Page images
PDF
EPUB

fourscore years that have tested the strength and excellence of their political fabric, have but added intensity to our attachment to free institutions, given a warmer glow to our affectionate veneration for their founders, proved that no government is more formidable to a foreign foe, better able to vindicate its own authority, than that which we owe to their sagacity and foresight.

On this great festival, when every heart is swelling with gratiude for the blessings we enjoy, no sectional jealousies, no party contentions should ever be permitted to intrude. Our country—our whole country- from the point that earliest glows with the rising sunbeams to the most distant peak byʻ the Western sea that parts with their setting splendors from the Northern lakes, aye Sir, even to the Southern gulf, should be alike the object of our love, and all who hold allegiance to its flag be equally entitled to affectionate regard. Whatever elements of discord may have part in our political disputes, whatever differences of interest or opinion have engendered animosities and deadly strife, on this Sabbath set apart for the contemplation of our common nationality, that sentiment should alone have place.

But on this day it especially behooves us to be just. We all realize the elements of grandeur in the character of Washington. We recognize him as rightly first in war, in peace, and in the hearts of his countrymen. We would not pluck a leaf from his well earned laurels. All glory to Virginia that gave him to the army of the Revolution. All honor to the men of Massachusetts who, to secure freedom for America, laid aside their own pretensions and preferences to place him at its head. But while we cherish his memory, let us not be indifferent to theirs, or dazzled by the halo

that surrounds that beloved and immortal name, be insensible to the claims of our own patriots, who by their sagacious counsels, generous devotion, and effective service, alike contributed to the great result. All praise to the noble spirits who have rescued Mount Vernon from the ravages of time. Let not this generation bear the stain of suffering the abode of Hancock, hallowed by its many memories, to be blotted, without an effort, from the earth.

When other States and cities raise the votive bronze or marble to Henry and Laurens, to Jefferson, Hamilton, and Greene, let us also remember what we owe to Samuel Adams and Joseph Hawley, to Gerry, the Cushings, and to Paine, Ward, Prescott, and Heath, to Benjamin Lincoln and Henry Knox. It is true, Sir, we have James Otis and John Adams at Mount Auburn and Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill. Other heroes and sages, on the walls of our public edifices, greet us as we gaze; but until we have perpetuated their memory by more enduring monuments, our filial labors are but half complete.

And this, Sir, brings me to the sentiment which I would offer to you now. For on the roll of our distinguished citizens who have made Boston what it is, no name should be more fondly cherished than that of Paul Revere. It was enough for him to know our chartered liberties, our privileges as British subjects, our natural and inalienable rights as men were treated with contempt by Parliament, the monarch, or his cabinet. He had wisdom to perceive the only alternative, would we continue free, was resistance unto death. And laying aside all private ends and aims, indifferent to the dangers he incurred, through all that gloomy period, when our revolution was a rebellion, not a war, he was ever where his services could be most useful

to the cause.

Well known to his fellow-citizens, his probity, manliness, and generous views of right and duty inspired respect, and they willingly followed where he chose to lead. If too young and inexperienced to take a prominent part in debate, his peculiar influence and chivalric daring were still indispensable to success. But this is not the time for lengthened panegyric, and his fame is too familiar to need such tribute. Republics are said to be ungrateful, but if they admit no hereditary claim to power or place, Boston has ever shown herself ready to pay homage to ancestral virtues transmitted in the blood. The character of our late honored chief requires, indeed, no reflected lustre, but his devotion to the public service, and his firm hold upon the confidence and love of his fellow-citizens, convince us that the merit of descendants is the most honorable monument to the memory of the distinguished dead.

I give you, Sir, our late chief magistrate of this city, ex-Mayor Lincoln, the grandson of Paul Revere.

A toast to the "Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements," brought the following response from Alderman Elisha T. Wilson:

I think, Mr. President, that one result of this pleasant, and I trust by no means extravagant celebration of what I deem a somewhat important anniversary, will be, that however some may have differed upon the matter elsewhere, we shall all agree that it is good to be here, that we shall pass this day with our patriotism strengthened, with our loyal ardor more brightly burning, and with a redoubled devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the Laws. Whatever may be the disastrous condition of the country, we must not regard the Fourth Day of July as a dark one in our calendar.

It was

[ocr errors]

consecrated, Sir, in more desperate times than these, when skies were blacker and the future more dubious, when we when we were poor as

were weak as we we are now rich,

are now strong,

when we were few as we are now many,

when we were contending, not against a few disaffected States, but against the power of an empire mighty upon the land, almost invincible upon the sea.

After that memorable declaration, when all we had was staked upon the wager of battle, I do not know that our fathers disregarded the advice of John Adams, and so neglected the observance of this day. Nor was the President of the United States wanting in affectionate recognition of its associations, when he summoned Congress to meet to-day in extraordinary session; and I am sure that when we, the representatives of this great patriotic metropolis, meet to break bread together upon this glorious day, our purpose will hardly be misunderstood by our intelligent constituents. What, pray Sir, are we to do? Are we to sit down with folded hands, and with streaming eyes, and admit that final ruin is upon us?

that the Union that we have loved so well, is gone forever! that you, Sir, and I, and all of us, have no country to love and to live for! no government to obey! no laws to shield us! nothing between us and anarchy! No, Sir, we are not in any such humiliating position! I have faith in the power of our good old government to deal simply and surely with crime; and I have faith in the power of the people to support the government.

The ordeal, I admit, is terrible the trial must task all our honor and manliness; but if the Constitution can bear this, as I think it can, then it can bear anything for a thousand years to come. Sir, as a nation we must take our

chances, and encounter, as best we may, our political misfortunes. I am not aware that we present a very singular spectacle. Revolutions in the old world have sent monarchs to the scaffold and others into endless exile the murder of one and the flight of another, and the flight in turn of the citizen king, and the restoration of the Bonaparte family. In my day, I have seen whole empires convulsed by revolution.

No nation, Sir, has a right to expect perpetual security. Great privileges bring great dangers; and it is because we have so much to loose, that we cannot quietly submit to any loss. Why, Sir, let us restore this Union, if only that we may look each other in the face on the Fourth of July without blushing! Let us preserve this Union, if only that we may consistently keep this ancient anniversary, and our children after us! that we may be reminded of the priceless legacy committed to our charge.

He concluded with the following sentiment:

Our Flag - Though its stars may set, they shall rise again; though its stripes may fade, they shall be repainted; and those who in a moment of madness have swerved from their fidelity, shall return to join with us in the old reverence and in a new affection.

Brief speeches, patriotic and felicitous, were afterwards made by Major Newton, the Chief Marshal, and others.

« PreviousContinue »