xt79319s206v https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79319s206v/data/mets.xml Caldwell, Charles, 1772-1853. 1810  books b92-217-30936164 English Printed for Bradford and Inskeep, Fry and Kammerer, printers, : Philadelphia: Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Fourth of July orations. Oration commemorative of American independence  : delivered before the American Republican Society of Philadelphia, on the Fourth of July, 1810 / by Charles Caldwell, M.D. ; published by order of the society. text Oration commemorative of American independence  : delivered before the American Republican Society of Philadelphia, on the Fourth of July, 1810 / by Charles Caldwell, M.D. ; published by order of the society. 1810 2002 true xt79319s206v section xt79319s206v 




AN



            ORATION


            COMMEMORATIVE OF



  AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE,



              DELIVERED BEFORE


    THE AMERICAN REPUBLICAN SOCIETY
              OF PHILADELPHIA,


       On the Fourth of July, 8 180.




       BY CHARLES CALDWELL, M. D.



         Published by order of the Society.




              PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED FOR BRADFORD AND) INSK EEP, No. 4, S. THIRD STREET
            Fry and Kammerer, Printers.
                  1810.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 
NO TE.



   THE following oration was composed in the
space of two days, amidst no inconsiderable fress
of professional engagements, and not a fewc inci-
dental interrupitions. .t is now submitted to the
press precisely as it was delivered, without the
least pruning, correction, or additional polish.
The author flatters himself that by a liberal pub-
lic these considerations will be received as 3ome
apology Jbr whatever faults and defects may ap-
pear in its style or manner. In behalf of the senti-
ments it contains he has no apology to offer. He
believes them to be such as become every loya!
Anewrican in these troubhlois and portento!ws timeC3

 This page in the original text is blank.

 
AN



             ORATION, &c.

    FELLOW CITIZENS,
IN that joy of heart which freemen alone are
privileged to know-in that pride of soul which
freemen alone are permitted to feel-and un-
der that impulse of admiration and gratitude,
which the virtuous and the patriotic alone can
experience, we are assembled to celebrate the
choicest jubilee in our nation's annals, the
brightest epoch in our nation's glory.
  Our intention in joining our fellow citizens.
at large, to swell the pomp and heighten the
festivity of this auspicious day-our inmme-
diate object in mecting, in the character of a
distinct society, in this place, set apart for the
purpose, and prepared wvith yonder arrange-
ments and decorations,  withich give pleasure.
to the eye, and render the scene more inipres-
   The oration was delivered within view of the table at which
the society dined. The table was spread under a saloon, nearly
three hundred feet long, erected for the purpose, and decorated
in a style of great magnificence, with flags, busts, paintings, and
other ornaments suitable to the occasion.

 6



sive and interesting-Our object, I say, in
these measures, is, to offer up on the altar of
patriotism the incense of our best affections,
for our escape from the degradation of a fo-
reign yoke-It is, to endeavour to commemo-
rate, in a manner comporting with the dignity
of the occasion, that august, that glorious everys
the Independence of our country.
  INDEPENDENCE! loveliest term in our political
vocabulary! what a life-quickening power!
what a soul-exalting influence is connected
with the sound! At the very name of Indepen-
dence, where is the American bosom among us
so callous as not to thrill with sensations the
most exquisite and delightful! Where is the
American heart so cold, as not to burst into a
glow of patriotic rapture! Where is the Ameri-
can spirit so ignoble, as not to swell widt a
pride the most elevating and manly! And
where is the American arm so tame and pusil-
lanimous, as not to feel a generous impulse to
rise in its defence!-If one such heart-if ofe
such spirit-if one such arm, exist in this as-
sembly, let it immediately withdraw-Its fel-
lowship is dishonour, its touch is pollution-
It is an infidel approaching the relicks of tbe

 7



holy-it is an unwelcome, an unworthy intru.
der into this hallowed spot!-A spot conse-
crated, for the time, to patriotism and to ho.
nour!
  The event we commemorate is calculated to
awaken our joy, because it has been the chief
source of our national, and is essentially con-
nected with our individual, felicity.-It is cal-
culated to awaken and foster in our bosoms a
well founded and laudable pride, because it has
been, at once, the day-spring and the meridian,
the commencement and the consummation, of
glory to the American character.-It is calcu-
lated to awaken our highest admiration, on ac-
count of the wisdom, the valour, the incorrupt-
ible virtue and the unbending firmness, that
were displayed in its achievement.-And it is
calculated-pre-eminently calculated to awak-
en our gratitude to a variety of objects-grati-
tude to the sages who planned-gratitude to
the heroes who achieved, our re'voluttion-
and, above all, gratitude, glowing gratitude to
the God of our fathers and countrymen, who
smiled on their efforts in the cause of virtue,
of freedom, and of glory!
  The celebration of the event, of' whicb this

 8



day constitutes the proud anniversary, far from
being a matter of mere pleasure or choice, may
be justly enrolled in the catalogue of our du-
ties. Though I will not assert that no man can
be a worthy citizen of the American govern-
inent without participating in such celebra-
tion. yet I would not shrink from an attempt
to prove, that he might be a better citizen with
it. By mingling with his fellow citizens in the
honours and patriotic festivities of the day, his
affections would be more perfectly purified
from the grossness, and more liberally extend-
ed beyond the narrowness, of grovelling self.
lie would be roused-profitably roused from
his cold indifference and dangerous languor as
to public conicerns. He would experience an
augmentation of both his relish and his grati-
tude for the inestimable privileges and immu-
nities of freedom. His whole soul would be
expanded, his heart ennobled, and his con-
science rendered more keenly alive to a sense
of all. his obligations to the State. His love of
comartv would be further matured and con-
firmed, his sense of national honour quicken-
ed Wand exalted, and his national character in
,ill respects materially improved. To your own

 9



personal experience-to the sublimated feel-
ings and sentiments which, at this moment,
thrill through your frames and riot in your bo-
soms, I dare confidently appeal for the truth
of what I assert.
  Nor have we yet summed up the full amount
of the advantages society might expect to de-
rive from the deportment of one so attentive to
the discharge of civic duties, and so zealous in
the cultivation of public affections. Tile influi-
ence of his example would become happily
contagious. It would extend far beyond him-
self, and excite others to a laudable emulation
of his conduct, till the whole community would
feel the regenerating glow, and experience the
benefits of the national jubilee. Thus would all
improper attachments to foreign nations be
ultimately dashed from their usurped seat in
the bosom, and our own beloved country right-
fully and permanently enthroned in the affec-
tions of her citizens.
  In a word, as the conscientious celebration
of religious festivals contributes to the interests
of piety and devotion, and tends to complete
the character of the christian, so does the fre-
quent celebration of national festivals multiply
                     B

 10



and exalt the civic virtues, and give a higher
lustre to the character of the patriot. Hence,
in every country, whether barbarous or civi-
lized, and in every age, whether ignorant or
enlightened-wherever the name of patriotism
has been known, and its benefits to the state
held in due estimation, public festivals and
public games have been celebrated as success-
ful means to fan and perpetuate its holy fires.
  That we may be able the more justly to ap-
preciate our Independence, and be induced to
give it in our affections that exalted standing
to which it is entitled, let me solicit your in-
dulgence, while considering it, for a moment,
in the three folloii ing points of view. 1, In
relation to the privileges and benefits it has
conferred on us as a nation and as individuals.
-2, In relation to the cost of its original
achievement. And 3, In relation to the deeds
of heroism and glory, with which that achieve-
ment was necessarily connected.
  I. During our revolutionary contest, when
we were yet in a humble colonial situation,
without strength, without experience, without
confidence in ourselves, without a character,
and without either internal resources or ex-

 I1



ternal alliances-when our very existence, as
a people, was menaced on every side by an
enemy equally powerful, determined, and
brave-when the fair spring-tide of hope
in the bosoms of the nost sanguine was ra-
pidly withering into the bleak and cheerless
winter of despair-when the most buoyant
spirits were sinking into inaction, and even
the souls of the bravest had almost ceased from
their daring-when the entire state of our
affairs was such, that nothing short of super-
human agency seemed capable of saving us-
In this extremity of circumstances, the present
nothing but a tempest of disasters, and the
future a starless night of despondency, the
Genius of Independence stept forth,like a giant
in his might, and threw before our country his
impenetrable shield.
  By this opportune, this heaven-directed in-
terposition in our belhailf, he rescued us from
fate, and changed the whole aspect and current
of our affairs. From a loose collection of dis-
jointed colonies, he raised us at once to a great
confederated nation. Obedient to his creative
word, order and sound government sprang
fresh and tigorous frolt the chaos of anarchy.

                      12
Quickened by the reviving magic of his touch,
distrust of ourselves was soon converted into a
high-minded and salutary confidence. The
cherub Hope, resuining from his smile the
roses of her cheek and the lustre of her eye,
poured her consolatory influence into every
bosonm; while, blasted by his frown, and shrink-
ing from the fiery terrors of his sword, the
spectre Despair fled howling from our land.
External alliances and external resources were
in a short time procured, and our friendship
was even courted by the nations of Europe-
nations, which had previously regarded us
with sentiments of indifference, if not of dis-
respect.
  Beneath the auspices and the banner of In-
dependence our sages now counselled and our
warriors fought with redoubled effect. In the
eyes of the independent sovereignties of the
old world, our contest for freedom now changed
both its object, its character, and its name. It
was no longer rebellion-no longer unjust re-
sistance to the authority of a parent state, but
legitimate and honourable warfare. And this
consideration contributed not a little to its
successful termination. It procured for us that

 13



sympathy and cooperation from abroad,without
which the issue of the conflict would have been
protracted and doubtful.
  Nor was this all. Independence being once
declared, there was no retreating-no return
to a colonial condition, without mortification
being superadded to irretrievable ruin. The
pride, therefore, no less than the lives and
fortunes of the sages and champions of freedom
became trebly pledged for a continuance of the,
contest. It was indeed the opinion of the ablest
statesmen of the day-an opinion which has, I
believe, been uniformly adopted by the states-
men of succeeding times, that had not inde-
pendence been declared at the critical period
in which the declaration took place, our liber-
ties would have been lost. The spirit of our
countrymen would have ebbed into irreme-
diable despair, the flame of civil commotion
would have burst forth from the disaffected in
a wide-spreading conflagration, and the last
ger m of American freedoni would have wvi-
thered to its core, crushed by the sceptre of
floreign dominiation.
  But the advantages we have derived from
ilie declaration of Independence were not

 14



confined. to the soul-trying period of our revo-
lutionary conflict. We have experienced them
during the tranquillity of a twenty years' peace,
no less sensibly than we did during the tur-
nioil of a se-en years' war. We indeed expe-
rience them daily in all the privileges, all the
pleasures, and all the felicities, resulting from
the prerogative of selfgovernment.
  _Vs the fruit of our Independence, we enjoy
a constitution and government of our own free
-emd deliberate choice-not a form of govern-
iiient framed for us in a ioreign cabinet, in
--v hich. - e have no representation, and enforced
;t the point of a mttercenary bayonet-We enjoy
a goiernment of long established principles
and well digested laws-laws founded on jus-
tice and framed by the deliberative wisdom of
the nation-not a government depending for
its form. its character, and its operation, ou
the capricious will or malignant temper of a
weak, a lwhimsical, or a wicked individual-
We enjoy a government of checks, of well
proportioned branches, and well balanced
powers-not a government where a single
branch exercises a sovereign and despotic
ridle. NN ithout control, without responsibility

 
15



-We enjoy a government suited to our ge-
nius, our habits, our views, our interests, our
partialities, and even our prejudices, as a peo-
ple-A government administered bv citizens
of our own election, well acquainted with the
characters, the interests, and the feelings, and
participating in the sympathies of those over
whom they are to exercise authority-citizens
who have themnselves a. deep and lasting stake
inl the is sue of the ad m inistration of our public
concerns.-Ini a word, we enljoy a government
which has for its immediate object, the great-
est political good of' the great body of the
American people-.-We are not, I say, subject
to a government suited only to the jealous
spirit, the illiberal policy, the time-serving
views, or- the ambitious and criminal projects
of a foreigii cabinet or a ioreign despot-A
government admltinistet ed by strangers ap-
pointed ov-e r us fronr a distant nation, unac-
uainlteld with our habits, our character, and
otur interests, and disregarding our feelings and
aflections both public and private-strangfers,
who, having themselves no stake in the issue
of the trust reposed in them, have no para-
mnount inducement to discharge that trust in a

                      11
manner consistent with justice, with virtue,
and with honouir. In fine, we are not subject
to a government, which, proud in power and
regardless of right, rules us not with a view to
our own good, but drains us of our resources
to the very dregs, the more firmly to rivet the
fetters which enslave us, and to subserve the
purposes of its own aggrandizement.
  Such, my fellow citizens, are a few of the
advantages which we derive from the event we
are assembled to commemorate. Few, howe-
ver, as they are. and faintly and imperfectly as
they have been pictured to you. I trust they
are sufficient to induce you to prize your In-
dependence as among the most distinguished
of political blessings, and to resolve to main-
tain it for yoiirselves, and transmit it to your
posterity, unimpaired in its principles, and,
should circumstances demand it. even conse-
crated with vour blood.
  II. AVe are now to take a hasty retrospect
of the cost of the achievement of oi1r national
Independence. But here. my fellow citizens,
in justice to in-self; to my subject, and to the
occasion. it becomes me to pause. No language
of' iine (an pos;ilblv fet fortli. nor can any

                      17
power of Inuillnbers calculate the stupendous
uniouiit. Feelijlg, more eloquent, and silence,
iore expressive, alone can reach it.
  Throwing entirely out of the account the
millions of treasure expended, and the rivers
of blood that flowed fronm the veins of our brave
and hardy soldiery during the period of our
revolutionary strugg'les-Throwitig out also
the untold amount of private sorrow and dis-
tress arisnltg from this waste of death among
obscure individuals-Throwing out the pain
and solicitude of mind experienced by the
friends and advocates of freedom, in relation to
the issue of the momentous conflict-Throw-
ing out the consumption and sacrifice of seven
long years, by thousands of the most active
and enterprizing of our countrymen-And
throNin-,g out, further, the inconceivable anmount
of the suffierings and privations submitted to-
patienitly submitted to, by every class and de-
scrip)tiont of those who were friendly to the
liberties of their country-Throwing out of the
account, I say, all these items, and you will
readily agree with me that they are unspeak-
ably weighty, wie have still behind an amount.
                       C

 18



of cost that beg-!ars calculation and sets lan-
guage at defiance.
  As contributing to swell this yet uinreckon-
ed balance. we mi-hlt here wention the fall of
numerous characters. whose worth was invalu-
able, and whose loss can never be sufficiently
deplored-characters who would have been an
ornament to ancient Greece or Rome, in their
brightest period of wisdom and virtue, or in
their proudest day of military glor.
  First iii order and preeminent in fame, in
the catalogue of w orthies, who expended their
blood in the purchase of our Independence,
stand Warren and Moontgomery, Mercer and
Nash. Next, and not unworthy of such distin-
guished companions in glory, come Herkimer
and Wooster, De Calb and Pulaski, Davidson
and Scammel. Otheers still succeed in this
splendid galaxy of fIallen chieftains, whose
names a want of time will not sufler me to
mention. History has done them justice. and
their story is engraven on a still fairer tablet,
the gratitude of their countrymen-A tablet
whose contents are registeren in yonder Hea-
ven. and will outlive the ruin of all that is sub-
lunary. BTt let me not pass unnoticed that

 19



beam of war, Laurens. the beloved Marcellus
of his country. w-ho. though green in years, and
a stripling in arins, as lie had lived the object
of universal hope. fell the object of universal
sorrow, mature in wisdom and covered with
glory!
  111. The third division of my subject now
presents itself before me, clothed in a lustre
almost painfully dazzling-a lustre unfortu-
nately destructive of theat clear and discrimi-
nating vision, so peculiarly necessary to the
business of description. The object of this di-
vision is, to give a view of those deeds of he-
roism and glory connected with the achieve-
ment of our national Independence.
  Here, my fellow citizens, I must again have
recourse to vour candour and indulgence.
Again must I icknowledge m-yself unequal-
totally unequal to the task I have undertaken-
unequal, indeed, for want of time, but more
une(lual for want of talents. 1 must implore
you, thierefore, to supply by your imaginations
my deficieucy of language to do justice to mny
subject.
  'The resplendent train of military achieve-
ments which grew   out of our memorable

 20



struggle for Independence, 1 might, indeed,
mention. hut would not dare to attempt their
description. I would not dare to relate in
hum hle prose, the story which should resound
in the eloquence of eplic numbners; nor would
I dare to delineate in feeble colours, what
should burti in all the brilliancy of the skies.
Such an attempt wvould he unjust and unbe-
coming: Unhecominiig in ine, unjust to the
occasion-and doubly -unjust to the memorv
of our revolution.ary heroes.
  Could I with this pencil emblazon the sun
shining int all his golden majesty-or could I
portray the rainbow bestriding the heavens in
its gorgeous glory-then might I, in such lan-
xuage as I could command, attempt to describe
the feats of arms wbich secured our Indepen-
dence. Then mnight I endeavour to fascinate
your ears, and lead captive your feelings by a
recital of the glorious achievements of Bunker's
Hill, of Bennuington. of Saratoga, of Trenton.
of Priuceton. of Stonev-1Poi ut, of' Brandywine.
of Germantown, of MonnIoUthtl, of King's
N.lountain, of the Cowp)ens, of' Guilford, of
Eutaw, and of York. But, as well might I
attempt to Sotr -with the eagrle journeying to-

 221



wards the sun, or keep pace with the comet in
its rapid career, as to dream of ascending to
the level of suich exalted themes.
  The events to which I have alluded adorn
history and are known to fame. They even
live in the memories and glow in the affections
of most of our fellow citizens, being laudably
transmitted from sire to son, in the familiar
and impressive form of oral tradition. There
is ground, therefore, to hope that they will long
continue the ornament and pride of American
storv. Should this be the case, they may yet
contribute to the preservation, no less essen-
tially than they did to the achievement, of the
Independence of our country.
  Hitherto, however, complete justice has not
been done to them. They have never yet been
portrayed in colours and characters strong Hi
life and true to nature-never yet been exlti-
bited to the world pregnant with all their
native fire, and glowing in all their energy and
action. Nor will this he done till the pencil of
a Reynolds, a West or a Trumnbhull shall con-
sign them to the canvass, or a modern Homer
arise to celebrate them in song as deathless as
themselves.

 
                          22

   Havingr thus, mly fellow citizens,endeavoured
to unfold to vou a summary view of the causes
and  c(nsiderations out of which        our love of
Independence should spring, I purposed here
to lhave closed     my address. But before I de-
scend fromn the stage another duty remains to
be per'or1nied-a duty, in my view, greatly
paramkoulnt to those in the discharge of which
I have   been hitherto    engaged. It is to warn
you. solem-inly, wi-arn you of the dangers by which
our indlepclndence is tlireateiied, and to direct
your attvi-ition to the iron despotism     which   is
fnedit4teld aainlst tfie liberties of our countrv.
   I need   not r'epresenlt to     you. for the truth

   It is important here to remark, that there is an essential dif-
ference between mere aggressions on our rights and interests,
however atrocious those aggressions may be, and danger to our
independence. Many nations are capable of injuring us, that
have not the physical power to enslave us. Denmark, Algiers,
Tunis, Tripoli, and others might be satisfactorily cited in sup-
port of my position. The same thing is true with regard to Great
Britain. That that proud and imperious power has done us
multiplied and aggravated injuries and wrongs, is a truth which
every Anericanmust acknowledge and feel-injuries and wrongs
for which we are entitled to ample reparation, and which have
even an unfriendly influence on the cause of their haughty and
7m201ilic perpetrator. But she is wholly incapable of endangering
o'ir independence. We shook off her yoke, when, as a nation, we
were infantile and weak: she cannot, therefore, replace it on us
':ow that we are adult anrl powerful. These are my reasons
for leaving her entirely out of view. in speaking of the dangers
by which our liberties are thrca ened.

 23



already breaks on you front every quarter, that
the present state of society is unprecedented
and portentous-That the aspect of the times
is threatening beyond example to the freedom
of the world. Universal empire was once re-
garded as the project of the insane-the un-
substantial dream of royal lunacy. But it is so
no longer. Far fromn being now the mere
chimera of a distempered brain, appearances
announce, that it may he shortly reduced to a
dreadful reality.
  Already hias the demon of universal domina-
tion gone forth on his career, and advanced
with strides that astonish and alarm. Already
has he extended his blood-stained sceptre from
the pillars of Hercules to the sea of Kamn-
sclhatka, and from the shores of the Mediter-
ranean to the Frozen ocean.
  Continental Europe, wsith all her sovereign.
ties-sovereignties vihich seemed to promise
a duration stable as the earth a1nd lasting as
time, has surrendered up her Independence to
the Despot of France. Froni the pinnacle of
'er pride amId the plenitude of her power, she
has sunk into an abyss of degradation and im-
potency. Her once faomed kingdoms and emi-

 24



pires have now degenerated into conquered
provinces. and her high-spirited courts into
petty corporations, destined to bend to the nod,
and to register the decrees of an imperial mas-
ter. Even the Autocrat of all the Russias, the
august descendant of Peter and of Catharine,
the independence of whose empire nature her-
self would seem to have guarantied-Alas!
even he, has fallen from the summit of his
greatness, and tarnished the lustre of his im-
perial house, by doing homage to the supre-
inacy of the Gallic sceptre.
  Having completed the sul)jugation of Eu-
rope, the Emperor of France, with the warlike
millions of the continent in his train, now turns
his attention to the conquest of Great Britain.
In that haughty mistress of the ocean, or rather
in her fleet, the grand repository of her power
and greatness, he sees or fancies he sees the
only existing obstacle to his career of univer-
4al empire.
  The removal of that obstacle constitutes now
the primary aim of his ambition, the first and
darling object of his soul. Nor will any thing
be wanting for the attainment of that object,
that either fraud or force, corruption or bribe-

 25



ry, chicanery or artifice (can devise or execute.
All the powers of his stupendous mind, and all
the malignant passions of his nature, are laid
under contribution for the downfal of England.
  It is, indeed, true, the subtle Ntpoleon holds
out the idea, and many persons are weak
enough to believe him sincere, that lhe is fight-
ing the battles of trade and conlimerce-thiat lie
is contending with his rival for the liberty of
the seas. But, according to his mnaritime code,
in what, does this liberty of the seas consist
Let facts-undeniable facts answer the ques-
tion-facts, compared with which, even the
erimes of a Caligula and the enormities of a
Domitian, whiten into innocence and mount
into virtue.
  These facts declare, that the Gallic liberty
of the seas consists in a liberty of' universal
pillage, outrage, and ruin-a liberty of the
stronger to gratify their cupidity and glut their
vengeance, at the expense of the wveaker-A
liberty to capture, to plunder, to burn, to sink,
or otherwise destroy .t sea, and to seize and
confiscate in port, all vessels of a neutral cha.
racter, engaged in a fair and legitimate com-
nmerce-In a word, it consists in a liberty to
                     D

                     26
[eggar the cofen, and bring wretchedness on
the seamen, of all commercial nations, with a
view t.) swell the treasures and gratify the
revenge of Napoleon the Destroyer.
  SuchI, my fellow citizens, is the liberty of
the seas for which the emperor of France has
long been contending-such is the liberty he
has practised, exultingly practised with respect
to hundreds of American vessels, thousands
of American seamen, and millions on millions
of American property!
  And, when applied to, through the regular
organ, for redress of these enormities, what has
been his uniform conduct on the occasion
and what the answer the tyrant has returned
Tflit drop of blood among us. which, on a re-
view of his conduct, and a recital of his an-
swer, does not boil with indignation, is unloyal
to our independence, and unworthy to flow in.
the veins of an American.
  Has not his answer been invariably clothed
in the language of indignity, if not in a style of
authority, menace and reproach Has he not,
in reply, declared-insolently declared that, as
a people, we are without policy, without honour,
without energy, and without character Has he

                      27
not, in his own capital. within the very walLk
of his ozvn zo.spitality, treated our minister,
for daring to remonstrate, with the nmost
pointed and humiliating disrespect Has he
not conducted himself towards the govern-
ment of ouir country more like that of a con-
quered province, than like that of a great.
sovereign and independent nation Has he
not presumeled-pardon me, I entreat you, for
doing violence to yonr feelings by awakening
in your minds a recollection so detestable-
Has he not presumed, in the intoxication of his
pride and the unprecedented insolence of his
nature, to dictate to us the terms and conditions
on which we must embark in a ruinous war
In a word, has he not, in every instance, in
whichi the United States has been concernedl.
added the very essence of insult to the con-
summation of injury and wrong To the cor-
respondence between general Armstrong and
the due de Cadore-a correspondence which
inflames the resentment and carries conviction
to the mind of every enlightened and loyal
Xinerican, I appeal for an answer to these se-
veral i uterrogatories.
  If outrages and enormnities like these he
suffered to pass without retaliation-If affronts

                     28
and insults so gross and degrading be tamely
pocketed by the government and the nation,
then have Warren, Mlontgonmery, Mercer, Nash,
and the other fallen 'v orthies of the revolution,
shed their blood in vain on the altar of Inde-
pendence! Then is our celebration of this an-
niv-ersay nothing better than a splendid mock-
erv, and the day, if noticed at all, should be
set apart for national mourning, rather than
lor national festivity and rejoicing! Then will
it lie even wise in us to cancel for ever the re-
mmbrahlnce or what we have been, that it may
no lonPer heighten the poignancy of our regret
for what 'we are!-But I reject with indigna-
tion the galling supposition! The outrages of
the Corsican will not be tolerated. Americans
will ultihmately be true to theniselves. The
patriotism of our fathers is not yet extinguished
in the bosomns of their descendants. The spirit
of Seventy-Six only sleeps for a season. It will
shortly break forth from its slumbers fresh and
vigorous as the sun from the bosom of dark-
ness. aned dispel by its radiance the gloom that
surrounds us.
  Thoroughly convinced, then, as we must be,
that the disposition of the Gallic Despot is

 '29



hostile to our country-and knowing, also, that
his cupidity is without bounds, and his ambi-
tion restless as the ocean and insatiable as the
grave-With a knowledge, I say, of these
facts, let us suppose him successful in his en-
terprize against Great Britain-Let us suppose
Great Britain to fall in the conflict, and her
conqueror to become possessed of her power-
ful navy, with all the other resources of that
wonderful island-Under such circumstances,
would the ultimatum of the policy and views
of the usurper be accomplished Would the
extent and measure of his ambition be then
filled up Would lie, then, be satisfied to sit
calmlv down, and spend the remainder of his
(lays in peace and tranquillity, content with
tihe splendid title of Autocrat of Europe and
her hundred isles Alas, my fellow citizens,
the experience of every age. and the blood-
stained history of every conqueror, convince us
that he would not. rhey convince us that his
love of domination, far from experiencing any
retiring ebb, would rush impetuously on, and
even increase in its violence, as long as a sin-
'le nation should be found in possevsion of its
liberties.

 

  Did the tyrant of Macedon, after having
completed the conquest of one world, dissolve
into tears. because he could not find another
as food for his sword And would the tyrant
of Europe. still more ambitious, more inexora-
ble, and more sanguinary-Would he, I say,
rest satisfied with the conquest of the eastern
hemisphere, while the freeborn inhabitants of
the West l)resellt a prey to his arms, and their
wealth a gratification to his boundless rapacity
The answer to this question I might safely
leave to vourselves; for confident 1 am you
would answer it correctly. Now-even now, do
I read. its answer in the expression of your
countenances-Even now do I behold your
iips ready to break out in a universal, an em-
phatical, No!
  Let the British navy be once swept from the
bosom of the ocean-Or, what is worse, let it
once becomlje an engine of conquest and op-
pression in