St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-07-14
mr.. Evarts' Grafton at Philadelnb;s
lEXtracts
NE ADV ANIALiE. IIII.

ne resistance of the colonies which
came To head in the revolt. was led in
,iie name and for the maintenance of th.
liberties of Englishmcn, against pnrI,-
inehtary usurpation and Il subversiou ot
The British constitution. \ triumnh ,t
those liberties might have ended i'm an,
ahcIpttion from the rule of th, FuuI;Sb
lafiiiiIntnt and Il continued submission
To the scheme and system of fin. HritisL
monarchy. with an American ParIio-
ment adjusted thereto. upou th, true
prlncIplrs of the English constitution
Whether this new political establish
nent should have maintained LOYALTY to
,he BRITISH sovereign, or should have
been organized under a crown and
throne OF lis own, the transaction would
'i'l nave had no other Importance than
such aS belongs to the di>membermeut
Oh existing emple, but with preserNa-
non of existing Institutions. There
"ouiu nave been, to be sure, Il ..ncw
state, hlIi not 'of new Species" and
that II was I'm Il new part of the globe
would have gone far To make the dis
ihrhberment but temporary and cir
cumstantial disturbance in the old or
der OF things. Indeed, the Solidity and
peIpctuIty of that order might have
been greatly confirmed 10y this propa-
CATION of the model of the Europcan
m"naIchir> on the boundlesS regions of
tins continent. 1t is precisely here that
the Declaration OF independence has
ITS Importance. As IL civil act, and by
the peoples decree and not b\ the.
achievement of the army, or through
military motives at the first stage of
the conflict 1t assigned Il new nationality
with It's own Institutions, aS the civil,
prtordained end to he fought for and
| secured. 1t did not leave it to h, An
aftcr-fIult at Triumphant war, shaped
and measured 10y military power, and
conferred 10y the army on the people
lhI> assured at the outset the supreuIa-
cN OF evil over military authority. the
sul'"r.llnatlon of the amy To the un-
armed people. This deliherativrc choice
"t the scope and goal of the Revolution
made sure "t two things, which must
have been always greatly in doubt, if
military REASONS aud events had held
the mastery over the civil power The
first WAS. that nothing less than th. in
dependence of the nation. and its Srpa-
ration from the system of Europe would
tee attained If our arms we've proSp,r-
Gus: and the second, that the new ma
ti"n would ilwaN> he the mistress of its
own institutions. This might not have
been its fate had Il triumphant army
won the prize of independence. not as
task sci for II 10y the people. and done
III its scrN ice. but 10y lis own might and
held 10y its own title. and 80 to be
shaped and dealt with 10y its own will.
THE FoI NDER> OF THE EEPI BIIC FOR
TINATE.
Famous. always. among men are the
| founders of States, and fortunate above
all others IN such fame are these. our
| fat hers. whose combined wisdom and
courage began the great structure of
our national existence. and laid SuIe the
foundations of liberty and Justice ON
which it rests. Fortunate. first. in the
clealncsS of their title and in the worlds
acccptauce of their righttul claim For
tunate. next, in the enduring magnitude
of the State they founded and the he
netcence of its protection of the vast
interests of human life and happiness
/ which have here had their home. For
tunale. again III the admiring imitation
of their work. which the institutions of
the most powerful and most advanced
nat ions more and more exhibit and
! last of all. fortunate in the full demon
STATIONS at ouI later time that their
work il adequate to withstand the most
disastrous storms of human fortunes.
and >urN i've unwIecked. unshakcn and
unharucd.
| WHAT THREE WARS HAVE ESTABLISHED.
Within the hundred Wears whose flight
III our national history we mark to-d da> ,
We have had occasion to coIIoboratt hN
war both the independence and the
unity of the nation. In our war against
| England for neutrality we asserted and
We established the right to he free of
! European cntanGlrmcntS. Ia time of
war a. we'll as i'll time of peace and 81
completed ouI Independence of Europe.
And 10y the war of the constitution IL
war within the nation the bonds OF
our unity were tried and tested. aS in Il
frey furnace, and proved to he depend
cnt upon no shifting NIci>situdrs uf ;lc-
quir>cence. no partial diSstntS and dis
contents, but. 81 far as iS pIedicahle of
human fortunes, nIevocahlc. indrstruc-
tible, perpetual!
TIE FATHERS FAITH IN THE PEOPLE
1t may indeed he suggested that the
main body of the elements, and II large
share of the arrangements of the new
government were expected To he upon
the model of the British system, and
that the snlStantials of civil and re
li.ious liberty and the Institutions for
their maintenance aud defense were al
ready the posseSsion of the people of
England. and the hirthright of The colo
| Iii ,la, Il,
much disparagr the responsibility as
sumed in diScarding the correlativc
parts of the British constitution. | mean
The established church and throne; the
permanent power of IL hereditary peer
age the confinement of popular repre-
scntation to the wealthy and educated
classes and the IDEAS of all participa
tion by the people in their own gov
ernment coming 10y gracious concession
from the royal prerogative and not 10y
inherent right in themselves. Indeed.
the counter consideration. 81 far as the
question WAS to he solved 10y experience.
would be Il ready one. The foundation
and the walls and the roof of this firm
and noble editice. it would he said, are
NIL titlN framed together in the suhstan
tial institutions You propose To omit
from >uur plan and model. The con
vcnience and safety and freedom, the
pride and happiness which the inmates
of this temple and fortress enjoy. aS the
rights and liberties of Englishmen are
only kept in place and play because "i
the firm structure of these ancient
strongholls of religion and law, which
Won now desert and refuse to bnild
anew.
our fathers had formed their opinions