Part 14 (1/2)
As the half-century froer feeling of the duty of co those who froreatest interest in the subject, was the late William Tudor, Esq He expressed the wish, in a letter still preserved, to see upon the battle-ground ”the noblestin urging the project, that it has been stated that he first conceived the idea of it The steps taken in execution of the project, froentleed in it to its final cohae of Boston All the material facts contained in this note are derived fro an account of the organization of the society, the measures adopted for the collection of funds, and the deliberations on the forhae of the enterprise that the directors proposed to lay the corner-stone of the round was broken (June 7th) for this purpose As aSoloe of Massachusetts to perform the ceremony They also invited General Lafayette to accompany the President of the association, Hon Daniel Webster, and assist in it
”This celebration was unequalled inof the kind that had been seen in New England Theproved propitious The air was cool, the sky was clear, and tihtened the vesture of nature into its loveliest hue Delighted thousands flocked into Boston to bear a part in the proceedings, or to witness the spectacle At about ten o'clock a procession moved from the State House towards Bunker Hill
The military, in their fine uniforms, formed the van About two hundred veterans of the Revolution, of whom forty were survivors of the battle, rode in barouches next to the escort These venerable eneration, with e voices, constituted a touching spectacle So equipments, and some bore the scars of stilleyes constituted their answer to the enthusiastic cheers of the grateful ress To this patriot band succeeded the Bunker Hill Monument association Then the Masonic fraternity, in their splendid regalia, thousands in number Then Lafayette, continually welcouests Then a long array of societies, with their various badges and banners It was a splendid procession, and of such length that the front nearly reached Charlestown Bridge ere the rear had left Boston Common It proceeded to Breed's Hill, where the Grand Master of the Freemasons, the President of the Monument association, and General Lafayette, perfor the corner-stone, in the presence of a vast concourse of people”
The procession then moved to a spacious amphitheatre on the northern declivity of the hill, when the following address was delivered by Mr
Webster, in the presence of as great a multitude as was ever perhaps assembled within the sound of a human voice
FOOTNOTES
[52] General Warren, at the ties in America
THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT[53]
This uncountedwhich the occasion has excited These thousands of hu with syratitude turned reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firmament, proclai have made a deep i in local association fit to affect the mind of itate us here We are auished by their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their blood We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our annals, nor to draw into notice an obscure and unknown spot If our humble purpose had never been conceived, if we ourselves had never been born, the 17th of June, 1775, would have been a day on which all subsequent history would have poured its light, and the eminence where we stand a point of attraction to the eyes of successive generations But we are Ae of this great continent; and we know that our posterity, through all time, are here to enjoy and suffer the allotreat events; we know that our own fortunes have been happily cast; and it is natural, therefore, that we should be uided our destiny before many of us were born, and settled the condition in which we should pass that portion of our existence which God allows to men on earth
We do not read even of the discovery of this continent, without feeling so reminded how much it has affected our own fortunes and our own existence It would be still more unnatural for us, therefore, than for others, to conte, I reat discoverer of America stood on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night falling on the sea, yet no ; tossed on the billows of an unknown ocean, yet the stronger billows of alternate hope and despair tossing his own troubled thoughts; extending forward his harassed fraer eyes, till Heaven at last granted hi his vision with the sight of the unknoorld
Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our fates, and therefore still s and affections, is the settleland We cherish every memorial of these worthy ancestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; we ad enterprise; we teach our children to venerate their piety; and we are justly proud of being descended fro civil institutions on the great and united principles of hue To us, their children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never be without its interest We shall not stand unmoved on the shore of Plymouth, while the sea continues to wash it; nor will our brethren in another early and ancient Colony forget the place of its first establishor of youth, no et the spots where its infancy was cradled and defended
But the great event in the history of the continent, which we are now y ofof the world, is the American Revolution In a day of extraordinary prosperity and happiness, of high national honor, distinction, and poe are brought together, in this place, by our love of country, by our adnal services and patriotic devotion
The Society whose organ I a some honorable and durable monument to the memory of the early friends of Aht, that for this object no time could be more propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful period; that no place could claim preference over this memorable spot; and that no day could be , than the anniversary of the battle which was here fought The foundation of that monument we have now laid With solehty God for his blessing and in the un the work We trust it will be prosecuted, and that, springing froh in randeur, itas Heaven permits the works of man to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in ratitude of those who have reared it
We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of mankind We know, that if we could cause this structure to ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain but part of that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread over the earth, and which history charges itself withknown to all future times We know that no inscription on entablatures less broad than the earth itself can carry inforone; and that no structure, which shall not outlive the duration of letters and knowledge a the memorial But our object is, by this edifice, to show our own deep sense of the value and importance of the achieveratitude to the eye, to keep alive siard for the principles of the Revolution Huination also, and sentiment; and that is neither wasted nor ht direction to senti in the heart Let it not be supposed that our object is to perpetuate national hostility, or even to cherish a her, purer, nobler We consecrate our work to the spirit of national independence, and ish that the light of peace may rest upon it for ever We rear a memorial of our conviction of that unmeasured benefit which has been conferred on our own land, and of the happy influences which have been produced, by the saeneral interests of mankind We come, as Americans, to mark a spot which must for ever be dear to us and our posterity We wish that whosoever, in all co time, shall turn his eye hither, uished where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought We wish that this structure nitude and ie We wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection froe may behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it suggests We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud, in the midst of its toil We wish that, in those days of disaster, which, as they come upon all nations,patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the foundations of our national power are still strong We wish that this colu the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God,of dependence and gratitude We wish, finally, that the last object to the sight of hiladden his who revisits it,which shall relory of his country Let it rise! let it rise, till it ht of the er and play on its sue Events so various and so iuish centuries, are, in our tile life When has it happened that history has had so much to record, in the same term of years, as since the 17th of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which, under other circuht itself have been expected to occasion a war of half a century, has been achieved; twenty-four sovereign and independent States erected; and a general government established over theht onder its establishment should have been accoreater wonder that it should have been established at all Two or three reat forests of the West prostrated beneath the arm of successful industry, and the dwellers on the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi becohbors of those who cultivate the hills of New England[56] We have a commerce, that leaves no sea unexplored; navies, which take no law froencies of government, almost without taxation; and peace with all nations, founded on equal rights and mutual respect
Europe, within the sahty revolution, which, while it has been felt in the individual condition and happiness of almost every man, has shaken to the centre her political fabric, and dashed against one another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages On this, our continent, our own exa up to be nations Unaccustoovernment have reached us from beyond the track of the sun; and at this moment the dominion of European power in this continent, from the place where we stand to the south pole, is annihilated for ever[57]
In the eneral progress of knowledge, such the iislation, in commerce, in the arts, in letters, and, above all, in liberal ideas and the general spirit of the age, that the whole world see that this is but a faint abstract of the things which have happened since the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, we are but fifty years res of our own condition, and to look abroad on the brightened prospects of the world, while we still have aents in the scenes of 1775, and who are now here, froland, to visit once , I had al, this renowned theatre of their courage and patriotism
VENERABLE MEN! you have coeneration Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you ht behold this joyous day You are nohere you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the strife for your country Behold, how altered! The same heavens are indeed over your heads; the saed! You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see noCharlestown The ground stroith the dead and the dying; the ie; the steady and successful repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the su of all that is manly to repeated resistance; a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in war and death;--all these you have witnessed, but you witness thehts of yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, which you then saw filled ives and children and country with unutterable emotions for the issue of the coht of its whole happy population, coreet you with a universal jubilee Yonder proud shi+ps, by a felicity of position appropriately lying at the foot of thisaround it, are not means of annoyance to you, but your country's own means of distinction and defence[58] All is peace; and God has granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you slurave He has allowed you to behold and to partake the reward of your patriotic toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and countryeneration, in the name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you!