Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1856-07-12
OR 10 N:

W. w. HOLDEN.
To Messrs. P. F. PEscuD, and others, Committee.
ORATION:
BvW. W, HOLDEN delicered in the City Of Raj
eigh July 4, 1856.
FEL1ow.C1r1zENs: The return of this anniversary,
with the memories it brings along with 1t, may well
excite the noblest and best emotions of our hearts,
Eighty wears is brief period in the existence Of
nation; yet during that time the Republic has ad-
vanced to a height Of power. grandeur, and renown
never before reached by any people: When tins tins
declaration which you have just heard, was made,
the States makingit were comparatively feeble, with
no certain nor adequate revenues-wlth no navy
with small and ill-furnished army; and with lit
tie, indeed, but their own strong wills and the
righteousness of their But Providence smiled
upon their exertions, and His word went forth IN
their behalf for them and for The stern resolve
to be Free formed and recorded in uncertainty and
GLOOM was established in the full blaze Of the crown
ing victories of Kings Mountain and Yorktown i;
and the masses of mankind saw it, and were glad
And now what spectacle is before US! The Re-
public now stretches from north to south through
twenty-four degrees of latitude. and stands, east
and west with vast breadth across the entire con-
tinent Its hand is upon both oceans. Its area,
thus bounded, is capable of sustaining in comfort
and abundance four hundred millions of human be-
ings; its revenues ample, and its resources al
most inexhaustible; its fag radiant with the light
its form of government is the result of such prnci-
Piles, and so wisely adjusted, to give promise, If
we are only true to ourselves of indefinite expan-
sion and duration.
On this blessed morning, from four millions of
dwellings-from the uttermost headlands OF Name,
to where the sun gilded with his rising beams the
banks of the Rio del Norte and the golden shores of
California, accamations and offerings OF gratitude
have assembled, mingng with the roar of artillery,
the sound of many waters, the hoarse notes of the
drum, and the many-voiced instruments OF martial
music. These accamations and these offerings of
gratitude are the same in all these regions. They
thrill the air beside the great lakes, and above the
boundaries of the two great oceans. and along the
courses of the ST. Lawrence, the Mississippi, and
the Sacramento. They are heard amid the Allegha-
MES and the Rocky Mountains the eagle the proud
emblem of all these liberties, sweeps by, with his
wing of lightning and his eye of fire. They are ut
tered above the battle fields of Lexington and Bran
dywne, and Guilford Courthouse, and Eutaw,
where the fame of our forefathers was made immor-
tai by almost superhuman courage, and by bap-
tisms of blood gushing like water, in defence of
their rights and ours. And far out upon the seas,
where ships cleave the blue waters, or repose in
their strength the Shore our brave seamen par
take of the same spirit and are with us in heart in
this celebration, the morning gun speaks out, and
the wondrous flag of " Many in One ;" is run up
before the gaze of all peoples, and kindreds, and
tongues. Thanks be to God for this day, and for
the deed, which eighty years ago, it witnessed!
When our ancestors had made this declaration
against tyrants and had laid the foundations Of our
government in gloom and carnage, they could not
have hoped-confdent and far-seeing as they
that in the space of eighty years our population
would be increased tenfold, and that thirty-one
States instead of thirteen, would cluster around one
common centre. But the results of their tolls, Of
their sacrifices of their orttude of their hatred of
oppression and their affection for their posterity,
hofo o,,c1 hat oAp for 10
combination of federal power and State sovereignty!
what individual freedom what an exemption
from taxation and the evils of class legslation!-
what developments in science, in arts, and in arms
and what capabilities of improvement and advance
ment in all that concerns the moral, the physical,
and the intellectual condition of mankind! Else
where, all the earth, with the exception ofsome
favored spots, the hand of the oppressor, whether
disclosed as that of the oligarch, the emperor,
the king is still lifted in its cruel and bloody work
yet the great idea of the eighteenth century was
that of uion against tyrats so is that of the nine
tenth century, the Independence Of nationalitaes
the right of all peoples to determine for them
selves their own forms of government. And as the
masses of the old world, animated by this idea,
struggle up from beneath the darkness which blinds
and the despotisms that consume, we would have
them look hitherward, ard take new courage from
the light which burns with steady and glorious
lustre in this Western hemisphere.
Our federal government, fellow citizens was wises
ly formed, not only for the common defence, the
protection of State rights and the preservation of
individual freedom, but for expansion and duration
Of the eighteen States which have been added
since 1885, six-to wit Louisiana, Missouri, Arkan-
sas Florida, Texas, and California-were formed
out of territory acquired by treaties with foreign
States and there are seven Terrtories-to wit, Or
egon, Washington, Minnesota, New Mexico Utah,
Nebraska and Kansas-acquired by the same trea-
ties, which at no distant day will apply for admis-
uSnr info& ho1 Io:o II u
sessed at the close ofthe revolution New York gave
Observation-Disclosures gave Maine Caro-
lima gave Tennessee South. Carolina and Georgia
gave Mississippi and Alabama; and Virginia, the
mother Of States, bestowng her jewels with Law
ish hand, gave Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin to the Union,
We know that although the prominent idea of the
revolution was that of union against unjust power,
yet the States were jealous of strong government,
J and apprehensive of encroachments on their indi-
vidual rights They went each State for ITSELF vol
unfairly into the revolutionary struggle, and they
emerged from it shorn of none of their attributes Of
sovereignty The Confederation, formed in the Sec
ond year OF independence, was fully tested, and
failed. 1t was soon discovered that the ARTICLES Of
Confederation and perpetual union," as they were
styled, were insufficient for purposes of revenue f.
nance, foreign intercourse, expansion Of domain,
and general defence In the language of our pres.
ent Constitution. a more perfect Union :" was re-
quired,-a Union, which would combine the great
est amount of strength with the least abatement or
concession of State sovereignty,-a Union, which
would leave to the States supreme control over all
ner domestic concerns, while it undertook for them
tne direction and management of their general in.
and exterior relations That fellow-citizens
was most critical and important period in our his
10y s:ry' Eree representative government was for a
ume stiested in its course, and many feared final
an5 with all the evils of cotermnous but dis.
united ano o'scordant sovereignties Wise connseis
ny"ese' pTsaAed and the present Constitution was
adopted. The question was, not whether tb "~.
should be on'on for all felt its necessity. and wer.