―217―

Art. XIII.

An Oration pronounced July 4th,
1798, at the request of the Inhabit-
ants of the Town of Boston, in com-
memoration of the Anniversary of
American Independence. By Jo-
siah Quincy. 2d edition. pp. 31.
Boston. J. Russell. 1798.

THE day which gave birth to a
nation, which is distinguish-
ed as the era of its sovereignty and
independence, eminently deserves
to be commemorated with every
demonstration of gratitude and joy.
Nations who have loved liberty,
have ever delighted to celebrate the
virtues and atchievements of those
by whom their freedom hath been
attained or preserved. By a recur-
rence to the spirit and conduct of
their ancestors, they have sought
to keep alive and perpetuate those
sentiments to which they were in-
debted for the enjoyment of the
noblest attributes of man.

The powers of eloquence and
poetry have been engaged to awaken
the memory of the past, and to ex-
cite each succeeding generation to
emulate the virtues of those who
have preceded.

The history of mankind does not
furnish a more splendid theme for
the orator, than that of the indepen-
dence of our country. Few events
are more illustrious and memorable
than that of the declaration and es-
tablishment of our national sove-
reignty. To Americans it must be
ever interesting and important; and
the day on which they resolved to
be free and independent, will not
cease to be distinguished with tri-
umph and rejoicing.

This glorious anniversary hath,

―218―

at no period, been more universal-
ly and fervently celebrated than at
its last return.

Among the numerous orations
and discourses pronounced on that
day, few hold a more distinguished
place than the one now under our
notice.

From habits and causes now un-
controulable, the people of Ame-
rica possess a strong sensibility to
every movement of Great-Britain
and France. The peculiar situa-
tion of the United States in relation
to the latter, presents a spectacle
somewhat analogous to that which
preceded their successful struggle
with the former. The principles
and motives of the aggressors may
be different, but the feelings of the
people of America, on the subject
of their own rights and character,
should ever be the same.

Mr. Quincy regards the present
moment as too serious and critical
to be passed over by him with the
common place topics of congratu-
lation and applause. His design
is to recur to the maxims and con-
duct of our ancestors which pro-
duced our late revolution; and “not
only to extract from our ancient
history the principles, feelings, and
manners which led to that glorious
event, but also to compare them
with those of our day, and thereby
to vindicate that period, and illus-
trate the events of the present.” It
is on those principles and feelings,
he thinks, that we must rely for
our safety in the perilous times in
which we are placed. The spirit
and character of our ancestors, on
that occasion, are thus described by
Mr. Q.

“The principle of our revolution was
simple; a passion for independence; a high
sense of the eternal right of a great peo-

ple to govern themselves after their own
choice and manner. However assiduous
our ancestors were to hide it from Great-
Britain, perhaps fortunate enough to
conceal it from themselves, their emi-
gration, their struggles in defence of
their rights and soil, their sentiments of
civil freedom and subjection, were dic-
tated by the genuine spirit of indepen-
dence. That to this dignity the genius of
our fathers aspired, is evident from the
principles and manners adopted in the
earliest, and pertinaciously pursued to the
latest periods of their history. Records
of a memorable spirit exist. A spirit al-
ways vigilant and active, ever construct-
ing barriers against European influence,
cementing opposition to it into a principle
of patriotism, spurning every concession
remotely implicating the independence of
their establishment, and hazarding, at
all times, every thing dear, to preserve
for their offspring, a pure and unincum-
bered inheritance. Even to us, accustom-
ed as we are to hardy avowals of right,
their favourite maxims are objects of
equal pride and admiration. That sub-
jection terminated with removal. a That
the duty of allegiance did not follow
them to the ends of the earth. a That
not this principle, but the compact con-
tained in the charter, was the source of
the powers of the crown, which it had no
right to extend or resume. b That the
sovereignty of the soil was in the abori-
ginal princes, whose prerogative pur-
chase had transferred to them. c [What?]
That the rights of self-government re-
sulted from the actual compact of free-
men. d From whence they deduced the
qualities of an independent government,
free trade, e peace, if it pleased with the
enemies of England. f Independence from
controul in elections, g from the embar-
rassments of judicial appeals, h and the
binding force of acts of parliament. i

“The operation of these principles ap-
proximated the old charter government
to an independent commonwealth. k Ju-
dicial processes in the name, not of the
king, but of the colony, l the oath of alle-
giance unadministered, m laws of trade
slighted, n refusal, at the instance of the
crown, to renew or yield their charter, o
holding it treason in their general court

   a Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. i. p. 230
   b Ibid. 231.
   c Ib. 230
   d Ib. 45.
   e Ib. 179.
   f Letter of Mass. Gen. Ct. to Oliver Cromwell, Ib. 166, 452.
   g Peti-
sion of Gen. Ct. to Parl. 1651, Ib. 448.
   h Gen. Court's declaration of rights in
1661, Ib. 456.
   i Ib. vol. ii. 12.
   k Hut. Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. ii. p. 10.
   l Ib. vol. i.
163.
   m Ib. 289.
   n Ib. 290, vol. ii. 12.
   o Ib. 163.

―219―

to speak of appeals to the king, p are
symptoms of an high sense of indepen-
dence, and precursors of national sove-
reignty. They sprang up under the old
charter, and were nourished by the
moral, civil, religious, and military cha-
racter of our ancestors. The new char-
ter, imposed after the restoration checked,
but did not destroy the seeds of national
freedom. They are discovered bursting
forth on all sides in opposition to the
king's governors and parliamentary influ-
ence, in difregard of acts of trade, q in
declarations of the invalidity of taxation
without representation, in securing the
controul of the treasury, r and grasping
under every favourable pretence, the
claims of prerogative.”

Mr. Q. then proceeds to show
that the evils which called forth this
high spirit of freedom into action,
were “external luxury, avarice, and
lust of domination, co-operating
with an internal depraved and dis-
appointed faction.” That the cu-
pidity and domineering spirit of
Great-Britain, seconded by the ma-
lignant passions of a few discon-
tented and ambitious persons among
the colonists, by successive agres-
sions and irritations, aroused that
spirit of indignation and resistance,
which cast off the chains which
were attempted to be imposed.

The resemblance between those
enemies of colonial independence
and the present opposers of the
measures of our government, is thus
sketched by Mr. Q.

“The factious spirits, whose intrigues
have produced such losses and distress to
the United States, and forced our federat-
ed stars from the pathway of peace and
heaven, are servile copiests of those an-
cient enemies of Colonial independence.
They have neither the claim of originals,
the merit of ingenuity, nor the charm of
novelty. It is not a mere general re-
semblance, it is the old piece in a new
position. The same in character and at-
titude, in expression and passion, in dra-
pery and design. The tories and royal-
ists of old time, compared with the true
friends of America, were a small and

weak party, unable to acquire the con-
fidence of the people. Ambition, which
cannot be gratified by honourable means,
has a sure resource in intrigue. Their
invitations stimulated and encouraged ag-
gression. They marked out the plan for
our enemies. Divide and conquer. In-
sert your influence amid the parties of
the State. Corrupt the avaricious, fright-
en the weak, vilify virtue, turn talents
to ridicule, weaken the obligations of
morality, destroy the influence of reli-
gion, make men worthy to be slaves,
and they will sue for fetters. How mi-
nutely the opponents of the will of the
people have adhered to these principles
in our day, is too obvious to remark.
We shall find the likeness not less strik-
ing, if, keeping our own times in view,
we call to recollection the arts by which
the tories and royalists formerly played
this eternal game of tyranny. To en-
courage and unite the inhabitants of the
old world, they every where proclaimed
us a divided people; that, embarked in a
common cause, we refused to bear our
share of expense; that, reared under their
wing, in our strength, we were unmind-
ful of our patrons. In America different
changes were rung. They attempted to
set at variance the southern and northern
colonies, to make the orders of State
contend, to render the poor suspicious of
the rich, the rich fearful of the poor.
They told the people of fleets and armies,
of the power of the adversary, and their
[own] weakness. The arms and victories
of a nation, then stiled terrible to her
enemies and generous to her friends,
were painted in colours best suited to
alarm. The sin, the crying sin of in-
gratitude, to a nation who had fought
our battles, the bones of whose warriors
were mingled in the same plains with
ours, was blazoned in terms designed to
make us odious and contemptible at home
and abroad. Every man of talent and
virtue was designated as an object of the
most atrocious slander. Our clergy,
God ever preserve to them the glorious
prerogative!—calumniated by the ene-
mies of their country. Our patriots
loaded with every insult, which aban-
doned minds could invent. Otis, the
spirited and eloquent statesman; Mayhew,
the man of wit, learning, and piety;
Adams, the equal pride of past and pre-

sent times.” s

   p Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. ii. p. 64.
   q Ib. 83.
   r Ib. 266.
   s Vid. the series of political essays in newspapers for ten years preceding the re-

―220―

This comparison is undoubtedly
too comprehensive and unqualified.
Justice and candour will make nu-
merous discriminations among those
whom popular passion and preju-
dice have classed under one deno-
mination. It is a common and
every-day remark, that the abuses
of names and of language, exagge-
ration and misrepresentation among
the votaries of party, are manifold
and mischievous. The indulgence
of those virulent invectives against
each other, among political parti-
zans, has a tendency to debase our
manners, poison the sources of so-
cial intercourse and felicity, and to
augment, in a thousand degrees and
a thousand ways, the evils which
each professes to be desirous to pre-
vent. The grounds of difference
of opinion among men are endless;
and the chances for this difference
are multiplied in proportion to the
importance of the subject which in-
terests their attention.

Opinion may be modified by ac-
cident and countless circumstances,
arising from education, habit, and
situation, without supposing any
wilful ignorance or depravity among
those who entertain discordant sen-
timents. But, in these times of dis-
cord and contention, to look for
the empire of benevolence and jus-
tice in the minds and hearts of men,
may be delightful as a vision of the
fancy, but experience teaches us it
is almost a chimerical hope.

Mr. Q. aware that his compari-
son may be too loose and general,
has, in a note, with much candour
and elegance, admitted the proprie-
ty and justice of minuter shades of
discrimination in the characters of
parties, which the general nature of
his subject, and the topics he had se-
lected, did not permit him to make.

The causes of our present danger,

Mr. Q. supposes to arise from our
indolence in support of govern-
ment, in a listless disregard of the
public welfare, in the selfish pursuit
of private gain, and schemes of in-
dividual opulence—in the indiffer-
ence and unconcern with which we
treat the government, our magis-
trates, and their measures calum-
niated; in the want of that patriot-
ism and genuine love of the public
good which would prompt men to
be vigilant of the interests of their
country, and active in advancing its
property and happiness.

Every good man must unite with
Mr. Q. in deploring these evils,
and in deprecating their ruinous
consequences.

To awaken his fellow citizens
from the dreams of avarice and the
torpor of indolence, Mr. Q. calls
their attention to the state of Eu-
rope, and depicts the progress of
the Gallic republic towards uni-
versal dominion. He reminds them
of the artful flattery and insidious
conduct of Philip of Macedon to-
wards the States of Greece, by
which they were lulled into listless
security, till the tyrant had prepared
his toils by which the unsuspecting
victim was ensnared and enslaved.
He invites them to listen to the
language of an elegant and admired
historian of the Roman republic,
while describing the arts and the
intrigues by which that republic
successively subjugated the nations
of the world, and maintained an
almost universal empire.

In this history, as in a mirror, may
be seen the reflected image of the
rulers of France, who, with the pro-
fessions of Roman virtues, have
practised all the arts of Roman am-
bition, and all the schemes of Ro-
man conquest and injustice.

Mr. Q. presents to the view of

  volution, particularly the writings of Novanglus, in Edes and Gill's Gazette, commencing January, 1775, and those of Massachusettensis, in the Boston Chronicle about the same period.

―221―

his audience “Italy and Holland
plundered, prostrate and enslaved;
Venice given away at a bargain;
and Swiss mountains, whose bare
and icy breasts upheld liberty to the
heavens, penetrated, vanquished and
enchained.” He congratulates his
countrymen that their spirit was at
length roused, and that they would
not tamely suffer their independence
to be wrested from them. He de-
mands of them whether, “with the
records of” their “ancestors in”
their “hands, their maxims” in
their “hearts,” they would “be
frightened into disgraceful sacrifices,
or descend to try liberty by arith-
metical process, open accounts be-
tween independence and submis-
sion, strike balances, and make nice
calculations, how much it will cost
to be freemen, and what” they “may
hope to keep and be slaves:” And
concludes with an assurance, that a
virtuous union among themselves,
and a manly confidence in their ru-
lers, would secure to them the en-
joyment of peace and liberty, and
maintain the honour and dignity of
the nation.

From this sketch of the topics of
reasoning, and the extracts we have
made, our readers will be able to
judge of the spirit and style of this
oration. The strain of oratory is
animated and impressive, and well
suited to the popular feeling and
sentiment. Though as a composi-
tion of a superior cast, we should
not place it among the common class
of similar productions; yet we do
not regard it as a finished model of
that species of eloquence, in our
opinion, the best adapted to such an
occasion.

In the perusal we have remarked
frequent repetitions of the same
idea, and some redundancies and
negligence of expression, which are
common in the diffuse style of our
public speakers, and which would
scarcely be noticed by the auditor;
but when subjected to the cooler

criticism of the closet, arrest the at-
tention of the reader.

We hope we shall not be deemed
fastidious in mentioning a few of
those inaccuracies which casually
occurred to our observation. While
we are anxious to preserve our po-
litical and religious principles from
foreign and domestic corruption,
the man of letters may be indulged
in his wishes and efforts to maintain
the purity and propriety of our lan-
guage. The following passages and
phrases are those we have thought
proper to notice as exceptionable:
“Dark and gloomy clouds.” “Pas-
sions are abroad and operating in the
land.” “External luxury, avarice,
and lust of dominion have again
grasped at the sovereignty of our na-
tion, and supported internally by
a depraved, ambitious, and disap-
pointed faction, had well nigh effect-
ed its intent.” “Principles which
wrought our independence.” “Mas-
sive debt.” “Groveling intent capti-
vates gross understanding.” “Want
of spirit to resent, not only invites
injury, but is among the marks of
its desert.” “Entailing slavery and
wretchedness on prostrate man.
“The infinite shapes it assumes.”
“Demoralizing man—making one
event to patriots and traitors.”
“Malignity of their virulence.” “Re-
compence upon the people.” “Waded
through blood and peril.” “Firm
and stern texture of our constitu-
tion.”

Some licentiousness of style may,
indeed, be allowed the occasional
and popular orator; and in this re-
spect, and in every other, the pre-
sent is far less faulty than any other
production of the day which has
fallen under our notice.

N.