful calamity of disunion
and restoring peace and rest to the land, must be done
by the free people of America. They must rally, without
distinction of party, or creed, or location, around the
sacred institutions of our common country, and shrink
from no suffering to preserve their integrity and freedom.
We must take our places manfully by the side of the
great principles which were made the basis of the Union
of these States, and maintain them with such vigor and
determination, that despotism and treason of every form
shall be overawed into submission, if they cannot be won
back to the love of virtue. When this shall have been
done, (and may it be speedily accomplished !) when the
spirit of mutual concession and sympathy shall reanimate
those bosoms which now heave with the throes of passion
and annimosity ; when it shall have become again, as it
was in the olden time, that citizens in every section of the

27
country shall feel that next to their God, their first duty
is to the government, their second to themselves and
their local interests ; when the love of gain or political
influence shall not excite any to trample upon the inalien
able rights of their fellow-men, and shall not permit any
to be unmoved spectators of such invasion ; when the
individual shall no longer be allowed to stand before the
common good, but when tlie most significant characteris
tic of an American citizen shall be his disinterested
patriotism, then shall peace and prosperity reign through
out all our borders, and the true destiny of the Republic
be in some measure realized.
What a Future is before this people, if they are thus
true to the principles of their government !
A century more has passed away, and I seem to see
the spirit of the immortal " Father of his Country," de
scending from the clouds and resting above the old Hall
where the first notes of liberty were sounded, and where
the union was established on a permanent foundation.
Surveying, with an air of calm complacency, the scene
spread out before him, he beholds a country unequalled
in extent upon the face of the globe, stretching from the
Atlantic to the Pacific seas, and from the frozen regions
of the north to the most distant peak of the Cordilleras,
embracing every variety of climate, laden with the pro
ductions of every zone, perfumed with the fragrance of
orange groves, and fanned by the genial breezes from the
surrounding waters. Great multitudes, which no man can
number, " of all nations and kindred and people and
tongues," gathered from the four corners of the earth,

28

dwell in peace and harmony in that broad expanse of ter.
ritory, almost realizing the vision of the Evangelist.
Cities and towns, villages and hamlets, rise up all over
the land, and a thousand avenues of communication bind
them to each other in a common bond of interest and sym
pathy. Art and Science are fostered there ; the Church
and the University stand side by side in every hamlet.
In that fair land Literature has her triumphs unequalled
in any age before, and Eloquence finds there her honored
votaries. There justice and mercy are tempered with love
and humility in the human heart. No sound of strife is
heard in all that land. The lash of the slave-master has
been broken : the moan of the slave is hushed forever.
There individual rights and national obligations are sa
credly respected, and virtue is the surest guide to public
eminence, no less than private esteem.
Surveying 'this cheering spectacle, with mingled emo
tions of gratitude and pride, the sainted Hero thus be
stows his benediction on that mighty host.
Worthy descendants of a worthy ancestry ! You have
nobly performed the task allotted you in the drama of
the new world. You have kept the faith of your fathers
unspotted from the trials and temptations which have
continually beset your path. You have begun to realize
the proud destiny of the Republic. The seeds sown at
Concord, Bunker Hill and Yorktown, have now ripened
into a rich fruition. The blood of the martyrs has be
come the fountain head from which the perennial stream
of freedom and justice takes its source. An influence
has gone forth, and shall continue to go forth from this

'' 29
land, which shall give civil liberty to the men of all na
tions. The problem of human government has at length
been solved. You have shown to the despots and spec
ulators of the old world, that he is best governed who
knows best how to govern himself. Do not falter in
your noble career. Your work will not have been ac
complished till all the nations of the earth shall know
and enjoy the blessings of a free, enlightened, republican
government ; till man shall come to be respected every
where for what he is, and not for the position which ac
cident or blind fortune may have forced upon him ; till
charity and brotherly love shall pervade the universe as
the waters fill the sea. If you would accomplish this
glorious destiny, continue to " observe good faith and
justice towards all nations ;" continue as you have so
successfully begun, to " cultivate peace and harmony" be
tween all the sections of your own happy country. Let
there be, in all coming time, no breath of secession or
disunion. Let the eyes of an hundred millions be fixed
with reverential gaze upon the inscription graven in let
ters of living light upon the dome of your proud Cap
itol — "Liberty and Union," — the Declaration of Inde
pendence and the Constitution of the United States —
" now and forever, one and inseperable."
Spirit of the immortal Washington ! descend and
dwell in our midst, we beseech Thee ! let thy pure
patriotism animate our hearts and direct our lives, so
that allured by no temptations, and turned aside by
no threats, we may follow in the bright path which
thou didst mark out for us, and give heed to thy
councils of wisdom.

POEM.

As echoes come from Alpine hills,
And joyous roll the vales along ;
And blend their notes with murmuring rills,
As shepherds chant their morning song :
So now from glen and mountain height,
Reechoing notes of gladness ring ;
While grateful hearts in praise unite.
And Freedom's birth-day anthems sing.
Then let my rude ^olian Lyre,
Whose ehainless tones are wild and free ;
Blend with the notes of freedom's choir.
To glad this joyous jubilee.

Why do we gather here, to-day.
And why surround this shrine ?
Why joyous chant our natal songs,
And festal garlands twine ?

34

Why deep, harmonious, full and strong,
Rolls o'er the land the tide of song,
In mingling echoes blending ?
And why, around on every hand.
Throughout our wide unfetter'd land,
From eastern shore to western strand,
Is grateful prayer ascending ?
Why jocund ring the merry bells,
O'er laughing hills, through flowery dells,
In frolic tones of joy ?
Why sits enthroned on childhood's brow,
The light of bliss and gladness now,
Unmix'd with grief's alloy?
Circle the earth with searching eye,
Scan every realm beneath the sky,
Roam all the seas which round it roll.
Each river wind from pole to pole.
And not a clime thine eye shall see.
So bright, so joyous, and so free.
As this om' native land ! —
Here all is free, here all is bright ;
Here all is clothed with life and light.
Around, on every hand ;
But there, where'er thy steps may lead,
O'er deserts wild — o'er cultur'd mead,
The fetter thou shalt find.
E'en England, freest of the free.
Claims the homage of the knee :
The servitude of mind.

35
England, once mistress of the sea.
Proudly proclaims her children free ;
That all who breathe her peaceful air,
Alike her blessings freely share. 
To starving Erin turn your eye,
And listen to her piercing cry,
And scan the desolation there
Where horror sports with gaunt despair ;
Then tell me, if ye will, or can —
Is England's throne a joy or ban ?
Aye, deck it as ye may, or will,
A crown's a tyrant's plaything still !
Here press, and speech and spirit all arc free,
Pree and unfetter'd as the boundless sea ;
Free and unbidden, everywhere to roam ;
Free as the eagle in his mountain home ;
Free to all altars spirit gifts to bring ;
Free by all altars, soul-born hymns to sing;
Free from all trammels, every scourge or rod.
Freedom to think, freedom to worship God.
But whence these blessings ? — see yon storm rent bark
Floating all ice bound, on the ocean dark ; —
And crouch'd with cold, and bow'd with care.
Behold that band of exiles there : —
They left their homes, their fathers' graves,
Brav'd winter's storms and whelming waves,
A pilgrim's home, and griefs to share ;
To rear for man one altar, where
He might worship God, and be,
From crown and crosier far and. free J

36
You may bend to earth the mountain's brow,
And the wildest whirlwind still ;
You may make the haughtiest monarch bow ;
But you cannot rule the will.
Firm as a rock in broad mid-ocean
When stormiest billows roll ;
It mocks at passion's wild commotion,
When its whirlwinds lash the soul !
The patriot true will suffer long ;
In silence bear the chain of wrong ;
Looking with hope toward the hour.
When might to right, shall yield the power ;
But, when oft turning to his chain.
He pleads for truth, but pleads in vain :
When his form, by power is crush'd ;
When his voice, by power is hush'd : —
'Tis then he grasps his sword and shield,
And marches to the battle field !
Thence turns to God his truthful eye.
And vows, his chain to break, or die 1
When darkness veiled this beauteous land,
And all was gloom on every hand ;
When freedom's altars round the world.
Were fireless all, her banners furled ;
When all her cherish'd hopes were riven,
And she had waved her wings for heaven ;
Our fathers rose in freedom's might.
And armed them for the holy fight.
Those patriots true, our sainted sires,
Kindled anew her altar fires :

37
They beat their pruning hooks to spears ;
Made weakness strong, made joy of tears ;
Knit heart to heart, joined hand to Land
And vow'd to free this fetter'd land.
They fought, they bled, they joyous died.
And with expiring life they cried.
While weltering on the gory clod,
For freedom strike, our strength is God !

Twine we the cypress with the laurel wreath.
And wail a requiem round their urn of death.
The grave enfolds them in its cold embrace ;
Yet death their mem'ry never can efface, —
But like the radiance of the noonday sun,
'Twill brighter gleam 'till time's last sands have run.
And with new lustre more effulgent burn,
'Till chaos crumbles time's funereal urn.
Oh ! may their mantle on each patriot fall.
And their pure spirit thrill the hearts of all ;
Then shall our nation evermore be bless'd ;
And every wave of discord sink to rest ;
And like the rills which form one mighty river,
In union blend, a,nd peaceful roll forever.

When all was robed in rayless night.
When hope withheld her cheering light ;
And not one star with trembling ray,
lUura'd the patriot's wilder'd way ;

38

What nerv'd each arm to strike the blow.
That bow'd the crown'd usurper low ?
Hurled from his arm his riven shield.
And led him vanquished from the field ?
As on the sailor,"when his bark
O'er ocean's stormy wave is driven;
When lightnings wild around him flash.
And pealing thunders roll and crash,
Through all the cloud- wrapp'd heaven ;
Beams through the gloom, serene and far.
The guiding radiance of a star.
With calm, celestial ray ;
So, through the gloom of freedom's night.
Gleamed on our sires a holy light ;
To gently lead their way ;
A holy fire, a flame divine,
Whicb burns undimm'd on freedom's shrine-
The fire of woman's eye.
Think of that dark and stormy hour
When Britain's arm of haughty power.
Braved stern New-Hampshire's son !
What woke his heart with fiery zeal ;
What nerved his arm like bolts of steel.
When roU'd the war-cloud dun ?
'Twas woman's sympathy and prayer,
'Twas home's remember'd angels there !
What were his words of living fire,
Which roused in all a freeman's iro
Ere that fight begun ?
" See ye men, tlie red coats there ;

39
" Then let each man consider,
" That we this day must madly fight
" And conquer them before to-night,
" Or Molly Stark's a ' widder.' "
Then Stark into his saddle sp:fang.
And " Forward," like a clarion rang:
His stirring battle cry ;
And all with freedom's fervor flushed.
On with madden'd valor rushed
To death or victory !
Aye, Molly Stark, thy honor'd name,
Shall gild the brightest scroll of fame.
While ocean rolls a wave ;
And freedom on her festal day.
Shall unto thee her tribute pay.
And weep above thy grave.

And when Rhode-Island's quaker brave.
His anvil unto freedom gave ;
And made that anvil loudly ring,
With giant blows and stalwart swing ;
And every time he struck that forge.
Vowed vengeance to the tyrant George—
And when complete his trusty blade.
And he for conflict stood arrayed ;
What did his Spartan mother say, -
As from his home he turned away ?
"Nat if thou tak'st the battle's track,
" Let not a shot assail thy back."

40
And did he heed her brave advice ?
Ask Eutaw's Springs, ask Trenton's ice !

Though now abote his peaceful grave
No laurel'd shaft is seen ;
Still valor faithful to her trust.
Shall jealous guard the holy dust.
Where sleeps Nathaniel Green.

Go, closely scan the page of glory.
For valor's brightest, holiest story.
Where fairest chaplets gem the grave.
Where calmest sleep the laurell'd brave.
And thou shalt find engraven there.
On valor's tablet, woman's prayer.
The star of the tempest, the vesture of light.
The rose of the desert, the rainbow of night.
The strength of our weakness, the pleasure of care.
The gladness of gloom, the bliss of despair.
The shield of the weak, the arm of the brave.
The tear of the tyrant, the smile of the slave ;
A seraph all holy, she gladdens our way.
And garlands December with roses of May,
And shines the heart's star, wherever we roam.
The beacon of truth, the Angel of Home.
When freedom's Tocsin sadly toU'd,
And o'er the land its echoes roll'd.

41

When clang'd the sad yet stern alarm.
Which bade our sires for conflict arm ;
From whom, from whence responsive came,
Those words of fire, on wings of flame ;
Which, like a clarion, full and clear',
Exultant woke the startled ear,
As freedom's soul inspiring breath.
Cried " Give me liberty or death ?"
And when our sires in council sate
To frame the basis of a State, —
All forms of law to closely scan.
Thence to define the rights of man, —
Who was the boldest to declare
The sacred law of freedom there ?
Who framed the creed, who pen'd the scroll,
Which taught the freedom of the soul ?
Who held this truth supreme to be,
That all mankind are equal, free ?
That by the eternal law of Heaven,
Three abstract rights to all are given ?
And there declared these rights to be
" Life, happiness and Liberty ?"
'Twas old Virginia's gifted son.
Who thus immortal honor won !
'Twas Patrick Henry's trumpet voice.
Which dared proclaim the freeman's choice :—
But there, amid the blight and bloom.
Which mingling gird Mount Vernon's tomb ;
Aye, there ! on old Virginia's plains,
The bondman clanks his galling chains ;
6

42

And for the sake of paltry gold.
Men are like chattels, daily sold !
Truth never changes — ^never errs —
Laws, fix'd as God's own throne are hers-
Then if that law our fathers fram'd,
And to the world by them proclaim' d,
Is based on truth's eternal law,
So it must stand forevermore.
Then let me ask in freedom's name.
Prom whence the law of bondage came ?
Show me the line, the word, the letter.
Which owns for man a gyve, a fetter ;
That makes a breathing man, a chattel,
A thing of trade, like herded cattle ?
Then when this stern relentless power
Bids us to its mandate cower.
And lifts its sceptre of command.
To shackle freedom through the land.
And in the name of Christless law.
Bids us unto chains restore.
The trembling slave, affrighted, flying.
On freedom's holy arm relying ;
In freedom's name defy the nod,
Cry freedom still, and trust in God !
Submit to law and wear its chain.
But let the bondman free remain.
And when our ministers of State,
Essay to stifle free debate.
When earnest hearts for truth contend.
And freedom's sons her claims defend.

43

Where speech should be as free as thought,
In freedom's highest, holiest court.
And lift the fratricidal hand.
To fell the guardians of our land ;
Shall freedom's ministers be dumb.
And unto vassal power succumb ?
No ! coward and dastard is the heart.
Whose blood does not defiant start,
And in the name of freedom's God,
Spurn the smiter and his rod !
Though law in essence is divine,
The law of conscience still is mine ;
And when the two in union blend.
At their behest I reverent bend ;
But when the Law usurps control,
And strives to subjugate my soul,
Then to my God in faith I turn.
And from His Law my duty learn ;
And standing thus, I fear no ill,
" For Thou, Oh God, art with me still !"
What ! is it a part of thraldom's plan.
Thus to assail the rights of man ?
What ! must we frame our words by rule,
And thus play hush, in freedom's school ?
Though oft repeated be the blow.
In freedom's name, I answer, No !
But speak we must, and speak we will,
And dying, dare the utterance still !
We'll write it on the banner'd hall.
We'll scribe it on the altar wall ;

44
We'll pencil it on shrines of art ;
We'll post it in the crowded mart ;
We'll link its words to notes of song.
In pealing numbers, thunder strong:
Repeat it here, and sound it there,
'Mid friends and foes, aye, everywhere :
And high above life's whirring maze.
On freedoni's shaft, in light shall blaze,
" Freedom of Speech,"* and this shall be
The rallying watchword of the free.
And though they threaten to pursue.
And cry aloud, " we will subdue,"
We unto freedom will restore.
And make as free, as free before,
The soil from freedom's landmarks riven.
And now, to human bondage given.
And in the name of freedom, tear
The yoke from every bondman there,
'Till Kansas and Nebraska rest.
Like ransomed babes on freedom's breast 1
Till not another slave shall stand
On soil now free, through all the land !
That all life's varying pathway through,
We will to man, to God be true.
Then as the darkness fades away.
Before the beams of rising day.
So shall this darkness change to light.
Before the beams of truth and right.

*M'otto on the Liberty Polo at Junction of Westminster and High streets.

45

And Eastern shores and Western strand.
Shall gird a free, unfettered land.
Where man shall dwell, as man should be.
In being, thought, and action free 1

Brothers, the holiest spot of earth
Is this fair land of ours ;
No loftier mountains greet the sky,
No richer vales in beauty lie.
Nor bloom there fairer flowers.
Than those that deck our native hills.
And bloom in beauty by our rills.
And waft their fragrance, wild and free.
From land-girt lake to boundless sea.
And thou loved State, tho' small thou art.
Wide as the Union is thy heart ;
And though thy sons are scattered far.
Dear unto each thy boundaries are.
tThe realms of song and classic art.
May for awhile allure the heart.
Still, over every land and sea,
Their homesick hearts return to thee.
They love thy rock, where Williams pray'd ;
They love thy strand, where Berkely stray'd.-
Why call thee small, when thou art great
In all which constitutes a State ?
There are no great, there are no small —
We're equal each, and equal all —

46

" All are parts of one great whole —
Freedom the body, Man the Soul."*
This holy spot, this sacred shrine,t
Freedom in very truth are thine.
In lofty trust amid thy foes.
With beauty crown'd this fane arose ;
Prom hence went forth the proud decree
Of unreserved " Soul Liberty !"
Then let us guard the sacred trust
Which unto us is given.
And ever keep the pathway free.
Which leads the soul to heaven ;
And let no crown, no crosier dare
Tell when to kneel, or how, or where ;
But free, from faggot, scourge or rod,
Keep the altars rear'd to God.
Oh shall a land so beauteous die ;
Shall it all bleeding, powerless lie,
A crush'd and fettered thing ;
And shall our sainted father's graves.
Be trampled on by suppliant slaves, |^
The vassals of a King ?
Then as our Eagle from her eyrie high.
Spreads through the vale her quick, protecting eye.
Forever watchful of the wily foe,
Which lurks in darkness 'mid the vales below ;
Which glides in silence streams and lawns among.
With eye all treacherous ever on her young ;

* Pope altered.
tFirst Baptist Chiivch— built in 177.3.

47
Now flashing beauty in the morning's beam.
Now silent, lurking by the tranquil stream —
Now on the rock, now gliding o'er the glade,
Now in the sunshine, now within the shade ;
Winding, and circling on his secret way.
Intent to make her, and her young, his prey ;
'Till high advanced, in proud exultant strength.
He winds and coils his slimy poison'd length ;
Then rears his head, in earnest will to strike.
With venom'd tongue, the old and young alike ;
Quick, from the crag, with wide extended beak.
She leaps exultant, with a startling shriek.
And plants her talons in the viper's breast.
Which dared assail her home, her fledgling's rest —
And with the rapture of a mother's wrath,
Slays the base serpent, which usurps her path.
Saves her loved nest, the mountain crags among.
And screams triumphant o'er her ransoni'd young !
So will we guard our freedom's mountain crest,
And spread our Banner o'er our Eagle's nest.
And ever shield it with a freeman's might.
When girt with darkness, or enrobed with light;
And clutch with hate, and all asunder tear,
Each wily serpent, archly crawling there,
That future ages all unharmed may see.
Circled with peace, this Eyrie of the free !
But look ; and hark ! across the sky.
All wing'd with death the lightnings fly,
While lowering clouds in anger scowl.
And thunders deep tumultuous growl ;

48

And see ! our bark, the nation's pride
Rocks madly wild on faction's tide.
On to the rescue then, and save
From the gulf of dark pollution.
Ere she sinks beneath the wave,
Our ark of hope, the Constitution !
Though on a dark tempestuous sea
Our gallant bark is toss'd,
And shattered, rent is many a sail.
Thank God, she is not lost !
Nail to her masts her stripes and stars.
Call to her deck her gallant tars.
Spread to the breeze her every sail, '
While onward blows the fav'ring gale ;
Place at her helm, a patriot son.
And guide us sainted Washington !

ORDER OF EXERCISES
AT THE FIRST BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE.

VOLUNTARY ON THE OKGAN.
Inteoductoet Chant— By a Choir from the Pablic Schools.
. Words by H. W. Longfellow.
Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State !
Sail on, O TTnion, strong and great !
Humanity with all its fears,
"With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate !
We know what Master laid thy keel,
^ "What Workman wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat.
In what a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope !
I"ear not each sudden sound aud shock,
'Tis of the wave and not the rock ;
'Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale !
In spite of rock and tempest's roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail ou, nor fear to breast the sea !
Our hearts, our hopes, ai-e all with thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee, — are all with thee !
PEAYEE,
BY RT. EEV. THOMAS M. CLAEK, D. D.
O God, whose name is excellent in all the earth and thy glory
above the heavens, we yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise
for the mighty and wonderful deliverance which we this day
commemorate. Thou hast done marvellous things for us, whereof
we are glad. We have heard with our ears, O Lord, and our
fathers have told us, how thou^ didst inspire them to lay in this
land the broad foundations of civil and religious freedom. We
humbly pray that a devout sense of this signal mercy may renew
7

50

and increase in us a spirit of love and thankfulness to thee ; and
of loyal submission to the government, which has been so solemnly
inaugurated. We confess, on this national Sabbath, our sins as
a people. Visit us not, according to our deserts, but have mercy
upon us and turn us away from all our transgressions. Assuage
the bitterness of party strife ; save us from anarchy and mis
rule ; deliver us from internal strife and foreign wars ; from sec
tarian animosities and the blight of unbelief; and may our rulers
always rule in the fear of God. May the purity of our political
elections in all places be kept inviolate ; and may all good citi
zens feel that they are bound to exercise their franchise under
the guidance of a pure and enlightened conscience.
O God, who bringest light out of darknesg and accomplishest
thy great purposes through ways of mystery, we beseech thee to
over-rule existing agitations to thy glory and the good of hu
manity. May the ancient bond which binds these confederated
States together, never be broken. May the rights of other nations
never be violated by our hand. May the example which is here
given to the world be such as to cheer and encourage the friends
of freedom, wherever throughout the earth they are moved to
contend for their inalienable rights. May the day now dawn^
when every fetter shall be broken and the sunlight shine in upon
the dungeons of the oppressed. May Ethiopia ere long stretch
out her unshackled hands to God. In mercy to the world, may
the virgin soil of our territories be protected forever from the
infinite curse of servitude. And, wherever, throughout our Union,
this great evil now exists, wilt thou inspire rulers and people to
legislate for its relief and ultimate extinction, unmoved by self
interest, pride or prejudice. May those who have already been
delivered from the burden, be tolerant and kind to their brethren
who are still bowed down under its heavy weight. May aU bit
terness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be
put away from us, and may we be kind one to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another, as God for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven us. We now invoke thy blessing upon the exercises of
this occasion. Touch the lips of those who shall address us with
hallowed fire. May we be quickened to a loftier patriotism, a
purer humanity, a truer sense of our duty, and a more disinterest
ed devotion to our beloved country. The Lord bless us and keep

51

us! The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious
unto us ! The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us
and give us peace, both now and evermore.
OtTR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not
into temptation : But deliver us from evil ; For thine is the king
dom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
SONG — By the Choir. — Words by John Pierpont.

Dat of glory ! welcome day !
Freedom's banners greet thy ray ;
See ! how cheerfully they play
With thy morning breeze,
On the rocks where pilgrims kneeled,
On the heightswhere squadrons wheel'd,
When a tyrant's thunder peal'd
O'er the trembling seas.
God of armies ! did thy " stars
In their courses" smite his cars,
Bast his arm, and wrest his bars
From the heaving tide '
On our standard, lo ! they burn,
Aud, when days like this return,
Sparkle o'er the soldiers urn
Who for freedom died.

God of peace ! — whose spirit fills
All the echoes of our hills.
All the murmurs of our rills,
Now the storm is o'er ; —
0, let freemen be our sons ;
And let future Washingtons
Kise, to lead their valiant ones,
Till there's war no more.
By the patriot's hallowed rest,
By the warrior's gory breast, —
Never let our graves be press'd
By a despot's throne;
By the POgrims' toils and cares,
By their battles and their prayers,
By their ashes,— let our heirs
Bow to thee alone.

READING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
By Stephen Essex, a Pupil of the High School.
MUSIC — By the American Brass Band.
ORATION,
By Jbkome B. Kimball, Esq.
SONG— By the Choir.— PFort^s by J. Leedon.
No self was there, when the solemn prayer
Arose from the patriot hand.
Who stood in their might, for God and the Bight
Of Freedom throughout the land.
And the Old Bell rang out on the Summer air,
The Spirit of Justice heareth our prayer.
Fervent yet low were the words that flowed
From heart to heart that day,
And hand grasped hand as the Patriot band
Prepared them for the fray.
And the Old Bell rang out both loud and clear :
Our lives for our country ! we know not fear.

62

From mountain and dell, at the sound of that bell,
Came the hardy children of Toil ;
From valley and glen, sprang the old sturdy men,
And the youth left the plow in the .soil;
And the Old Bell rang out o'er the mountain afar,
And the children of Peace became vet'rans in War.
Firm as a rock, they met the shock
Of England's serried band.
And back from the coast, they swept the host
Of the Tyrant from out the land.
And the Old Bell rang out throngh the forest trees.
As the Star Spangled Baimer was flung to the breeze.
And the tone that fell from that " Liberty Bell,"
Shall sweep over land and sea,
'Till the Mitre and Crown shall each be laid down,
And Nations all are free.
And the old Bell Spirit shall run through the world
'Till the Banner of Christ o'er all is unfurled,
POEM,
BT WILLIAM M. HODMAN, ESQ.
SONG — By the Choir. — Words hy Charles Sprague.
To the Sages who spoke — to the Heroes who bled —
To the day and the deed — strike the harp-strings of glory !
Let the song of the ransomed retnember the dead,
And the tongue of the eloquent hallow the story.
O'er the bones of the bold
Be that story long told,
And on Fame's golden tablets their triumphs enrolled,
Who on Freedom's green hills Freedom's banner unfurled,
And the beacon-fire raised that gave light to the world.
They are gone — mighty men ! — aud they sleep in their fame ;
Shall we ever forget them ? — 0 never ! — no never !
Let our sons learn from us to embalm each great name.
And the anthem send down — ' Independence forever."
Wake, wake, heart and tongue !
Keep the theme ever young —
Let their deeds through the long line of ages be suner.
Who on Freedom's green hills Freedom's banner unfurled,
And the beacon-fire raised that gave light to the world.
BENEDICTION,
ET THE ET. EEV. THOMAS M. CLAEK, D. D.

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