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countrymen, should be cherished in the heart of every citizen, to the latest generation. For his paternal counsels would seem to be not merely offspring of wisdom and foresight, but the voice of prophecy, foretelling events, and warning us of the evils to come." And again, "It is impossible to look on the consequences that would inevitably follow the destruction of this government, and not feel indignant when we hear cold calculations about the value of the Union."
Let us visit Ashland, and converse with the prince of western sages and orators--he who "would rather be right than president"--and receive from his own eloquent lips the declaration that "a warning voice hath come up from the grave Washington, advising congress to beware, to pause, to reflect, before they lend themselves to any purposes which shall destroy that union which was cemented by his exertion and example. Go, my countrymen, to Marshfleld, and hear the great expounder of the constitution declare, 'I range myself under the banners of that party whose principles and practice are most calculated to uphold the constitution, and perpetuate our glorious Union.'"
Friends, Americans, countrymen, I plead this day the cause of humanity, the cause of untrammeled religious liberty, the cause of constitutional freedom. Let us ever remember the great truths and principles on which our system of government rests; and especially let us teach them to those who shall shortly take our places upon the great theater of human action.
And to you, young ladies, who are the accredited representatives of the thirty-one states of the Union on this interesting occasion, permit me to say, that the several states you have the distinguished honor of representing, are, we trust, and of right ought to be, firmly bound together by all the considerations of a sisterhood cemented by a common ancestry, a common blood, a common language, a common aim and a common destiny; and your influence is invoked for the preservation of this Union. Frown then from the social circle in which you move all who may treasonably suggest its dissolution. And when your hearts are wooed and your hands solicited, contract alliances with none who may have the germ of disloyalty to this Union rankling in their breast, for be assured that he who would disregard the claims of his country, for any cause, would disregard yours; he who would betray his country would betray you; he who would neglect his country's interests, would neglect yours; he who would abandon this Union, would abandon you. May your patriotism as exhibited by your attachment to the Union, be equaled only by the elevated tone of your piety and virtue, and the spotless purity of your reputation.
Fellow citizens, let us celebrate this anniversary of American independence as best becomes the descendants of so noble an ancestry, using it for refreshing our memories relative to its cost, for rekindling the fires of freedom (which burned so brilliantly in days of yore) in our hearts, in order that thereby we may be fully prepared to appreciate the sentiment that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." And with the recurrence of every anniversary, may our political union be more firmly cemented, and the hearts of the people of this great republic more thoroughly united.
Fellow Citizens:--Though born upon foreign soil I do not hesitate in commemorating the birthday of American independence, upon an equal footing with native citizens. I am justified by the fact that one-eighth of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Europeans by birth, but Americans in spirit. No, I feel not only justified, but I consider it as a duty of the native of Holland,