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MilledgtviUe, July 5th, 1830.
Dr. EL B. Searct,
Sir—The undersigned Committee take leave to express
to you the high satisfaction and pleasure they derived
from your Speech delivered on the 3d instant, and in be*
half of themselves and (eliow-citizens respectfully solicit
H copy ot' it for publication.
We are very respectfully, your ob’t. serv’ts,
j. s. Calhoun,
WM. T. HANSELL,
JOHN B GORMAN,
C. L. BASS,
., EVERETT H, PIERCE,
Committee.
GcirtLEMCN—Tour communication, soliciting a copy
of my audrtss for publication, has been received. Your
'expression^ of “high latisfaclion and pleasure,” derived
from this production, are certainly very flattering and
highly gratifying. 1 submit it to you, with all its imper
fections .
Accept, gentlemen, the assurances of sincere regard
and esteem from your friend, and ob’t serv’t,
D. B. SEARCY.
To Messrs. J. S. Calhoun,
Wm. Y. Hansell,
John B. Gorman,
C. L B iss,
EvtrtU H. Pierce,
- Committee.
ORATION.
Tn the history of the human race, rov friends,
many great epochs stand forth to recollection.
As occupied by man, this globe has been ama
Z'iig!y fruitful of changes, revolutions, and
events.
Fixed immovably in his bosom, the facul
ties and qualities proper to him- the love of
self—of ambition—of glory—-of becoming
magnificent spectacle in the eyes of the world—
the ardent desire to endure—of immortality,
are the primalive elements of these changes,
and constitute the mechanism by which they
have revolved with each sun, and kept pace
with the flight of time. His soul, vast, capa
cious—loves, and grasps at, what is boundless
and infinite
But nature has fixed her own unalterable
bounds to every ihing. He rises upon the
theatre of existence—advances across it with
n steady pace, is thrust from it, and no suppli
cation, no entreaty can prevail, for him to de
lay a moment. A life time only is allowed to
each individual. His deeds of glory—his work
of ambition—his institutions, his empires, have
but the same. The Species of animated be
ings, and Matter, the only solid work ol nature,
alone stand fast; the one perpetually modified
by reproduction, the other, running through an
endless mutation of forms.
So trua is this, that tho* dust of many great
cities, reared, by the industry of successive
generations, in the bosom of beautiful conn-
tries, the pride and glory of the ages in which
they stood, is now scattered in the wilderness
and solitary places, and not a vestige remains
to point to their original situations. And ma-
Dy nations which flourished in the early annals
of time, have become extinct, and whos.
names, even, are forgotten and cease to figure
in the historian's story.
How forlorn and gloomy is the picture which
the past history of our species presents! Ma-
Dy frightful revolutions have suddenly chilled
the world with terror! All that is good, that
is tranquilly and happiness, have often been
banished from it, and nought left in their place,
but dismay, wretchedness, mourning, and des
pair! How often has power, accumulated in
the hands of an individual, made vice triumph
over virture, wrong over right, iniquity over
justice—made those amiable qualities univer
sal in the human bosom, pity and tenderness,
offences punishable with death; and commit
ted outrages and crimes unpunished, unpumsh-
aide] nay, by an unaccountable perversion,
male those very crimes, virtues—the iashion-
able virtues of the day! How often have the
veins of whole nations, been opened by the
keen edge of war, and what amount of human
existence, have famine and pestilence, more
sanguinary still than war, following iq its train,
consumed.
Could the earth pour back the blood, she
has received, what a red Ocean would roll o-
ver her surface! And were all the wrongs,
the abuses, the crimes and the outrages.^ames
ofjire, how would her glowing orb light up
Am ora’s Car, and shame the splendors of the
mid day sun
During 2100 years of this history, four Em
pires rose, endured, and fell. Each succes
sively gained universal dominion, and the civ
ilized portion of our race was subjected to the
domination and arbitrary will of a master, in
the terrible movement, the succession and re-
volution of these Empires, almost every spot
from the sun-lit fields of Lybia, to the snowy
summits of Siberia, from the Chinese Moun
tains, to where the Atlantic washes the shores
of Europe, has often witnessed, and been the
theatre, where the awful form of War, has rais
ed her bloody Crest,—where the tumult of
battle has raged—where nations have assem
bled to decide upon the mastery of the world,
the destiny of the human race; and, by the
miseries and calamities, which have been in
flicted upon them, they have become consccra
ted to the eternal memory of man. How of
ten has the Jourdan of Palestine, rolling its
waters through its beautiful valley of Cedars,
the Bosphorus, the Euphrates, whose, waters
forever reflect the beautiful image of the palms
and date trees, which so georgeously decorate
its shores—the Rhine, the Po, majestic for its
fir trees—-the Volga, the Danube, echoed the
long, deep cry—the groan of death!—reddened
with the blood of innocent men! and instead
of a limpid, rolled a vermilion wave on to the
great Parent of waters.
Spirit of Liberty, forbid, O forbid! that any
spot of my country, upon such occasion, should
ever be dedicated t<? such a forlorn and calami
tous memory—that any of her streams, conse
crated more especially by nature to tranquili
ty and happiness, as it would seem from the
pleasiog, charming scenery, which she has ev
ery where lavished to beautify their fertile
ihores. should ever drink the life, and crimson
with the misplaced blood, which she herself
pounces!
Nothing could have been more disastrous,
more hostile tc the true developement of
mao—of those faculties, which I have said are
proper to his nature, than thjs state of things—
this successive, universal Empire, which last
ed,. as 1 have observed, 2100 years. An Em
pire whose extent embraces every climate of
the world, many parts lying beyond the seas;
composed tf nations of different languages,
customs, habits, morals, roligiocs, institutions,
itc. hs ttiSse were, iota goveirhed by i power
empaling from a single point to l»e eipanded.
over such vast extent; to bfe ruled by an indi
vidual seated on a throne; distant, thousands
of miles, from aby part of it—by one who
knows not, nor can know the pvople*he gov
erns, is absurd in principle, and contradictory
to the Very nature, relation, constitution, and
immutible reason of things.
Should it excite wonder, then, that crime,
oppression, and outrage have so long held the
victory on their tide, and triumphed over vir
tue, liberty, and jastie- 1 That humanity, ten
der and moving humanity, should have so long
uttered her pitiful, mournfijl cry unheeded.—
No wonder it has so long been a heinous crime
for a man, in whose bosom the love of life is
innate, to refuse to crimson the field of war
with his own blood, under pretense of fighting
for his country, in order to accomplish what?
to gratify the avarice, the caprice, or ambi
tion of a master, whom lie never saw, and who
esteemed the balance of hunripn kind as his
toys, or his play-things, created only for his
disposal, his amusement or his pleasure. Rea
son, uprooted and confounded at these out
rageous doings, exclaims, where during thi s
long series of ages was the silent, watchful
eye of Heaven? That eye which sees each
star revolve and watches each beam as it
shoots? Revelation answers. But I continue.
No wonder that philanthropy and those amia
ble qualities that are wont to beautify and strew
the world with flowers, were exiled from its
abode in these forlorn and gloomy annals of
the past. No wonder that Liberty, undying
Liberty in the breast of man should have so
long endured oppression, but who occasional
ly rose in her exasperated strength, threw a-
side the mighty arm that held her, and crush
ed to dust these powerful Empires, but crush
es them only to suffer again a like oppression.
Why? why, my Friends, when she was free,
did she not walk forth in her bloom and glory,
breathe the pure air of life, and take up her
march down the path of ages, to charm and
bless’mankind? Why did she delay, so tedi
ously long her arrival, when the world was so
long bathed in tears, and overwhelmed with
sorrows and calamities, waiting for her appear
ance? Why was she first found here? Wbv
did she not cross the Atlantic with our Fath
ers? Why was reserved for my country, the
proud honor of becoming her birth-place—the
cradle in which sh° was rocked, and the only
temple worthy of her sojourn?
When she convulsed the fabric of the poli
tical universe and razed it to its foundations,
at the times, when the Assyrian, the Persian,
the Grecian, and the Roman Empires fell-
why did she not stand fast to existence; and
not fall back again to slumber in nonentity
like Aphelia, who bursts from her prison on
gay painted wings, mounts on sunbeams, flut
ters for a moment in the breeze, and dies,—
was she a stranger in a foreign land? Did no
one welcome and greet her appearance with
joyous acclamations? Was there no bosom o-
pen to receive her a welcome guest? Was
the earth too unripe for her abode; and was
she condemned to houselessness—to wander
forlorn, unfriended? Did she .ndignant fly the
face of man; and wait for a more auspicious
day to visit him—the day when our Washing
ton was born?
Would it have made much difference with
the world, my Friends, whether Caesar or
Pompey had gained the victory On the Phar-
salian plains, whether the Assyrian or Persiar
had triumphed when they fought for universal
dominion, or when the Grecian and the Persi
an contended for the same glory; or afterwards,
when the Grecian and the Roman contended?
When Caesar invaded Gaul,could the bold and
ifiterpris'ng Helvetians have found their wav
Jirough the waters of our Atlantic to our coun
try, and planted themselves here a Colony,
when all the old world should have stood pre
ciselv in the same relation to them as it did to
our Forefathers, think ye, think ye, that they
would have wrought out their freedom as we
have done, and that Liberty would have been
born, and received a Temple here 2000 years
before she did? All these are great and weigh
tv questions, fundamentally and equally belong
to the philosophy of government and of man,
but which, io due time, I shall discuss and an
swer befo-e you.
I shall here take my leave of the great tomb
of antiquity. I have said more about it than I
intended. 1 shall no longer disturb f he dust
which time has let fall upon it. Let it repose
in all its prodigious silence and grandeur—its
deeds are vast and many. Its lessons only we
should learn. They all teach us that all past
government is but one great experiment, which
has required and consumed more than 4000
years for its full completion. But I said
kndwn? Where is Greece?—has ehe not?—
would no longer disturb what has dropped in
to the tomb ofthe past. I began with epochs,
with them I am still concerned. I am going
to speak of the epoch of all epochs—The 4th
of July. I am going to speak of the birth of Li
berty. on this her birth-day—of her beautiful
and charming biography—of our Republic—
of the resources of our country—of its arts and
sciences—of its improvements and prospects.
The subject is agreeable and pleasing. I know
I shall have your attention.
The 4th of July is only one day out of 365,
and happens but once after our planet has
made a complete revolution round the central
orb. Do net pie same accidents, the same
honors, if I may 60 call them, happen to all
other days, executed by the same sun, and the
earth’s same diurnal movement? It is one of
those days, in which the sun pours the full
tide of liis splendors and glory in our hemis
phere, helping forth the laboring earth with
her harvest. But are not other days the same?
Does not the earth grow fuller of greenness
and fruitfulness under the repeated movement
of the sun’s bnrning, fecundating chariot?
Fut what makes this day differ so much,
and so essentially from the days which are its
kindred, and physically, so exactly resemble
it/ What removes it from the rank and cata
logue of common days—of all other days, and
arrays it with so much gaudy and enviable dis
tinction, covering up, hiding all others in its
shade? Shall I tell any one who hears me/
Shall 1 point to him the precioos, the beauti
ful gems, that glitter and burn upon it? Where
is the corner of (be earth that has not heard
of it? Where is the land where its glory has
not beamed? Where its eternal fame i? out
When will rise the Historian, so untrue to his
trust, who will dare to separate from it, these
undying numbers, 1776? Will they not
go down tbe path of time together? Did not
our Fathers reach up to the Heavens, 6f write
them together with fhe points of their swords,
od its inlestructable orb, that we might see
them as they come round in the progress of
the seasons? Have we failed to watch for
them and see them when they come; or why
this universal expression of joy—this great na-
tiimal smile—this festival, which every time
since, has spread through this continent—this
loud joy, thatynakes the earth vibrate beneath
it? It is not national phrenzy. It is the board
of reason, the festival of well founded joy. It
is the natal day of our common mother, not of
our physical, but of our moral and political be
ing—of her for whom the Romans built a
Temple on the Aventine Hill, to whom the
Greeks paid honours, under the name of Elu-
thcria, but to neither did she ev^r reveal her
self in her true form and loveliness. It is the
natal day of Liberty, and the festival is in hon
or of her birth.
Who can not join in with it and give up his
soul to the transports of joy? This day is a
true triumphal arch whose two extremities rest
on the two Oceans, that roll o:' each side oi us—
the Sun's path, itself through our Hemisphere,
on which is inscribed the name of Liberty. It
reaches on high,-and can only tumble down
with the world. Other people, then, than we,
will gaze on its symmetry and beauty, be
struck with its charms and its glory, and from
the sympathetic movement of man, the 4th of
July may become dear to the other three quar
ters of tfcs globe.
How delightful the idea, the prospect of u-
niversal disfranchisement of the human race—
of philanthrophy, of patriotism—-of happiness,
when this arch shall extend roun J and cincture
our woild’s orb in its radiant zone! What a
magnificent ornament to it!—magnificent as if
another morn should rife in the North, and
drive her glowing chariot down the South, bles
sing mankind with two days at once.
But it is the 4th of July! If the Artillery
deafen our ears with its loud pealing thunders,
it is because Liberty walks forth this day to
occupy her Temples. It is because it was
with this voice shi- uttered her mandates in
the revolution. It was this voice that rever
berated across the Atlantic, reachedthe palsi
ed ♦-ar of rtm British Tvraht, and smd to him—-
"These are my people, <they have manifested their
zeal and devotedness to my cause; they have
raised Temples for my worship' and sanctified
them by Martyrdoms. Let them alone." He
heard and obeyed.
Now that we give ourselves up to Ceres,
that we follow the mild and peaceful arts of
Minerva and Apollo, let us not forget that she
employed in the days of our Fathers, the Or
chestra of Bellona, that she composed for this
Orchestra the famous ballad, “Yankey Doo
dle,”* a bright gem among songs, an un
quenchable flame in my country’s bosom. Let
us not forget it was the music of this orchestra
they heard, when their veins were ready toj
open, when the field of battle thronged, when
War laid hold of the Earth, and shook it be
neath their feet, blotting from their sight the
beam of day. It was this music, they heard in
fhe thunder of the Artillery; the sound of the
drum and fife, when their valorous blood was
bursting from their hearts to form unnatural
rills upon the earth.
We hear the same music today; let us never
forget its meaning. It reminds us of that dark
and perilous day, when our nation, like the de
scendants of Abraham, crossed the Red Sea.--
As we have been, our posterity will be remin
ded of if. Still and silent our planet will tra
verse the orb of time, but at each successive
revolution, when she returns from her long
journey, to that new sign engraved on the Zodi
ac, the 4th of July, then this Orchestra will
ring; its music will revive to quick and lively
vibration, the still sleeping air, which fills the
blue vault ofthis Hemisphere
To astonish the eyes, and excite the gaz°
and admiration of living men, we raise no Tem
ples, no Pillars, no Obelisks, no triumphant ar
ches to Victory—Things in the changes of the
world to be desphed and neglected—to be
troddeo under foot, snd forgotten—to become
foolish and hateful to posterity, ridiculous un
meaning legends, ornaments to decorate waste
and solitary places, to moulder in the dust and
disappear.
Let Egypt have her Pyramids, and the bal
ance of tbe World, their monumental piles —
The Pyramids, monuments of our country, are
hid in the country’s great bosom, where time
will carry them forward to endure
We raise no Temples but to Liberty. This
is the day we should weave garlands to orna
merit them;—oi in other words; we worship
only God; and this is the day we should offer
up our gratitude and adoration to Him, to
whom only, rightfully, all worship and suppli
cation should ascend; from whom, philosophi
cally, liberty is only a blessing; a blessing,
which should make our hearts, suppliantly,
look up to Heavfen with universal thankfulness
and love. But ether themes await us.
In ail these revolutions and succession of
Empires, the wcrld only changed its master,
not its prospects; and saw all the works of in
dustry—the improvement of age reduced to
ruins. Each successive revolution moved in
tbe path of the one which preceded, and was
marked by aggravated crime and oppression-
In all, wretchedness, misery, famine, and death
were the prospect and reward of those, who
fought for victory, who endured the toils and
wardships of war.
When America waged war for Independence,
tow different were the prospects and hopes,
which animated her SoMiers. And when she
achieved her Independence, what Nation was
injured, oppressed, or enslaved? Did she say
to her enemies, ye are the spoils of War, my
slaves—serve me/ Did she seek to extend,
the boundaries ef her conquests, or impose up
on the balance <f mankind the mandates of a
Tyrant? Did she saturate the earth with the
blood of innocent men, or scatter around her
devastation and misery/ Did she erect her
Temples to Liberty, and command the balance
of tbe world to bow at her altars submissive
ly? Did she bora cities, desolate whole coun
tries, dothe the earth in sadness and gloom, or
* Siojaandi’s £$r. Utt, Sou. Eu,
people the air with the crlei ofltte helpTet* ahd
the wretched/ Did she not 1° her P$°pK
** Ye are and of right ought to be free?" Hews
are my blessings—my lofty Mountains—my
fertile Plains—my streams for tbe waftore of
Commerce: enjoy their comforts as the re
ward of your virtue and your courage?
This is the peaceful language, the voice of
freedom, which charmed the ears cf her votrf'
ties; and these the laurels that decorated her
warior’s brow.
What operated this wonderful change amid
the revolutions of the world, in the character
of man—that restored tranquility and happi
ness to this portion of the earth, and caused
the bosom of a Nation to open for the recep
tion of the exiled, the stranger, the unfriend
ed: that made our country a suitable abode
tor the Goddess of Liberty and Justice?
Was it not that the human mind had become
generally enlightened? Was it no* the in
crease of knowledge, which poured birth its
splendors at the epoch of human affairs, t»
light up the genius of our country—the. bril
liant flame, which blazes in those u» ms. tha
glitter on the triumphal arcii of Liberty
Ignorance! Foe to Liberty and Happiness!
stand forth. Thou who hast trampled in thr
earth the precious rights of humanity and jus
tice; and consigned to the Tomb of forge.fill
ness the memory of thousands! Thou »vh<>
hast triumphed in the field of battle and cmr
tured whole nations with the galling chains o-
slavery, stand forth; Lot us view you in ah
your hideous forms—in the miseries—the out
rages and calamities you have isifl'cted upon
the human race, when you exited Lib; rtv fr ,rn
the land of Greece, and caused the Rom. n
Empire to tumble to dust! Thou who hast ut
last, overturned thy own Temples, on the ru
ms of which Liberty has erected a Monument
that will tell to all succeeding generations, the
glory of her triumph.
Let us now look at the beautilul picture oi
our country, after the uproar and tumult of
war are over. The Soldier, with a light heart,
returns from the field of battle, bearing the
laurels his patriotism and courage had won
and rejoices to find his long left home. Vic
torious, he quits the scene of bloodshed and
misery to enjoy (he peace and comfort of do
mestic life.
The forest that waved its green foliage to
every passing breeze, is felled by the hand or
the industrious husbandman. Where tin.
noise of War, and the shrieks of the innocent
mingled, are now heard the songs of the con
tented and happy. Commerce stimulates and
rewards industry. The fertile soil of this once
neglected country, yields its richest bounty l<
cheer the labourer amid his toils and priva
tions. The coasts which were once thronged
with the vessels of the enemy,- are now visited
by the friends of the Agriculturist, and the pro
duce of our soil is borne on the bosom ot the
deep to every Nation. Our vessels frangtn
with the blessings of a flourishing country, re
ceived a salute of friendship from every Port.
Thus, till now unknown, a thousand a venue-
of wealth present themselves to the aspiring
genius of America From all parts of ibr
world emigrants flocked hither and sought
protection under its tree and equitable Gov
eminent.
In this way, our population increased from
abroad, and from its own rapid developement,
the colonies soon commanded the respect and
admiration ofthe world. For manly vigor, in
tellect, and fine sensibility, the native born of
our soil were not surpassed by the Romans,
the ancient Britains, or the Gauls. The same
genius that taught them the stratagem of drop’
ping from the pending cliff hogsheads* of stone
upon the defenceless heads of their approach
ing enemy, yet characterizes them as being
surpassingly fruitful in invention and capable
of making unforeseen accidents subserve their
better interests. Breathing a pure fdr, and
not yet subjected to the debilitating effects ot
luxury and idleness, they enjoy the plea, ure. 1
that surrounded them without satiety or < ! ^
gust. It was here they erected altars but ior
the worship of the true, and living God, to
whom the votaries of the cross offered up their
acclamations of joy, and thanks for their deli
very and the triumph of freedom.
The mind of man being naturally restless
and inquisitive, soon tired of the same objects
when frequently presented to it, seeks involun
tarily for something new, and capable of keep
ing up the exercise of its noble faculties. Hrs
first thoughts centre in his own wants, and he
is tractable and peaceable, or furious and tur
bulent in bis disposition, as they are gratified
on the one hand, or disappointed on the other.
In this wide-spread country there existed eve
ry possible variety, to call into full activity all
the powers of his soul, to engage him in in
dustry and every variety of noble enterprise.
The sciences and the useful arts could not fail
to have been early, and eagerly cultivated, as
being subservient to the operations of his in
dustry, and crown^them with success. Ashe
becomes more enlightened his thirst for glory
advances apace. No longer content with the
limited range of his thoughts, wit hr) he grovel
ling state in which he existed, he scans inf-
nite space, marks each star that glitters in the
blue abyss above, creates for himself new em
pires of thought, the beautiful abodes of his
soul which he surveys with rapture, and
paints the forms of sublimity and beauty. He
examines now by the aid of philosophy, the
laws that preside over the phenomena and
regulate the movements of this vast universe,
dives into tbe hidden causes that operate in
the transmutation of the forms of matter, stu
dies their relations, and views with rapture
the powers of attraction, as they unfold from
discordant elements, the curious and beautiful
forms of chemistry. Even man himself be
comes a source of infinite study. His thoughts,
feelings, and dispositions become the objects
of the most profound speculation and disquisi
tion, as they relate to morals, religion, Hyge
nics and Government. The Metaphysician,
the Logician, and tbe aspiring votary of the
ars medicines, discover in them unlimited ran
ges for their thoughts, and vast realms, in
which to rear the temple ot the sciences.
It were needless, my friends, to mention, tbe
successive grndatioa which has characterized
the march of intellect, since tho revolution, in
all those various departments of knowledge.—
The interest and feeling manifested by every
father for the education of hit d&to*, mu
confirm the fact, that our country is not want
ing in talent, ambition, and enterprise, ibr the
cultivation pf Literature and the Sciences
But I cannot pass entirely over in stk&ce,
the rapid and prodigious developement, which
is now going on among us, in almost every de
partment of human knowledge. The intellect
of our country is daily making contributions,
-and extending the dominion ofthe sciences.—
Jj s productions, long, but unjustly despised and
ridiculed abroad, are now rapidly commanding
the respect and admiration of the other parts
of the w<nM. Our reviews and scientific jour
nals successfully rival similar productions of
other countries The labors and literary pro
duction* of Other nations are promptly transla
ted into our own language and lend their im
pulse to the intellect ha* career of our country.
A- a proof of its growing taste for the sciences,
nd demand for in& me^ns oi their acquisition,
inthiccort of composition, / will only mention
♦ he >p : a hd translation, from the hands oi rro-
t e- -r iiotvfh’ch, or the great work of La P ! ice
r r * -!ta! mechanics
We ire assured that our country’s gen ivj is
plumed for a bold and lofty flight, its carnsr
• : ies through the course of ages; and its fame
:«:.«! glory u ill be universally acknowledged —
It has .already accomplished much in Geogra
phy, Mineralogy, Geodesy, Geology; in Biog
raphy, Zoology and Natural History, Legisla
tion, J un-prudence, the Science of War; in
Chn;cs Hygenic% Materia Medica, and The
rapeutics; in Electricity. Galvanism, Statics &c.
It is the arts and sciences which develope
the physical resources, which nature lavishes.
It is they which perfect man in society; they
are the beautiful ornaments of our Republic.
I would like to speak of the mechanism of
our government—of its beautiful symmetry and
proportions, decorated with these sciences, but
time forbids.
From th^ variety of our territory, of it-s itfte■*“
rests and advantages, circumstances must nat
urally exist, whicli will occasionally jar this
synrroet y.and these harmonious proportions of
.ur political edifice. Let us boldly and iude-
•at'gably maintain our rights and privileges as
a State: But let us be of a forgiving spirit, that
we may inspire our brethren of the North
a proper sentiment—that w. ^nd they too*,
when it is seen to tremble from the vibrator #
movement of conflicting intereM.*, mev have
but one tender sympathetic feeling -may jo. k
upon it, recoliect its cost- be struck with its
worth, its beauty and magnificence, and say,
with one loud voice, echoing from one extremi
ty ofthe country to the other. “Let it stand,
it is worthy of eternal duration?
And now, wherever yo be, stand forth ye
traitors to the best interests of your countri!
Ye who would create civil discord, where
‘tarmony, peace, and good will exist—who
sow the seed of bitterness and dissention n-
round the tree of L bertv! Who ars ye?—
Tne invectives of a Nation rest upon you.—
Would you have the spirits of those who sleep
in the dust to rise from their repose to admon
ish you, and teach you tne painful lesson3 of
wisdom and ju-ticf ? Beware! lh' ground on
which you stand is sacred. Disturb not tbe
ashes of the patriotic di ad! The Wood
millions will rise up to testify against you!—
Let us preserve the liberty that was seated to
us by the l)!o r< d of our Fathers!
With one voice pot down those who would
sav dissolve the Union. Let us preferv<?inti-
olate the sacred compact whicli binds the
Hume's Hist, of England, yol. 7,
lives, the fortunes, and the honors of my coun
try’s people nor saflor the hand of Tyrarny to
oppress, nor Aristocracy, in its winning shapes,
to overset the Temples of Freedom
When we lock at our country in the retros
pect; x mark the rapid developement and mi-
proveaieut of its resources; its increase in pop
ulation. wealth, and commercial arts; advance*
iient of the state oi Society; its increasing iov^
Lderature, the sciences and fine arts, we
have ample foundations, upon which to rest
the most lively anticipation of its future great
ness and prosperity. The day beams brighter
and brighter upon it. To the industrious and
ambitious, who third for fame and distinction
it opens the most unbounded theatre for tho
exertion and display of their genius and tal
ents
New prospects arc daily unfolding, and chan-
g s going on as to the extent and limits of its
tertitory. The Western wilderness is yield
ing to the spirit of enterprise and civilization,
and its natural wealth and resources are in a
slate of rapid evolution.
Georgia is nut the least favored State ofthe
Union. The physical means of her wealth are
unbounded. The lofty trees of her forests, we
are assured, plant their deep roots, and vegetate
in beds of massy gold; and her fertile valleys
send forth the cotton and the sugar plant —
Gold not only glitters in her bills, bnt marble r
that beautiful ornamental material in the arts
of building, has recently been discovered by
an enterprising citizen of our own town, based
on the strong foundations of which, she lift*
her mountains where summer breezes blow,
and far around beneath, extends luxuriant
plains, through which is heard tbe murmur of
purest, sweetest waters, the realms of health-,
longevity, and happiness. Wisdom directs ia
her Councils, and prudence and intelligence
preside over the administration and execution
of her lavve.
But to conclude. Finally, what is there that
our country may not hope for? How beautiful
and magnificent is her futurity? Her moun
tains prop the purest, bluest arches of the
Heavens; her climate fine and healthful; her
bosom full of all that is to decorate, cheer, and
nourish life; her Latitude nearly the same as
Rome, Athens Sparta. Persepolis, and Lace-
demon, she will develope man in all his great
maturity; and with the nourishment she yields,
will inspire him with all that is beautiful and
magnificent in thought; with all that is great
and useful in science, art, and elegant letters.
And here too, as in the countries of Homer
and Lysander, will be felt, with all their exquis-
ite force and power, the beauty and loveliness of
womvn. to soften the public manners. Her
charms will brighten, and her love will burn io
our country’s great, harmonious Lyre; incense
will be offered to her in the Courts of our Mu
ses; she will give, by her soft and brilliant in
spirations, the last finishing touch to our natu
ral Poetry; and her song, full of her own sweet
ness and tenderness, will flow on to future time**