that shall witness an act of greater justice still, the peaceful emancipation of three millions of our fellow-men, "guilty of a skin not coloured as our own," now held in gloomy bondage, under the constitution of our country, then shall there be a victory, in comparison with which that of Bunker Hill shall be as a farthingcandle held up to the sun. That victory shall need no monument of stone. It shall be written on the grateful hearts of uncounted multitudes, that shall proclaim it to the latest generation. It shall be one of the great land-marks of civilisation; nay more, it shall be one of the links in the golden chain by which Humanity shall connect itself with the throne of God.

As the cedars of Lebanon are higher than the grass of the valley; as the heavens are higher than the earth; as man is higher than the beasts of the field; as the angels are higher than man; as he that ruleth his spirit is higher than he that taketh a city; so are the virtues and victories of Peace higher than the virtues and victories of War.

Let

It be

Far be from us, fellow-citizens, on this Anniversary, the illusions of National freedom in which we are too prone to indulge. We have but half done, when we have made ourselves free. not the scornful taunt be directed at us; "They wish to be free ; but know not how to be just." Freedom is not an end in itself; but a means only; a means of securing Justice and Happiness, the real end and aim of States, as of every human heart. comes us to inquire earnestly if there is not much to be done by which these can be promoted. If I have succeeded in impressing on your minds the truths, which I have upheld to-day, you will be ready to join in efforts for the Abolition of War, and of all preparation for War, as indispensable to the true grandeur of our country.

To this great work let me summon you. That Future which filled the lofty vision of the sages and bards of Greece and Rome, which was foretold by the prophets and heralded by the evangelists, when man in Happy Isles, or in a new Paradise, shall confess the loveliness of Peace, may be secured by your care, if not for yourselves, at least for your children. Believe that you can do it, and you can do it. The true golden age is before you, not behind you. If man has been driven once from Paradise, while an angel with a flaming sword forbade his return, there is another Para

* Ils veulent être libres et ne savent pas être justes.-Abbé Sieyes.

dise, even on earth, which he may form for himself, by the cultivation of the kindly virtues of life, where the confusion of tongues shall be dissolved in the union of hearts, where there shall be a perpetual jocund spring, and sweet strains borne on "the odoriferous wings of gentle gales," more pleasant than the Vale of Tempe, richer than the garden of the Hesperides, with no dragon to guard its golden fruit.

Let it not be said that the age does not demand this work. The mighty conquerors of the Past, from their fiery sepulchres, demand it; the blood of millions unjustly shed in war crying from the ground demands it; the voices of all good men demand it; the conscience even of the soldier whispers "Peace." There are considerations, springing from our situation and condition, which fervently invite us to take the lead in this great work. To this should bend the patriotic ardour of the land; the ambition of the statesman; the efforts of the scholar; the pervasive influence of the press; the mild persuasion of the sanctuary; the early teachings of the school. Here, "in ampler ether and diviner air," are untried fields for exalted triumphs, more truly worthy the American name, than any snatched from rivers of blood. War is known as the Last Reason of Kings. Let it be no reason of our Republic. Let us renounce and throw off for ever the yoke of a tyranny more oppressive than any in the annals of the world. As those standing on the mountain-tops first discern the coming beams of morning, let us, from the vantageground of liberal institutions, first recognise the ascending sun of a new era! Lift high the gates, and let the King of Glory inthe King of true Glory-of Peace. I catch the last words of music from the lips of innocence and beauty ;*

"And let the whole earth be filled with his glory!"

It is a beautiful picture in Grecian story, that there was at least one spot, the small Island of Delos, dedicated to the Gods, and kept at all times sacred from war, where the citizens of hostile countries met and united in a common worship. So let us dedicate our broad country! The Temple of Honour shall be surrounded by the Temple of Concord, so that the former can be entered only through the portals of the latter; the horn of Abundance shall overflow at its gates; the angel of Religion shall be the guide over

*The services of the choir at the Church, where the Oration was delivered, were performed by the youthful daughters of the public schools of Boston.

its steps of flashing adamant; while within, JUSTICE returned to the earth from her long exile in the skies, shall rear her serene and majestic front. And the future chiefs of the Republic destined to uphold the glories of a new era, unspotted by human blood, shall be the first in PEACE, and the first in the hearts of their countrymen."

But while we seek these blissful glories for ourselves, let us strive to extend them to other lands. Let the bugles sound the Truce of God to the whole world for ever. Let the selfish boast of the Spartan women become the grand chorus of mankind, that they have never seen the smoke of an enemy's camp. Let the iron belt of martial music which now encompasses the earth, be exchanged for the golden cestus of Peace, clothing all with celestial beauty. History dwells with fondness on the reverent homage, that was bestowed, by massacring soldiers, on the spot occupied by the Sepulchre of the Lord. Vain man! to restrain his regard The whole earth is the Sepulchre

to a few feet of sacred mould!

of the Lord; nor can any righteous man profane any part thereof. Let us recognise this truth; and now, on this Sabbath of our country, lay a new stone in the grand Temple of Universal Peace, whose dome shall be as lofty as the firmament of heaven, as broad and comprehensive as the earth itself.

APPENDIX.

NOTE A.

[Referred to on page 3.]

THE following letter has been published at the suggestion of several friends, as illustrating a topic considered in the text.

MY DEAR

July 6th, 1845.

It has occurred to me that you might have thought me wanting in frankness, when I avoided expressing a positive opinion with regard to the righteousness of the resistance of our fathers to taxation by the British Parliament. I am very desirous, on many accounts, of not disturbing that question. "Let the Dead Past bury its Dead." I wish to confine myself to the Present and the Future.

There is one conclusion, following, with irresistible force, from the assumption that our fathers were justifiable in their course, which neither of us would wish to have promulgated. It relates to the present condition of our slaves. At the time of the Stamp Act and Tea Tax, the population of the Colonies amounted to about two millions (according to Mr. Burke, though our writers have called it three); their grievance, their slavery, was the necessity of paying a few pence, more or less, on certain things, under the direction of a Parliament in which they were not represented. No just or humane person can fail to perceive that all this was as a feather, compared with the rod of oppression now held by our country over more than three millions of fellowIf two millions were justified in resisting by force the assumptions of the British Parliament, as contrary to the law of nature, the principles of the common law, and the rights of Freedom; then à fortiori, the three millions of blacks, into whose souls we thrust the iron of the deadliest slavery the world has yet witnessed, would be justified in resisting by force the power that holds them in bondage. Can we proclaim such a truth?

men.

To me, the more humane, the more Christian, the more expedient course, seems to be to leave that great question undisturbed in the coffins of our fathers. There are minor rules of propriety, not to say of politeness and good breeding, that seem to indicate the same conclusion. The customary tone of reference to the war of the Revolution is in a spirit which would be considered indelicate with regard to any private or personal experience; and it seems to me well worthy of consideration, whether the time has not come for nations to put aside their habits of boasting as indecorous, if not unchris

G