Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-07-12

was tnen fedo ny JAMES h. oVo"""ci hoi'
Next the lode to Science was sung by the
choir. Joseph T. Mills. Esq. Of Lancaster.
then proceeded, interrupted only by frequent
bursts ofinepressibe applause, in the delivery
Of the following sparkling and eloquent
GRAFTON.
We have met day, Fellow Citizens, 10 obed-
ehce TO a well known instinct oil common ma
iure which requires the commemoration OF tho day
that Heaven has commissioned TO bestow on us ex-
istencs or happiness, whether as nation or as in
dIviduals That law of our nature thai stirs ana
animatcs this entire nation to-day, 10 the same
that mpcls the hunblest individual 10 honor the
annual return OF that moment IN which he awoke
| from the sleep OF nothingness. Who so stupid as
TO forget the moment that quickened bim TO life,
and introduced MIN 10 this strange, magnificent
scene Of things and launched his Iail bark on the
ocean Of Time % buffet with hope and fear and
accident and good and evil! AID what men do
individually, they do collectively as nations
WHAT nation has ever forgotten its birth day-its
fortunate day bestowing Independence, Victory or
Freedom on the oppressed! Has the Hebrew ever
yet forgotten the memorable exode OF his ances
tors from Egyptl AS regularly as tie season re-
toms the scattered sons OF Jacob assemble and eat
10 nastc their mutton aud unsavened bread
with staff in hand aud travelling satchel on their
backs just ready to escape from Egypt. At mid
night the Angel Of Death spreads his wings on,
the blat;' again the wall Of The first born is ne ard,
and he hosts OF ha Lcrd break forth iron, bondage
Now soand the loud timbrel DER Egypts dark Sc a
Jehovah hath triumphed; his people are FREQ
nd shall the Jew forget TO celebrate the annivei
sary of such deliverance! No--ths unleavened
bread OF the passover Of itself is snicent to paste
the bes Of Israel together, and keep them separate
among the nations And shall the Greek fail 10
celebrate the day that saw Leonidas and his deyo-
ted baud stand by the door of Thermopylae ill
they choked It's entrance with hecatonbs of saugh-
tered foesl No--Greece even yet remembers
with pride the day that saw thu Persian Dupot
and his millions stunned and COMPOUNDED by the
trial thunderbolt of Spartan valor. Nor can we as
Americans forget our birth day, the 1th of July
'76, brightest the fullest OF hope, the most
picious to human liberty Of all the 365. DAY unto
day utleretl speech and the 1th Of July '76
speaks audiby TO the present llh. lis magic pow
banishes the present--the past regives--the
memories and men of rs arc unsepulchred-we
press their hands--we inspire their nigh purpose
aud deathless resolvo--are depressed, or elated
Just as the Revolutionary wheel turns up the sad
defeat oil the White Plains, the viGtories Of Sara
toga and Yorktown. The war with England was
NJ first not reyolutonary-the object of the Colo
nists was redress oil grievances But an internal
revolution soon commenced, aud the affections Of
mother country. In year after the first blood
shed AT Lexington, Tho idea of Independence
dawned ful-ofbed on America. The great men
who had the keypg up aud adjusting OF the Revo-
iu,ionary instrument saw that its thirteen cords
could never be made 10 sound in unison unless
thoy screwed them up 10 Tive utmost tension, high
enough to play the tune of Independence; sweetel
they deemsd IL would be To American ears than
Any strains that sprung from the folian harp
string, or than Yankee Doodle itself The mere
hope of redress never would have fully united and
called forth the resources OF the cooniss. Some
higher hope was necessary 10 enable them To endure
The wearisomo calamties Of war, Otherwise their
huInblesl wish would have been disappointed
Their set muscles would have relaxed, aud British
bayonets would have pried opea their mouths and
iunnol'd them with tea and taxes TO their hearts,
content. But Independence was just the thing
IL was the tall smanic, magic idoa--the star that
never set. What American would not fight to his
latest breath iog independence, and die eniaptur-
ed with the glorious vsionl The Declaration was
master STOKE OF policy because II cut OIL a." hope
Of return TO the mother country and left 10 the coll
onists no alternative but victory or death. Ii adj
dod the energy OF despair to American valor, and
turned the tetenng fortunes OF war in our favor
Ii was policy like that OF Cortez when he burned
up his fleet, and deprived his desperate baud OF adj
veniurers OF all hope OF return TO Spain-shu up IN
nm enemy's country, they fought like gladiators
aud conquered an empire. IL was like Hannibal
when he stood upon the Italian side of the Alps
Now, fellow soldiers, the eternal baniers of ma
iure interrupt your return to Carthage, and hem
you and your enemies in the same arena--yonder
is Rome oe gravc.' IL enclosed them aud the Lion
In the field OF strife, aud the sole 0tern ptiye ma
ny an expiring hero cried, was victory or death
IL was No, however, the desperation Of gambler
who resigns his all on oae desperate throw of the
dice, and then curses Of adoles Chance for the
Enfg fAaD la i.ra IA
an act OF b gh i,ith in the Justice OF Divine
/ Providence conscious OF tho Justice of lheiI
cause. aud OF the weakness of arm OF flesh, the
colonis.s gave the sword into the hand OF the God
of Battles, and sought refuge under the wings OF
the Almighty. Like Constantine, in this sign
they conquered
Before examining further the causes and events
| OF the Revolution, IL may be interesting to trace
the progress OF Democratic feeling which at this
petiod asserted the universal equality of the rights
of man. The people l. ad been so many donkeys
aud hing and priest, enc before aud the other be-
hind, had hidden them for ages. Now the tables
are turned. The ruler mus, become the servant o
the people--wha, inytunate events, what causes
moral and physical wrought this salugsry change IN
the opinions and feelings ol maakind! Let us eN
anime. America was peopled no, from the noble
hl'od but from the Commons of Old England, anS
wheaee dad these Commons derive their origin =
shall we be ashamed this day TO own our Rneesty
Five hundred years ago our honest, s,alwaIi faith
ers were bought and sold with the land ON which
, they deved. They were elasSsd with the eatllS
and sheep OF the mInct; sold with the soil like
crop OF corn or pclatces. Such the tea1ia
strength aul powor Of the sleudal system that al
slave on Garth Is in condition hopeless as th'
seli. lie hat no rshtS--nothing 10 10 with ei,he
God OF majestic oaly end of his being so far as
disclosed to him, TO minister TO the lust anS
luxury OF his p,wCr.blosted ownSt. lie knew no
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