Book Description

Excerpt from An Oration on the Real Nature and Value of the American Revolution Fellow Countrymen: - As we meet to celebrate a most famous event, I propose to you now, after the lapse of almost eighty years, that we shall all calmly consider what has been, to ourselves and to mankind, its real value. And this (contrary to usage on these occasions) I propose to do, by a simple and practical comparison of what the Colonies were or would now have been, if that event had not occurred, and what the United States have become in consequence of it. The customary course of Addresses on this day has been a historical review of the contest itself, mingled with philosophical reflections upon the natural and social rights of man, and glowing eulogies of our Revolutionary Fathers, and, sometimes, of ourselves. I leave this beaten track, not because it is beaten; for its universality only bespeaks, (what is the truth) that such a treatment of the subject is both natural and proper. Nor, ought it ever to become wearisome to the ears of Americans Such meditations, like the prayers of infancy, like the songs of home, never can grow stale. However brief, and simple, and rude in form they may be, they are full to bursting, with deep thought and ardent emotions. My reasons for pursuing this humble walk, instead of essaying these serial flights, were, first - that the suddenness of the notice prevented more serious preparations, but chiefly, because I do earnestly believe, that a more every-day sort of an examination of the incontrovertible facts of this comparison, has been too long neglected. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.