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- iTft 1 A ' .-1T' ' TPT' '-7 r'" Cv r '1TT' V '. -v'' ; -.:.;-- '"'-. . -14SfeT'': " i-l:":V-'-:-r: p" :;-:V;p:'''' a; ; vIiS'M . .- -i-' ;v.: f;rtfiirr - O'V; r-.V':-:-'.::---?'.1?- -s;',te . v- ' ' -'. ' ;:r"-, : Avn ;' - .',.:,"- ;f'-.-;v-.. .:v.". ' -c ,' -?.-'''.'--in- t . ' t Oqr tire thplM of fair fellthtfulPetce, , . , . 1 ' . w. 1 H--f-.'- Vi-e--.'A -irfV' '-'v? -' . ' ;. t. . . - t u.warp'J bT part age, t.irte like Brahet.-., ' , v " . r? ,...V! .,v,.r;.v , ."Vou X.-. .-' , "r".V'":.' -- THURSDAY, lULY 2Qrl80W -.' -.-,'r - -v -j 7 C .r 3n Oration Delivered at Washington City, oa orjcLT, J7y JOEL BARLOirf Etj. Friend U FeUrm-aUxent: ; . T Tbc day, wc now commemorate will refer cease to ertite in us ihe most ex hiliraiinK reflections and mutual gra tuUtions, Mmds of sensibility, accu 'tomed to range oterthe field of contem plation, that the ? birth of our Empire spreads Wore ihem, must expand on this occasion to great ideas, and invigo rate their patriotic sentiments. , The thinythree years of national ex istence, which have brought us to our present condition, are crowded-indeed with instructive facts, and comprise an interesting portion of history. Bui the? have only prepared this gigantic infant of a nation to begin its own de vclopemtnt. They are only the prelude to the greater events that seem to un fold themselves before us, and call for the highest wisdom to give them their proper direction. It appears to have been the practice of the public speakrrs, called to give utterance to thafeelincs of their fellow- citizens, On the anniversary cf this day to dwell chiefly upon those memorable transactions which necessitated, and those which afterwards supported the act of Independence that gives name to the present festival. Such were the op pressions cf Britain and our effectual resistance to th'ise oppressions. Tran sactions soeventful are doubtless worthy to be held in perpetual remembrance And -as they. ought never to be forgoi ten, they should frequently be recalled to the remembranct of our -younger brethren, who can Know them only from their elders. 1-Uut those, conUicing scenes are now become evtry where matter of record. They arc detJUdso copiously in our annais and so of:en by our orators, as to fender the repetiti in cf their story at this moment fir less important than 'o turn our attention to other subjects growing out of the inte rests of our blessed Country. Our departed Heroes i and Statesmen hive not gjoe without their fame . Our tears have mingled with the ashes of those fallen in our battles, and those whv have descended in peace to a later tomb. Our gratitude attends on the precious few who remain to us of thai list of worthies ; the illustrious re lies of so many fields of da: ger, and' so many years ot labor ; who fed us in a:! our darings,: when resistance to tyrants, i as will in the forum as the held, was deemed rebellion, tnd threatened with; death. Their whitened locks, th -t still wave among us, are titles to our vene- I ration they command, and will obtain i while the virtues they have taught I us 10 practise shall continue to warm our hearts. But our respect for the memory and the, persons of all our leaders will be best evinced by the pious culture we bestow en the rich heritage thy have secureu andarehanuingover to our pos session. The present race is likewise passing away ; but the nation remains and ncswith its years. While wethe present race, are able to call ourselves the nation, we should be sensible of the! greatness or the charge that has dcvol- Tea upon us. We have duties to pos- icmy as well as toourselvts- VVC must gather up-Gur strength and encounter - thme duties. Yes, my friends, we arc now the nation. As such, we hvear- " , uiai cpocn, wnen, instead ot ,r'M,H wiuj wonaer upon our in fncy,we may look forward whh solici tude to a state of adolescence, with con- ence to a state of manhood. Tho, s a nation,, we are yet in the morning ctlife, wc havc already attained an el: auon which enables us to discern our course to its meridian splendor : to co,. template the height we have to climb, w? the commanding station we must pity in order to fulfil the destinies to l.!!e TC "lied, and perform the ; U,V lhc cause of human happi ness requires at our hands. th. ir,lhz United States to act tthe Attnguisbed part that Providence clVn d fhcnj il necessary to conv.ncethern that the means are with m therr power. A familiar knowledge t4-r,tu . M usnowto em H,C,m ln lbt auainroent of the end. pledge will lead to wisdom : and " n n an degree,-is requi iL the ""duct, of affairs, so rao miy and so new: For oUr situa- the 4th The form of -government .we have chosen, the geographical position we occupy as relative o, the most turb.i- lent powers ot Eorope, whose poIiticaV maxims are widely different from ours ; the vast extent of continent which is, or must be comprised-within our limits; containing not less than sixteen hundred millions of icres, k susceptible of po nulation of two hundred millioniiOf hu man beings ; our habits of industry and peace, instead of violence and war all ' these are circumstances which render our situation as navel as it is important, j It reauires new theories ; it has forced t tibon us new and bold, Sc in some cacs, donbtful experiments ; it calls for deep j reflection, on the propensities of Juimart , naiure, an accurmc atuamwiiw ",; the historvof human actions : and what I is perhaps the most diflkult to attain, I 8 WISC ai5CriIIIIIiaiIUii . auiuu uic i imsof wisdom, or what are such in o-j ther times and natiorfs, to determine t which nf th-m are applicable, h which would be detrimental to the end we have in view. I would by no means ! insinuate that we should reject the! counsels or antiquity tn mass : or turn a deaf ear to the voice of modern expe rience, because t is not our own. So far as the policy of other nations is founded on thr real relations of sqcial mm, on his moral nature undisguised h may dmibtlesvbe worthy ol imitation; but so far as it is drawn from his moral nature disguised by habits materially different from ours, such policy is to le suspected, ic is to be scrutinized, and brought to the test, not perhaps of our expf r'ence, for that may. in certain ca se-t, be wanting, bat the rest of the ge neral principles of our institutions, and the habits and maxims that arise out of them. .There h s been no nstion, ei'her an cient of modern, that could have pre sented human nature in the saoie cha racter as ours doe$ and will present it ; b-cause there has existed no nation whose gnvernment has icsembled ours. A repre-entative democracy, on a large scale, with a fixt constitution, has never before been attempted, and has no where else succeeded. A fedtrjlQ. vernmen on democratic principles is equally, unprecedented, and exhibits a still greater innovation on all received ideas of statesmen and lawgivers. Nor has any theorist in political science, any among those powerless potentates of! reason,the philosophers who have taught j so mmy valuable thi igs, ever framed a system, or conceived a combination ! of principle's producing such a result, j Circumstances b yond ourcontroul had thrown in our way the materials ' for thi wonderful institution. Our first ' merit lay in pot rejecting them. But i when our sage began to discern the use 1 that might be made of materials then so, unpromising, they discovered great ta-j lents and patriotism, in combhing.them ! into the system we now find in operation. ' It is indeed a stupendous fabric ; the greatest political phenomenon, and pro bably will be considered as the greatest advancement in tho science of govern ment that all modern ages have pro duced. - This is not the moment to go into a dissertation on the peculiar character of our political institutions The subject ; beim? well understood by so respecta-t ble a poition of this assembly, and the j time allotted to this part of the cxerci- scs cf the day being necessarily short, I should hardly expect to obtain your ! jndulgtncp if I wee even capable of do- ing justice to so great a theme. Other wise the whole compass of human afc fairs does not admit ofa rniire profitable enquiry. Evtry citizen should make ft hit favorite s udy, and consider it as art indispensable part ofthe edcuation of hit children. But" nations are educated like indivi dual infants.' They are what they, are taught to be. They become whatever their tutors desire, and invite and pre- pare ana iorce i.cm 10 oecome iney may-rbe taugh id reason correctly ; they.may be taught to reason perv-rse- ly ; thty may be taught not to reason .at all. The last is the .case of despot ism: the second, where they reason' perversely, is the case of a nation with an unsettled ami unprincipled government, by whatever technical name it may be distinguished ; . for a'emocracy with-, ! out a constitution," though generally & justly caiiea the tcnopi oi disorder and. perversity, -is no more liable to these calamities, than a monarchy ilr defined and without a known principle of acti- ohj and where the arm of poirerbas ft V " " - "."' ? ' not that steady tension which would render it completely despotic. The first, where thjy reason correct y, if it ever xxisted, or. ever is to exist, i must be ours, Our natioa must, it can, , its- legislators bught to say it be itauh to reason correctly, to act justly, j to pursue its own interest upon'o large a scale as not to ihterfere with the in. ! terest, or it least the rights of other na- ;' tions. For the moment it shouW in- tertere with theirs, it could no longer be'saifl to be pursu'ng its own.N ; j What then are the interests of this nation, which jt becomes us as private citizens (without , any mission but ' the autocratical right of individuals) to re commend to the great body of the A- merican people on ihr .auspicious' occa- sion ? The most obvious, and I believe the most import mt, ue comprised in two words e and to them 1 hiU con fine my observations : puhlit improve'. menu ana puouc instruction, i nese two objects, trriiijrh rfisu'uct in the orga nisation which they Will require, are so similar in their effects, that most ofi the arguments ttut will, apply to ofte. will. apply equally to both. They are both necessary to the p-eservatton of our principles of government ; they are both necessary to the support of the system ino which those principles are wrought, the sys'em we now enjoy ; they are each of them essential, perhaps in an equal degree, tp the perfecting of that system, to our perceiving and pre piring the ameliorations of which it is susceptible. I shall . dwell exclusively on these two objects, not, because they are the only ones that might be pointed out, but becaus? their; importance, their immediate U pressing importance, seems to have been less attended to and probably less understood than it ought to have been among the general con cerns of the union. Public Improvements, such as roads- . aa bridges and canals, are usu illy consi dered only-in a commercial an'V eco nomical point of Iiht ; they ought like wise to be regarded in? a moral and po litical light. Cast ywir eyes over the surface of our dominion, with a view to its vast extent ; with a view to its pre sent and approaching state of populati on ; wuh a view to the difterem ha')its, manners, languages, origin,, morals, maxims ofthe people ; with a view to the nature of those .ties, those political artificial Jies,, which hold them togtther as one people, and which are to b ithed upon, to continue to hold ihem tog ther as one people when their number sh.dl rise to hundreds of millions of freemen possessing the spirit of independence that becomes their station. What anx iety, what solicitude- what painful ap prehension must naturally croud upon the mind for the continuance of such a government, stretching its thin texture over such a country, and in the hands of such a people I The prospect is aw ful ; the obiect, if attainable, is maeni- ficent beyond comparison; but thediffi culty of attaining it and the danger of losing it, are sufficient to clopd the pros pect in the eyes of many respectable citizens, and force them to despair. Despair m this case, to an ardent spirit devoted to the best good of his country, is a distressing state indeed. To des pajr of preserving the federal.. union of these republics, for an indefinite length of time without a dismemberment, is to lose the highest hopes of human socie ty, the greatest promise of bettering its condition that the efforts of all genera tions have produced. The man of sen sibility who can contemplate without horror the dismemberment of this em pire, has not well considered its effects. And vet I scarcely mingle in society for a day without hearing it predicted, and the prediction uttered with a levity bor dering on indifference ;f and that too by well disposed men of every political par-f ty. jrf ence I conclude that the subject has not: been examined with the atten tion U deserves. . 1 1 am hot yet so unhappy as to believe tn this;: prediction. But I should, be forced to believe in it if I did 'not' antici pa the use of other means h an 'those, we have yet employed to perpetuate the union ofthe states." They must not be cocwive means. SuchlVones in most leases woufd produce effects directly the reverse of what would be intended. "Our1 policy docs not admit of standing armies, ana u u okj, ,wc luuiu uui mainbin'them sufficiently numerous ta "restram great bodies of- freemen with arms in . their, hands, bunded by igno- ranceal heated by zeal and led' by facti ous chiefs ; and a we could maintain lilblll oiuil VllUUtli Ml lllttl UUIUU3C) we all know they would very soon over turn the government they, were intend- jjed to support. With as little prospect of success could we rely upon legislative means ; that js upon laws against! treason and misdemeanor, or any other chapter of the criminal code. Such laws' may sometimes intimidate a chief of rebels, or a-few unsupported traitors,, But a whole geographical district of rebels, a half a nafoii of? traitors wduld legislate against yotr. They woUld throw your laws into one scale and their own in the other, and toss in their, bayonet to turn the oalance. No the means to be relied ; Uppn to noia tnispenehcent union together,must apply directly to the interest and' ton- venience ot the people : they must at the same time enable them to disperni that interest and ne sensib'e of thatjeon- venience. The people must become habituated to enioy a visible; palpable, ipconttstible good ; a greater good than tKty- could promise themselves from any change, . I hey must have mforma- tipn enough' to perceive it, to reasop up- on it, to know why they enjoy it, whence it flows, how it waB attained, how it is to be preserved, and how it may be Jost. I The people of these states must be jedu- Icated tor their station, as members of the great community. They must re-d I ceive a republican education ; be taught the duties and the rights of freemen : that is, of American freemr rt ; not the r freemen that are so by starts, by frenzy ana in mobs; wno woiud till tne torum at the nod of Clodms, or the prytane. am at that of Cleon ; nor the freemen to seven who would 7 yarded : Each American freeman is an inte- fgral mem er of the sovereignity"; he is a co-estate of the empire, carrying on its government by his delegates. The m first right he possesses, after that of breathing the vital air, is the right of oeing taugnt tne management ot the power to which he is born. ; It is a, se rious duty of the society towards him, an unquestionable right of the individu al from the society.. . In a monarchy, the education ofthe prince is justly deemed a concern of the nation. It is done at their expense ; and why is it so t It fs because, they are deeply interested in his being wefl educated, that he may be able to admi nister the government well, -to conduct! the concerns of the nation wisely on their own constitutional principles.- My friends, is it not even more imppr- tant that our, princes, our mii'lions of princes, should be educated ! for their station than the single prince of a mo narchy ? If a single prince goes wrong, obstinately and incurably wrong, he may be set vaside.for another, without overturning the state. But if our sove reigns, in their multitudinous exercise of powers should become obstinate and) incurable in wrong, you cannot set them aside. But they will set yoii aside ; they will set themselves aside ; they will crush the state and convulse the nation. The result is;mihtary despo tismi dismemberment-of the great re public, andafler a Sufficient course of devastation by civil warst the settle ment of a few ferocious monarchieypre pared to , act over again the same de grading scenes of mutual encroachment and vindictive war which disgrace mo dern Europe ; and from which many writers have told us, that nTaTikindiiare: never to be free. . , , , 7 y k ; Our habits of thinking' and eVen of reasonintr; it ;must be conresea, are still borrowed from feudal principlesahd monarchical establishments'. . As a na tion we are not up to our circumstances; Our principles1 in thc abstract, ; as wroueht into our state and federal cbfr stitutipnsi are' in general' worthy of the highest praise ; they do honorto tlie human intellect, n But the practical tone and tepsiort of our minds do not well correspond with those principles. -We are like a person conversing in a foreign ianguagc whose iiom-is not yetfami- udi; j.u juiu. imniLs in nis own na tive language, and W obUgetl ta trans-. ate as nc uuks. j.waicn gives a suunes o his discourse and betrays a 'certain embarrassment which nothing can re- moy e but frequent exercise and Jong practice.; Wet are accustpfnedto reak Und reason rejative. to the peopled edu- cation precisely use tne anstocraiicai of one day in seven years rusn togetner tor saie- at tne Hustings quate to the objects l am ciearjy oi , v wi jLviciiLiuru, aiui.oiauiur auu uiuugcuu opinion tpax It'lS Sireaay, WiliiUJ ilic UTP ' for a. man 'whose principles and person er oour legislative bodies,4 both federal ;r Jj: were to them alike unknown and unre-' and provincial : but if it is Pot, the peo- ' , - M subjects of la'v European ymoaarchyr f ;v , Some say the people, haveno need of m-'l ; sruction ; they already know fjoo much the v cannot airb;e Ieis1at6r4;and jui ;v 's f es and generals ; the great mass .must r; work for a living, and they. need no o ther' knowledge, t hari what ia sufficient'1 , V ' . for that purpose. OtherVwilitdiyouitiirv? very rell for the people to-gerWmuch education as the can ;, but it is- thejr' , - own concern,' the state f has hothip ta;' do with it ; every parent,' out of regard - , to his offspring, . will give iherm .what, he can, and'that will be enoughv. -I will not say how far this manner of ,v treating the subject is proper even m . Europe, whence we borrowed it. 'BtiCvt I will. say that nothing is more prepqs terous in Americar' It is dineptly con-. trary to the vrtai principles oi ; our con, If dilutions ;: and its inevitable i tendency is to destroy them. r A universal system of education is sovfar fromJ)eing a,maU ter of indifference to the' public under nnr Rnrial rnmiwrh that ir is incontesu- bly one of the first dutietfbfthfr govern ment. one ofthe hichest interests of the nation, one of the most sacred rights ofthe individual, the vital fluidxif org- nized liberty, the precious aliment with y . out which your republic cannot belsup " ported. r C' i'- , I, do not mean that our legislator 'P should turn pedaffoeues ; or send. their commissioners forth -ttf discipline eyery child in this nation. . Neither do . I mean , to betray so much temerity as to tfpeakl ofthe best mode of combining - a sys4; tern of public instruction "But ! Feel it , my duty on this occasion Xo use the free dom to which I am accustomed and -suggest the propriety of bringing for-r " ward some system inac snan oe:auc- provincial pie ought to place-it there, and see that, ic is exercisea. -it. is ccnaiu tut iici-i plan, if lpToperly arranged and wisely conducted, would not be expensive.- And. there is no doubt of its absolute irresistable necessity, if we mean to pre-- serve eithef our representative -pnnci-' pie or bur federal unioii, . ' It is not intended that every citizen should be a .fudge or a generators ; legislator: but very cittien is a yo ter ; i t is es$ential to youlinstitutiohs that he hoild be, a voter, and if he, has not the! instwetioh necessary to enable him to disc.riiainate between , the characters pf 'men, to VthstandAV ! me jptngues 01 tneWiCKea anu 10 per. ; j , ceive what is right, he immediately! '?"'XJ- Lbecpme8 a tool for knaves to worl;,; ly with ; he become both an object ano an instrument of corf uption ; his right , : , Tv ' of voting becomes an injury .to liim-, self apd a nuisance to society ir is ' V , in this sense that the peopleVs said: ; to be " thetrown worst; enemies.' . : Their freedom itself is found to be, x 1 an insupportable calamity ; . and the',1 only consolation (a dreary consolation s 7 indeed) is that it cannot last long. -:, ; I. The timeisXast approaching,5 when - j the U Stateiwiltbe out of debt, it. ) . no extraSrtiinar call for money tor, v repel foreign aggression shoufd inter, ; vene. Our surplus Tevenue'already::: ; ' v affords the nieans of entering upon' the system of public works, and; be- ginningfto discharge our duty in thi c respect The report of the SecretaryV of the Treasury on tne$e-workshich!rl, is or ought ta be in the hands of every v' f citinwijt shoiy their-feasibility a 10 inc lunas ; ana is aeveiopes pare pf the ad vanf ages with which the-ays ; tern must bd attended? Bjtitneither. . that distinguished statesman nor any .'V , ouier. Quma,n nemg couia uecan-cc sev p. , forth1 all the arlvantageshaiwqulji: rarise froth such a avsteni- carried ta' ' . its proper extent Theyf afe incatcu-V' , lably great and unspeak ably yariouift' . - ? They, would bind th e states' Together? '; in a bond of uniothteteryopei';. ;? -jcould perceive,- that every one musT?r , : cherish Vahd;nothmgrcojitdreitrv This "of itself is an advahtajreorrcaTf s if if considered m all it coDsqueacta!, , y-j. that iiseernV almost useless to potice anv? other. It would facilitate ihef-- i meaos, ofin9,tniogiuhe.:pe6e : - f jt ion ttoeyiyttfre.'T : Jt Wfculd 1. - .t. ' "t 3 y HI 1 v -1 'v. . 4 -
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 20, 1809, edition 1
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