have been committed to memory by two generations of American youth; it is read and admired wherever the English language is spoken.
A few passages here and there in the text have been omitted from lack of space. The exact wording has not been changed.
1. This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, fellow-citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and overhang the arches of this hall,[1] These walls, which were consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of American liberty, which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with the shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distinguished friends and champions of that great cause have fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which flow, and the honors that are paid, when the founders of the republic die, give hope that the republic itself may be immortal. It is fit that, by public assembly and solemn observance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the services of national benefactors, extol their virtues, and render thanks to God for eminent blessings, early given and long continued, through their agency, to our favored country.
2. Adams and Jefferson are no more; and we are assembled, fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the authority of the municipal government, with the presence of the Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others of its official representatives, the University,[2] and the learned societies, to bear our part in those manifestations of respect and gratitude which pervade the whole land. Adams and
- ↑ This hall.—Faneuil Hall, "the cradle of liberty," was for the first time on this occasion draped in mourning. This famous building, named after Peter Faneuil, was built and given by him to the town of Boston in 1740. It was formerly used as a place in which to hold town meetings, but in more recent years has been used for popular meetings of all kinds, more especially held in commemoration of some great event. Many great orators, local and national, have spoken from its venerable and inspiring platform.
- ↑ University.—Harvard University, as is well known, is located in Cambridge, a few miles from Boston. Its history is inseparably linked with that of Boston.
