meaning which words can never reach. It speaks from the fields that are
blessed by the never-failing waters of the Kennebec and from the farms
that sprinkle the valley of the Connecticut with mimic principalities
more potent and lasting than the real; it speaks in the whirr of the
mills of Pennsylvania and in the ring of the wood-cutter’s axe from the
forests of the lake peninsulas; it speaks from the great plantations of
the South and West, teeming with staples that insure us wealth and power
and stability, yea, from the mines and forests and quarries of Michigan
and Wisconsin, of Alabama and Georgia, of Tennessee and Kentucky far away
to the regions of silver and gold, that have linked the Colorado and the
Rio Grande in close embrace, and annihilated time and space between the
Atlantic and the Pacific; it speaks in one word, from the hearthstone in
Iowa and Illinois, from the home in Mississippi and Arkansas, from the
hearts of seventy millions of fearless, freeborn men and women, and that
one word is “Union!”
There is no geography in American manhood. There are no sections to
American fraternity. It needs but six weeks to change a Vermonter into a
Texan, and there has never been a time, when, upon the battle-field, or
the frontier, Puritan and Cavalier were not convertible terms, having in
the beginning a common origin, and so diffused and diluted on American
soil as no longer to possess a local habitation or a nativity, except in
the National unit.
The men who planted the signals of American civilization upon that sacred
Rock by Plymouth Bay were Englishmen, and so were the men who struck the
coast a little lower down, calling their haven of rest after the great
Republican commoner, and founding by Hampton Roads a race of heroes and
statesmen, the mention of whose names brings a thrill to every heart.
The South claims Lincoln, the immortal, for its own; the North has no
right to reject Stonewall Jackson, the one typical Puritan soldier of
the war, for its own! Nor will it! The time is coming, is almost here,
when hanging above a mantel-board in fair New England—glorifying many a
cottage in the sunny South—shall be seen bound together, in everlasting
love and honor, two cross swords carried to battle respectively by the
grandfather who wore the blue and the grandfather who wore the gray.
God bless our country’s flag! and God be with us now and ever. God in the
roof-tree’s shade and God on the highway, God in the winds and waves, and
God in our hearts!
ENGLAND AND THE FOURTH OF JULY
BY W. T. STEAD
(From _The Independent_.)
I wish with all my heart that we could adopt the Fourth of July
as the Festival Day of the whole English-speaking race. If this
suggestion should seem strange to Americans, it is not unfamiliar to
many Englishmen. We consider that the triumph of the American revolt
against George III was a vindication of the essentially English idea of
democratic self-government, and we believe that we have benefited by it
almost as much as the Americans. It taught us a lesson which made the
British Colonial Empire a possibility, and if we are now involved in a
suicidal war in South Africa, it is largely because our Government has
forgotten the principles of George Washington, and has gone back to the
principles of George III.
For some years past I have presided at a distinctly British celebration
of the Fourth of July at my brother’s settlement in Southeast London,
at Browning Hall, and I have always repudiated the idea that Americans
should be allowed to monopolize the Fourth of July. It is one of the
great days of the English-speaking race in the celebration of which all
members of the English-speaking nations should participate.
SOME EARLY INDEPENDENCE DAY ADDRESSES
ADDRESS OF JOEL BARLOW (JULY 4, 1787)
(At Hartford, Conn.)
On the anniversary of so great an event as the birth of the empire in
which we live, none will question the propriety of passing a few moments
in contemplating the various objects suggested to the mind by the
important occasion; and while the nourishment, the growth, and even the
existence of our empire depend upon the united efforts of an extensive
and divided people, the duties of this day ascend from amusement and
congratulation to a serious patriotic employment.
We are assembled, not to boast, but to realize, not to inflate our
national vanity by a pompous relation of past achievements in the council
or the field, but, from a modest retrospect of the truly dignified part
already acted by our countrymen, from an accurate view of our present
situation, and from an anticipation of the scenes that remain to be
unfolded, to discern and familiarize the duties that still await us as
citizens, as soldiers, and as men.
Revolutions in other countries have been affected by accident. The
faculties of human reason and the rights of human nature have been the
sport of chance and the prey of ambition. When indignation has burst the
bands of slavery, to the destruction of one tyrant, it was only to impose
the manacles of another. This arose from the imperfection of that early
stage of society, the foundations of empires being laid in ignorance,
with a total inability of foreseeing the improvements of civilization, or
of adapting government to a state of social refinement. On the western
continent a new task, totally unknown to the legislators of other
nations, was imposed upon the fathers of the American empire. Here was
a people, lords of the soil on which they trod, commanding a prodigious
length of coast, and an equal breadth of frontier, a people habituated to
liberty, professing a mild and benevolent religion, and highly advanced
in science and civilization. To conduct such a people in a revolution,
the address must be made to reason, as well as the passions.
In what other age or nation has a people, at ease upon their own farms,
secure and distant from the approach of fleets and armies, tide-waiters
and stamp-masters, reasoned, before they had felt, and, from the dictates
of duty and conscience, encountered dangers, distress, and poverty, for
the sake of securing to posterity a government of independence and peace?
Here was no Cromwell to inflame the people with bigotry and zeal; no
Cæsar to reward his followers with the spoils of vanquished foes; and
no territory to be acquired by conquest. Ambition, superstition, and
avarice, those universal torches of war, never illumined an American
field of battle. But the permanent principles of sober policy spread
through the colonies, roused the people to assert their rights, and
conducted the revolution. Those principles were noble, as they were new
and unprecedented in the history of human nations. The majority of a
great people, on a subject which they understand, will never act wrong.
Our duty calls us to act worthy of the age and the country that gave
us birth. Every possible encouragement for great and generous exertions
is presented before us. The natural resources are inconceivably various
and great. The enterprising genius of the people promises a most rapid
improvement in all the arts that embellish human nature. The blessings of
a rational government will invite emigrations from the rest of the world
and fill the empire with the worthiest and happiest of mankind; while
the example of political wisdom and sagacity, here to be displayed, will
excite emulation through the kingdoms of the earth, and meliorate the
condition of the human race.
ADDRESS OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (JULY 4, 1793)
(At Boston.)
Americans! let us pause for a moment to consider the situation of our
country at that eventful day when our national existence commenced. In
the full possession and enjoyment of all those prerogatives for which you
then dared to adventure upon “all the varieties of untried being,” the
calm and settled moderation of the mind is scarcely competent to conceive
the tone of heroism to which the souls of freemen were exalted in that
hour of perilous magnanimity.
Seventeen times has the sun, in the progress of his annual revolution,
diffused his prolific radiance over the plains of independent America.
Millions of hearts, which then palpitated with the rapturous glow of
patriotism, have already been translated to brighter worlds; to the
abodes of more than mortal freedom.
Other millions have arisen, to receive from their parents and
benefactors an inestimable recompense of their achievements.
A large proportion of the audience, whose benevolence is at this moment
listening to the speaker of the day, like him, were at that period too
little advanced beyond the threshold of life to partake of the divine
enthusiasm which inspired the American bosom; which prompted her voice
to proclaim defiance to the thunders of Britain; which consecrated the
banners of her armies; and finally erected the holy temple of American
Liberty over the tomb of departed tyranny.
It is from those who have already passed the meridian of life; it is from
you, ye venerable assertors of the rights of mankind, that we are to be
informed what were the feelings which swayed within your breasts and
impelled you to action; when, like the stripling of Israel, with scarcely
a weapon to attack, and without a shield for your defense, you met and,
undismayed, engaged with the gigantic greatness of the British power.
Untutored in the disgraceful science of human butchery; destitute of
the fatal materials which the ingenuity of man has combined to sharpen
the scythe of death; unsupported by the arm of any friendly alliance,
and unfortified against the powerful assaults of an unrelenting enemy,
you did not hesitate at that moment, when your coasts were infested by
a formidable fleet, when your territories were invaded by a numerous
and veteran army, to pronounce the sentence of eternal separation from
Britain, and to throw the gauntlet at a power, the terror of whose recent
triumphs was almost coextensive with the earth.
The interested and selfish propensities which, in times of prosperous
tranquillity, have such powerful dominion over the heart, were all
expelled, and in their stead the public virtues, the spirit of personal
devotion to the common cause, a contempt of every danger, in comparison
with the subserviency of the country, had assumed an unlimited control.
The passion for the public had absorbed all the rest, as the glorious
luminary of heaven extinguishes, in a flood of refulgence, the twinkling
splendor of every inferior planet. Those of you, my countrymen, who were
actors in those interesting scenes will best know how feeble and impotent
is the language of this description, to express the impassioned emotions
of the soul with which you were then agitated.
Yet it were injustice to conclude from thence, or from the greater
prevalence of private and personal motives in these days of calm
serenity, that your sons have degenerated from the virtues of their
fathers. Let it rather be a subject of pleasing reflection to you that
the generous and disinterested energies which you were summoned to
display, are permitted, by the bountiful indulgence of heaven, to remain
latent in the bosoms of your children.
From the present prosperous appearance of our public affairs, we may
admit a rational hope that our country will have no occasion to require
of us those extraordinary and heroic exertions, which it was your fortune
to exhibit.
But from the common versatility of all human destiny, should the prospect
hereafter darken, and the clouds of public misfortune thicken to a
tempest; should the voice of our country’s calamity ever call us to her
relief, we swear, by the precious memory of the sages who toiled and of
the heroes who bled in her defense, that we will prove ourselves not
unworthy of the prize which they so dearly purchased; that we will act
as the faithful disciples of those who so magnanimously taught us the
instructive lesson of republican virtue.
EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS OF JOHN LATHROP (JULY 4, 1796)
(At Boston.)
In the war for independence America had but one object in view, for
in independence are concentrated and condensed every blessing that
makes life desirable, every right and privilege which can tend to the
happiness, or secure the native dignity, of man. In the attainment of
independence were all their passions, their desires, and their powers
engaged. The intrepidity and magnanimity of their armies, the wisdom and
inflexible firmness of their Congress, the ardency of their patriotism,
their unrepining patience when assailed by dangers and perplexed with
aggravated misfortune, have long and deservedly employed the pen of
panegyric and the tongue of oratory.
Through the whole Revolutionary conflict a consistency and systematic
regularity were preserved, equally honorable as extraordinary. The unity
of design and classically correct arrangement of the series of incidents
which completed the epic story of American independence, were so
wonderful, so well wrought, that political Hypercriticism was abashed at
the mighty production, and forced to join her sister, Envy, in applauding
the glorious composition.
On the last page of Fate’s eventful volume, with the raptured ken of
prophecy, I behold Columbia’s name recorded, her future honors and
happiness inscribed. In the same important book, the approaching end of
tyranny and the triumph of right and justice are written, in indelible
characters. The struggle will soon be over; the tottering thrones of
despots will quickly fall, and bury their proud incumbents in their massy
ruins.
THE FOURTH OF JULY
BY 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 remember the dead,
And the tongue of the eloquent hallow the story!
O’er the bones of the bold
Be the 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!—and they sleep in their fame:
Shall we ever forget them? Oh, 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 sung
Who on freedom’s green hills freedom’s banner unfurled,
And the beacon-fire raised that gave light to the world!
OUR NATIONAL ANNIVERSARY
BY A. H. RICE
We celebrate to-day no idle tradition—the deeds of no fabulous race; for
we tread in the scarcely obliterated footsteps of an earnest and valiant
generation of men, who dared to stake life, and fortune, and sacred
honor, upon a declaration of rights, whose promulgation shook tyrants on
their thrones, gave hope to fainting freedom, and reformed the political
ethics of the world.
The greatest heroes of former days have sought renown in schemes of
conquest, based on the love of dominion or the thirst for war; and such
had been the worship of power in the minds of men, that adulation had
ever followed in the wake of victory. How daring then the trial of an
issue between a handful of oppressed and outlawed colonists, basing their
cause, under God, upon an appeal to the justice of mankind and their
own few valiant arms. And how immeasurably great was he, the fearless
commander, who, after the fortunes and triumph of battle were over,
scorned the thought of a regal throne in the hearts of his countrymen.
Amidst the rejoicings of this day, let us mingle something of gratitude
with our joy—something of reverence with our gratitude—and something of
duty with our reverence.
Let us cultivate personal independence in the spirit of loyalty to the
State, and may God grant that we may always be able to maintain the
sovereignty of the State in the spirit of integrity to the Union.
Whatever shall be the fate of other governments, ours thus sustained,
shall stand forever. As has been elsewhere said, nation after nation
may rise and fall, kingdoms and empires crumble into ruin, but our own
native land, gathering energy and strength from the lapse of time, shall
go on and still go on its destined way to greatness and renown. And when
thrones shall crumble into dust, when scepters and diadems shall have
been forgotten, till heaven’s last thunder shall shake the world below,
the flag of the Republic shall still wave on, and its Stars, its Stripes,
and its Eagle, shall still float in pride, and strength, and glory,
“Whilst the earth bears a plant,
Or the sea rolls a wave.”
AMERICA’S NATAL DAY
BY JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE
The United States is the only country with a known birthday. All the
rest began, they know not when, and grew into power, they know not how.
If there had been no Independence Day, England and America combined
would not be so great as each actually is. There is no “Republican,” no
“Democrat,” on the Fourth of July,—all are Americans. All feel that their
country is greater than party.
CRISES OF NATIONS
BY DR. FOSS
There are brief crises in which the drift of individual and national
history is determined, sometimes unexpectedly; critical moments on which
great decisions hang; days which, like a mountain in a plain, lift
themselves above the dead level of common days into everlasting eminence.
Our Day of Independence was such a day; so was the day of Marathon,
and the day of Waterloo. Napoleon admitted that the Austrians fought
grandly on the field of Rivoli, and said, “They failed because they do
not understand the value of minutes.” Humboldt refers the discovery
of America to “a wonderful concatenation of trivial circumstances,”
including a flight of parrots.
THE FOURTH OF JULY IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
BY PHILLIPS BROOKS (JULY 4, 1880)
To all true men the birthday of a nation must always be a sacred thing.
For in our modern thought the nation is the making-place of man. Not
by the traditions of its history, nor by the splendor of its corporate
achievements, nor by the abstract excellence of its Constitution, but
by its fitness to make men, to beget and educate human character, to
contribute to the complete humanity the perfect man that is to be,—by
this alone each nation must be judged to-day. The nations are the golden
candlesticks which hold aloft the glory of the Lord. No candlestick can
be so rich or venerable that men shall honor it if it hold no candle.
“Show us your man,” land cried to land.
It is not for me to glorify to-night the country which I love with all my
heart and soul. I may not ask your praise for anything admirable which
the United States has been or done. But on my country’s birthday I may do
something far more solemn and more worthy of the hour. I may ask for your
prayers in her behalf: that on the manifold and wondrous chance which God
is giving her,—on her freedom (for she is free, since the old stain of
slavery was washed out in blood); on her unconstrained religious life; on
her passion for education and her eager search for truth; on her zealous
care for the poor man’s rights and opportunities; on her quiet homes
where the future generations of men are growing; on her manufactories
and her commerce; on her wide gates open to the east and to the west; on
her strange meeting of the races out of which a new race is slowly being
born; on her vast enterprise and her illimitable hopefulness,—on all
these materials and machineries of manhood, on all that the life of my
country must mean for humanity, I may ask you to pray that the blessing
of God, the Father of man, and Christ, the Son of man, may rest forever.
III
BEFORE THE DAWN OF INDEPENDENCE
AMERICA RESENTS BRITISH DICTATION
BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON
(From _The Patriotic Reader_, J. B. Lippincott & Co., Phila.)
During the agitation of 1765, concerning the British Stamp Act, a
convention of its opponents was assembled in New York City under the
name of “The Stamp Act Congress.” Among the most conspicuous of the
delegates from the Massachusetts Colony was James Otis. As early as 1761
he protested so earnestly against permitting the British officers of
the customs to have “writs of assistance” in their enforcement of the
British revenue laws, that John Adams, who listened to his argument, thus
described it:
“Otis was a flame of fire! With a promptitude of classical allusions,
a depth of research, a rapid summary of historical events and dates,
a profusion of legal authorities, a prophetic glance of his eye into
futurity, and a rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away all
before him. Every man of an immense audience appeared to me to go away,
as I did, ready to take up arms against any ‘writs of assistance.’”
The all-absorbing sentiment of his life, the wealth of his diction, and
the fire of his oratory have been embodied in a form which stands among
the best of American classics. In the romance of “The Rebels,” Miss Lydia
Maria Francis (afterwards Mrs. Child) introduces James Otis as a leading
character. After the opening statement, that “there was hurrying to and
fro through the streets of Boston on the night of the 14th of August,
1765,” his patriotic American woman shows such a right conception of
the power and oratory of Otis, as well as of the actual tone and spirit
of his times, that the fragments of her hero’s conversation during the
story, gathered in the form of a speech, have often been mistaken for
some actual appeal to the people of his period. The youth of America will
do well to keep it fresh in mind, and thereby honor both its author and
its subject.
SPEECH OF JAMES OTIS IN 1765
England may as well dam up the waters of the Nile with bulrushes as
to fetter the steps of Freedom, more proud and firm in this youthful
land than where she treads the sequestered glens of Scotland or couches
herself among the magnificent mountains of Switzerland. Arbitrary
principles, like those against which we now contend, have cost one king
of England his life, another his crown, and they may yet cost a third his
most flourishing colonies.
We are two millions, one-fifth fighting-men. We are bold and vigorous,
and we call no man master. To the nation from whom we are proud to derive
our origin we ever were, and we ever will be, ready to yield unforced
assistance; but it must not, and it never can be extorted.
Some have sneeringly asked, Are the Americans too poor to pay a few
pounds on stamped paper? No! America, thanks to God and herself, is rich.
But the right to take ten pounds implies the right to take a thousand;
and what must be the wealth that avarice, aided by power, cannot exhaust?
True, the specter is now small; but the shadow he casts before him is
huge enough to darken all this fair land.
Others, in sentimental style, talk of the immense debt of gratitude which
we owe to England. And what is the amount of this debt? Why, truly, it is
the same that the young lion owes to the dam which has brought it forth
on the solitude of the mountain, or left it amid the winds and storms of
the desert.
We plunged into the wave, with the great charter of freedom in our teeth,
because the fagot and torch were behind us. We have waked this new world
from its savage lethargy; forests have been prostrated in our path; towns
and cities have grown up suddenly as the flowers of the tropics; and the
fires in our autumnal woods are scarcely more rapid than the increase of
our wealth and population.
And do we owe all this to the kind succor of the mother-country? No; we
owe it to the tyranny that drove us from her; to the pelting storms which
invigorated our helpless infancy!
But perhaps others will say, We ask no money from your gratitude; we only
demand that you should pay your own expenses. And who, I pray, is to
judge of their necessity? Why, the king! (And, with all due reverence to
his sacred majesty, he understands the real wants of his distant subjects
as little as he does the language of the Choctaws.) Who is to judge
concerning the frequency of these demands? The ministry. Who is to judge
whether the money is properly expended? The cabinet behind the throne.