Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-08-03
Remarks of Hon. ], S, Orr,

said -
Mr.. President AND FELLoW-cITIzENs OF
PHILADELPHIA The day we celebrate is consc
Grated in the affections of the American people
and this mornings dawn was ushered in by The
booming of q thousand cannons Who car
tell but Lhe melting rays of to-day's sun ART
typical of the fervent patriotism which glows in
the American heart! To tho rcmolest borders
of this great cunfederacy, one unbroken stream
of grateful graduation pours out from The
same American heart TO the Supreme Ruler
of the Universe, who heard the prayers of ouI
fathers, and who has preserved to their posterity
/ the rich legacy left by the revolution. Ii the
day brings 80 much of gIadncss to our country
men everywhere, need it excite surprise that its
return is enthusiastically hailed by the vast con-
course of PhiladeIp Iphians who throng this square
If there be any one portion above another o
our countrvmen who should halluw, revere, and
celebrate the natal dav of our liberties, it is the
people of Philadelphia. Cheers. We arc
standing now within The shadow of independence
Hail. The same walls without that now echo
nv voice, scvcnly-eight years ago echoed within
the patriotic words of jefferson, aud Franklin
and Hancock, and their noble associates. Your
fathers then stood wlereyou are now standing,
when they mutually pledged to each other their
/. fortunes, and their sacred honors to support the
Declaration which has been read in your hearing.
Welcome, then, one and all, to this political
Mecca. Cheers.
Time forbids that should recount the causes,
or dwell upon the history, of the revolution. 1t
would be The repetition Of san oft-tele tale =
suffice it here to say, that the soul swells with
admiration when contemplating the daring, the
lofty courage of those brave and gallaat men,
who hazarded all that is dear in this life, save
honor in subscribing in yonder hall that DecIa-
ration which irrevpcabIy made them traitors to
George the Third or free, independent American
citizens. 1t was here they passed the Rubcon
to encounter the most powerful nation OIL earth
in the field of battle; powerful in her wealth,
powerful her credit, powerful in her numbers
and available resources, and above all, powerful
in i two hundred years prestige of invincibility
against every foe, in every land, and upon every
sea. They We're bound to old England by ties
numerous and strong, of affection and interest. t.
| 1t was the birthplace and home Of their fathers
many of the gliLlerlng stars their ancestors wore
were won doing battle under old Englands
flag. Here was every consideration to influence
their fear and their af!ertidns; but, "with 4
iirm reliance in Dirinc Providence" confident
in the Justice of their cause, and the expressions
of the exaclions Of the mother country pressing
heavily upon their proud spirits, they resolved
rather than continue Y ths ~-hone-- vt slaves.
Loud applause They redeemed their every
pledge to the cause of freedum, and we are now
the recipients of the priceless boon. Let Penn
sylranians be ever vigilant and walchful in pre-
serving that whose purchase cost SO much OF
tribulalion and danger, so much OF blood and
treasure. You are The cuslodians now OF that
great citadel of liberty, (pointing to indrpen-
dence Hall) All its triumphs, It's memories, It's
portraits, its history, gratitude for the past,
thanks for the present, and hopes for The future,
eyhort YOU TO preserve and pcrpetuate that
vcs,al flame which was kndcd in l776. Let it
not 90 out here, if YOU would escape the ex-
ecratiuns of posteri:y for inidelity i'll guarding
your sacred trust
The great end of the revolution was to secure
civil and religious liberty. Nor did our ances-
Tors misudge it's value in developing the re-
sources, physical, moral and intellectual, OF man.
Look TO lis civil results. Under republican
government we have grown and proSpcrcd and
expanded far beyond the most sanguine imagl-
nation of the most hopeful devotee Of liberty.
Our shores are now washed BY the two great
oceans east and west Nearly onehalf of the
Nur,h American continent bears upon its gene.
rous bosom teeming millions OF American cltl,
zcus who make their own laws and worship al
their chosen shrines. From 100000 we have
swelled to 250JO,O00. From poverty and igno.
rance and weakness we have grown rich, intelIi;
gent, and strong. Our sails whilen every sea
. ,,,,l fptD
every land. No longer does tue British lion
strike terror into the hearts of our women and
children. We are now here equal in all the
clements of national greatness, and here superi.
or in every characteristic of personal liberty and
political independence. Great Britain under
took to manage our local affairs BY assuming The
right to legisAte for us while we were colonies
The Parliament assumed that they were better
iudges of our wants and necessities than our
own colonial legislatures. They un!erlook to
regulate the domestic policy OF their distant
dependencies They imposed dulles upon tea
without consulting sand iu every manner as.
( serted their right TO gorern rs. Our fathers
who had encountered The pcrils of the ocean
aud the greater perils of Il savage wilderness
who had fled from Europe to escape political and
RELIGIOUS intolerance, could not long brook such
an unjust assumption. They pettioned impor-
tuned, demonstrated the British government
without avail; they took their rights in theil
own kcepng aud, after long and doubtful
struggle, established new fundamental or.
ticIe in the science Of gorernment-th great
American doctrine of the right of the people 10
govern themselves. Great cheering. No tenet
in political science has more thoroughly vindica.
led its wisdom than this, and when brought into
issue its orthodoxy has not been questioned fol
seventy-eight years until few months past. II
is said by some, who have forgotten or rcnoun
ced the teachings and principles of their fathers
now, that the people of Kansas and Nebraska
are incapable OF government themselves, and
that the Congress must assume the same guar.
dianship over these distant Territories as the
Parliament claimed over the colonies. Where is
the American feeling in the bosom of any man
who, from fanatica zeal for the African slave
whose condition he cannot improve, is willing tc
renounce this great doctrine of our fathers
ICheers AbolitIonism and fanatcism mistake
tho heart of this country, in supposing that
when they cry out against slavery, it will cause
the people to repudate the principles upor
which the government is based Cheers. The
country owes my distinguished friend, who vii
follow me, The Little Giant of the Great West,'
Senator Douglas, Immense applause. a debt o.
gratitude for his powerful and successful advo
eucy of this principle J. have been discussing
and for its triumphant yiudication in the Kan
sas-Nebraska bill.
With all the misrepresentation which has
been poured out upon that measure, the people
are now beginning TO understand truly its pro-
visions and its greatest principle-the one sc
fiercely assailed by wings and aboitionists-i:
the very principle for which our fathers Tough
lIth, roynlutiOn Will, you poa, iolo tba s;J.