1
.16101 323 T2o
2' 0 W .k. 13 EM, 8
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1895
Mora Porrar worm% starrso.—The idea of the
following song, it will be seen, is borrowed from the
Irish E m igrant, so touchingly set to music end sung by
Mr. Dempster. 'We are indebted for it to the Auburn
humid, a correspondent of which paper bad it from the
poet, Longfellow, at Cambridge, who said it was "by
D ugarm e,"—a name with which we are not acquainted.
Mr. L thought the verses enough to immortalize any
poet. They certainly are very beautiful and pathetic,
ersuistively conceived, end smoothly and effectively ex-
,
Lament of the 'Widowed Inebriate,
rm thinking on thy smile, Mary—
Thy blight and trusting smile—
In the morning of our youth and love,
.Ere sorrow came—or guile;
When thine arms were twined about my neck,
And mine eyes looked into thine,
And the heart that throbbed for twi , aiorte,
Was nestling close to mine I
I see full many a smile. Mary,
On young lips beaming bright;
And many an eye of light and love
Is flashing in my sight.
But the smile is not for my poor heart,
And the eye is strange to me,
.And a loneliness comes o'er my soul
When its memory turns to thee!
I'm thinking on the night, Mary,
The night Df grief and shame,
When with drunken ravingli,:in my lips,
To thee I homeward came;
0, the tear was in thine earnest eye,
And thy bosom wildly heaved,
Yet a Emile of love was on thy cheek.
Though the heart was sorely grieved.
Bat the smile soon left thy lips, Mary,
And thine eye grew dim and sad;
For the tempter lured my steps from thee,
And the tempter drove me mad;
From thy cheek the roses quickly tied,
And thy ringing laugh was gone,
Yet the heart still fondly, clung to me,
And still kept trusting on.
0, my words were harsh t? thee, Mary,
For the wine cop made me wildly,
And I chid thee when thine eyes were sad,
And I cursed thee when they smiled.
God knows I loved thee then,
But the fire was in brain,
And the curse of drink was in my heart,
To make my lave a bane.
•
Twits a pleasant home of ours, Mary,
In the spring-time of our life,
When 1 looked upon thy sunny face,
And proudly called thee, wife—
And 'twas pleasant when' our children played
Before our cottage door;
But the children sleep with thee, Mary,
neer shall see them more.
Thou'rt resting in the church yard, now,
And no stone is at thy head ;
Bat the sexton knows a drunkard); wife
Bleeps in that lowly bed ;
And he says the hand of God, Mazy,
Will fall with crushing weight
On the wretch who brought thy gentle life
To its untimely fate.
But he knows not of the broken heart
I bear within my breast,
Nor the heavy. Imo of vain remorse,
That will not let me rest ; '
He knoWs not of the sleepless nights,
When, dreaming of thy love,
seem to see thy angel eyes
Look coldly from above.
I have raised the whie cup in my hand,
And the wildest strains I've sung,
Till with the laugh of drunkezimilth
The echoing air has rung;
But the pale and sorrowing face looked out
From the glittering cup on me,
And a trembling whisper I have heard
That I fancied breathed by thee.
Thou art slumbering in thy peacetnl grave'!
And thy sleep is dreamless now,
But the seal of an undying grief
la on thy mourner's Brow,
And my heart is chill as Malt
For thejoys of life hies Bed,
And I long to lay my aching breast
With the cold and silent dead.
Mrszzators.—The following letter is a perfect rid
.dle to us. We will give six Old a quarter cents to any
` 1 ""' °dm will read it so that we or any one else
as c"lopsehend it. The writer is either a high-pres
sure transcendentalist, and has enveloped his ideas in
' l4 "'Nage andisentimentality of that class of crazy in
dividuals ; or he has imposed upon the editor a chapter .
of" mysteries," in which he has endeavored to hide the
knowledge to be be conveyed under unmeaning and im-
Ferfect sentences.
We do not belieye that the author of the letter is a
of our town, though it is dated from this place
id he is, we•hope he will learn "that dimity covered' a
andrimi e of sins," and hereafter look with a kinder eye
48tt the feette, foibles and follies of his neighbor'. He
'mold add much more td the character and reputation of
Oda umn—(and areavill defend it against the world)—
as well a interest the readers of the Newark Daily Ad
smiler, biota:wring othersubjects, more worthy of poin
ts: notice.
Row the letter found its way-into the United State,
Glaettes , we cannot( conceive. Will brother Chandler
=Vidal
Ccmeepoteleeee of the Netrask Uly Abe:timer.]
'Wafts.
Thee is no need of going to Paris for them, In l this
leaner. There is one of my neighbors, who hearing
ble complain that others hare defrauded me in the Tian
t'tf or quality of wood, libels himself, as the Chinese do
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BRADFORD..."- .. '.. - :: E ,
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their shops-no cheating done herd; then brings me one
good cord, expecting that henceforward he any cheat
me without limit. Accordingly, the very next supply,
be brings an inferior kind, half decayed, under length,
packed with great care to avoid a plenum, and charges
about 25 per cent. above the market price. This, if it
were not more than half common, would be a mystery.
I know the ostrich is said to hide its want of brains in
the sand, "end think its foolish body hidden too;" but
this is done by a sort of instinct; that a man having
reason, should do the same, is not easily accounted for.
I suppose things are done more adroitly in Broad
way and Wall street ; otherwise some of the pres
ent dealers there would be soon displaced by men having
more (short) wit than themselves. (N. B. AU such
wit is short, and its profits not long.) The day of ac
count will come, just as sure as this is God's universe,
and not the devil's ; and this again is just as sure as that
trees grow and dead substances decay : for this they do
with no will of their own.
Another mystery is Mr. B—, with a ,scheme of
theology so precise as hardly to admit more than him
self to heaven, and practice so ungodly as to render his
own admission fearfully uncertain. How he has come
to suppose that a true creed touching ; abstract points,
where Revelation isnot clear, "the whole duty of man r
and that debasing himself in the gratification of tow pas
awn, is a venial sin, is beyond the province of natural
philosophy to explain.
I presume no British or American subject, would
think of compounding for all manner of treasons and
felonies, by an exhibition of superior knowledge in the
laws, or be disappointed if the correctness of the theory
were judged an aggravation of his crimes. This sad
case of my neighbor leads me to the general remark,
that the religion of the world is to a lamentable extent
idolatry, either of doctrines or forms, and like all other
idolatry, not at all incompatible with grievOus departures
from the practice of righteousness.
My next is a zealous hand at the reformation from
Popery, and fierce for the abolition of southern slavery,
while his wife would join him more heartily in a refor
mation of temper, and his neighbors prefer an abolition of
ill practices nearer home. Here this mystery is, that a
thin with a Bible in his hand, should have so far mista
ken the moral world, as to suppose it his duty to declaim
against other men's fang in total negligence of his own.
If such a case were salary I should not think it worth
while to report it; but there seems in these days, a
growing misapprehension of responsibilities and duties,:
to the, no small damage of every good cause. lam no
advocate for putting a light under a bushell but as eve
ry light irradiates its own limited space, it should be
used as an aid there, and not without some reason re,
moved to a distant sphere. He that falls into the ditch,
fur the want of wisdom or inclination to order his own
steps, Will not succeed well as the general guide of man
kind. C. S. A.
TuwAmiu, Pa., July 5.
ORATION,
Delivered at Canton, July 41h, 1845,
BY HENRY BOOTH, ESQ.
[Published agreeably to request.]
FELLOW CITIZENS :—The ordinary avoca
tions of life are interrupted and the current of
our feelings enlivened by the return of this
anniversary, and every American heart beats
with a prouder and a quicker pulse as he re
calls to mind the events which are connected
with this memorable day. We are now sixty
nine years removed from the Revolution, and
although I see here and there an aged man
whose wintery locks tell me - that he, perhaps,
can travel back through this period and by the
force of his individual redollections, feel once
mere the enthusiasm of those times; yet, with
few exceptions among us, the events of the
revolution are matters of history and tradition.
We have heard the story from the lips of our
fathers and our grandfathers, and felt our boy
ish blood kindle at the names of Washington
and La Fayette, of Bunker Hill, Saratoga and
Yorktown. And we felt in our young hearts
an enthusiasm that proved us not unworthy to
be the sons of such fathers, and to enjoy the
liberty we inherit. And we come together on
this occasion, both old and young. to revive
those recollections, to rekindle the fire of pat
riotism and consecrate aIMW our hearts upiin
the altar of freedom.
It is a good-thing that there is one day in
the course of the year sacred to national recol
lections` ind interests; sosacred that the voice
of party animosity will be hushed, and we
shall'feel as Americans on American soil, as
.sembled to celebrate an event which is the
common interest of the nation and of the world.
I. feel a sufficient security in the design of this
meeting, that we shall not be disappointed in
these expectations ; and though I would never
consent to aid in a sacrifice on this day when
the strange fire of party was to be mingled with
the pure flame of patriotic devotion, still it
gives me a pleasure to meet you on this oeca.
sion which I cannot well express. After a
long and severe political contest in which there
was reason to fear that our country would be
quite rent asunderby party violence, it is alike
creditable to your patriotism and philanthropy
that you meet together and bury, all subordi
nate feelings and party bitterness, if any re
mains, in oue absorbing national sentiment.—
In this manner a most gratifying evidence will
be given that while there may - be divisions On
matters of less consequence, we are still one
in sentiment. Americans all, with feelings
that transcend. the narrow, limits, of party or
geographical boundaries, and,comprehend the
nation in their embrace. With such
.a spirit
'we can welcome the return of this day with
mutual joy and congratulation. -
The commencement of the American Revo
lution opened a new era in the history of man.
Good and wise men of all countries watched
its vicissitudes with the _deepest interest., It
was a novel spectacle. The world had seen
wars enough undertaken through an unbound
ed lust of power—wars_between haughty. rival
states, and wars between ambitious monarchs;
but a war by a young. heroic. people in defence
of liberty, was a spectacle of quite a different
character. It had been a long time since the
world had witnessed anything of the kind,; and
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY, AT TOWANDA; BRADFORD COUNTY, PA, BY E. S
REDARDLUS by DENUNCIATION FROM ANY.QtraItTIM."
now when the instance occurred in...modern
times, the most unbounded hopes were excited
and the cause of civil liberty in every land was
identified with the success of the American
struggle. Never did men occupy more re
sponsible positions than that body of delegates
who were assembled at Philadelphia sixty-nine
years ego to day ; and never did men more no.
bly acquit themselves to their country and to
posterity. The war had already begun. British
aggression proceeding from insult and outrage
to open violence had already shed the blood of
American citizens. The news from Lazing.
ton and Bunker Hill had sped through the
country with the rapidity of lightning; the bells
from every steeple in the land bad proclaimed
dt ; the announcement had been made in Chun
der vollies that the time had come when free.
dom was to he bought on the field of battle at
the price of blood. Patrick Henry. that ardent
patriot and heart of flame had heard in his
imagination the clanking of the chains upon the
plains of Boston which had been forged by
Lord North and the British ministry to fetter
the limbs of his countrymen; and he-had an.
nounced to the Virginia house of delegates-the
last stern alternative for a freeman when his
rights-are invaded by the hand of lawless pow.
er. "We must fight," says he. " I repeat it,
we must fighY; an appeal to arms and to the
God of Hosts is all that is left us." It is
doubtless a most solemn thing to worship the
God- of Hosts on the field of.hattle, where the
orisons that ascend are the rattle of musketry,
the roar of cannon and the tramps of charging
squadrons: and where the incense that rises
is the reeking smoke of human slaughter. Ne
vertheless it was in answer to such appea the
that II ssing, of American liberty was granted
arid there is no worship more acceptable than
that which the patriot herb offers up to the God
of Hosts on the battle field with his sword,
when his country bids trim unsheath it in de
fence of liberty. It is an appeal not to he made
rashly, and for every slight cause, tint only for
reasons the most weighty, and to avert the
most positive and insufferable ca6mities.--
Our fathers had grounds most ample to justify
their quarrel ; and if there ever was an occa
sion when . it might be said that God himself
marshalled the hosts to war, it was iii our re
volution.
During the spring of 1770, the quarrel be
tween the colonies and the mother country had
been rapidly approaching the decisive crisis.
It had proceeded to a degree of bitterness that
to the minds of reflecting men forbid the hope
of a reconciliation. The British goveiinment
had repeatedly rejected the petitions of the
colonies, and turned a deaf ear to their remon
strances ; and the monstrous doctrine of taxa
tion without representation, which the elo
quence of Burke had exploded, and lhe thun
ders of Chatham had denounced in parliament,
Lord North and his coadjutors had foolishly
enough supposed might be preached to the
rebels successfully in the field by the points of
Hessian bayonets and_ the swords of hireling
soldiery. In the early part of June, the sub
ject of a separation from the parent country
was brought before the Continental Congress
in the forni of a resolution, and became the
theme of long and earnest debate. The hands
that had united the colonies for more than a
century to the land of their nativity, were too
strong to be hastily or rashly sundered. Their
friends were in England. Their earliest asso
ciations had taught them to look upon her in
stitutions with a filial reverence and regard.—
Iler glory had been theirs. They were proud
of her past history and her great name. Con
nected with England, they had shared her
honors, and during the long, bloody wars with
her haughty rival, they had contributed in no
mean degree to increase those honors and en
hance that renown for prowess that had made
her formidable to her foes ; and they would
still retain their connection as 'her children,
hut never as her slaves. The thought of en
tire independence might be tempting, might
charm the imagination with the idea of future
greatness ; but it was an untried state. They
lingered fondly, and watched for every symp
tom of relenting in her policy, and hesitated
to cut loose from past associations and launch
forth upon that destiny, that awaited them.—
But the unseen hand ofyrovidence was order
ing events ; the British ministry persisted in
their infatuated policy. the wrongs and indig
nities which the colonists had suffered, at
length thoroughly alienated their minds, and
they were prepared to advance
_with alacrity
in the direction which the tido of events had
indicated. They were now ready to brave the
power of the arm of England ; that arm which
had been their glory and their pride.
While the subject of a separation was under
discussion in Congress, the most varied and
conflicting emotions pervaded that body of
distinguished men. There was the sagacious
Franklin, Hancock and Adams, the illustrious
father of an illustrious son ; there was the dis
tinguished Jefferson and many others of calm.
clear unde'rstandinoe and giant intellect, nerved
to-the weighty and important duty of deciding
their emitiiiy's destiny. •And never was .a
question of greater consequence submitted to
the consideration of tviser heads or more dis
passionate judgments. At length on the 4th
or July the irretraceable steps wea taken; the
Continental Congress prettented - to the world
a document characterigedboldness and
truth. It became thenceforth the text-book of
freedom. Ger fathers vindicated the senti
ments that it contained in many a dangerous
bread', and on many,a bloody field. It was
startling to tyrants, hut it gave :new hope to
the victims of • oppressien. Ii astonished the
world with the bold assertion of troths thathad
already existed foi ages', in the ktiowledge of
every son of,Adam. On that day the Amyl : .
can colonies stepped forwardinto the rank of
nations, and the 6r - cum - stances under which
we are now assembled vindierite the Wisdom
that presided - peer the - coaacifs - of the Conti
unlit' Congress.', ; •
' But pleasant as. these themes i - IndouttedlY
are, and grateful as they must- eeter be to - an
American tongue s yet-I shall pass, on to either
considerations and premise that-Wo shall form
but a very inadeqUate conesinia - tr-ottile-great-
KIM
ness of the event which we celebrate, without
taking into 011 T view the' - magnitude of the
country to which'ite blessings are extended.—
Though it is to be presumed that there is no
American but what has received at least some
vague impression that this is a vast -country;
yet few it is believe& have formed by compari;
son with other countries, a correct idea of its
magnitude, or of the importance which by its
natural advantages it is destined to bold among
ii
the nations of the earth. We may state in
general terms that our li its are defined by
the most stupendous natural boundaries. W bile
our states extend frOm from the lakes on the
North to the Gulf on the South, our whole
territory intersects the entire continent with if
belt 1000 miles in breadth, and occupying
more than one eighth of the circumference or
of the globe. Our states and territories are
spread out over all this mighty baffler that in
terposes between two oceans. • While the last
rays of twilight are retiring from the shores of
the Atlantic, the descending sun still sheds
down his beams over the broad West, where
the Oregon spreads out its numerous forests
and navigable rivers, the site of future cities, es
we believe, destined at no distant d 4, to rival
our own cities in the noise of busy multitudes
and the opulence of their commerce. We
may state that our territory is found by calcu
lation to contain more than two aud a half mil.
lions of square miles. But the mind labors
and fails to grasp the subject when presented
in such general forms. It is chiefly , by com
parison that our conceptions of the magnitude
of objects are rendered definite, and we are
able to contemplate their relative size with-a
degree of accuracy. Let us then compare our '
country with other large countries whichihave
figured extensively in the history of the world,
and thus endeavor to forM some just concep
tion of that destiny for which we may reasona
bly suppose she is designed. Hindostan is a
va.t country, containing more than L20,000,-
000 of inhabitants; yet this extensive region,
swarming with such countless multitudes,
whose wealth and resources have so long
tempted the cupidity of civilized nations, con
tains less area than the t twenty-six states of
this Union. China is an immense country.
inhabited by more titan 200.000,000 of human
beings, or nearly one fourth of the population
of the whole globe. 'By its history it can trace
back the line of Its princes and the records of
ita illustrious achievements for more than 4000
years,: yeuChinats no larger than the United
States proper. Palestine is a country which
of all others has been chiefly instrumental in
shaping the character of the human race ; for
out of it has proceeded an influence which is
destined to quicken and renovate the whole
earth; yet Palestine is exceeded in extent by
the three small states of Massachusetts, Con
necticut and Rhode Island. England is a
large country of a most interesting character.
By the-supremacy of her acts and the enter- ,
prise of tier citizens, she has been acknowledg
ed for centuries by European nations as mis-
tress of the deep. NV herever wood can swim
the breezes of heaven labor to waft the riches
of her commerce; Her language is almost
commensurate with the human race. It is
heard in tones of authority on the shores of
Asia ; it ascends in prayer from the western
wilds of America and the islands of the Pacific.
Her invincible arms have extended her con
questa to every quarter of the habitable globe,
so that to use the eloquent language of another,
" her drum beat commencing with the rising
sun and keeping company with the hours, en
circles the whole earth with one continuous
strain of the martial ditties of England." Yet
England is equalled in extent by the two-bor.
daring states of New York and Vermont.—
France is a vast country, containing more titan
40,000.000 of inhabitants. Occupying a con
spicuous- position among the nations of Eti
rope ; her political convulsions have repeated.
ly shaken that continent to its centre and 'de
luged its fields with carnage ; yet France is
no larger than the five contiguous states of
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Maryland. Italy ii another country of an
illustrious antiquity ; for a long time the mis
tress of the liberal arts, and whose - annals for
a thousand years comprised the history of the
known earth. Yet Italy is exceeded in extent
by the Carolinas. Setting aside the empire of
Russia. there is not a country in Europe whose
dimensions you may not mark out on the map
of the United States in territory equally de
sirable for 'every advantage of soil and climate,
'equally well adapted to every Object of com
merce, agriculture, and the arts. After these
considerations we shall be better able to extend
our thoughts so as to grasp in some measure
the magnitude of these interests that were in
volved in die result of the revolution. To
have sundered the' yoke of two and a half mil
lions of human beings, was an achievement
which deserved to be published in every land,
and to be voluble on the tongue of history un
til the final termination of wars and rumors of
wars.' But when we remember that if rested
with our ancestors to decide not only their own
destiny, but 81,36 to determine in what Condi
tion their latest posterity should he horn ; that
the color and complexion, of the,destiny of this
and every succeeding generation depended up
on the success of their swords, you will readi
ly conceive., that the immediate results of the
revolution are.swallowed. up in magnitude of'
, its remote consequences. It was to he decided
whether Apse immense multitudes which were
to inhabit our Atlantic cities, to swarm along
the binders of our' vast rivers, and move on
with'still increasing numbers towards the Alle 7
ganies,-the Mississippiand the western moun
tains, were to receive the gilt of- free constitu
tions, and to be instructed in'the elenients of
social order and happiness: or whether they
Were to pass through the school of foreigit bon
dage, into a more ' dreadful state or. rapine,
anarchy and bleed. The population; of Chia
country doublet once in about 25 years; so
that it-requirea , :but a schoolboy calculation to
discover. , that unless some destructive :were
sonte.wasting pestilence. or some terrible Con.
vniein' w of nature should sweep, off the human
race by thousands,. the ~youth . now, entering
upon the stage of - action will be at the full age
GOODRICH & SON.
of man,, he native of a country containing more
than sixky millions of human beings. What a
scene its here presented for the contemplation
of the p hilanthropist,
ilanthropist, involving every object
and motive that can engage the solicuudy, af
fect the interests and inflame the heart of man
How w9uld the -patriotic bosom swell with
emotion; could it be permitted to look forward
Hopefully through the mist of half a century
and betUild the American states with quadruple
their present population, firmly united in adhe
fence to, that constitution which has borne them
safely through past dangers. and *minding forth
the moet.virtuoue. the - first and purest nation
on the face of the earth.
But, fellow-citizens, it is not to indulge in
sentiments of exultation alone that we are to:
day assembled. I think von Will sustain me
in the opinionthat the birth-day of an individu
al is an ' p e . ra in life proper for self-scrutiny and
for fornwng resolutions of future improvement.
In like manner on this anniversary of the tra - -.
lion's nativity, I may properly invite your at
tention a while, to consider the dangers Which
threaten us, and the guilt which we have in
curred;lwitlt the design of suggesting motive!
for caution and amendment. • The cirentn 7
stancesl of this country, though' in many re
spects extremely gratifying. excite a pleasure
not umningled with apprehension. From the
assaults of foreign foes we have little to dread.
An invading enemy would have to contend on
a soil filled with the monuments of freedom.
enriched with the blood of its defenders; with
a people, who, animated with one soul, and
inflamed with zeal for their laws and constitu-
Woos. tvould arm in defence of all that in dear
or venerable—their wives, their parents, their•
children, the sanctuary of Goa and the sepul
chres of their fathers. From external violence
we hate nothing to fear ; but are we as secure
from the coniequetices of our. own' folly, our
vices and 'internal diacensions ? Have we no
thing to apprehend • from those seeds of dis
union which have been sown from year to
year, almost ever since the formation of the
government, and which though unnatural to
the soil. continue to produce the poisonous
fruits of discord, Congressional brawlings, and
controversies between different states of the
confedeiacy Has the constitution lost none
of its sacredcharacter in the estimation of the
American people ? Is the Union that charmed
word that it : used to be ; and do we still regard
tt as !
,thing' of inestimable value? Or hive
we come to consider it as a matter of cold
calculation—a question of profit and loss, to
be preserved or destroyed according as the one
orithevther preponderates in our political bal
ance! It is sufficient for me to suggest these
questions for your consideration ; I shall de
cline answering them for the present.
But there is one sonrce of danger arising I
from the extent of our- territory, and the char
acter
of that population which is so rapidly
filling it up, that I. deem proper-for a special
notice. I have already spoken of our vast ex
tent of confitry as 'constituting the chief element
of greatness. A nation's soil is the foun-
dation of its prosperity -and its glory. It is
the theatre of its achievements, the field of its
industry, the source of its riches and nourish
ment. In a sense it may be said that no coun
try can hare too much soil : but when in con
seqnenre of the diverse character of its inhabi
tants settled over a, richly extended territory,the
most opposite and discordant elements arebro't
into contact in the legislative halls, the most
deplorable consequences may result from such ,
unnatural connections. Let me for a Moment
invite ,you to consider the character of that
population which is so rapidly filling up the
West. Western immigration at the present
time is of T character altogether unique and
without example in the past history. It is not
a simultaneous movement of whole bodies of
people carrying with thern their institutions,
their laws and customs, such as was the case
in ancient' times with the Goths, the Saxons,
and at a later period with the Puritans of New
England and the Quakers of Pennsylvania; hut
hundreds and thousands of the oppressed and
indigent of Europe, come over to us in 'simile
families or as isolated individuals, without laws,
without regulations to adopt' our laws, to be.
come acquainted with our customs, and to be
instructed in our liberty. This continual In
flux of foreigners is the natural consequence of
the abundance of our own land, and of the
want. oppression.and over-population of the old
world. We could not prevent it if we would,
and it would be the most monstrous ingratitude
for the blessings that we enjoy, the most cruel
outrage to the rights of
. humanity. for us to
prevent it if we could. So long as we have a
rood of unoccupied soil which contributes no
thing to human comfort, and there remains yet
one unfortunate victim of oppression in the, old
world, starving for want of sustenance, we are
bound by every consideration el humanity and
justice to receive him. Is it objected that they
are ignorant, vicious and degraded? - Then
learn to behold in them -the victims tif tyranny,
of suffering and want, such - as 'you - and your
posterity might have been had not your fathers i
seen fit to traverse the ocean and improve their
fortunes, in the new world. And shall we who
have had, the good
,(ortune to be born in_ this
goodly heritage, say, ..enough have come o ver:
let us close the gates. America from hencelorilt,
ceases ,to be - the asylum of the poor - -and. the
oppressed." Not on this day while the recol
lections of '76 rtie fresh in our minds, shall we
entertain such sentiments as.these. . America
has been, and will continue to be the home of
the exile, the couutry. 'where the oppressed and
indigent of every land , shall find encourage
ment and countenance. But tholigh thiseaie
the plain, manifest duties of our iiittiation; and
are eidorcid by - every motive of justice and
humanity. yet there is much danger to be -ap.
prehended from this, source. This heterogen.
eons mass of beings from all nations,. of, every
kiridred.andinttgue must be moulded by:timed
can sentiment. informed in, the
,princtPles of
American 'freedom and enlightened with our
own intelligenee, , br..we may , expect the-most
serious ealarnities.;. This danger. ir.moit
mediate and threatening in the -Wea l (
should Jae tetnem.bered that our fatttle' Iniepr,
rably wrapped up 'in the destiny of the west.
Prom the nature ot our republican governmette.
those multitudes which swarm in the valley of
the Mississippi become our legislators, Sad
unless they Mt tamed "by our civilization and
arts, unless they are instructed in our liberty.
-in the day when their social fabric, falls satins
der, we too shall be engulfed in their ruin...*
They must he assimilated to visor we shall be
to them-. The danger arising to our large el.
ties front their foreign population, -and the in
fluence exerted over them by unprincipled
demagogues. is too notorious that -I should
dwell upon it in this connection. What then
, i l .
s
' the remedy for this evil? Is it to be sought
in excluding all the unnaturalized population
from the ballot box ? , Is .it desirable to draw
an impassable line of distinction between the
i
llforeign and native born population of this
country 1 Will you render the former more
attached to our institutions and better citizens,
by excluding them from all participation intim
rights of freemen ? licit in the nature of things
Unit men become better by being made the
subjects of an exclusive legislation,- which
effectually separate-them front the rest of the
community. which stamps their estimate in
society as an inferior grade of citizens,. not to
he admitted to a participation of the common
rights and privileges I But it may be said that
it is not proposed to exclude them entirely, but
only to require a previous residence "of twenty
1 one years. It is answered. that the difference
is immaterial: The requirement of a previous
residence of twenty-one years, so far as its ef
,
1
feces upon the hopes and feelings of men are
concerned, is equivalent to permanent exelu.
I rum. No person arrived to the. age of man
! hood is very much affected in his conduct by
an event which !may happen to him after the
lapse of 21 years, whatever may bailie nature
of that event. It is a period too long to affect
either the desires . or the fears of men... The
' - emigrant will. care very little to be told that
after a lapse of twenty-one years he may be
I admitted to the rights of a freeman. Ile will
feet that lie is not a freeman, and that here,. too,
• as in Europe he is excluded from all participe , r
tion in the power. that makes the laws; with
this important difference, that while there the
government was the prerogative of the sever
' eign or titled nobility or landed aristocracy and
he stood on a footing of equality with his fellow.
subjects. here he alone is excluded, while the
mass of the citizens enjoy rights which make
them altogether his superiors. The measure
proposed would separate a body of citizens in
our midst whose interests would be sdvetie
not only in appearance, but in reality to the in.
'erects of the rest of' community, 'and who
would zee no grounds in their own Mecum.
stances for becoming attached to our govern.
ment. They would breed and perpetuatces
mob population, scorned by their fellow citi
zens, with no sure basis for self-respect, and.
possessing all that jealousy and hatred which
, is natural to a subordinate and inferior caste.
No. fellow-citizens, whatever may be the dan
gers of our situation arising from this source,
we shall never render our position more se
cure by abating one jot or tittle from that liber
al and generous policy which- has hitherto
characterised America and made her the glory
of the world. There is a noble necessity
which constrains us whether we would or not,
and forbids us to compromise the principles,
which we have avowed. And in my mind -it
is better far, to hazard the most imminenidan*
ger in a generous and liberal course of policy,
! than to suffer ourselves under the influence of
our apprehensions to infringe in the smallest
particle upon the rights of men., Does any
man then ask what remedy we propose ? . We
answer that we know of only one ; and that
is, to treat them in good faith as fellow citizens,
and so far as lies in our power. efface from
their minds all knowledge of the distinction-of
native horn and strangers. .
That a residence for a reasonable -perio
should be required previous to an admission t
elective franchise, in order that they may be ac
customed to the laws and usages of the countryl
is right and proper. But beyond this let u
make no distinction. Let us remember that ou
fathers were strangers, in a strange land, and b~jJJ
that token f6el the laded obtations that reale
on their sons to discharge the rites of hospitali
ty, and he kind to the stranger! the more cape
dally when he bears on his person and ,in hi ,
mind the dark traces of tyrrany and oppression •
Let us treat them as fellow citizens in goo
I faith, and if they are ignorant and degraded we
shall thus take the surest course to elevate an
improve them. What we want is to make the
r l
nail their children goottlitizens ; and it is it inn
rule, that when we treat men according to whit
they should be, we adopt_the safest and cures
method to improve them and make them better
And here permit me to add that no language if
sufficiently severe In *characterise the conduct o
those demagogues, to whatever party -'they' may , -
belong, who study to create jealously between
the foreign population and• our native eitizenC:
Such conduct deserves and reedier; from every
honest man the stroitgest indignation and co•
tempt. I hate dwelt much, Fellow Citizens, o
this subject because I felt much upon it, and
unto Yeu Will pardon me ; that you will esteem
it asubject not inappropriate to tile occasion a l l
the day. •
Though I Jo not desire to dwell upon theme*
of an unpleasant nature, yet - I feel constrained to
ask your attention to one other source of dangq.
It has already peen suggested-4 refer to the
growth of the spirit of faction. This is the peF
culiar and alMost necessary evil of pepular go;
ernments, and has proved fatal to all those t
publics which have enirs,• - ed a trarsient existent
at diffsreut intervals in the history of the weal .•
In ancient times, this malignant !spirit accomplis e
ed the overthrew of republicanism in Gre .
Philip of Macedon, would never have BIXTEM •
oil against the liberty of those proud states '
le i
;titled by; the treachery of their own factious
tor, who conspired with him to ruin their con.
try. This also prtidured the downfall of Rom
..
While the citizens were united in attachment
the state, her proud eagle iniversedythts.rem.
bisondaries of the globe arid returned - with th
spoils of other nations to &ditto the capita. B
discord thricetroight - the enemy Within sight'
[ere TOVIRTiI MGT.)
11
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