Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1858-07-07
18th OF ~JuID Orottou.
. r a T Q III VI
DELIVERED BY MOSES CANAAN,
at Ebeusburg. On tie 4th day OF Inlv. 1926

at Ebensburg, ca tie 4th day OF July, 1926.
FELLOW CITIZENS Fifty years have pas
sed-half a century has rolled away since the
sages of America proclaimed to the world
that these United States should be free and
independent. That which our statesmen da-
red to proclaim, cur soldiers ventured TO sup
port. They fought-they bled-they con-
quered. A new era arose. The genius of
man. which had long Eeen shackled by the
thraldom OF tyranny, expanded into power
and Freedom then shone forth in all its
brightness OF beauty.
The favor of my fellow citizens has con-
ferred upon ne the pleasing duty of proclaim
ing, on this day of jubilee, from the heights Of
the Alleghanies, that America is yet free
that after the lapse OF fifty years, our wise in
stitutions have been found efficient to distrib-
ute happiness and prosperity to this widely
/ extended community ; that our Constitution,
/ founded in wisdom and supported by virtue,
| is sufficiently energetic without the aid Of
/ kingly power or hereditary grandeur that
/ representative Republican government, where
| the rights of all are equally protected, and
where every person has his due proportion
! ate weight, is sufficient to regulate millions of
I freemcn
/ Ny pleasure on the present occasion is
observe the kind of audience | address Not
| only native Americans, but cmigrants from
. England, from Ireland, from " aIes, from
! Scotland, from Germany, are listening to my
voice We have met together as friends aud
fellow-citizeus ought-divesied of al party
rancour and national enmity--to celebrate
one OF the greatest eyeats in the history Of
mantle birthday of free nation. | hope
we all come deeply impressed with gratitude
to the Great Disposer of all events who has
cast our lot in land of religious and civil
liberty, where al are equally protected in
their conscience, in their life, their liberty,
their character, and their property.
Il also gives me much pleasure to see this
little band of hcary veterans,# whose excr-
tions III early life were devoted TO the cause
of their country, and who have survived the
wreck of time long enough to see the perfec-
ton of those free institutions for which they
contcnded
Defenders Of your country. companions Of
the brave in arns, how exquisite must bo
your pleasure, aud that of your few surviving
, compatriots, Who are now convened in variou;
parts Of the United States, to celebrate this
c anniversary Of independence, when You 1e-
feet that you contributed part, in procuring
freedom for your country; you have now seer
the experience of half a century successfully
tried on the genius, the virtue and disposition
r. of the people of the United States; you have
- found ihat liberty Is congenial to them, an(
tha; they prosper under Its auspices, you ar
now but small remnant of that heroic ban,
t who shielded the rights Of your country, ant
opposed their breasts as bulwark agains
tyranny. Your country owes you vast deb
of gratitude. 1t has, it is true, permitte
many ofits defenders to descend to the gray
. in poverty, I.hope that better feelings wi
dictate a better course, and that the dcclinIn,
years of those few soldiers of the revolutio
- who remain may be made comfortable by tha
V, wealth which their eXertious, their blood
their sacrifices gained to their countryA Thos
men who gained our independence, VINO fougt
out the fight of liberty, deserve the create.
praise. They acted nobly under the mo.
discoUraging circumstances. They were ez
SO posed to every hardship. They were badl
fed, badly clothed, and badly paid. Ere
qucutly they had not raiment sufficient to de
fend them from the winter storm They o
ten marked their steps with blood upon I'll
frozen soil. But under all those difficulties
they struggled on, anu gained their country
freedom--the great object of their pursui
N, 1t is not my intention to enter into detail
ed account of the early situation of the affa
of America. of the rise and progress of tho
es causes which led to the revolution, and of Il
IS MANY battles, difficulties aud ha-dsbips whic
attcrded the arduous struggle that finally tie
minated in the freedoms Of our country. A
though the subject would be one in which yo'
feelings would be deeply Interested, yet
could not expect your induigenc long enoue
to describe it. The extended length of Il
day, at this season of the year, would be t
short for the purpose. The sun would de
cend below yonder horizon before tho ia
could half be told
ed From the earliest settlement OF the oolonis
in America, they had many dangers and dii
N. culties to encounter. Driven by oppress
~ form their native land, ihey entered upon t
n arduous task of reducing the wilderness to
''' state of cultivation, and of either conciliati
the Aborigines of the country, or of resist
- their attacks Removed great distance fre
the rest Of civilized man, and navigation be-:
then in an imperfect state, they enjoyed t
&c; -"Sx old men who had been soldiers of I
Rovoluticn sitting near The speaker.