Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-07-15

Ie.,in.." Tha, same Power, in short, it was,
which in the beginning said, Let there De
light, and there was lights" also SAID, LEI 'his
oppressed people be free; and il was SO, and was
good. r..
wise and virtuous Assembly who, in the name
of the good people oflhese colonies, pronounced
US free and independent, and pligh. thereto
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred no
pors! And still dearer gratitude and thanks 10
those heroic spirits who, by their oiood' ,hel
treasure and their sacred honors, redeemed the
loflv pledge! Nor can it be that we shall ever
cease 10 celebrate with grateful onthems, aho
with never ending praise, the goodness OF 'na'
Mysterious Providence which was WIN US !"
,hr long and stormy night Of the Revolution,
and which hath mode and preserved US i Ma
ton.
Il were not meet fellow citizens, that should
invade The province OF the historian so far as TO
recount the battles, the tolls, the pIlva'ions,
and the manifold pains and distresses, whether
of mind, b. DIV, or estate, which The Americans
sus,aine.! in their Revolutionary conflict were
to do this, il would but dissolve tie 'enderes'
feelings Of your nature. and cause your eyes 10
stream tears in all The extacies of feeling But
herein Won mus, read and understand for your
:, Ives Nor is il meet iha, should irespass
on the field OF the biographer, by spreading be,
| fore YOU The characters and achievements OF
| those indivdu Is who led the way In the pains
| of glory, civil or military. Their names are
| rec orded in never dying characters, and shan
live as long as time itself shall last. During
his orrnv and evrnful"period, often did the
Genius of Am rican Liberty look, with down
cast yes and Gismay, on the fearful odds ar
rayed against US. Her spirit was oil trodden
] 4 ntId
be ,rodden out. At length, after some partial
successes, and numerous heavy and afhictng
dsa,,ers-sftt enduring every hardship ard
suffering which can be- conceIved-after rivers
of blood had been sized. unnumbered families
made desola,e, the Government, impoverished,
the soil neglected, or swept Of its predictions,
and The earth plrn,ifuily bedrwed with the tears
of he pinng widow and her orphan: in short,
after one Of the most protracied and disastrous
vars which ever bowed down the souls and bo-
dies of any people, the Americans, at last, as
sisted by the French trooES, on the l9th OF
October, 1881, al Yo, ktown, in Virginia, cap
tured III army Of Lord CORVALLIS, which 50
reiuked he hopes and calculations Of our enc
nv. that, III the Faj following, the British
Crown acknowledged, al Paris, the indeprn-
dence and SOW resgnly Of the United States oil
America, anh renowned, forever, all right, title,
and dominion over Us. Fellow citizens, wha'
an important, what glorious event was This!
Every scheme If bondage had now failed; and
Oppres sion, 10 longer able to find resting
place upon our snnrrs, fed away upon the
wings Of the wind. For eight long years had
our fathers watched and toilcd in Fl Ids OF
fa 9r ;se sl2q9A na and Ss ealnes %,
" res, from their labors." What language
shall resound-whar words shall proclaim, in
adequate, or even in flint conc eplion-tbe
praises Of hose who planned and who achieved
the glorious political redemption which we
have this day assembled to celebrate! WhaI
tribute of gratitude and vener alton shall rise to
the memories Of those good men who have left
! US such a dear hough, and inesimabIe inherit
ance! Their lives, it is true, have most Of
them, ended-'heir days on earth have been
numbered their moral remains have been
committed TO the parent dusl,-for they were
but so ourners here, as all their fat hers before
them were: but their fame and precious deeds
! have survived The cold hand Of death, and Shall
! be fondly cherished, in the innermost heart of
the American People, so long as Freedom her.
| self shall crown our happy land with her blcs.
sings:
How sleep the brave, who sink to rest,
BY all their country's wishes bes.
When Spring, with dew, fingers cold,
Returns, to seek their haIlowed mould,
! She there shall dress sweeter sod,
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
There shall the morn her earliest tears bestow,
There the first roses OF the year shall blow"
Our Independence achieved, il is no, my pro-
vince to delinea'e TO you the happy Govern
men' which was reared over US; a Government
OF Confedera'cd Sovereign States. founded on
the immurabe principles Of Justice and equal
| rights, linked in love-and whatever Sigh, de-
frc,T il may posse SIS, is YET framed with wisdom
and felicity; Gov rnmrnt, not Of one or Of
few, but Of the People-equally guarding
against the two opposite extremes of licen,ious.
ness and despotism. When We look back INFO
the history Of political man, alas! how l,tIe do
we hnd in the frame and administration Of iyil
poli,y 10 approve or sanction! Scarcely green
spot shows itself on The waste Of ages, upon
which the eye can rest with even tolerabIe ss.
.isfaciion: Pries'craft, ambition, tyranny, and