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The fruit of the American Spirit.

and protestant Germany, as well as England. It became the vivid and illuminating conviction of the people here gathered; and in its light the Republic dawned. The fore-gleams of that were playing already along the horizon, while Burke was speaking. Before his words had reached this country, the small red rim was palpable on the eastern sky, showing the irresisti ble up-spring of that effulgent yet temperate day which never since has ceased to shine.

All this was the work of that early distinctive American Spirit, so rich in its history, so manifold in its sources, so supreme in its force. It had not been born of sudden passion. It was not the creature of one school of theology. It had had no narrow insular origin. It was richer and broader than Burke himself discerned it to be. Holland and France, as well as England, had contributed to it. From the age of Elizabeth, and of William the Silent, of Henry Fourth and Gustavus Adolphus, it had burst forth upon these shores. It had here been working for a century and a half, before the Stamp Act. It had wrought in

erty, which might have served as a motto for the Congress convened at Philadelphia, just a hundred years after his death:

And surely they that shall boast, as we do, to be a free nation, and not to have in themselves the power to remove or to abolish any governor, supreme or subordinate, with the government itself upon urgent causes, may please their fancy with a ridiculous and painted freedom, fit to cozen babies, but are indeed under tyranny and servitude, as wanting that power which is the root and source of all liberty, to dispose and economize in the land which God hath given them, as masters of family in their own house and free inheritance."

The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.

Europe for three generations, before the first hemlock. hut sheltered a white face between Plymouth and Jamestown. It had been born of vehement struggle, vast endurance, sublime aspiration, heroic achievement: and on this reserved continent of the future God gave it room, incentive, training. Assault did not destroy it here. Reäction did not waste it. It flourished more royally, because transplanted. At last it sent back of its inherent, perennial life, to revive the lands from which at the outset it had come.

The work of that spirit is what we inherit. It was that which got its coveted relief from paying threepence a pound upon tea, by erecting another empire in the world. It was that which counseled, wrought, and fought, from the first Congress to the last capitulation. It is that which every succeeding reminiscence, in the coming crowded centennial years, will constantly recall. It is that which interlinks our annals with those of the noblest time in Europe, and makes us heirs to the greatness of its history. It is that which shows the providence of Him who is the eternal Masterbuilder of states and peoples, and the reach of whose plan runs through the ages!

The patriot's duty, the scholar's mission, the philanthropist's hope, are illustrated by it. For as long as this spirit survives among us, uncorrupted by luxury, unabated by time, no matter what the strife of parties, no matter what the commercial reverse, institutions which express it will be permanent here as the moun

May it be enduring!

tains and the stars. When this shall fail, if fail it does, it will not need a foreign foe, it will not ask domestic strife, to destroy our liberties. Of themselves they will fall; as the costly column, whose base has rotted; as the mighty frame, whose life has gone!

May He who brought it, still maintain it :-that when others are gathered here, a hundred years hence, to review the annals not yet written, they may have only to trace the unfolding of its complete and sovereign life!

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PROCEEDINGS.

AT a special meeting of the NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, held in the Academy of Music, in the City of New York, on Thursday evening, April 15th, 1875, to celebrate the Seventieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Society:

The proceedings were opened with prayer by the Rev. THOMAS E. VERMILYE, D.D., LL.D., senior minister of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of this City.

The Anniversary Address was then delivered by the Rev. RICHARD S. STORRS, D.D., LL.D.

Upon the conclusion of the address, Mr. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT rose and said:

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The profound silence with which you have listened to the honorable speaker attests your interest in the subject, and the ability with which it. has been delivered. The orator has well expounded to you the manner in which the spirit, out of which our free institution first had its origin, penetrated the hearts of the people, how it was carried into full effect in the institution under which it is our good fortune to live. While his voice is yet ringing in your ears, while his brilliant periods yet give forth their music in your memory, I will not attempt to say anything upon the subject. I will only present a resolution which I am sure you will all agree to with perfect unanimity :

"Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be presented to the Rev. Dr. STORRS for his able, eloquent and instructive discourse delivered this evening, and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication.

This resolution was then seconded by Mr. WILLIAM M. EVARTS in the following words:

“MR. PRESIDENT: It gives me great pleasure to second the resolution which Mr. BRYANT has so fitly offered, and

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