Book Description

Excerpt from An Oration Delivered by Request of the City Authorities Before the Citizens of Boston, on the Sixty Third Anniversary of American Independence, July 4, 1839 The history of the United States is the record of constant improvement. What has urged this mighty nation onward? Amidst the unceasing vicissitude of human affairs, in sunshine and in shade, in tempest and in calm, in danger, trouble and distress, amidst the terrific convulsions which have agitated the civilized world, what energy has secured to this country a continual career of splendid and progressive triumph? The Spirit of Independence! The earliest, loftiest inspiration of the soul. The source of courage, constancy and hope. The spirit which teaches man, his dignity and his destiny. The power which developes his moral, his intellectual and his physical capacities and assimilates him to his Creator. The great artificer of human character, the mighty controller of. human fate. This spirit restrained by religion and directed by law, enlightened by reason and chastened by virtue, is the hereditary characteristic of the American people. It was the spirit of the Pilgrims in their native land. It armed them against ecclesiastical domination and dictated their charter of religious freedom. 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.