The Daily Nashville true Whig. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1851-1855, 1855-07-10
spEECH on ANpREW J poNE1saN. ESQ.

w ~1".ef1c"N \ dTty, ddopted 0y uts AGttond
Council at Philadelphia.
FELLOW CITIZENS The day on which we ar
here assembled is the anniversary of our nations
existence. On the 4th Of July, l776 our forefather
proclaimed 10 the world that the colonies of Great Brit
ain were and ought to be free and independent; an
10 the defence OF this noble declaration they pledge
their lives their fortunes and their sacred honOrs
The God Of battles was with theIu and their strue
gle was successful. They fought toe battle Of ages
and the recollection of their sacrifices inspires u
with feelings far more sacred than those which ami
mated the great Napoleon when he told his warrior
in front of the Pyramids Of Egypt that 'forty cen
turies" were looking at them. Yes, my country
men, the intellectual political and expanding effuI
gence Of seventy-nine years of the selfgoveFnmen
OF a free peOple-the result of the REVOLUTIONARY
battles OF our Fathers-is event far more glori
Gus than any which ever occurred before depend
ing on the mere actions of men.
II rs right therefore that we should commemorate
this day-that everywhere in our widespread
Union, the star-spangled banner should be waving
and that the voices and hearts of grateful and patti
Otic freemen should commingle in exutation at The
aighty deeds which gave freedom to this hemispher,
and new birth TO the cause of liberty and civiliza
ton throughout the world.
We may proudly stand up on this day and rejoice
in our unparalleled prosperity. We may also dwell
on our common obligations to our country and JON
in duplication to the Great Being in the hollow o.
whose hand Is the destiny of nations, that his pro
tecting power may never desert u.s. and that he may
inspire us with an affection for the work of our
Fathers which will increase as long as time lasts
Above all, on this day, should we congratulate our
selves that there exists in every quarter of the Re-
public deep and abiding affection for that unbroken
Union to which we mainly indebted for all our
blessings
''The Union of hearts and the Union of hands,
A Union that time cannot sever,
The Union of lakes and the Union Of lands,
The American Union forever"
Fellow-Citizens, what day can be more appropri-
ate than this to inaugurate new association formed
with the view of terrifying the great principles pro-
claimed in the declaration of our national independ
ence This new association is called the American
Party and it nscribes on its banners the maxims
and advice of Washington and those sages who
have succeeded him in the administration of the
Government.
In the days of Washington we were weak in num-
bers as people, but we had the rich blood OF
vigorous patriotism in our veins. Our system of
government was then called an experiment. For
eign nations looked upon as destined soon to CIV
i war and to divisions which would make US aban-
don the idea of selfgOvernment We have lived
down these antcipatOns Instead of remaining the
creature of such forebodings, we are now the mailed
warrior, exutng in his brawny strength, conscious
of the athletic vigor of his and the frmness
his nerves. We are now power equal to any in
the world, capable OF defending our vast territory
crowned with the laurels of conquest and exerting
a mighty influence on all the nations of the earth
We were once but a dim beacon held up by few
Puritans on the rock of Plymouth; but we are now
a great lumnary enlightening other nations The
banner that waves here before us Is the ensign of
4 Republic which fears no external foe; and the
great guns that laundering to-day from the long
line of our coasts are procaiming over the resOund
ing pillows of the Atlantic and the Pacific as well as
here in the placid waters Of the Cumberland an in
exorable nterdct to every despotic invader of hu-
man rights ''thus far shalt thou come but no far
Their"
How like the birth and progress of the party
whose platform you are assembled 10 ratify on
this sacred day. is this outline of our countrys pro-
gress since the landing of our Pilgrim Fathers
those poor and prosecuted heretics who struggled
against the oppression of their Fatherand and the
more outrageous conduct of the Church of Rome in
the attempt to subject them to its iron rule and take
from them the privilege of reading the sacred scrip
lures and worshipping the God they served accord
iag to the dictates Of conscience.
Feeble, rejected and despised, the authors of our
platform were few patriotic men who, like the
Saviour of mankind, had to be concealed in an hum
bic shed. They had to make their teachings in Sc
cre in order to escape the savage fury of those who
strength and from a state of feebleness they have
become Giant, able to face the stoutest foes Yes,
my friends, the advocate of our platform though
pursued with the demoniac hate of the Pope and
his chief priests, though tracked like a wild beast
in the forest by the immigrants to this country though
accommodated, slandered, and wounded by Pres
dent Pierce and his corps of ofcehoders has risen
like Anteus of old, strengthened by every blow he
has received, and gaining the confidence of the
country Just in proportion as the assaults of his en-
emies have been proved to he unfounded, ungene-
rous and unmany. Nor should the comparison be-
tween the progress of this platform and the infant
progress of our country be limited to their increase
n numbers. 1t may be extended with the same re-
suits to the intellectual and spiritual expansion which
has marked their history. When has Washington,
jefferson Madison, or jackson placed before their
countrymen sentiments or opinions more in harmo-
nv with the spirit of national conservatism, than
those which are contained in the platform which is
new the subject Of your consideration!
If the great Washington could rise from his sepul-
chre on the banks of the Potomac and survey the
theatre of his great deeds-if he could look upon
his countrymen grown from three millions to thirty
millions with domain mirrored in the two great
oceans of the world at the rising and the setting Of
the sun, would he not exclaim in tones Of more
than human joy
Yes, was right when told you my children
that the unity OF government winch constitutes YOU
one people, is main pillar in the edifice Of your
real independence; the support of your tranquility
at home; your peace abroad; of your safety; of
your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so
highly prize. But as il is easy 10 foresee that from
different causes and from different quarters much
pains win be taken, many articles employed, to
weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth;
a. this is the point in your political fortress against
which the batteries of nsrnal and external enemies
will be most constantly and actively Though often
covertly and insidiously) directed; is OF infinite
moment that you should properly estimate the inn
mense value of your national union to your collect
i've and individual happiness; that you should cher
ish a cordial habitual, and immovable attachment
to it, Rccustoming yourselves to think and to speak
of Il as palladium Of your political safety aud pros
perity; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety; discountenancing whatever may sugges.
even suspicion that il can in any event be aban-
doned; and Indignantly frowning upon the first
dawning OF every attempt TO ALLEVIATE any portion Of
our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred
ties which now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy
and interest Citizens by birth or choice, Of COM
mon country, that country has right to concen-
trate your affections. The name of AMERICAN,
which belongs 20 you in your national capacity,
ii