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AFRICA'S REDEMPTION
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blustering French Republic, evincing a rationality and capacity for self-government far surpassing the French people, and having a President in all respects superior to the coxcomb who rules the French nation. There she stands in her principles, in her spirit, in the moral elevation of her people, in the terms and tone of her declaration of independence, and I confidently add, in her prospects, a government more like our own than that of any other nation under heaven! Hence comes the special propriety of presenting this subject on the anniversary of our National Independence. Let this day be a trysting-point, where annually these solitary Republics shall blend their thoughts, and rejoice in their related happiness. In so doing we do not banish, but the more naturally recall, the memory of our noble history, and the more vividly realize our national blessings.

On the recurrence of this fourth day of July, the people of these United States, and least of all, those who dwell in sight of Independence Hall, cannot forget our glorious past, or fail to be grateful for our present position and prospects. May it ever be a day of unmingled rejoicing, and of devout gratitude to Almighty God, the arbiter of national as well as individual destiny It has this year fallen upon the Sabbath, and the pulpit is thus providentially allowed the opportunity to add its testimony in honour of the day Let it never be passed in silence—let the rushing car of mammon never reduce it to the level of other days. It is the