The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1843-06-12

New YoRk, June 8, 1913.


this letter TO the record of some ideas, which
have presented themselves in my musings upon
the proposed celebration al Bunker Hilf IL
is subject worthy Of pen much more power
ful than mine--of mind endowed by nature
and enriched by education TO an extent far be-
yond any Thing ! can boast, and yet there IS
something stirring within me TO which would
fam give utterance
"Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus yndice nodus."
Does il not, indeed, appear as though kind
Providence was about TO interfere and cut the
knot by which the public mind has been too long
lied down 10 the meuln" and teum" routine,
and awaken TO higher and holer sensations
Is il not something higher than mere human
thoughts that, in this physical age, general
impulse should spring up TO assemble around
the sacred spot consecrated by the blood VIII ch
first flow ] la the cause of a nations free dom
something Of more than human agency that has
kindIed up anew latent spark on the altar OF
every heart, and bid ii burn airesh lest it should
be smolhered and extinguished by too sordid
devotion to the pursuit Of gain, as though that
were the chiefesl good?
Melhnks hear a voice of the tomb, calling
upon us TO look back TO the lime when few
noble spirits dared the attempt TO burst the
chains of colonial servilude and embark in a
doubtful contest with the disc plined troops Of
mighty monarch who till then had exercised an
unbounded sway over their destlnies to com
pare This scattered few with the mighty throng
Of freemen who are now Fastening 10 celebrate
the completion Of pround monument 10 perpe-
tuate the noble deed
Shall we not listen to its sacred counsel aud
call 10 mind the solemn truth ha, nothing but
that strength which is brought forth by close,
a paterna union in common and glorious
cause could have preva led 10 found mighty
empire from so hazardous a commencement
What would have been the fate of this noble
Republic had not all selfish considerations given
way to the common weal2 When we reflect
upon the fearful odds against which our sires
had 10 contend, can we doubt that the favor Of
the God of battles alone could have crowned
them with success? Are these hallowed feel
ings sufficiently rife among US? Where and
when in these degenerate days have we seen an
evidence Of the existence Of that spirit Of pa
trioism, that ardor of soul 10 rush foremost to
the bloody field of The unequal conquest, where
that fervor in the righteous cause of freedom
and of man that held The risk Of life as naught
compared with the mighty impulse, which
swelled the bosoms of the martyrs doomed 10
die, and TO bedew the soil of that well fought
field with their blood 2 Alas how do the in
glorious pursuits, the discords and the sirifes OF
the present day lessen as in the comparison
Shall il be said that the descendants of those
lofty spirits who first proclaimed the glorious
truth that man should thencefor,h be the arbter
of his own destiny, are unworthy Of their sires
Is the very prosperity which has so penti-
fully flowed from the deeds we are about 10 eel.
citrate, TO debase our nature, and sink
supineness and unworthy jealoLsirs forbid il
Haven!
May the lofty aspirations, which the bare
thought Of that hallowed field of honor and re-
nown is SO well calculated to call forth, sink deep
into the hearts OF this People, and may those
whose good fortune tshall be To be pr esent al that
august ceremony, there renew their purpose 10
sustain, 10y every sacrifice, those holy and i'm
mortal truths which God in his mercy 10 man
kind spread abroad among the Inhabitants of he
earth at that evtntful period Of nations birth |
! AIN led into his strain from fear, Of which
cannot dispossess myself, that see in the mo-
raj atmosphere Of the present day, clouds which
pouend tempest in our political world which
nothing but reverence 10 that chivalrOus spirit,
that sef-sacr6cing concession, and that devo
ton to principle which carried our ancestors
through their mighty struggle, can avert or as
suage.
G d grant that ay be in err, T, and tl.at the
evil may not reach us but sure | am that TO
avert it, we must not look for miracles we must
go back TO first principles, from which we have
ben carried away by those passions and preiu-
dices which will ever riot most in Unitarian
age. We have been hurried on with rapidiy
too great in our desire to become 100 suddenly
rich, and have overshot the mark Let US, then,
| sag, pause, and 60 back TO first principle, for
IL is these alone that can preserve us from the
common fate Of nalions-ihese alone that can
uphold US ia the hour of trial, which sooner or
later must come upon u'.
conclude, therefore, as commenced, with
a most ardent and religious hope, that the cee-
bration about to take place at Bunker Hill may
real re TO our whole people con- ecralion not Of
a marble monument, which time and the elements
may crumbe into decay, but u those principles
of justice aud equal rights which, when "the
stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim
with age. all nature sink into ear" shall -four
ish in immortal truth, unhurt amidst "the war
of elements, the wreck Of matter, and the crush
of word.."
Anxiety is on tiptoe for the arrival of the
President, for whose cordial reception no eA-
pense will be sTsred, and we are all PRAYING for