HAIL, INDEPENDENCE! fair daughter of heaven, hail! Welcome, thrice welcome, to the temple of thy Votaries! This is thy natal day;—the anniversary of thy glorious birth. Sacred be its memory to every son of liberty! May thine altars this day smoke with the purest incense; and may one genial spark of thy hallowed fire, animate every bosom, from ST. LAWRENCE to the MEXIC gulph! Sacred be the memory of this day to every true AMERICAN; sacred and dear be its memory to YOU, illustrious Patriots! Men! Brethren! and Fathers!

Two and twenty years have this day elapsed, since FREEDOM, descending from her native skies, established her residence in this western world. Often had she ap­peared to the rude children of Humanity, in the e [...]st; long had she struggled, with tyrants and usurpers, des­pots, and demagogues: but, like NOAH's returning dove, she found no rest for the sole of her foot, till, reject­ed, persecuted, exiled, and forlorn, she sought an asy­lum in the wilds of America. And, even here, at first, the celestial Stranger, like the blessed AUTHOR of our holy religion, upon his first entrance into the world, found but few followers and disciples. Her votaries, like his, were not the dependents of tyrannic pride, or courtly favour; but her empire, growing like his, and extending with years, will, one day, become wide as the world and durable as time.

Man, in a pure state of Nature, is the equal of man. Free and uncontrolled, he knows no slave but the brute; he owns no lord, but his God. That liberty and equality are the natural heritage of man, uncon [...]ed by social compact, is the proper creed of every freeman. But, that the full enjoyment of these rights, [...] consid­ered, [Page 4] is requisite in society, in order to produce the greatest possible individual happiness, is, by no means, admissible. It is a utopean idea, the chimera of enthu­siasts, the bane of anarchists, and the fantom of fools. Nature has implanted, in the bosom of all her sons, a love of freedom; but, inseparable from this love of freedom, we also find, a universal thirst of domination. Hence we discover, in combinations for society, a mu­tual jealousy and ambition, which naturally tend to an encroachment on the rights of others. Hence arise the necessity of government and subordination; and hence the necessity of surrendering to community a part of our natural rights and privileges, in order to ensure the protection and enjoyment of the rest.

How far individual rights and privileges are to be sac­rificed for the public good; that is, how far natural liberty must be surrendered, and how far retained, so as to secure the citizen from lawless depredation, on the one hand, and from tyrannic sway, on the other, has been a subject of long discussion. This is the great question in politics. A want of this grand desideratum, has proved the Scylla and Charybdis, so dreadfully fatal to political mariners. National liberty has ever been, either shipwrecked upon the rock of despotism, or fatally ingulphed in the vortex of licentiousness.

Mankind, terrified into submission by a rod of i­ron, have ever bowed the neck to the yoke of tyranny, or have been flattered and betrayed, by the blasphem­ous mockery of designing villains; who, like CROMWELL or ROBERSPIERE, with the sacred name of liberty, on their tongues, have been, unsuspectedly, rivetting the chains of galling slavery.

The balance of power, in the great scale of nations, has, long since, been weighed with mathematical preci­sion, and, by political calculators, accurately known; but the balance, or proper medium, between tyranny and licentiousness, has been but little studied, and much less [Page 5] understood. The weight has always been preponderat­ing towards one or the other of the two extremes. In­cessant has been the struggle between right and prerog­ative, from the days of NIMROD, to the present period; till the earth has become enriched with human slaugh­ter, and the whole eastern continent, one great field of blood.

The short existence of the ancient republics of the east, was undoubtedly owing, in a great degree, to a want of this balance of authority; which can be, no way, produced, but by throwing such a quantum of pow­er, into the different brances or departments of gov­ernment, as will, by the operation of proper checks, secure the public weal, and, at the same time, pre­serve the liberty of individuals.

It cannot be denied, that a pure democracy is often attended with evils, which, in their consequences, are more unhappy for the people, than a monarchical des­potism. A despot may be wise and virtuous; the na­tion may then be flourishing and the people happy. But a democracy is a thousand headed monster, which, looking different ways, must have different objects; and, while an union of interests, is attempted, and the public weal contemplated, parties spring up, like hy­dras, on every side, the state becomes tottering and weak, intestine commotions are fomented, foreign in­fluence prevails, and the great body of the people fall a certain prey, to the intrigues of the wicked, and designs of the ambitious. Thus, from the zenith of natural liberty, they are suddenly plunged into the fathomless depths of slavery and wretchedness. Hence the neces­sity of energy and stability in government. Hence the necessity of guarding equally against the evils of licen­tiousness, and the grasp of tyranny. These are the two grand enemies of civil liberty; and the perfection of human government consists in its being so constituted and constructed, as to preclude the one, without intro­ducing [Page 6] the other; adapted to the purpose of giving the most perfect security for the enjoyment of life and pro­perty, with the greatest possible degree of personal lib­erty and rational freedom. This can never happen, but in a mixt, a representative, and an elective government. First, it must be mixt; that is, it must partake, in a certain degree, of the nature of a monarchy, of an aris­tocracy, and of a democracy. These three simple gov­ernments, being thus blended in one, will naturally op­erate as a mutual check upon each other; and, if prop­erly balanced, produce such a temperament, as will counterpoise any attempt at encroachment, or usurpa­tion. Secondly, it must be representative—so that every order and class of men may be entitled to their proper share of weight and influence in the government, or they can never be said to enjoy equal rights and privileges. They must be heard, either by themselves or their proxies; in short, they must be represented. Lastly, it must be elective, else, how can it be free? Yes, it must be elective, and every citizen must have a voice in the election. For, till virtues and talents be­come hereditary, the idea of hereditary succession, in a free government, is chimerical and absurd. If we cast our eyes over the vast map of nations, we shall find, that those people have enjoyed the most political glory and individual happiness, where the model of their gov­ernment has most nearly approximated this point of perfection.

Government seems, originally, to have been of the patriarchal kind; and this government being despotic, it is easy to conceive, that a number of families, or tribes, united under one common leader, would still pre­serve the same tone of despotism. So long as nations remain in a state of barbarism, and the ambition of their chief, instead of being confined within the narrow cir­cle of pride and self-enjoyment, is extended to the good and happiness of his subjects, so long, perhaps, this go­vernment may be best adapted to the genius, manners, [Page 7] and customs of the people. But when monarchies be­come large and wealthy, their leaders proud, rapacious, voluptuous, and indolent; the people poor, oppressed, effeminate, and wretched; then it is, that the wise and enlighten'd will seek a reform; then it is, that the restless and ambitious will attempt revolutions; then it is, that the hapless monarch, like the late unfortunate LEWIS of France, must expiate the crime of being born to a throne, by the axe of the nation, or the dagger of the assassin.

From the corruptions of monarchy and the evils of Despotism, originated experiments in the opposite ex­treme. Released from the snackles of slavery men na­turally vibrate into the excess of licentiousness. Hence the origin of Democracy or popular governments. These again being found equally remote from true rational li­berty, government has been in a constant state of fluc­tuation; vibrating more or less, according to the varia­tion of manners, customs, and education from one extreme towards the other, for three thousand years. Hence the idea, before suggested, of a mixt government, which, if rightly balanced, embraces the true interests of society, and gives every individual citizen his true weight and importance, in the great scale of social existence.

Many of the present European governments, growing out of the ruins of the old feudal system, partake, in a greater or less degree, of this mixt form. Of this kind was the ancient Spartan government, given by the great LYCURGUS, under which that republic so long subsist­ed and so eminently flourished. Of all the moderns, none seem to have had so perfect an idea of rational li­berty, connected with a firm, efficient, and stable gov­ernment, tho' it still retains the monarchical form, as our venerable forefathers, the people of England. But even there, is not, humanity shocked, with the hideous defor­mity of her political features? Does she not appear, in an insolent and effeminate dotage, with Corruption on her right hand, and Oppression on her left; with the [Page 8] frightful ghosts of Public Credit, and National Glory▪ before her eyes, and Ruin at her heels? Where, then, shall we look for true national liberty, and individual happiness? Shall we find it in impoverished Holland?— Among the petty tyrants of Germany?—Among the effeminate, vanquished, and plundered slaves of Italy?— Shall we find it with the unlettered Greek, or the stupid Turk?—Among the martialled hosts of the Prussian Despot?—In the uncivilized woods of annihilated Po­land?—In the barbarous and benighted region of in­hospitable Russia?—Shall we find it under the abso­lute sway of Denmark or Sweden?—Shall we find it in the fire and faggots of Portugal and Spain?—Shall we traverse the Alps, and seek it on the mountains of the now divided and ruined Swiss?—Or, shall we not rather fly to France? To regenerated France—the boast­ed soil of Liberty—the grave of tyrants—the great cemetery of despotism and superstition?—Alas! it is not there!—

Where then, ah, where shall man seek an asylum, from the chill hand of penury, and the iron grasp of ty­ranny? Should he fly to the north, and tread the eter­nal snows of Greenland, 'tis not there!—Should be fly to the south, mid Afric's sable tribes, her barren wastes, and burning sands, it is not there!—Or, should be, on the beams of the morning, transport himself to the remotest corners of Asia, even there he would not find it; neither with the wild wandering Arab, nor the cold shivering Tartar; neither on the banks of the Euphrates, in the wilds of Indostan, nor among the countless vassals of despotic China! O Liberty! O Humanity! Fair Lib­erty! hast thou fled forever? Blessed Humanity! hast thou forsaken thy offspring? Is Liberty then not a re­ality? Is it but an empty name? The sport of tyrants? The dream of enthusiasts and false philosophers?— No—it is a REALITY!—and (blessed be GOD) it is. REALIZED in AMERICA—it is REALIZED by US!— Here liberty reigns, here the rights of man are under­stood, [Page 9] here they are respected and enjoyed! Here it is that we find a mixt, republican government, the most perfect in its nature, ever exhibited to the world. It is a government, which embraces all the true interests of society; it embraces the public weal and the private good. It ensures, as far as human governments can do it, the peaceable and uninterrupted enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. If it be found to be still imper­fect, it only proves it not to have been given by divine inspiration. Our constitution has concentred in it all the experience of ages; all the wisdom of the world. It is energetic without leading to tyranny; it is free without running to licentiousness. It provides equally against the lawless stride of usurpation, and the wild torrent of a giddy faction. It may truely be called the brightest constellation in the political firmament. It is the basis of our national glory, the sacred Palladium of our rights and privileges, of our liberty and indepen­dence! Under such a government, such an excellent constitution, what dreams of national grandeur, are too extravagant to be realised? In such a county, of such vast extent, of such extreme fertility, so diversified by cli­mate, so infinitely variegated by hills and vallies, rivers and lakes, that it seems an extensive Eden, one day to be­come the mart of nations, the emporium of the world.

Happy, happy Americans! Thrice happy, could you but know, could you but realize, what happiness is yours!

Were it possible to enhance your idea of the value and importance of your liberties, it could be, only, by reminding you of the price you paid for their purchase. American Independence was first proclaimed amid the din of arms and the groans of our dying brethren; its charter was engraven on the tablet of our country's bosom, by the point of the sword: It was written and sealed by our fathers' blood!

[Page 10]Go to the tombs of WARREN, of MONTGOMERY, of WOOSTER, of MERCER, of NASH, of DE CALBE! Consult their monuments: They will tell you, in language louder than the thunders of heaven, the worth of your birth-rights.

Needless will it be, at this time, to state to you the o­rigin of that cruel and unnatural war, which cut the ten­der ligaments of national connection, which severed the heartstrings of consanguinity, between Columbia and her mother Britain. The memory of the fatal cause is too deeply impressed on every American bosom, ever to be obliterated by the ravages of time. Yes, we were an infant nation, but just arisen from the cradle of parent­al care; with true filial affection and respect, we paid due submission to parental authority. But when the affection of the mother became converted to the avarice of a courtezan, we were wounded, we were stung to the heart! Yet, like a dutiful and aggrieved child, we looked up to Britain, with tears of humility, for protec­tion and mercy. Instead of the mild whispers of peace, or the soft soothings of maternal love, we were answered with the blazing of cannon and the thunders of war. We were then weak; but we soon waxed strong—for GOD was on our side! In short, when oppressed, we re­monstrated; when opposed, we resisted; when fought, we conquered. Our fathers drew the sword of justice, they burst the bands of slavery, and UNITED COLUMBIA was enrolled on the list of the empires of the world.

Are there any in this assembly, whose infant years will not carry them back to the direful scene of the Ameri­can war, or to the joyful period of its glorious issue? Are there any, whose ears have not been alarmed with the trump of battle, whose souls have not been petrified, with the horrid shrieks, the writhing tortures, the ago­nizing groans, of dying men. Are there any?—Go to the war-worn Soldier—he will point you out the burning spires of Charleston; He will present to your [Page 11] imagination, amid clouds of smoke and dust, the en [...]m­soned field of B [...]sk [...]rhill. He will shew you Fairfield in flames, Danbury in ruins, Newlondon in ashes, and [...] in blood! He will take you to the field of B [...]nning [...]n; he will shew you where his limbs were lopt away in bat­tle, and, with a tear in his eye, he will point you where his brother fell! He will lead you to the dreadful plains of Monmouth, he will point you to the rising mound, the awful cemetery of undistinguished heroes, whose blood had drenched the soil. There he will shew you the wretched mourner, bonding in tears, over the hallowed spot, where some darling friend, or hap­less lover, lies entombed in the arms of glory. Or, to shew you scenes still more affecting, he will take you to Port Griswold: He will there shew you an unfortu­nate garrison of the bravest heroes, the flower of the place, suddenly collected; fathers, brothers, and sons, resolutely defending their dearest rights, sacrificing their lives for their wives and children, till bravery itself could do no more, then, after throwing down their arms, barbarously butchered in cold blood; their valiant commander, the immortal [...]EDYARD, inhu­manly stabbed with his own sword; and a whole town left peopled, at once, with shrieking widows, distracted mothers, and weeping orphans. He will shew you—but I forbear—the theme is too af­fecting!

Thus it is, Men and Brethren! thus it is, that we have escaped from the iron chains of European bon­dage, to the full enjoyment of our dear-bought rights' to peace and plenty, to liberty and independence. Thus it is, through war and carnage, we have at length reached this American Canaan, a land, literally, flowing with milk and honey; the goodly heritage; the promised land of our fathers, who drove out the heathen before them, and pitched their tents on this side [...] mighty [...], which separates us from the political wilderness of the [...] world. Our MOSES was WASHINGTON, who [Page 12] conducted us hither, through a Red Sea of blood: who, under GOD, stood our sheltering cloud by day, and our pillar of fire by night. He it was, who, seated us be­neath the shadow of the peaceful olive, who, "converted our swords into plow-shares, and our spears into pruning-books." He it was, who gave us to eat of the trees of liberty, in this political paradise; whose forbidden fruit consists of the loaves and fishes of American Traitors, and French Jacobins, which, whoso eateth, merits lit­eral death and perdition! America seems to have been the favourite clime of heaven, where the GOD of na­ture has profusely scattered his richest bounties; where the grand manager of the universal theatre, may exhibit, in the closing scene of the great drama of time, the perfection of humanity.

But hark! I am awaked from this happy reverie, this elysian trance, by the blazing of cities, the roaring of cannon, the din of arms, and the groans of death!— Hah! whence these sounds of war, these tyrant threats, these daring outrages, these unparallelled in­sults, against the peace, the dignity, the safety, the hon­or, and independence, of our national union?

Shall Columbia bow the knee to tyrants? shall her sons pay tribute to France? shall they submit their necks to the cruel yoke of Gallic despotism? Alrea­dy has that imperious, that unprincipled nation, ex­tended her empire round half the globe. She has crossed the Rhine, she has traversed the Pyrennees, she has subjected the Alps, she has covered the Mediterra­nean, she has ascended the Hellespont, she has humbled Germany, silenced Prussia, and astonished Europe! She now crosses the ocean, plunders our commerce, insults our nation, abuses our government, violates our trea­ties, robs, murders, and enslaves our citizens! Good GOD! where is the spirit of '76? Where are our fa­thers who led the way to freedom? Alas! the still, small voice of their blood cries to us from the ground. And shall we, their offspring, want valor to defend our [Page 13] title to the legacy they left us? Shall we be fraterniz­ed like Holland? awed like Spain? plundered, like Ita­ly? butchered, like Switzerland? annihilated, like Ven­ice? Shall we become the prey and the sport of pre­tended patriots? Pretended patriots! who would sell their country, as JUDAS sold his master, for thirty piec­es of silver! Shall our lands be despoiled, our fields laid waste, our houses burnt, our property plunder­ed, our families carried captive, our wives— God forbid!—No, Americans, no! Let us scorn to be slaves! Let us rouse at once; unite and be free! Let us unsheath the sword of vengeance; let us prove ourselves the legitimate offspring of our ances­tors; let us prove ourselves worthy of the heritage they gave us. Else, in vain they have fought, in vain they have bled! Let us, this day, kneel at the altar of Lib­erty, and swear eternal fealty to national Independence! Let us swear to maintain our liberties entire, and to transmit them inviolate to posterity, or to die in their defence! In short, let us, like the great law-giver of Sparta, enjoin upon ourselves, and exact from posteri­ty, an eternal obligation, never to forsake the constitution of our country, till our venerable fathers, who signed and sealed it with their blood, shall arise from their tombs, [...] absolve us from the tie, by giving us a CHARTER TO BE SLAVES!