wan
sires suffered scarcely any abate
ment. But when in the year
1774. the Parliament of Great Bri-
tain, contrary to every principle of the most powerful nation on tne
natural justice, contrary to the ve
ry basis upon which their boasted
constitution itself rests, assumed
the tyrannical prerogative of tax-
mg uiem wiiuoui uuuwing mum
representation, and that too for
the support of the people of Bri
tain, the chord of affection, which
had so long bound the two coun
tries in one, was fevered at a
blow. It is a maxim of civil so
ciety "that resistance to the su
preme power ina'state should not
be attempted till the government
is so corrupt and its usurpations
so exorbitant, as that anarchy and
the uncertainty of a new settle
ment is preferable to the continu ance
as it is." The colonies
therefore petitioned, they intreat
ed, they supplicated, as well the
great body of the people of Eng
land as their rulers, to pause for
a moment, to consider the ster
tastronhe of the total destruction skirts tut m io un i , i?rftn.-' i her
of a people contending for their
just rights. Britain, decidedly
globe there was no quarter of the
tl.nt UnA not Cht 'Ut 111-
UIjIVUIol? iiiai, uuu uui. v.. ...
fluencc of her arms, scarcely a
port in the civilized world where
her flag was not to be seen flut
tering triumphantly in the breeze,
her resources for war were inex
haustible and her monarchs proud
ly boasted that they held within
their grasp the balance' of Eu
rope. On the other hand what
was the condition of the colonies!
Destitute of allies, without arms
and ammunition, without military
discipline and Without a revenue
the sinews of war nothing short
of their being crushed by the
.UA Uxt Hip lirrhtHlllL'S furiOUS
blast. They too will soon be ga
thered together with their compa
triots in arms, into that world
from 'whose bourne no traveller
Ti .1 ..,111 li.t- in
returns. I3ut iney wni mo ,u.
the brightest pages of history, in
the "fond remembrance of their
successors, in the hearts of their
countrymen.
We should do injustice to the
occasion were we to pass, in si
lence, another memorable event,
connected with the fourth of July,
which renders this day doubly re
nowned in the annals of our coun
try. You already anticipate it.
We allude to the deaths of those
immortal patriots Adams and Jef
ferson. On this day, two years
ivoihtt, mnnMi-Miv nf Rritnin ago, while the people of this ex-
O.J J - . IT. I.n.l.nV ITMth
tensive union wciu mining huh
heart-cheering acclamations the
return of the anniversary of their
independence, those splendid
'lights in the watch-tower of liber-
i i i mi... i
could have been expected. But
where hearts and hands unite in
a just cause, experience has taught
us that resistance is vain. The
determination of our fathers to be
3p free at the peril of their lives andjty were extinguished. The day,
ie fortunes, and their occasional sue-1 from one of joy, was converted in-
thev had taken and to abolish the
odious and nninst Ant' hut in vain. rpi in arms .irrninttt. n diseinlinnd Uo mourning and . the sad and me-
j j - 1
The dignified remonstrances of a foe attracted the attention of ad
Congress assembled for the pur- miring Europe. The United Pro
pose eventually had no effect so vinces loaned them money. The
ardent is the desire of power in gallant and chivalrous France, at
the human breast. At this awful a time when all hopes of success
crisis an appeal to the God ol bat- was about to expire, sympathizing
ties, was all that was left them.1 with the distresses ofthe colonies, pendencc. Adams its warmest
To arms! to arms! was the indig- recognised theirindependence and jadvocate. Jefferson the firm, in-
lancholy spectacle was exhibited
of a nation in tearsin tears of
gratitude to those two great co
operators in the cause of their in
dependence. Jefferson the au
thor of the Declaration of Inde-
people, France might now hay,
been the grand focus of illuiniSla
tion, to which the eyes of all
nations ofthe eastern heni'ispl,'
would be directed for the creniaj
light of liberty. But a d,arjrre
from despotism to independence
in a government founrlort '
O 111
days of ignorance and feudal bur.
barism, and confirmed bytllenro
judice of ages, is not the work
a uay. nu nuuus oi a people
as of an individual, are slowlv
luiuiuu uuu ua oiuwij It;iiHUlshet!
To turn the current of thought
that, for centuries, has flowed' in
the same uninterrupted channel
washing in its course the base of
monarchical and aristocratical o-n.
verri ments, to free and liberal in.
stitutions, requires an effort of the
human mind beyond all huniaa
conception. The change must
be gradual. At this very moment
it is operating in Franco. Who!
ever reads the newspapers ofthe
day may easily perceive that the
same spirit, which actuated that
people in their Revolution, conti
nues with them. The virtuous
and patriotic La Fayette, the gtcat
advocate for the rights of man,
still lives and enjoys a seat in the
councils of the nation. Misname
will be the watch-word to free
dom, when himself shall be no
more. The French Revolutioa
nant cry of an injured and op-sent over her fleets and armies tolffoxible and undeviating patriot of will again be acted over, but, we
the aid them in the noble struggle. feouth Adams a beacon of trust in Uod, witli a ditterent re-
light in the north; nurtured in
Boston, the cradle of the revolu
tion, he was the first to shew, by
pressed people throughout
land, and a thousand hearts beat These opportune accessions to
responsive to the sentiment give, ! their already sinking cause cheer
us liberty or give us death! ed the drooping spirits of the Ame-
But although the inhabitants of rican patriots. Fresh courage Ibis correspondence with the Bl i
the town of Boston had been in- was infused into their armies, j tish agent, that the colonies no
suited by a British soldiery quar- which returned to the charge with 'longer owed allegiance to the mo
tered upon them for the avowed renewed ardor. Need we tell you jther country; among the first to
purpose ot entorcirig the 'Acts ot the issue! Does not this assem
their sovereign parliament; though blage here to-day point to it in lan
the battles of Lexington and guage inexpressible? It would be
Breed's Hill had been fought and to no purpose to dwell upon thejniory. For surely, the sages who
Charlestown and Falmouth lay battles that were Most and won, 'j planned, as well as the heroes
but heaps of smoking rums, as;thc disasters that existed in the j who executed, the grand scheme
denounce her oppressors and to
rouse his count rynien to arms.
rhis tribute is due to their me-
yct, the most patriotic and en- American camp and the patience
Jigntenea American citizens never with which the soldiers ot the lie
thought of a total separation from1 volution submitted to the hard-
Britain, and would have scouted ships incident to their situations.
the idea as the very climax of ab
surdity. But when, in the pro
gress of free and dispassionate in
quiry, the minds ofthe public be
came more illumined and they
had attained to a juster sense of
their rights, and the relations in
which they stood to the mother
country, they saw no reason in
the nature of things why they
should remain forever dependants
on a foreign power. The thir
teen then British provinces, there
fore, entered into a federal com
pact for mutual protection and de
fence, and, by their delegates in
Congress assembled, in conformi
ty to the usage of nations, publish
ed to the world the Declaration of
their Independence setting forth
the justice of the cause in which
they had embarked and appealing
to the SUPREME JUDGE of
the universe for the rectitude of
their intentions. This Declara
tion you have just heard read.
The deep attention with which
you listened tof it, evidences the
interest you feel in its principles;
for surely, in this light, it is to be
more admired, at this day, than as
being the precursor of a war
which had actually commenced
commenced, and with an odds that
These must be left to the general
historian. It will be sufficient to
recall to your minds the ever me
morable battle of Yorktown in
Virginia the battle in which the
American cause was crowned with
triumph and which ended in the
total defeat of the flower of the
British army, whose proud and
haughty commander, his name a
terror from one extremity of the
colonies to the other, was compel
led to yield to our illustrious
Washington; so emphatical
ly, but so justly pronounced to be
'first in war, first in peace, and first
in the hearts of his fellow-countrymen.'
"CormvaHis first, their late all-conquering
lord,
"Dears to the victor Chief his conquer
ed sworu;
"Presents the hurnish'd hilt and yields
with pain,
"The gift of kings here brandished long
in vain."
Thus terminated, after a seven
years' conflict, the unequal but
hard fought contest. We are the
people of another generation.
Tho stoutest hearts that braved
the front of war are now cold in
death. Here and there, it is true,
may be seen an aged veteran,
marked with the scars of other
of our national independence, de
serve the highest culogium;
"The warrior's name,
"Though pealed and chimed on everv
tongue of fame,
"Sounds less harmonious to the grateful
mind,
"Than his, who fashions and improves
mankind."
Ofthe numerous signers of the
Declaration of our Independence,
one only survives, the venerable
Charles Carroll of Carrolton; he
too must soon obey the summons
of nature and yield to that unspar
ing destroyer, time. But tho' its
original framers may be taken
from amongst us, its principles
cannot founded in nature they
win survive until the system of
universal nature shall be swent
i ... i i . i
awny uy me awtul hat ot that invi
sible but Omnipotent Being, who,
at the creation, commanded the'
earth to be, and immediately it
sprung into existence; 'who said
r I I - I
, "o"h "u mere was
light. i'heyare abroad through
tlie universe. Their holy influ
ence was imbibed by our gene
rous allies in the mir of indepen
dence. The consequence is
known to you all. They cxplo
lcl tlic French Revolution, the
most tragical drama ever acted on
the globe,
'TL Moodiest picnic in the book of
tune.
But P,r the ambition of a Buona-
sult. Our sister Republics of
South America furnish a more
pleasing and much brighter exam
ple of the progress of free princi
ples. Already, the whole of that
vast continent, with the exception
of Brazil which belongs to -Porta-gal,
is liberated from the shackles
of Spanish oppression; and we
may look forward, without delu
sion, to the glorious period when
no other principles than tlioso of
'7G shall be reeognized in this
western hemisphere, and that,
here at least, man shall attain to
the full enjoyment of those rights
toftvhich he is entitled by nature,
and by nature's God. But would
you desire the free institutions ot
our country to be preserved ia
their original purity and excel
lence! Then let the people he
instructed. In a government like
ours, based entirely upon ana re
cognising no other authority than
the Will of the People, the depen
dence of liberty upon popular ed
ucation is as strong as that ot the
mind upon the body. In despotic
governments, it is a maxim of po
licy to keep the multitude in gross
ignorance as mainly contributing
to their durability; but will a
person say, to the general happ1
ness, or, eventually, to the gene
ral welfare! Happily fur North
Carolina, happily for the Unittd
States at large, this is not the case
with us. It is here alone th;it the
true source from whence all hu
man authority rationally emanates
is correctly understood. Wiat
does our Declaration of
say! All power is, and of rw
ought to he, vested in the people
To nresnrvn thnirtheir rights and
privileges the people must under
stand them to understand them
aright they must be enlightened;
let it be repeated, they mmt ut
enlightened. Will our legist9