Worcester daily spy., 1851-06-18
The Serenteenth

N Joais dSo, yesterday, the people OF
Massachusetts and the oigarchy of England brought
the questions ofrepubcan liberty and absolutism to
the issue Of mortal combat. Remonstrance and pc
tltion had been in vain presented to the stubborn
King and his insolen ministers, for the preservation
OF colonial liberty and law. Royal authority and
olgarchlcal supremacy sneered at our fathers de-
claratlon Of rights They would have submission
instead of petition and absolute obedience instead
OF remonstrance. and so the people, driven ffom the
council chamber to the camp, placed their backs to
the eternal hills and swore they acould be free
Seventy six years ago, yesterday the heart Of Bos-
ton was palpitating with mothers anxiety for the
babe oflibery which had been Graded in old Faneuil
hall. The hills Of Mddlesex were covered with the
hardy yeomen and citizens of New England, who
had flung down the implements of their toll and had
rushed into the front Of deadly battle in defence Of
all that was sacred and dear to their hearts, in what
our historian, Bancroft proudly calls the sscoony of
conscience" They looked with aching ewes upon
the smoke that curled around the summit of Breeds
Hill, and they held their breath to listen to the rcl
of their brothers rifles, for they knew that liberty
or slavery was the consequence of the murderous
contest The annals of republican story do not
contain prouder record than that which the pea
santry of New England inscribed upon their pages.
on the 18th day of June, l775; and whenever in the
wide world, one heart beats high for pure demo-
cracy, that day and its consequences are remem-
bered with grateful emotions of PRIDE
1t is the motive from which we act that gives
true dignity to our actions and the motive which
animated those humble men to peril all that they
held dear to themselves and their posterity, in
doubtful contest, with powerful and vindlctive
king, was the love Of liberty. 1t was no plebeian
contest for agrarian privileges into which they en-
tered IT seryile war to attain the single bles-
sing Of personal freedom. they fought t0r i pure
ideal Of liberty which comprehends the whole rights
of man-the right of self-government, the right to
freedom of conscience, the right, in short, TO g life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
We thank God, that, in looking hack to the days
of our earliest history, as nation, we have to.con-
template only the purest and noblest principles,
animating ancestors to deeds of the most heroic
daring and endurance 1t is no ''cake and custard'
that we find them struggling for; it is liberty They
could cheerfuly try to sustain their WON down
frames with roasted roots; they could, without
murmur, walk with bare bleeding feet over rough
wintry roads; they could lie down to die beneath
the canopy Of heaven, with the for their wind
ing sheet; but they could not be slaves to an oil
garchy
But, let US pause, and leaving the glorious past
LET look for moment at the 18th of June of the
present year, 1851. Do we find the same princ-
Piles of liberty beating in every thrOb of the heart Of
Boston, as it did in seventy-fye' Do we find the
same high toned devotion to the cause Of human
rights anmating her citizens3 Do we fnd her proud
est and her poorest, uniting withlhe same disnter-
ested enthusiasm in defence of eternal justice!
The 18th of June, I775, is memorable in Massa-
chusetts as ''Bunker Hill Day" The 18th fJune,
1851, will be memorable as the day in which the
malignant creatures of corrupt government sought,
by every means in their power, to srangle the trial
by jury, and gloat their vengeance on man whom
they had charged with loving liberty more than the
meretrclous forms Of pretended law. 1t is humiliat-
ing to us to contrast the most exciting circumstances
In Boston, yesterday, with the excitement which has
endeared the 18th Of June to US as an anniversary
bat it profitable for reproof and corrections that
shOuiu 40 So anu we 40 II, hoping tine spirit oil
freedom, left to a glorious inheritance, will
awaken the public conscience, and reason, and
power, until they sweep aristocracy and corruption
from government. and partial Judgment from our
courts-until they restore purity and honor to the
consideration in which they were held by the men
who combatted at "Bnnker Hil''
The Case of Hayden.
In the of Lewis Hayden, in the District Court
Of the United States on trial for the rescue Of Sha