FUNERAL ORATION. 77 back into their strongholds, like the virtuous chief of Rome he returned to the Senate, and presided again at the councils of the fathers. When the vanquished foe had rallied their disordered army, and by the acquisition of fresh strength again presumed to fight against freemen, our patriot, ever anxious to be where he might do the most good, again put off the senator, and, in contempt of danger, flew to the field of battle, where after a stern and almost victorious resistance, alas, too soon for his country, he sealed his principles with his blood. Then "Freedom wept that merit could not save;" but the immortal name of Warren shall make forever glorious the field on which he fell, and the heights of Charleston bear perpetual record of the blood shed in the cause of virtue and mankind. And can we, my countrymen, behold with indifference so much valor laid prostrate by the hand of British tyranny, and can we ever grasp that hand in affection again? Are we not yet convinced that he who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored Indian, is less a savage than the king of Britain? Have we not proofs, written in blood, that the corrupted nation from whence we sprang is stubbornly fixed on our destruction, and shall we still court dependence on such a state? still contend for a connection with those who have forfeited not only every kindred claim, but even their title to humanity? Forbid it, spirit of the brave Montgomery! Forbid it, spirit of the immortal Warren! Rather ought we to disclaim forever the forfeited affinity; and by a timely amputation of one limb of the empire, save the mortification of the whole! Let us listen to the voice of our slaughtered brethren, who are now proclaiming aloud to their country: "Go tell the king, and tell him from our spirits, Can feel a pang more keen than slavery's self, 'Tis when the chains that crush you into dust, Are forged by hands from which you hoped for freedom." Yes, we will assert the blood of our murdered hero against thy hostile oppression, O shameless Britain! and when thy cloud-capped towers, thy gorgeous palaces" shall, by the teeth of pride and folly be levelled with the ground, and when thy glory shall have faded like the western sunbeam, the name and the virtues of WARREN shall remain immortal! Ex. XLVIII.-INSTRUCTIONS TO MR. EZRA SARGENT, A DEL- THE time was, Sir, when we loved the king and the people of Great Britain with an affection truly filial; we felt ourselves interested in their glory, we shared in their joys and sorrows; we cheerfully poured the fruit of all our labors into the lap of our mother country, and without reluctance expended our blood and our treasure in her cause. These were our sentiments toward Great Britain while she continued to act the part of a parent state; we felt ourselves happy in our connection with her, nor wished it to be dissolved; but our sentiments are altered-it is now the ardent wish of our souls that America may become a free and independent state. A sense of unprovoked injuries will arouse the resentment of the most peaceful. Such injuries these colonies have received from Great Britain. The frantic policy of administration hath induced them to send fleets and armies to America, that by depriving us of our trade, and cutting the throats of our brethren, they might awe us into submission, and erect a system of despotism in America, which should so far enlarge the influence of the crown as to enable it to rivet their shackles upon the people of Great Britain. This plan was brought to a crisis upon the ever memorable nineteenth of April. We remember the fatal day! The expiring groans of our countrymen yet vibrate in our ears, and we now behold the flames of their peaceful dwellings ascending to heaven! We hear their blood crying to us from the ground for vengeance! The manner in which the war hath been prosecuted, hath confirmed us in these sentiments; piracy and murder, robbery and breach of faith, have been conspicuous in the conduct of the king's troops; defenceless towns have been attacked and destroyed; the ruins of Charlestown, which are daily in our view, daily remind us of this; the cries of the widow and the orphan demand our attention; they demand that the hand of pity should wipe the tear from their eye, and that the sword of the country should avenge their wrongs. We long entertained hopes that the spirit of the British nation would once more induce them to assert their own and our rights, and bring to con dign punishment the elevated villains who have trampled upon the sacred rights of man, and affronted the majesty of the people. We hoped in vain; they have lost their love of freedom; they have lost their spirit of just resentment; we therefore renounce with disdain our connection with a kingdom of slaves, and bid a final adieu to Britain. We have freely spoken our sentiments upon this important subject, but we mean not to dictate; we have unbounded confidence in the wisdom and uprightness of the Continental Congress; with pleasure we recollect that this affair is under their direction; and we now instruct you, Sir, to give them the strongest assurance that if they should declare America to be a free and independent republic, your constituents will support and defend the measure, to the last drop of their blood, and the last farthing of their treasure. Ex. XLIX.-SONG. THE day is broke; my boys, push on, Kind Providence our troops inspires With heart and hand, and God our trust, Push on, my boys, push on! Till freedom reigns, our hearty bands Ex. L.-ASSERTION OF THE RIGHTS OF AMERICA.* Speech delivered in Congress, June 7, 1776. RICHARD HENRY LEE. THE Americans may become faithful friends to the English, but subjects, never. And even though union could be restored without rancor, it could not without danger. There are some who seem to dread the effects of the revolution. But will England, or can she manifest against us greater rigor and rage than she has already displayed? She deems resistance against oppression no less rebellion than independence itself. And where are those formidable troops that are to. subdue the Americans? What the English could not do, can it be done by Germans? Are they more brave, or better disciplined? The number of our enemies is increased; but our own is not diminished, and the battles we have sustained have given us the practice of arms and the experience of war. America has arrived at a degree of power which assigns her a place among independent nations; we are not less entitled to it than the English themselves. If they have wealth, so also have we; if they are brave, so are we; if they are more numerous, our population will soon equal theirs; if they *The occasion of this earnest statement of the nation's position in regard to Great Britain, was the introduction into Congress of the following resolution, moved by R. H. Lee, of Virginia, and debated with much warmth, six states out of thirteen voting against it as premature. "RESOLVED, That the United Colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent States, and that their political connection with Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved." The farther consideration of the subject was postponed until the 1st of July, and a committee of five appointed to draft a Declaration of Independence. On the 4th of July the question came up for final action, the paper prepared by Jefferson was accepted, the Declaration was signed by the delegates from all the colonies, and on that day our country assumed the title of "The United States of America." ASSERTION OF THE RIGHTS OF AMERICA. 81 have men of renown as well in peace as in war, we likewise have such; political revolutions produce great, brave, and generous spirits. From what we have already achieved in these painful beginnings, it is easy to presume what we shall hereafter accomplish; for experience is the source of sage counsels, and liberty is the mother of great men. Have you not seen the enemy driven from Lexington by thirty thousand citizens, armed and assembled in one day? Already their most celebrated generals have yielded, in Boston, to the skill of ours; already their seamen, repulsed from our coasts, wander over the sea, where they are the sport of tempests, and the prey of famine. Let us hail the favorable omen, and fight, not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are to be the slaves of England, but to secure ourselves a free existence-to found a just and independent government. Animated by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the innumerable army of Persians; sustained by the love of independence, the Swiss and Dutch humbled the power of Austria and Spain by memorable defeats, and conquered a rank among nations. The sun of America also shines upon the heads of the brave; the point of our weapons is no less formidable than theirs; here also the same union prevails, the same contempt of dangers and of death, in asserting the cause of our country. Why then do we longer delay-why still deliberate ? Let this most happy day give birth to the American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to reëstablish the reign of peace and the laws. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us; she demands of us a living example of freedom, that may contrast, by the felicity of the citizens, with the ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum, where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts of tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering, under its salubrious and interminable shade, all the unfortunate of the human race. This is the end presaged by so many omens; by our first victories, by the present ardor and union, by the flight of Howe and the pestilence which broke out among Dunmore's people, by the very winds which baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terrible tempest which engulfed seven hundred vessels on the coast of Newfoundland. If we are not this day wanting in our duty to our country, the |