Norwalk Gazette, Tuesday, July 12, 1825 · page 1

""4. - . . '

 

 , '”
WHOLE No. 376.
ORATION delivered by Mr. Nomtiatv
Pmmw at Nortvalk, on the 49th Att-
niversary of American Iiidepetideiice.

All our knowledge of the ftiture is derived
from past experience. It is instructive tliere-
fore to tltitik on the generations — t tat have
been, and to trace important historical events
to their causes. It is good also to sympathize
with the great and worthy, though separated
front its by interveniitg oceans and tlte lapse
iofcenturies. It cannot be unprofitable then,

don this birth day ofotir Republic, to reflect on

T115 1>As'r CHANGES, and to indulge a few spec-
_ttlations on its - FUTURE PERMANANCY and
_k'x'LORY. Tnis is a subject on which you have
iieard miiclt; but we cannot be too sensible of
_our blessings; and the patriot is seldom weary
of thinking on the prosperity ofltis country.
In the tranquil eitjoynient of those exalted
‘privileges for which our fathers fought, we
can form but faittt conceptions of their toils
and feelings. The historian may tell us that
few in nuittbers, uttskilled in war, and desti-
tute of resources, enclosed by the ocean and
their forests, they did not fear, in the strong
and dignified language you ltave now heard,
tn assert their rights, in defiance ofthe power
of Britain, and her victorious armies. IVe
riiay go to the aged soldier ofthat period and
ask him the story of war. You, my bearers,
in partieular,may go to the ashes ofyour bur-
ned town, and by the lonely graves of your
ancestors read the disasters ofthat time. But,
the most vivid descriptions of the historian
fail. The war tvorn soldier cannot adequate-
ly express, nor the ashes ofthis once desolated
village fully denote. the horrors atid ititeitsity
ofthat struggle. Man is great in proportion
to tltc occasion on which he acts: and tiever
was there one ntore worthy of human great-
rtess,or where it was more strikingly exhibited,
than that which we now cotntiteinorate. The

. Athenians, to save themselves from the P6‘-

sian yoke, abandoned their city and took ref-
uge in their fleet ; as the Russians, after the
coufiagration ofMoscow, amidst their north-
ern snows. But these sacrifices were ofsliort
duration. A few weeks terminated those of
the Russians, and a still shorter period those
ofthe Athenians. Compared with the deeds
of our fathers, they are but the tnoinentary
effervesceitce of their native superstitions,act-
ing upon ignorant and enthusiastic minds.-

’ But hotv great must be the occasion,how deep

and settled the feelings, which could impel
‘men to the protracted sufferings of eight dis-
tressful years.

The commencement of the winter of 1776
was the darkest era ofour country. The term
of service oftlte American army had expired.
Iieducedto 1700, and their numbers contin-
ually diminishing, sufferiitg aitd dejected,
flying through the country before a powerful
and victorious army, so critical was their sit-
uation, that the fate ofthe war, in all human
probabi|ity,was decided by the accidetttal dis-
covery and removal of a single flour boat, in
which the enemy were to cross the Delaware.
—-Tlie talents of a general are best tested by
adversity. To lead a spirited and disciplined
army to victory,freqpeirtly requires little more
than it competent knowledge of military tac-
tics, _uromptncss, and celerity. One victory
inspireilie leaders with confidence in himself
and his army: soldiers are ofconrse attached
toa successful commander, and march with
enthusiasm under his banner. Thus ardent
young generals have freqtteittly rtin through
.1 course of splendid achievements to the as-
tonishment and admiration of the world.-—
Such was the career of Alexander, Charles
XII,and Bonaparte. The Swedish monarch
in adversity was a madman: The Corsican
is far from appearing to advantage; and we
may ptcsuttie, from the intempcrate passions
and erratic marches of the hero of Macedon,
atlversity would have found him equally waiit-
ing. But to maintain the confidence and af-
fections of an army through years ofmisfor-
tune and suffcring—to cement tinion when

A the spirit of discord has gone abroad—to oli-

tain the voluntary services of soldiers who had

already been disappointed of their wages,

provision, and clothing—to secure an army fr.

defeat against a force often times their mun-

her, and by occasional displays of victorious

achievineiits to support the spirits of his army

and the hopes of a nation-—to check the dep-

rcdations ofan invader, and spare the lives of
hi: followers—-to counteract the intrigues of
open eneniies and treacherous friciids-to ll-
ttiic the most wary caution with the firittest
decision ; the most penetrating sagacity with
.the most active enterprise, belongs to a great,
benevolent and devoted mind. Such a mind
had Washington. Hero; statesman ; phi-
lanthropist.......But, he needs not my eulogi-
utu. Our country Stntitls the tiioittintent of
his glory. He sleeps in the soil he saved :
and while Mount Vernon o’er looks the vale
1,e|,,w, or the waters ofthe Potomac take their
course to-the ocean, his memory will be em-
baltned in tlieheatts ofAmericans.

Tlic-ugh the-effttrts and sacrifices of our fa-
the-rs are without a parallel, yet they knew
not, they could not know, the full value of
the prize for which they strove. Who cotild

tell its iatflueoce on distant clinics and remote"

generations? It is a subject on which we
who have seen and felt its effects thus far, can
only form conjectures ; but it is not chimeri-
cal to suppose that the future historian shall
point to our revolution as air eventful era to
1tllllli\llO|lS : and to those who fell at Lexing-
ton as the first martyrs for art entancipafed
tvarld. Ifdeparted spirits cait be interested
by the transactions of earth, otir fathers tnt_ist
rejoice from their bright abodes to behold e-
ten the present fruits oftneir labours. We,
Americans, are the favored individuals who
enjoy these exalted blessings, and who are to
transmit them to posterity. Let us then,wltile
we honour those who bought them with their
blood, act worthy of our exalted station, in
supporting the cause of freedom and ofman.
Many a would-be politician has uttered his
ill-outened oracles on the downfall of our
country. A republican guverninent,says he,
cannot exist long. Like the animal constitu-
tion, it has its growth, maturity, and decay ;
and as its rise is rapid, its teriniiiatioii itiust
be speedy. It is the tendency of all created
things to change. Climates and continents

vary. Rocks and mountains crumble to
dust. Our government does not stititd indis-

does it contain, like the animal frame, any
p_ri‘nciple,of inevitable decay. , Our bodily
powers tnust arrive at maturity in a certain
number ofyears,Aafter which they must neces-
sarily decline. It is not ‘so with nations. His-
torians tell its ‘causes oftheir downfall, which
a different order ofthings might have remo-
ved, and the existence of such governtneiits
have been indefinitely protracted. To-con-
vince us ofthe transient nature ofour Repub-
he will require other arguments than those
drawn from the necessity of the case. Our
real danger must be ntade to appear. Are we
threatened by an overwhelming foreign foe?
Or, are we treading in the,‘ steps of those na-
tions who have stink before us?

Sectiotial interest aml prejudice are some-
times mentioned as the bug-bear monsters of
our dissolution: btit, never did greater uni-'
formity of sentiment pervade sq wide a terri-
tory ; never were the jarring interests of dif-
ferent sections of a country fewer, or ntore
harmoniously and satisfactorily composed.——
The Grecian Confederacy existed more than
eight hundred years, in the midst of civil ri-
valships and contentions. So great was the
domestic animosity oftliose petty states, that
at the time ofthe Persian invasion. Athens
and Sparta could alone be united against their
gigantic foe. Rome, that with all her civil
wars and commotions, stood nearly five cen-
turies a Republic, was never more prosperous
than at the tirite ofthe secession of the Ple-
bians to Mons Sacer. Shall we then be af
frighted when an ignorant Governor mutters
his dissatisfaction ? or contiguous states dis-
pute about the navigation of their waters ?—
It is but the friction of the mighty members of
otir Republic as they settle together. They
may talk ofthe discordant feelings ofthe in-
habitants ofour northern and southern states:
—but it is remarked by those ofother countries,
that of the foreigners who frequent their pop-
ulous cities, none associate more intimately,
or exhibit stronger proofs of national attach-
ment, than the merchants and travellers from
every part of-these United States. The fact
that our language, as spoken here, varies less
in two thousand miles, than in some parts of
England in neighbouring counties, affords
strong proof ofour frequency of intercourse,
and general union.

Empires which have been raised by one
man contrnonly die with ltiin. Those of Al-
exander, Cltarleinagne,'and Bonaparte, were
oftltis kind. The diss iiitilar parts thus sud-
denly brought together, have neither time nor
tendency to cohere ; but, like particles raised
by a momentary whirlwind, spontaneously
scatter, when the power that forced them in-
to union is gotie. E-ll)pll'8S built by continued
conquest and amalgamation, may be more
permanent, but they contain the innate seeds
of dissolution. Such were the. Roman and
Saracen. The congregated mass of discord-
ant materials cannot fortit one complete, well
cetnented, and proportioned edifice, but mttst
dissolve by the natural fermentation of its
heterogeneous parts.

A principal cause ofthe instability of gov-
ernments is, their not being adapted to the
genius oftlteir sitbjects. A barbarous people
must be governed by the strong arm of des-
potismz In proportion as intelligence pervades
the tiiass of coininunity, they will claim and
take possession oftheir rights. Hence in the
progress of improvement, as the fortn of gov-
erntnent of one age becomes unfitted for the
next, change must ensue ; and, as sovereigns
are blindly tenacious ofpower.,wliieh they and
their ancestors have always exercised,‘ blood-
shed and revolution are the consequences.'——
To such a state of things the unfortunate
Charles of England fell a victim, and such
may be the fate of the present monarchs of
Europe. The spirit of revolution on that
continent is already awake; and, like the
smothered fires ofa volcano, though repress’d
for ages, must at last burst forth, spreading
desolation and change. There are govern-
ments which seem fated to one uniform stag-
nancy of being, where each succeeding gette-
ration treads in the steps of their fathers, and
to raise their rank in society were almost as
impossible as to change the ingredients of
their physical constitutions. China has pos-
sessed its present form, from a period ntore
remote than the origin of authentic profane
history. Such is their attachment to ancient
customs and their jealousy of whatever is for-_
eign or novel, that frotii age to age the very
fasltion of their dress remains unaltered: like
regions which lie above the storm, where the
slightest trace in the sand remains distinct for
centuries. It is othert-.'v.-.e with the inhabit-

ants ofEttrope. Sensible of this, their sove-
reigns are now making every exertion to pre-
serve their precarious power. The Holy Al-
liance is a political popedoin. Under a name
that should be sacred, they exercise a power
which God not titan ever gave. for a purpose
which they can never sanction. The cause
wlilcli calletl it itito being, might render it ite-
cessary, but that cause no longer exists. The
scourge of Europe is no more. Not only have
the powers ofearth with those of the air fought
against him, but, broken without a hand, he
ltas suitk forever. It reqttires _little talents to
be a villain; and experience disclosesto the
dullest their sources of danger. Another en-
enty exists ; one which armies cannot with-
stand,climates circtimscribe,nor death silence.
This is Intelligence with its attendant Liber-
ty. A combination ofthree of the mightiest
potentates on earth, to act as self created ar-
biters of surrounding nations, and to set in
judgment on their domestic concerns, is in-
deed an appalling phenomenon, and may op-
pose a temporary check to the infant march
of freedom. But they laborin vain. They may
grant their people many unimportant privile-
ges,aud while they appease their sultjects,with-
otit abridging their own absolute authority,
link closer the chains of despotism. They
may build factories, and enlarge their stand-
ing armies; erect schools and prisons; and
while they affect to encourage learning, sur-
round the sanctitude of kings with tenfold ter-
ror : but every indulgence granted teaches_a
people their strength. Can the Emperor Al-

exander repress the tide of the Baltic ? or low-

soluble, in the midst of dissolution: neither'

creased in a ratio, which, in a century, would

minded Austria chain the Danube in her Ve- ‘
nitian dungeons? No. Despots may combine, l
btit they cannot counteract the laws of nature,
The scene which for the last thirty years has
been acting on the stage ofill fated Europe,is
but the introduction to a deeper_ draiiia, in
which systems tnust change, and empires‘
vanish.

But these causes, which strike governments
to the root, do not operate on ours. And
those very reasons, by which we infer the in-
stability ofthe kingdoms of the old world,
lead us to calculate on our own permanency.
Agovernment which has had a natural growth,
in which the people are enlightened, and pos-
sess their rights, may standindefinitely while
that people are moral. Such a government
is ours; and we look to the christian religion,
with a blessing front its Divine, Author, as a
means of saving us from that abyss of vice and
corruption, which has overwhelmed the re-
publics of former times. Would to God, that
our legislators, sensible of our real interest,
would improve to the titntost this chief stip-
port of our national existence. Who then
shall dare predict the instability of our Re-
public? Who can say that our coitstitution
may not be as durable as the soil it blesses ?
or that, till the close of time, the peasant shall
not tread the base of otii Allegany and Rocky
Mountains, free as the west wind that sweeps
their summits?

In calculating on the future glory of our
country, we are first struck with the rapidity
ofits growth. During the forty-tiitie years
ofour independence, our populationhas in-

make it equal the tltroiiging millions of Chi-
na: and our settlements have travelled west-
ward ata rate, which, in the same period.
would reach the Pacific. At the time of our
revolution, the western limit of Pennsylvania
was part ofthe boundary of the United States.
There are now westward of that, four large"
and flourishing states, the population of one
of which ranks fourth in the Union. In a
Geography printed at London, in 1772, are
the following particulars respecting the city
of New-York. “It lies at the south end of
“ Manhattan Islaitd: its streets, which do not
“ rtin straight, nor parallel to each other, on
“ account of the ground being unevett, are
“ in most places paved, and planted with rows
“ oftrees. which afford a very agreeable shade
“ in stimmcr. The city is about a mile long,
“ and aboutoue third of a mile broad on a
“ tiieaii, and is supposed to eoittain about
“ 14,000 inhabitants :”-—a ntitnber, we may
P|'eS"m0s not greatly exceeding its present
increase in a single year. It is said, that on
the ground where Cinciituati now stands, the
news of the first blood sltcd at Lexington
reached a party ofhunters far in the wilder-,
ncss. Such is the contrast ofhalfa century.
The foreign hero of otir country, as he
passed dowit the Ohio, iutist have gazed on
our spreading population, our solitudcs start-
ing into life, with incredulous bewilderment.
Those extensive regions, which have been
planted with intelligence and happiness dur-
ing his abode in the Austrian dungeon nitist,
to hitn, have realized the enchatttiiteiits ofait
Arabian legend,tvhere cities and palaces arise,
and empires change, in the progress of a sitt-
gle night. How vast, ltow mighty, tlten must
be our republic after a growth oftwo centu-
ries. Itiiagiiiatioii startles at the thought.-
The mighty empires ofantiqtiity, with all their
weight ofcoitqtiest, and the proudest struc-
tures of modern times, dwindle into nothing,
One vast expanse ofcultivated life,otie bound-
less ocean of intellectual being, overwhelms
our understanding. Could the physical fea-
tures of our country be endtied with life, how
should the Pacific then gaze with wonder at
the new risen millions that throng her shores,
and Missouri, rising from his long desert
banks, shoot a cry of extiltation at the glory
of this western world.

But wealth and power, will not be our only
boast. Freedom is the soil in which II("ll‘lSlleS
all that is great and good in the ltuntan char-
acter. The mind of man is so intimately u-
nited with the body, as to take its turn ofsen-
titnent, in a great degree, from its earthly as-
sociate. It matters little whether the body be
enslaved to the pursuit of wealth, to the task-
master, or the despot; the thoughts nittst be
low and grovellintr. The mind cannot burst
the fetters oftlte body, more than the body,
those oftlte tyrant. Restrained, those ener-
gtes are paralized, which, unimpeded, become
the generous sensibility, the aspiring tltought:
--like the element, which, when coufiiied by
definite and impassable bounds, becomes stag-
nant and powerless, but when left to run its
race of freedoiit, is the mountain torrent.-
Afidmot only the inspiration, but the occasion
also,‘for the exercise ofgenius, is the offspring
of freedom. The unrivalled eloquence ofthe
ancients, was no less owing to the ciréufh-
stances under which they spoke, than to the
liberty in which they had been educated.-
Deniostltenes knew that the existence ofa
war, and perhaps the fate of Greece, depend-
ed ou his own power of persuading the Athe-
njans, and not on the will ofa despot. Hence
those torrents ofeloquence which more effec-
tually resisted the ariities of Philip, than all
the military strength of Athens. Even the
freedom of the Roman government appears
too circumscribed for the boundless exercise
of genius : and the finest talents and happiest
efforts of man ltave been prostituted to the
most servile and disgusting flattery of the
EnipeiorAogustus and his minister Mecaenas.

It prottiises to add mtich to the glory of our
country, that genius can here make its own
way to eminence. Tltere ltave been many
remarkable minds,that. from the rank oftheir
birth, have lived and died in unavoidable ob-
scurity: many a Tully, whose eloquence was
never heard beyond the village circle; and
many a Newton, whose only speculations eat
the works of nature, have been as he follow-
ed his flocks. Here, the field of di inclion
with its numerous avenues is throw open to
all; and to enter it,needs but the honest heart,
the penetrating and persevering mind. Hotv
many a luniiuary in the firmament of science
may thus be saved from extinction, to add to
the glory of our nation, and to enlighten the
world.

 

is the prevalence of a common language, ,a-
mongst so numerous and, intelligent a people.
From the top of MotInt_Parnasstis,, the cele-
brated resideiice of the nitises, might be, seen
almost the whole extent of the Grecian lan-
guage. In Rome, while their language was
circumscribed to a small extent of territory,
few could read, and fewer still bad taste suffi-
cient to encourage genius. The boasted _wi_s_-
dom ofthe Roman Senators did-not generally
exceed that ofthe peasantry of New England.
In our country so numerous will be the class
of intelligent readers, that the patronage of a
popular author, from the mere sale of his
work, must exceed the support ever given by
a government to men ofgenius. And iftn'e_n-
tal effort bears any proportion to the dignity
of the occasion, we mtist stand unrivalled,—-
The Speaker in the Hall of Congress will dis-
cuss an extent of interest never before equal-
led. He utters his voice and is heard by the
great mass of our population from the Atlan-
tic to the -Pacific. The ancient poets tell us
ofa land ofhappy fields, and peaceful islands,
where Ceres should pour forth her bounties,
and no footsteps of an_invader intrude: a re-
gion which Jupiter had selected for a free and
pious race beyond the restless ocean. If the
bare thought of such a subject fired the muse
of Horace, surely the future glory oftbese U-
nited States must be sting in no vulgar strains.

These are not the suggestions or conjectur-
al speculation. They are future‘ probabilities,
which are-already fast verifying. The trans-
atlantic spectators of our progress may affect
to sneer, but they cannot deny our prosperity.
Those slanders which have been poured upon
its from our mother country are not to be no-
ticed. They must fall tiiifelt from the rising
glories of our republic, like dew-drops frotn
the lion’s matte. What then, Antericans,
ought to be otir feelings? What our conduct?
lfthe inhabitant of Lapland, as he meets the
surges ofthe wintry north, thanks heaven for
his frozen climate; and the humble African
blesses the genius of his scorching deserts,tltat
he was born in Congo ;. let us be grateful to
heaveri for our distinguished blessings, and
hononrtlte memory of our heroic, suffering
fathers, who have left us this birth-right of
GLORY, PEACE, and INDEPENDENCE.

 

FOURTH OF JULY AT N. YORK.

New-Yonx, Jomr 6.

The 49th Anniversary ofthe Inde endence
ofthe United States, was celebrat d in this
city with unusualjoy and splendor. The day
was remarkably fine for theceremonies, and
the city was tlironged with more than an hun
dred thousand strangers who partook in the
festjvities. Early in the morning, General
LAFAYETTE crossed to Brooklyn, where he
was received in an appropriate style by the
Masonic Lodges and military, and assisted in
laying the corner stone ofthe Apprentices
Library, and returning he was waited upon‘
by the committee appointed by the Corpora
tion, and coiidttcted to the City Hall, where
he was received by the Members ofthe Com-
mon Council, and the Cincinnati Society.-
He was next introduced to the members of
the Senate, who received him standing After
taking a seat which was prepared for ltiin, Mr.
Taltnadge, President‘ oftlte Senate, rose and
addressed him as follows :— '

GENERAL LAFAYETTE,—-The Senate of
this State, now assembled as a Court oftiltim-
ate Appeal, have directed rue, on their behalf
and in behalfofthe people ofthis State,whoin
we represent, to congratulate you on your
safe rettiru to this city, and to tender to you
renewed assurances of high respect.

Gratitude for your public services has been
evinced from all classes ofsociety——it is steady
and ttnceasing ; and will, as it has heretofore,
attend you in every vicissitude oflife. But
your presence with its on the day ofthis au-
niversary, recalls scenes which have passed,
and awakens all our sensibilities.

In the helpless infancy of our country, and

before it had obtained a place amongst the
nations of the earth ; and when we were op.
pr.essed and borne down with the strong hand
of tyranny, you catiie to our succor, bringing
to us relief. You generously putyour life and
fortune upon the cause of our country. You
aided our fathers to establish that independ-
ence, the jubilee of which we have this day
assembled to cotninemorate. ,
_ In the pride ofyour youth, and in the vig-
or of tiianhood, you catne clad in armor to
support our just cause, attd partake in the
perils ofour fathers—-it is their cliildren’sjoy
in this day oftheir strength and prosperity,
and when the veil of time is closing on the
fullness ofyotir years, to acknowledge you as
their benefactor. Our mothers taught us in
infancy to lisp your name ; our fathers have
instructed its to emulate your example.

Your recent tour throughout this country
has enabled you to witness the progress of'im-
provenient ; aitd to contrast in your recollec-
tion otir present t'- ith our past condition. The
relative condition of a people enslaved, or a
people in the full enjoyment of freedom, is
here strongly exemplified. The wilderness
has vanished before the arm of independent
industry. The ignorance ofsubjects has giv-
en way to the intelligence offreemcn. Plen-
ty has taken the place of want. Prosperity
andstrength have been substituted for pover-
ty and weakness. The two millions and a half
of subjects, whom you came to enfranchise,
and to aid in the day of their adversity, now
count about eleven millions ofhardy freemen,
all uniting, with one accord, in this celebra-
tion. In alluding to the progress of improve-
iiteiit, it will not be forgotten, that the Man-
ELF. HALL in which we are now assembled,
an edifice splendid, even as a monument of
the arts, and which the growth ofthis city has
already left short of its centre ; occupies the.

place which was a common waste ivithout the
eity' when you toiled in our cause :‘ and was
then used as an open field upon which merce-
nary troops were marshalled and sent forth
in battle, against our fathers. _
Such is the character ofthe blessings which
flow frotn freedom--such are some of the re-
sults proceeding from that independence, and
those republican institutions, which we enjoy,
and_ which yoti assisted to,establtsh, and to

An_other ac’ vantage,peculiar to our country, ,

\

which you first ‘sealed your devotion: With 3

von. viii. libido, ,

portion of your blood at the Braridywine. It
was.the participation in such a cause, and.the
perform_ai_ice of such deeds, by which -you
merited the gratitude and .gait_ie_d the devoted
_friendship__of_tbis nation. That friendship has
attended you in every. stibsequent event of
your life, and it_ has ever found you, _in the
hour of tetnptatpion and trial,‘ faithful to liber-'
ty‘, good order an a government of laws.---
The enthusiasm _ofyovtth_.might_ have attract-
ed you to our cause ; the firmness ofmanhood
and the spirit to withstand oppression, might
have sustained you when suffering in the pris-
on of Olmutz ; but a virtuous love of rational
liberty, could alone haveenabléd you to resist
the temptations of power, and thg workings
of aiiibition,,'when a mighty .Bevolut_ion had
placed you at the _head of the National Guard;
of Fljance, and invited you to wield the power
‘of that wonderful people. i , _ I H _,

It was then that danger awaited_you.—'-It
was then, ihat the love of _princip_le prevailed
over the love of pdwer—and virtue triumphed
over ambition. I _ N 4

It is at suc_h moments, in the pbssession of
power and apparent prosperity, when huinan
weakness is most .exposed. It was in such
moments w_hen a Caesar, a Napoleon, 2a"rid_an,-_

 

a Washington, at Lafayette and a Bolivar tri- -
umphed ! j - _ L
Gen. LAr'n'ri:'r'rv: immediately replied iii.
the followiitg terms: _ ‘ “
felt gratification, btf this solemn anniversary’
day, to be able to celebrate the joyfuljuhilee
in this great and good city of New York ;—
where, for the first time after an absence 0‘

where were begun, near it months since, that
series ofwelcomes from the American people,
which will fill every one ofthe remaining days
and the last instant of my life,‘ with a most
lively sense of gratitude and delight. .
Now, sir, that gratification is completed,

Senate my profound acknowledgments for th'a
favours bestowed upon me by the two branch-
es of the Legislature, and to receive from
them those lilghly valued marks of their ap-
probation and friendsl_ti_p, expressed by you,
sir, in so kind and flattering terms, for which
I beg you‘, Mr.President, and all nfyo‘u,’gen-
tlemen, to accept my warm and respectful
thanks.

The Fourth ofluly has been the era of 35
new social order. hitherto unexainpled, and
founded on the sovereignty ofthe people—on
the plain rights of niati-—on the practice of
unalloyed self government. Its results have
exceeded the most sanguine expectations—its
problem has been happily and practically sol-
ved—and another problem remains to be sol-
ved : how long other nations will prefer pay-
ing, at an immense price, the aristocracy and
despotism of a few privileged oppressors, to
the blessings of freedom and equal rights,
under economical and truly representative '
institutions ?

At every step of my visit thro’ the twenty-
fotir United States, on which you are pleased
to congratulate me, I have had to. admire
wonders of creation and iinproveinent: No
where can they be ntore conspicuousthan in
the state of New York, in the prodigious pro-
gress of this city. Those western parts,which
I had left a wilderness, I have found covered
with flourislting towns,highly eitltivated farms,
active factories, and intersected by the admir-
able canal, already become the communica-
tion of an imrriense trade—-all in consequence
ofindependence, and a republican spirit.

No higher honor could be bestowed on me
than to have associated my name, to the two
great names you have mentioned. To the

Of the other, no man can be a more exalted
admirer than Iain ; and permit me to observe,
that what my friends and myself have only
attempted in the other hemisphere, has been
in South America, and under the liberating
auspicies of his talents and virtue, happily ef-
fectuated. But in every testimony frotn the
people of this state, and their representatives,
I have to acknowledge a benevolent kindness,
which, ifit exceeds my merits, is equalled by
the sentiments of my everlasting devotion, re-
spect and gratitude.

‘After leaving the Senate Chamber, Gener-
al Lafayette reviewed the troops in the Park.
In the afternoon he visited the Cincinnati So-
ciety at their Hall, and walked with them in
procession .to the City Hall, where he dined ‘
with the Common Council. In the evening
he visited the Park Theatre and Castle Gar-
den. The military marched thro’ our princi-
pal streets ma king a splendid appearaiice.—
_The different Mechanic Societies moved in
procession displaying banners accompanied
with music. The ship-carpenters exhibited
a model ofa line ofbattle ship, thirty feet in
length, drawn by ten large horses; which had
a good effect. _ ’

The numerous fire companies made a most
imposing and brilliant display. After attend-
ing an oration by the Rev. Dr. Cummings, in
the Middle Dutch Church, the procession
passed up Broadway to the Park, and saluted
by a wave of banners, Gen. Lafayette, who
stood in front of the City Hall, attended by
the Mayor and,_C,orporation, to review them.
Each compatifillore in front a splendid ban-
ner of blue, pu'i‘ple or white silk, adorned with
the richest drapery, and paintedwith allego-
rical figures, devices and appropriate mottos.
In the centre of several of the companies, was
carried a beautiful model of a fire engine, and
at intervals various instruments used at fire
were borne aloft in glittering array. "
The American" remarks: Thus has passed
the 49th Anniversary of a day, the ‘mighty
consequences of which to utiborn millions,ev-
ery revolving year but serves to enhance; and
make more manifest. On this dayj,49-years
ago, the continent of Americ_t!f’w_g.A’t_t‘:otte‘:-vast
feudal possession of ’Europe‘-Kdoing‘ homage

to, and receiving the law from, distant mass ‘-
ters. Now there is comparatively but a cor: _._

j tier on the Aniericttii continent, that owns" ya.‘ , '

Iturbide fell ! It was in such mo'nients_ wheti" fr 7

.a.I

It is to me, sir, an inexpressihle, but deeply ‘_, _

forty years, I have enjoyed the happiness to f___;
find myself again on Atnerican ground ;'anti ‘ 3

when I am admitted to appear before this re-" ,_
spected body to offer to the ‘gentlemen of the ’ '_ -’ "

first of them, sir, whose place is above all men,-,.—.._.
in my filial heart, my principal boast is, to 
have been an adopted son, a faithful disciple. -: