IT has, time immemorial, been the practice of nations to celebrate days of public festival and solemnity. Notwithstanding human affairs are apparently in a state of continual fluctuation; yet such is the economy of the world, that single events are sometimes seen to involve the fate of millions, for successive ages. Every nation has its illustrious achievements, its eventful crises, and its important revolutions, which arouse the public mind, and produce emotions, too violent, not to break forth in outward demonstration. These emotions naturally return with the day, which gave them birth; and, of course, introduce the practice of anniversary commemoration. Nor is this a practice less useful, than natural. On such occasions the mind is advantageously shaken and elevated. Emulation kindles in the view of great actions; and a splendid celebration throws on an event additional lustre, and an air of importance, which operate, surprisingly, on the public sensibil­ity.

[Page 4]In the annals of our country, no event, doubt­less, is to be found, of greater moment to our na­tion, or to the world, than that, which gave birth to our independent existence. Nor is there, in our public calendar, a day more worthy of festiv­al observance, than the sacred anniversary, in the solemnization of which we are now engaged. It is, therefore, well done, my fellow citizens, that you have assembled on this illustrious occasion; and it is only to be regretted, that you have not an orator to address you, with talents more ade­quate to the importance of this conspicuous part.

But why, it may be asked, why is the day to be regarded as so eminently auspicious? Why should it be commemorated with such solemnity and eclat? Why should the memorials of its events be annually erected, amid the acclamations of the States? Is it because they have made us an inde­pendent nation? No; but because they have made us a free people. A state or nation may be at once independent and miserable. Nay, its in­dependent condition may be its greatest calamity▪ the very reason of all its wretchedness. Inde­pendence is on no other account valuable or de­sirable, than as it contributes to the security or advantageous exercise of the rights of man. So far as it does this, it is inestimable; but aside from this, it is but a mere name, for the conven­ience of party, and the promotion of selfish and sinister designs.

[Page 5]Anterior to the institution of society, mankind are wholly independent, severally, of each other. No one has a right to command; no one is under obligation to obey. Each individual is the arbiter of his own actions, and may claim it as his invio­lable prerogative to do that, which is right in his own eyes, responsible, only to the tribunal of na­ture or of nature's God. Every exercise of au­thority, one over another, every attempt of coer­cion or coaction, may, in this state, be regarded as an unwarrantable usurpation on the rights, with which nature has endowed her offspring.

But is this the condition, towards which the transactions of this day were directed? Are these the rights, for the exercise of which our fathers and brethren contended unto blood, on the high places of our country?—Certainly not. It never entered the hearts of the virtuous assertors of A­merican Independence, to throw themselves and their compatriots back into the original state of the savage, or the barbarian; a state of all others to be deprecated by the enlightened mind.

Had ministerial measures never infringed the privileges of the subject, but left to the Colonists the free exercise of those rights, which, by the voice of nature and the constitution of the empire, were declared inviolable, this day might have seen, these, now Independent States, the brightest jewels in the Britannic crown. They [Page 6] rose in arms, not in opposition to all constituted authority, not in rebellion against the principles of political subordination, not, in fine, for an in­dependent existence as an ultimate object. But they rose to assert what they regarded as their constitutional birth right; they rose to repel the wanton invasions of arbitrary powers; they rose in resistance to unwarranted usurpations on the privileges of the subject, and in vindication of those sacred and eternal principles, on which ev­ery legitimate government is founded. In a word, they rose for a free constitution; and towards the attainment of this, were all the revolutionary op­erations, in the cabinet and in the field, directed. To this did the declaration and establishment of national Independence bear the relation of means to an end: and it is from their subserviency to this, that they derive their chief, or whole, im­importance.

Here may we see on what account the day is auspicious. As the birth day of our independ­ent existence, it is the birth day of an event, which involved our present political state, with all its happiness and all its glory. In our colonial connexion, we were as a ship confined to the strand upon an enemy's coast; but by the transactions of this day, we were launched at large upon the broad ocean, exposed, indeed, to the fury of winds and waves, but at liberty to seek a safe and friend­ly port. This port we have found; a haven pro­pitious, [Page 7] peaceful, and happy; and therefore it is, that we exult in the stroke, which severed our ca­ble and set us under way.

CITIZENS OF COLUMBIA,

You glory in your Independence, you glory is your liberties, you glory in your republican spirit. And well you may; for they have raised you to a pitch of happiness, and an elevation of character, unparalleled in the history of nations. You can­not place too highly in estimation the privileges you possess; you cannot regard, with too lively a sen­sibility, the liberties you enjoy; neither can you commemorate, with emotions too grateful, or eclat too exultant, the great events, which brought you to this state.

But let it be remembered, that glorying, rejoic­ing, and commemorating, are not the whole duty of a republican people. Heaven has suspended the happiness and character of man, in every state, upon unremitting and well-directed exertion▪ and in proportion as the condition is more eleva­ted and happy, the requisite exertion becomes more strenuous, assiduous, and direct. While, therefore, we exult in the privileges and blessings, which distinguish us a people, from every nation under heaven, we virtually acknowledge, that our every best effort is due for their security and per­petuation.

[Page 8]The history of the world is replete with evi­dence, that liberty, though dearest of every thing to the human heart, is of every thing the most liable to suffer from the supine negligence, or wanton abuse of men. Look at the republics of antiquity; look at those of modern times. Look, and triumph; look, and tremble. Triumph, that all their glory is ours, and tremble, lest their fate should also be ours.

As a constitution, founded on "free and be­nevolent principles," was the grand object of the revolution, and is that, in which our Independ­ence was gloriously consummated; so is it the grand bulwark of the rights, liberties, and bless­ings, which we now enjoy, and which we just­ly hold so dear. The constitution, under which our Federal system is organized, is the sacred pal­ladium of all our national prosperity and glory. Preserve this inviolate, and all is secure; let this be subverted, and all is lost. So long as we are governed by this, we have all the freedom, which, as good citizens, we can desire; but so soon as the supremacy of this is prostrated, we are no longer a free people.

I say so long as we are governed by the consti­tution; for governed by it we must be, or the so­cial tie is dissolved, and our republican state at an end.

Nor let it be thought, that submission to constitu­tional authority is incompatible with the character [Page 9] of independent freemen; for that is but acquies­cence, if I may so say, in our own best will? We have chosen not to range at large in the wild provinces of nature; we have chosen society, which is, be­yond doubt, the state designed by Heaven for man; and we have bound ourselves to the obser­vance of such laws and governmental insti­tutions, as may result from the general sentiment. And in all this, have we not acted as freely and as independently, as it is possible for a people to act? Is not the constitution the result of our most en­lightened reason, and the object of our most de­liberate choice? And are we not bound in obe­dience to it, by obligations, as sacred as the first laws of morality, and as commanding as the su­preme sanctions of nature?

But is the constitution, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, irreversibly fixed, and unal­terable? And are we bound to abide it, in all its effects, however injurious it may prove in its op­eration? This is by no means pretended. Al­though we believe it an incomparable monument of the wisdom of man; yet, like every thing else human, it is unquestionably stamped with the mark of imperfection. It certainly is not sacred be­yond the touch of scrutiny or reform. Not only is it the right of the people to examine it for al­teration or amendment; but it is their indispensa­ble duty to remedy, so far as may be practicable, every inconvenience, which it may be found to [Page 10] involve. And the constitution itself has not only made provision for this, but has marked out the way, by which it may be done. But so long as it remains unaltered, it is to be regarded as the best possible expression of the public will; and, as such, it is inviolable. Every attempt, therefore, to subvert its principles, to unnerve its energy, or to obstruct its operation, is an infringement on the rights of community, and a treason against the sovereignty of the States, which ought to be crushed by the people en masse.

Virtue and knowledge are the two main pillars▪ by which a government, like ours, can be sup­ported. Let either of these fail and the whole must fall, inevitably, to the ground. As the great object of the social connexion is general happi­ness, it is plainly a fundamental maxim, that a smaller good must give place to a greater, and that private emolument must be holden in subordina­tion to public interest. To deviate, practically, from this maxim is to contravene the very prin­ciple of the republican state; and to practise in conformity with it, is to be, in an eminent degree, virtuous.

Under our free constitution, every man of tal­ents and ambition embraces, within the compass of his hopes, the highest places in the state. Some, however, must be disappointed. And as ambi­tion, in a mind not fortified with virtue, can but illy brook the mortification of a disappointment, it is [Page 11] naturally led to meditate the overthrow of a suc­cessful rival, whatsoever consequences it may in­volve. Hence slanderous surmises against men in place are industriously circulated, and under the shew of "exclusive patriotism," clamour and cabal against measures of government are wan­tonly fomented. The public is taught to believe its "servants" to be unfaithful or incompetent; vi­olent parties▪ in continual succession, are formed in the state; and the people, harassed and distract­ed, with endless jealousies and apprehensions, lose, at length, [...] the government, and, of course, [...] respect for its laws. Unbounded li­centiousness then prevails, and anarchy, the worst species of despotism, inevitably ensues.

The only security against this [...] declension of things is a general diffusion of knowledge. Knowledge will convince men that virtue is es­sential to the existence of the republican state. It will enable them to discover in what true repub­licanism consists, and what are the privileges, which belong to the citizen. It will shew them, that if power has its boundaries on the one hand, liberty has its limits on the other. And, a foe equally to tyranny and licentiousness, it will serve as a faithful centinel over the designs of ambition within the government, and the intrigues of fac­tion without.

Confidence in government, and acquiescence in constitutional administration, are among the [Page 12] first of the republican duties, and absolutely essen­tial to the well being of a free state. The best form of government, ever conceived by man, can avail nothing, as to the great objects of the social connexion, unless it be carried into effec­tive operation. In order to this, its administra­tion must be entrusted somewhere, and there must be subordination in the state. There must be a supreme power concentrated, there must be offic­ers in the several departments, invested with the authority of the constitution, and to these the people must confide the management of the com­monwealth; or the [...] of govern­ment is but a solemn farce.

Government is a machinery, the whole beauty of which consists in its adaptedness to utility; and to love a government is to love its genuine effects. It is preposterous, therefore, for men to pretend an attachment to the constitution itself, so long as they are opposed to every principle of it in oper­ation: So long as they are assiduously endeavor­ing to destroy its influence, by spreading the ma­nia of disaffection through the public mind, by arrogantly arraigning every measure of administra­tion, and by a perpetual cry of "tyranny and aristocracy" against men in the discharge of their official duties.

To oppose the proper exercise of constitution­al authority, is, virtually, to oppose the constitu­tion itself.

[Page 13]It were easy to raise clamor and complaints against the best administration of the best govern­ment, which ever existed; and factious men know this to be the most effectual way to sap the foun­dations of the state, and to throw the political system into ruins.

The popular mind is always in a high degree, inflammable; and certain words, pronounced with a certain tone or emphasis, are usually sufficient to kindle it into a blaze. Tell the people that they are free▪ that they are independent, that they have all power in their own hands, and they will be pleased, they will love you, they will believe you. Then but point the finger, or cast an ob­lique glance, at a man in power, or a measure of government, and, with one voice, they will cry out, "TYRANNY! ARISTOCRACY! OPPRESSION! DOWN WITH ADMINISTRATION! But this is not the way to preserve the republican state; and the man, who would practise thus, ought to be branded as an enemy to his country.

It is of dangerous tendency to tell the people, they are free; unless you tell them at the same time, in what freedom consists. The multitude stops not to deliberate, it acts from the impulse of the moment, and, therefore, extremities excepted, ought never to be addressed with inflammatory harangues.

Let it not be supposed, that the speaker would inculcate implicit confidence in public officers, or [Page 14] unconditional submission to measures of adminis­tration. Far be it from his heart. This only is contended, that none ought to be elected into of­fice, in whom the people have not confidence, that they will be faithful to the public interest, and competent to the duties of their trust; that while in office, they should be respected, not as the me­nial "servants of the people," but as the repre­sentatives of the nation, and promptly supported in the exercise of their respective functions; and that so long as they continue to "deserve well of their country," their characters should be regarded as sacred, and their services should be rewarded with the ingenuous affiance and the live­ly gratitude of the nation.

The right of election is the most important of any, which a people can enjoy. It in fact, in­volves every thing, which appertains to the free citizen. It is in the exercise of this right only, that the people can feel and act as sovereigns; for as soon as they have elected their officers into place, they step, as it were, into the subject, and have nothing further to do with the government, so long as constitutionally administered, but to strengthen its influence and submit to its operation.

It is farcical for the people to think, either by popular meetings or otherwise, to dictate measures to men in office, or to take any share, either in legislation or administration. They may petition and memorialize, and that in the most forcible [Page 15] manner; yet have they no right to expect, that their "servants" should act aside from their own judgment of what is right, even should the popu­lar voice be, unitedly, against them. Public func­tionaries, in every department, taking the consti­tution and laws of the land for their guide, must act, independently, according to their own best sense of the right and the fit, or their oaths of office are violated, and all, but the bare name, of a representative government is at once destroyed.

Every citizen, therefore, who glories in the character of a freeman, must feel the importance of exercising his right of suffrage, with discretion and with dignity. The characters of candidates for offices of trust ought to be canvassed with the most dispassionate scrutiny. Every party consid­eration, every personal prejudice, and every in­terested bias, is to be utterly excluded from the business of elections; and the only enquiry should be, "which is the man, who will fill the place to the greatest public advantage?"

Forbid it Heaven, that, on this sacred anniver­sary, a public orator should suggest a sentiment to the prejudice of virtue or of worth. Perish the tongue, which would cast the smallest blot on the lustre of patriotism. Perish, forever, the hand, which would pluck a single laurel from the brow of merit! But it is a truth, which at a time like the present, ought not to be suppressed, that vio­lent enmity against tyranny is not an unequivocal [Page 16] indication of warm friendship for rational liberty▪ Neither is it invariably true, that he, who is the most zealous in promoting a revolution in favor of a free government, is also the most firm in sup­porting that government, when once established. There are men, dexterous at demolishing, who have no skill in building. And there are men, who delight in perpetual revolution, who have ends to answer by the destruction of the existing system, whatever it may be, and whose principal design is to erect their own interest and aggran­dizement on the ruins of the state.

I venerate the patriots of SEVENTY FIVE; I venerate those, who stood forward in the contest with Great Britain, and I venerate the men, who are, at this day, truly engaged for the liberties of "the people." Yet I dare believe, that some, not to say many, who distinguished themselves by their zeal and activity for the revolution, who were ready to spend their fortunes and spill their lives in the cause of Independence, who still retain such an enmity to the British nation, that they would willingly see their Island sinking, "like a mill­stone," in the depths of the sea, and who, on ev­ery occasion, talk it "independently" and vocif­erously for "liberty," "equality," and "demo­cratic republicanism," are, nevertheless, enemies to the very principles of the constitution, enemies to every system of regular government, enemies to the best characters and best interests of their [Page 17] country; and therefore not only unfit for any of­fice of trust in the state, but of dangerous influ­ence to the community, even in their individual capacity.

Citizens of America, are we to be duped by clamour and declamation? Are we to be govern­ed by faction and cabal? Are we to believe, that the heat of the revolution was the time, and the only time, "to try men's souls;" and that every man, who was then a warm whig, is now a true patriot? Are we to believe, that hatred against Britain, is the same thing as love for our own coun­try; and that he, who is loudest in clamour a­gainst British connexions, is warmest at heart for our republican state? Are we to believe, that, be­cause we have preserved a neutrality, during the belligerency of Europe, our government is, there­fore, wholly corrupt; and that he, who does not join in execrating every measure of administration, and in denouncing every officer in place, is, cer­tainly, a "tory," an "aristocrat," an enemy to the rights of "the people?"

Have we not already seen and felt the perni­cious effects of doctrines like these? Have we not seen the fire brands of sedition plentifully scat­tered in every district of our country? Have we not seen associations, formed in different parts of the community, for the manifest purpose of coun­teracting the influence of government, and of de­stroying all confidence in administration?

Have we not seen the demon of faction rearing ing his head, and, with hideous aspect, threatening to trample in the dust all authority and all law? Have we not seen the best characters in the com­monwealth, the boast of the nation and the pillars of the state, overwhelmed with torrents of oblo­quy and abuse? Have we not seen the daring, sacrilegious hand stretched forth to rifle of its lau­rels that venerable brow, which nations have been emulous to crown, and which ages will portray with irradiations of glory? Have we not seen our national honour tottering on the brink of ru­in, and our federal system just ready to be wreck­ed in the vortex of party? Have we not seen our political horizon gathering blackness, lowering, and thickening into a tempest, just ready to burst over our heads with tenfold horror? Have we not seen—But I forbear. The storm is blown over, the clouds are dispersed, and the sun shines forth in meridian splendor.

And, my fellow citizens, while we rejoice in the present happy state and prospects of our country, let us unite in grateful acknowledgements to those from supporters of the constitution, and of the rights of nations, who have greatly stemmed the torrent of faction, baffled the designs of party, and, under the auspices of Heaven, saved our nation from infamy, from anarchy, and from war.

[Page 19]Favoured, thrice favoured land! Asylum of peace, liberty and happiness! Long mayest thou continue the glory of nations and the admiration of the world. May genial seasons crown thy fields; may prosperous breezes fill thy sails; may radient science illumine thy paths; may univer­sal love felicitate thy times—May the smiles of thy daughters warm the heart to virtue; may the exertions of thy sons be directed to true glory, and may all thy children unite, in sentiment and effort, for the great interests of humanity, till this scene of things shall be shut, and latest time shall lapse into vast eternity.