Excerpt from An Oration Delivered at the Dedication of the Soldiers' Monument in North Weymouth, Mass., On Saturday, July 4, 1868 We have assembled here to-day under circumstances which no man of this generation had a right to antici pate. The Fourth of J uly, the great birth-day of our Republic, was transmitted to us by our fathers, laden with a wealth of associations and memories, which seemed to be an inheritance as ample as Providence in its supreme wisdom would ever vouchsafe to its most chosen people. The heroism of our revolutionary fath ers, unmatched in history, gave inspiration to our people through all the changes and trials of three quarters of a century. The august form of Washington presided everywhere, inspired our orators, guided our statesmen, illumined our land. The profound declarations of J ef ferson were the gospel of our nationality. Around the sacred scenes of the revolution we loved to linger - with Pickering and his little band on that solemn Sunday afternoon at North Bridge with the valiant yeomanry of Concord and Lexington. And Parker's dying words; with Prescott and Warren on the bloody morning of Bunker Hill; with Washington, toiling and suffering and praying and trusting in God from Dorchester. 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.