Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-11-27
YESTERDAYS CELEBRATION.
ADDRESS BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS AT
THE UNWILLING
OF the Statue Of Washington at New York
Anniversary Of the Evacuation OF
New York By the British Army.

THE following is the synopsis Of the address
feTred to in our telegraphc account this morning Of
| the Evacuation celebration
| The Orator of the Day at New York's great
celebration yesterday was George William
| Curtis. The orstion was brilliant effort,
aud one of the most concise of historical re-
views and criticisms. Among othes things
h. said;
To-day the revolutionary story ends. At
this hour, one hundred years ago, the impe-
rial standard Of Great Britain fell at the fort
| over which it had hoated for q hundred and
twenty years, and in its place the stars and
stripes Of American independence flashed in
| the sue, and every sign and symbOl of for
| eipn authority vanished from these shores.
| Colonial and provincial America bad ended
national America had begun. He declared
that it was for all a sorrowful departure. The
| catastrophe was not that an EnGlsh army
was vanauished, it was that Epglsud was
wounded. ENGLAND had declined the reatest
| opportunity that was ever ofered TO e great
nation, and America, pancpIed in the mighty
memories Of her birthright, turned to carry
| forward as 3 new nation the cardinal princi.
! pies of constitutional liberty.
He then skelehed the events ths. led up to
| this great result, from the early New Eng
| land Confederation, the thunderburst Of Otis
! plea against writs of assistance, the Boston
massacre, the shots at Lexington, and last,
the evacuation of New York-an these. our
| renowned and glorious tradition immortal
as the tale of Thermopya and Plata, of
! Sempsch and Runuymede, revealed the COM
| mon American heart and conscience, the es-
seutiaI and instructive unity of the Colonies.
| But after the general Joy over the evacua.
ton there came, he said, the reaction that
| always follows prolonged exultatiou of public
feeling and devoted and sci sacrificing pub
lie exertion. The young giant had conquered,
but his victory seemed to have cost HIM his
life. Commerce had persisted, agriculture
lspeuished, and manufactures were stitied by
foreign competition. The public debt was
enormous, and private debt was universal.
Taxation the following year was resisted,
State authority de6ed, the Confederation
was a mummy clad in robes of state. The
time that tried mems souls was in SO rather
than '76.
In this crucial moment, American incapaci-
tv TO build q national American common
wealth might justly fill every generous and
patriotic heart with dismsy. But from John
Adams, all along the line of men who
doubted. they went 60 take part in that I'm
mortal Assembly. The leaders still lived,
and Independence was fact. Doubt was
t,eacherv. for in the prime of glorious man.
hood he lived whose faith. and character, and
courage. when patriotism despaired and hope
expired. had moved before his struggling
country pillar of cloud by day, CT fire by
night. To think of the revolution is to see
him. Doubtless the American revolution
was the work of the people, but it seems the
work of man. Had he fallen at Trenton,
been captured by Clinton, or had selfish am
bition prev allied against m, who dare doubt
that the vision OF the lone off divine
event" that drew the country through the
war, would still have been fulfilled? But
what American does not know, and proudly
own, that the perpetual and inspiring assur-
snce Of that event was the character of
Washington?
The orator then, with proud elcquence. re-
counted the fervor, devotion and faith of
Washington. He followed with rapid
sketch of the political difficulties precedent
to the formation Of the Union, the disdain of
Europe, the poverty Of the States and their
| jealousy of Congress, the threa. of internal
revolt, the refusal to pay taxes to the COM
mon government, etc. Libarty and inde-
pendence. masqueradiug as lswlessness and
| license. threatened the rustic republicans, as
the leering satyr in the fable deluded the
shepherds of the plain. But the high destiny
of the English-speaking race was not to be
| thwsrted. There was no common Corstitu-
tiop, and the general welfare and individual
| liberty were on the verge of perishiDg. But
the air Join or Die thrilled the air and
ing from the heart of the people The Con-
vention met, the Constitution was framed
the good genius Of union, Washington, was
its President. For ten months the great de-
bate of the document shock the country, and
then eleven States Gdoptedit it.
In the jubilee of joy that followed, as of
people breaking deadly spell, opposition was
silenced, and the man who, like Moses, had
led his country through the Red Sea of
armed strife, was summoned to perform the
miracle for which they waited. With manly
humility and modest simplicity he bsde
adieu to private life and took up the burden,
as ne himself said, with the best disposi.
ton to render service to my country in obedi-
ence to its call. but with less hope of answer.
iag it, expectation"
The orator then described Washirgton's
triumphal way from Mount Vernon to New
York, while the air murmured benedictions
as he passed. April 80, 1857, q great pro-
cession escorted him to "this very spot" said
Mr.. Curtis. Among the most impos-
ing events in history must always be
accounted the simple ceremony wbich was
transacted here" Fsneuil Hall, Boston, was
tn. cradle of the revolution ; Carpenters
Hal, Phi sdelphia, sheltered the Continental
Congress, and there the great declaration was
signed, but New York cherishes the historic
sites Of lis own patriotic activity with the
same reverence that it salutes those of its
peers.
He then sketched with fervid sloqusnce
the great events in national history that took
place in New York down 20 the reading of
the Declaration to the people, on the spot
where he then stood, where the first Congress
assembled, and where Washington took the
oath as the first President of the republic.
"The very air about this hallowed spot is
the air of American patriotism. To breathe
IT, charged with such memories, is to be in
spired with the lofsiess human purpose and
the nobless endesvcr. Gazing upon this
sculptured form, and remembering that this
was the very hour and this the place of the
sublime event; that here, under the benig-
nant arch of heaven, Washington appeared to
take the oath of his great office-the air is
hushed, the familiar scent fades from before
our eyes, and our swsd hearts whisper within
us, Put off thy SHOES from off thy feet, for
the place on which thou staudess is holy
ground
he next described the greatscene and drew
pictures Of the cluster Of illustrious men who
gathered about the Chief in the midst # the
most solemn silence before the vast multitude,
looking on Adams, Hamii5or, Sherman, Liv-
ingstor, Knox, Sinclair, Steu0en and otherp,
SIS Washington bent low, and audibly saying,
81 swear, so help ms Cos !" reverently kissed
ths book. " 1t is dons." cried the Chancel-
ler "Loug live GeorIe Washington, Presi-
dent of the United States !" "Long live
George Washington y shouted the people in
one resoundiog cry of exultatiop. "Long
livs George Washiiston," rang ali the bells
and roared all the cannon cf continent.
"Loug live George Washington" echoed
every heart and voice in the world that
pleaded and beat for liberty.
The Grafton concluded with an analysis of
the character of Washington, chs great trials
shat tested his sagacity, the greatness he dis
played under all trials, and the admiration
with which he inspired the world. Referring
finally to the statue of the first President,
he closed with these words: Its majestic
repose shall charm and subdue the multitude
nous life that heaves and murmurs around it,
and as the moon draws the swsying tides of
OCEAN, it's lofty serenity shall lift the hurry
ing crowd to upselfsh thoughts, to generous
patriotism, to nobler life. Here descended
upon our fathers the benediction of the per-
sonal presence Of Washington. Here may
the moral grandeur of his character and his
life inspire our children's children forever"