The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-07-11
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
Richmond. Jnly IL. 1883.
FOURTH OF Jul Y IN BOSTON.

FOURTH OF JULY IN BOSTON.
Among the modes OF celebrating the fourth
Of July in Boston, was that Of a corporation
dinner at Faneuil Hall, which was crowded
by auditors and guests. A number of speech
es were called forth on the occasion, and among
them the following noble impromp,u
SPEECH OF HON. EDWARD EVERETT.
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen: l thank
you for the toast which has just been given,
and for the marked kindness with which il has
been received by the company. / deem il a
privilege to be present on this occasion. We
all, think, sir, who had the good fortune to
be present at the Old South Church, felt shat
it was good to be there. {Cheers.] We felt
that it was good TO pause awhile from the hur.
ry of passing events, aud revive our recoilec-
tions of the times which tried mems SOULS
l do not know that have ever attended eel
ebration conducted in more interesting man.
ner. The solemn prayers that the God IF our
fathers would extend his protection TO us the
public reading of The great Declaration which
has given immortality to the day; the sweet
voices in the gallery. giving assurance that
the sons and daughters were training up to
catch the spirit and imitate the example of the
fathers and mothers-ths all gave uncommon
interest TO the exercises. fMueh cheering.1-
Ii was also, own, sir, particularly pleasing
to me to listen 10 our young friend on my
right, the orator of the day, who gave as such
treat 10 his ingenious, manly, and fervid dis
course, in which he rose very far above the
comsonpiaees Of the occasion, and ado rned
his great theme with much original and sea.
sonabfe illustration. 1t was especially graft
lying TO me, sir, to witness the brilliant pro
mise ne afforded us Of adding new lustre to
name on which two generations 10 this COM
munity have accumulated their honors. GGreat
cheering.1 ~
believe no one, sir, who has attended this
day exercises or is now present, will be dis
posed to concur in the opinion, which we
sometimes hear expressed, that the interest OF
the Fourth Of July is on the wane that it is
a worn-out, old.fashioned affair, which has
ceased to have significance for US. For my
own part, value it in no small degree because
II Is, will not say an "old-fashioned," but
Will say an ancient and venerable institution,
[cheers j because its annual celebration for
seventy years has already nourished the pat.
Tiotic feelings OF more than two generations
and, amidst the perilous convulsions of States
abroad, and the rapid march of events at home,
has lett US one great theme on which political
opinion is united. one happy day on which
party strife is at rest. lGreat applause.1
trust, sir, that the Fourth of July will ever
continue TO be celebrated as it has been to-day.
Understandings as we'll as enthusiastically ;
because il furnishes at once the most instruc.
tive and glorious illustration of the union of
the two great principles Of stability and pro.
gress, on which our independence was orig,
nally founded on which our prosperity at
the present day, rests as upon its cornerstone;
and by whose cordial alliance and joint work.
ing alone the great designs of Providence in
reference to our beloved country can be fulfill
ed. Much cheering
am the more desirous, sir, of making this
remark on the present occasion with some EN-.
phasis, because there is, on the part of many
perhaps Of mOst-persons among US, dis.
position to separate these two great principles
TO take up one 10 the neglect of the other,
and consequently in effect to do violence to
both. As in all party divisions, so ia this; we
throw ourselves passionaiely into the cause
we have embraced. push its peculiar views be
yond proper limits, overlooking all reason
able qualifications, and forget that practical
wisdom and plain common sense are general.
ly found about half way between the Two ex
iremes. (Cheers.] Accordingly there are
and always have been among us, as in all coun.
tries where thought and speech are free, me n
who give themselves up, heart and soul, to the
reverence OF the past; they can do justice to
no wisdom but the wisdom of ages and if an
institution is not ehonored, it is very apt by
that the tall oak was once an acorn and that
he Oldest thing had a beginning. (Cheers !
This class of men received few years ago ia
Eng land the designation OF conservatives y
from their disposition to maintain things just
as they are. Recently, in this country, lney
have been called by the rather unpromising
name OF sold fogies," the origin and precise
import of which are unknown TO me. lCheers
and laughter ]
Now. sir, these benighted individuals
(straig htfaced and stiff-necked as they are)-
err only in pushing sound principle TO ex.
tremes; in obeying one law OF our social ma.
ture to the neglect of another equally certain
and important. The reverence OF the past, ad
herence TO what is established, may be carried
great deal too far; but il is not merely an in-
nate feeling of the human heart, bat a direct
logical consequence ofihe physical and spiri-
tual constitution which our Creator has given
us. [Cheers.] The sacred tie of family,
which, reaching backward and forward, binds
the generations of men together, and draws out
the plainiive music of our being from the
solemn alienation Of cradle and grave-lhe
black aud the white keys of life's harpsichord,
[sensaiion;] the magical power OF language,
hich puts spirit in communion with spirit in
distant periods and chimes; lbe grand sympa-
thies ofcouniry which lead the Greeks of the
present day 10 talk of "ihe victory which We
gained over the barbarians at Maraihon,"
[cheers;] the mystic tissue Of race, woven far
back 10 the dark chambers Of the past, and
which, after the vicissitudes and migrations Of
centuries, wraps up great nations in its broad
mantle, Icheers; those significant expressions
which carry volumes of meaning in a word 4
Forelather, Parent, Child, Postsrity, Native
Land; these all teach us not blindly TO wor-
ship, but duly TO honor the past. TO study the
lessons of experience, TO scan the high coun.
sells of man 10 his great associations, as those
counsels have been developed in constitutions,
in laws, in maxms, in traditions, in great un.
doubted principles of right and wrong, which
have been sanctioned by the general consent
Of those who have gone before us; thas tracing
in human institutions some faint reflection OF
that Divine wisdom which fashioned The Leaf
that uniolded itself six weeks ago in the forest
on the pattern Of the leaf which was bathed
in the dews of Paradise in the morning Of the
creation. Enthusiastic eheers.J
These feelings, | say, SIR, are Jast and natu
raj. The principle which prompts them lies
deep in our nature; il gives birth to the dear.
est charities Of life, and il fornfiss some OF the
sternest virtues. [Cheers.l Bot these princi-
plies and feelings are not the whole of our ma.
lure. They are a portion only Of those senii~
menis which belong TO Is as men' as patrio,s.
a nd 40 ch,;a,.an. We da NOT err when Wt