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THE REFLECTOR MILLEDGEVILLE, G. TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1818. NO. 37. Lmerican Independence. —At the request ot'the citizens of this vici- eard it, .md by the wish of your subscribers Inty, I transmit for insertion in your paper the el.vered by GEORGE CAHY, esq’r. at Colum- house. on the 4th of July, to a large assemblage [table citizens. Upon \vMchoccasion thcDecla- Indepc'v’ence, the land mark of our glory and If our political salvation, was read preparatory dress, by Dr. JOHN C. GIGGS; and after the le citizens harmoniously partook of a champetre ►the evening concluding \vi»h the merry ball and "exhibition of the charms of beauty and the fas- lof devoted courtesy. All was calculated to re- I cherished recollection of tlie imperishably rc. A CITIZEN, In behalf of many fellow-citizens. ORATION, Ion the 4 f hof July, at Columbia Court-House, G. BY' GEORGE CARY, ES<*. 'j-citizens,—Well may American free- bet to commemorate tlie 4th of July. |he day-spring of those inestimable Itlie maturity and confirmation of pre-eminently bless and distinguish idy and pledged to the protection of try, it is most warrantable and pro- at we convene for festive and cordial Ition when the day returns upon which be declared emancipated. But do we lafely torpast on the fatness of the soil, Ibe the exhilevation oftlie glass ? As we the board of jubilee, let us increase til th of our hearts in tlie sacred cause,— sabbath of freedom, hit us renew and tizc our dedication to be first in ad- , and last ill n trt at; let us strengthen kachment and half iw our devotion tu Pits around Which we are sworn to before which we should be resolved to p the spirit of our fathers asleep with Are theirlabors forgotten ? (s their undervalued ? From this proud day annals, patieipants of equal rights, ev the times that are past. Tlie rc- p will awaken the slumber of patriot- ' refresh the memory of revolutionary -Think of rolonial.lKirdsbips and pa- fceroisin ; of all that has been sufler- lachieved to finish the compact of our ind perfect our heritage of indefensi bly, and be cold and nerveL-ss if you Immediate descendants of those wh led independence with their blood, \v. tmnly engag 'd to preserve the sacred |on with onra. Spirits of tlie revolu- »y we emulate your prowess and ri- ■ exploits whenever liberty embattles (icr defence ! Yon struggled to be kl triumphed in disaster and destitu ■Ye the heirs of the invaluable a'q"i- kvith the. nerve of comparative man Itli the invigoration of forty-two years feign independence and the consolida- union ; abundant in resource air: spirit, are and should be devoted obligation of honor and every tie St to defend your memorable achieve- i which no record of man supplies a Colonized by oppress! in in the kss of Savages, immortal forefathers ! Be shelter of God’s providence, your foments germinated and flourished, >f the Indian ambush and midnigh; Liberty nourished the root and hie courage protected tlie trunk ;— jer and virtue and industry fertil towing branches. Attractive of ra- four fruitful and rapid growth, tie. tountry, who had exiled you from tannent of her lap, and tlie proter- er embrace, unequivocally claimed his of your hardy adventures and Is implantation in the pathless for bore all that was tolerable, and to more than was just. But the unconstitutional encroachments j urc of enormous impositions you | hear. When dispassionate remon- ten repeated could obtain no redress [nces or rectification of abuse;.when pgumertt itivt petition was answer- [insults, and new infringements; heroes, you asserted your rights, I their maintenance, and conquered jli them. In a just cause, rawness keipline ; poverty gainstood wealth, tr prostrated you—no miscarriage luutil you cook your seat with ac- jand wonder among the nations of ^llow citizcns, were our ancestors, magnanimity and such the labors crated their memories to a nation (•—The happy beneficiaries of their Struggle. Shall we not emulate 111 their lofty spirit ? Remember and glow with their triumphs ; rage and sufferance wliidli enabled In, alone can guard artd preserve |licritance. What renowned them, fs save us. The storm that af- day, purified and serened our \ the genial, and I trust, imperish- »f freedom ; hut all would have | in vain, if the approach of dan- ivc dastardized or disheartened freemen in the full and pure enjoyment of whatever the magnanimous would live to par take, or die to maintain. In vain would the martyrs of liberty have fallen, and her nak ed and unshod defenders shivered in the rigor or marked with their blood the snow of win ter, if their posterity had sickened at the coming or recoiled at the onset of battle.— Can the mercenary, the conscript and the slave obstinately hear the iron tempest of war and brave its thunders ? No recollec tion of dignity or comfort or security at home nerves their arm or inflames their va lor in carnage and desolation. If they sink, it is an immolation to tyranny ; if they sur vive, it is to he the miserable and servile in struments to propagate oppression and ruin the happiness of man. Yet the armies of Europe, in the dreadful convulsions, which shook and tei rifled the world, with no spur hut despotism, and no motive but compulsion, illumined by the ‘lustre and glory of their deeds, the black and foul chronicle of the times. See bow they breast the torrent of blood and f..ce the horrible discharge ! Is it the high and ,n»ly combat of freemen for their rights; the last determined and desperate enclosure around an unequalled constitution — around tlie walks of sacred love—the seats of friendship—the firesides of social repose —the couches of secure refreshment ?—No. Oppression broods over the land of their birth and withers the joys of life. No boundarv ascertains its dominion ; no charter re strains its aggressions. AH are exposed to pitiless and ruinous invasion of rights ; all are dispirited by the cruel vigilance of sus picious and grinding power. The coldshade of a monstrous and iniquitous throne, dark ens the land and freezes the people. If slaves then, broken in spirit and degraded in cha racter, were dauntless in danger and bold in conflict, may wc not triumphantly ask, what shall rout the phalanx marshalled to protect a stake like ours? With the example of oui progenitors fresh in remembrance, with the blessings of freedom in noble fruition, and the generous solicitude to transmit unimpair ed and without retrenchment the invaluable trust, the roar of battle can never appal nor its storm disperse us. In the hour of trial, if we fall, the glory of the offering can never fade; if we survive, we return with con scious desert and keener relish to resume in dependence and re-enjoy its felicities. 1 re peat, with such a heritage to guard, and such laurels to win, what shall conquer the defen ders of this republic. ? But what a few years ago would have been only reasonable confi dence, is now established really beyond the fears of friends, and above sneers of enemies. We came out of tlie recent struggle undis solved by intestine ferments, and undcbilita- ted by a powerful foe. Tlie evil prediction that men would never be found enlightened >r virtuous enough to merit or support a sta ble and rational republic, was splendidly re futed by the events of Bridgewater, Chippe wa and New -Orleansv Instead of quenching in dishonor the sacred lights of the revolu tion, the last war has added many an ihex- tinguishahle star to our sublime galaxy.— They w ill shine forever in the history of the country, and combine with those bf an elder period to light the glorious path of our fu ture warriors and statesmen. Our enemies who busily croaked abroad and at home, the perishing instability of this envied govern ment, turn pale and sicken at this increased brilliancy of our day. The tremendous shock of war, has left our plain & unassuming fabric of republicanism, without a pillar fallen or a stone displaced—Sound as when die deathless framers pronounced it finished —beginning to exhibit the venerable impres sions of time and more solemnly consecrated by the fresh blood effused in its defence.— Veterans of Europe ! look at itn prouhd and unimpaired survival of your sanguine and rut bless attack. The imperial eagle of Fraluc had cowered submissively beneath your victorious banners ; the agitator oftlie world with unparalleled genius to conduct, and astonishing promptness to execute, had retreated before you. and well might you ad vance with contemptuous defiance A haughty fiivetaste of victory upon a people, enervat ed by a long peace and undisciplined by bloody experience. The fields of Monmouth, Cowpens, Eutaw and York were forgotten; or your veteran who was tliero indelibly taught the lesson of our valor no longer liv ed to abate your ardent anticipation of easy conquest, by testifying with the high authen tication of beams and scars and mutilations, the insuppressiblc bravery of even our fant. years, when we were just horn to em pire, under the Very swords of the oppres sor.—Perhaps it was supposed that time, prosperity and independence had pushed us into unnatural enormity of size, without harilehing our grissle into bone, or confirm ing our sinews into strength ; and that such miserable overgrow th would unfit us for the rude and exhausting tug of war. Was not our patient forbearance under the long ac cumulation of injuries arid insults ; our meek and tempered pursuit of redress, through every form of insincere negotiation, calcula ted to strengthen such conclusions. Indeed, we had suffered spoiliations of com merce, impressment of citizens, and deroga tion of character, with a degree of modera tion, which a proud and encroaching enemy, might well mistake for conclusive proof of the extinction of the spirit of "Sftvcnty-six, and of the apathy of approaching death. With such a prospect before them, the in- vincibles of the army and the select of the navy, reach our shores. Having never learned that the bulwarks of a free nation arc in the hearts of its citizens, they derided the seeming defencelessncss of our country. In speaking of us, the vulgarity of their low est soldier and sailor was adopted by their officers. Every thing gloomily announced the spirit of cruelty, brutality and contempt, in which they resolved to wage their amus ing warfare, against what was deemed a de generate rabble of self styled freemen. It. was not imagined that wc were, entitled to the observance of tlie Ordinary laws of war, or that, tiie rest of the civilized world, would stigmatize the spotless purity of British magnanimity, if upon those of our citizens, whom the tide of fortune threw into their power, they practised the most barbarous indignities. I revive this recital of facts, fel low-citizens, not to dash the exulting emo tions of this day, with the bitterness of ha tred, or under the unshaken olive of peace, to torture your minds, by rekindling the fire of indignation. I know it is the character of my countrymen, and enthusiastically hail the trait, as evidence of national soundness, when the prompt blow is effectually strick en, insolence chastised and injustice repres sed, to blot the record of the offences, and the offender, from their memories. We have buried past injuries, not under tlie ruins of our cities, but in the solemnities of a treaty, highly honorable and advantageous to our selves, and vindicatory of our rank in tlie scale of nations. I recur to the particulars of the gloomy eve of the recent contest, that the highminded and noble conduct of our forces may be duly appreciated, and the feel ings of the union, at that memorable crisis, may be more deeply realized. What wer those feelings ? Though the awful appeal to arms was made by us ; though baffled em bassies and rejected overtures, through tantalizing lapse of time, had distinctly pre- monished us, that the storm was mustering, and tending to our coast; it is fresh in our recollection, that its first thunder burst upon us, when comparatively unprepared, and its first leaden showers fell upon the skeleton of a thin and undisr ip» ! ">*d army. An ambi tious, talented auc defatigable minority', in the restless dance ol expedients, to ascend the seats of power, sought to traduce the motives that led to the declaration, and to alarm with the utter destruction, which they" predicted must mark tlie progress of the war. The leaders of the revolution had nearly all Sunk into the grave. Washington, Greene, Morgan, Wayne, and the greater part of their immortal compatriots iii arms, were gone. In a gloomier period, in the days of universal sacrifice and peril, their courage had defended, A. their wisdom saved hut « the dull cold ear of death,” could not hear the calls of affectionate confiding fellow-citizens. Those venerated patriarchs could serve us now, only by their remember ed examples and weighty precepts. The ho ly pledge into which our hearts spontaneous ly leaped, not to suffer the enemy to trample with impunity on their consecrated ashes, was the only succour they could now afford the land of their birth; and the rights which they won. In this state of things, a new ge neration, born and reared in peace, strkngers to the path of war, which, in the United States, had happily grown up, and lost its vestings in the unexampled productions of long prosperity, it was natural for the stur diest and purest spirits of the union, t6 feel anxious Solicitude. Nor did the result of the first blows we struck on land, quiet that solicitude, by the auspicious dawn of ability, to lead, or discipline, to be led. Hundreds who hear me, must remember how their hearts sunk at the accounts of our first skir mishes and battles ; how they sickened with mortification, and fVoze with despair, at the jealousies, feuds and didcord, that distracted some of our general officers, and debilitated the ranks of the country. But at that cheer less juncture, when those Who did not feel exquisite pain, were dead in apathy, and those who did not impatiently expect the resurrection of our sleeping powers, were es tranged by treason, the roar of our navy startles our dejection, and its victorious flash dispels the shadows of doubt. Tdo incredi ble for belief—too transcendent for adequate celebration! The little forgotten navy, of a few ships, strikes terror to the heart of the British lion, upon the element where his pow er was most terrible, and his achievements most unparalleled. I will not attempt to follow the shining track of our naval heroes, over the fearful deep. The explosions of their desolating broadsides; almost to this moment, rumble among our mouhtains and plains. May the stately forests that trem bled with tlie concussion, soon descend to the ocean and form ample theatres for the talents and invincibility which, we cannot now doubt, abounds among us; and give new occasion for the English parliament to appoint committees to enquire into the causes oftlie alarming unsiiccessVulncss of their men of war!!! Gallant Lawrence, much of this glory was purchased with your inestimable life ! M ould, my auditors, that he still liv ed to enjoy with his intrepid and eternized brothers in danger at;d renown the universal gratitude of his country, anil co-operate with them to nurture our marine iiito, what it seem destined to become, the pride of our history and the champion of our honor.— Sleep fallen great one, under the trophies of unblemished victory. The poets, historians and orators of freedom have your fame in charge. The exploits which signalized and led you to perish are inscribed where obliter ation and erasure can never happen, fo the hearts of millions for whom you fought anl died. How the glad tidings of those astonishing deeds rang through this extensive empire ? Sublime acclamation raised by millions of intelligent freemen to brothel's, who had a- chievcd more than was hoped ; it can never be forgotten by ourselves who triumphed, or the enemy whose discomfiture supplied the occasion. Animated by the example, our ar my quickly began to assert their title to the renown of their ancestors and the confidence of the nation. In the agony of battle, new and able generals arc produced frbm subor dinatc ranks to save the country and perpe tuate its character. The land gloriously re sponds to the sea. The eagle awoke, and all w as redeemed. From the smoke which fear fully shrouded the tremendous cannonade, that eagle intrepidly ascended to betoken to the world that tlie arms of the free were still unwithered in the vindication of their birth- right ; that the declaration of independence which, fellow-citizens, which you have just heal’d read, was again publishing with awful solemnities, upon the field of carnage with a loudness that shook the hills, and a ratifica tion serious as the death of its enemies.— Yes. accomplished leaders and war proof le gions, who came to belie that declaration to our teeth and blot its immortal lines with our blood, recognized its immutable principles with the sincerity of dying men, and wash ed all imputation from it with the streams of their hearts. They debarked upon our soil to tread insolently on the graves df our fa thers and rest uncontrolled in tlie sanctuary of our homes ; on that very soil they fell with terrible homage under the strokes of its defenders. And thus may the servants of oppression be forever enforced to advance low on the ground, before the temple of liber- ty« which they are hired to demolish. If I mistake not, you heartily join in this aspi ration. It becomes us and the day. It warmed and inspired the bosoms of our Jack- sons, Scotts, Browns, Ripleys, & Macombs. The rest of the immortalized catalogue, in which the fame of the republic has become so enriched, as to make particularity im practicable, all felt it, while they rained up on invaders the blasting tempest of provok ed vengeance. I say provoked ; because it is the pure distinction of the Unitod States to wage no war for ambitious conquest; to expend no blood or treasure but for the hap piness of tlie citizens, who always spill the one from their own veins, and supply the o- tlier from their own pockets. Happy peo ple—The burdens of taxation arc imposed by yourselves, and employed for your good j tlie proclamation of war, that most awful and responsible act of government, must bo made by your own Voice, through your im mediate representatives ; and not by pageant kings or callous ministers, with no touching sympathy for the herd over whom they ty- ranize, and no solemn accountability to the victims of their wickedness. Happy people ! whose substance and whose lives can never bo wantonly sacrificed to brighten the paltry gem3 of a monarch’s crown, or renew the fading decorations of unfeeling nobility.— Tlie unalterable duties of self-defence lead us to the field ; the spirit of justice Strength ens us there ; the voice of vindicated liberty rscalls us home. Thus, my hearers, were your illustrious fellow-citi2ens, Who gathered for us such un fading laurels, recalled at the conclusion of the war, whose outline I have just faintly sketched. They joyfully obeyed the divine summons ; not becauSe the stars and badges of ennobled and knighted generals terrified their sight, or the dense column of their war bred soldiery inspired fears. Ennobled them selves by the sanctity of national gratitude, and decked with the wounds of patriotic dar ing, our victorious chiefs, despised the emp ty splendor of the first, and having often broken tlie formidable front of the latter, could not tremble at its most terrific menace. They had seen those stars and trappings fall and vanish in the storm of battle; like the