A CENTENNIAL RETROSPECT.

A POEM BY DR. FRED. A. PALMER, OF MONTMORENCI, S. C.

DELIVERED AT THE CENTENNIAL

CELEBRATION, AIKEN, S. C., JULY 4TH, 1876.

A noble band of patriots with faces all aglow

Stood in the Halls of Congress one hundred years ago; Stood side by side, as they had stood upon the battle-field, When they compelled the troops of England's King to yield.

The enemies of Liberty sat silent, pale and still

While these brave men prayed God to know and do his will; It was an hour when Justice was trembling in the scales, When God from man the future in tender mercy veils.

These brave men knew that they must act for children yet unborn,

They sealed the Nation's destiny upon that glorious morn, When each man pledged his all for Right, for Liberty and

Peace,

Forever sacred to our hearts shall be such men as these.

'Tis true they left a stain upon our banner fold,

But we have wiped it out with blood and paid for it in gold; These patriots fought for Liberty, and pledged themselves to

stand

For Freedom, Right, and Justice, a firm unbroken band.

But while they threw their own chains off, they bound in bonds more strong

The bands that held the colored man in misery and wrong; But soon or late all wrong comes right, for such is God's decree,

And in His own good time He set the black man free.

It was not some one favored State, North, South, East or West,

That gave the true brave signers of that Declaration blest :
No; each State gave her patriots who bore their noble share,
And when the Nation's work was done, each State had proud
names there.

Let us clasp hands, to work as one, for all the Nation's good And stand together as one man, as once our fathers stood; Behold, how short the time has been, but one brief hundred

years,

To plant the tree of Liberty and water it with tears.

Brave men have fallen on the field, to guard that sacred tree,
To save it from all vandal hands our aim shall ever be ;
Altho' we still have many faults, our Nation yet is young;
And we will carry out the work which these brave men begun.

We live in freedom; let us clasp each other by the hand;
In love and unity abide, a firm, unbroken band;

We cannot live divided; the Union is secure ;

God grant that while men live and love this Nation may endure.

ADDRESS.

BY HON. P. C. CHENEY, GOV. OF N. H., AND PRESIDENT OF THE DAY.

AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, AT MANCHESTER N. H., JULY 4, 1876.

FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-We meet here to-day to recall the memories of the past, to hallow the acts and deeds of our fathers, to pay our tribute of love and grateful remembrance to the heroic dead, who, one hundred years ago, bravely met the duties of the hour and in convention declared that these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and independent States, and in support of which solemnly pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. We meet here too to note the rapid progress in art and science, the triumphant and onward march of civil and religious liberty: but what is most important of all, my fellow-citizens, we are here to consider how great is the responsibility which rests upon us, the children of this blessed inheritence, to which has been committed the truths that were purchased and paid for in the sacrifice of lives and fortunes of men whose inspirations were from on high and whose actions were crowned with more than human success. The experience of this generation has led us of the people to comprehend how great and how serious is the charge with which we are entrusted. Yes; bitter experience has taught us if we would preserve these blessings unimpaired, we must keep our hearts filled with love towards one another, and we can move forward with malice towards none and charity for all. But I don't propose to occupy your time; I take pleasure in introducing to you a man whose name is a guarantee that it will be a pleasure to listen to.

Mr. B. F. Dame will now read the Declaration of Independence.

THE DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC.

AN ORATION BY HON. LEWIS W. CLARK.

DELIVERED AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, MANCHESTER, N. H., JULY 4TH, 1876.

An inspired writer hath said, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." It is well to remember, as the years wear away, the anniversary of one's birth to union, as that advancing age is bringing us nearer to "that bourne from whence no traveler returns." It is well to keep in memory the valor, the sacrifices and the patriotism of those who fought and fell at Lexington and Bunker Hill in the great struggle for liberty, by a proper observance of the annual return of the 19th of April and the 17th of June. If it is well to observe the anniversary of these events, how much more appropriate to observe this day-the birth-day of a nation--and that nation ours; the anniversary of the birth of that government which not only declares that all are born free and equal, but affords to all equal rights, and affords to all equal protection in the enjoyment of those rights, without regard to age, sex, color or condition in life.

We are assembled here to celebrate by appropriate exercises the one hundredth anniversary of American independence, and it is good that we should be here. Auspicious day! ever memorable in the history of the world and in the annals of civilization. We have no need to build tabernacles to commemorate this event. They are already built,-founded by the patriotism of our fathers,-erected on soil drenched with the blood which has made every battle field of the revolution from Lexington to Yorktown memorable, and sustained by that unfaltering faith in free institutions, and that love of civil and religious liberty that inspired our forefathers at Delft Haven, starting on their perilous voyage on the Mayflower; at Plymouth Rock; amid the

snow of mid winter at Valley Forge, when, with frozen feet, starving stomachs, and scantily clad bodies, under the leadership of Washington and his noble compeers, all sufferings were endured, obstacles overcome, and finally, at the cost of blood, privation and life, the right for us to assemble here to-day in peace was secured. Blessed be the memory of those who, at so great a sacrifice, purchased these blessings for us! Fortunate will it be for our children's children if we have the virtue and wisdom to transmit to them unimpaired the glorious heritage bequeathed to us by our fathers.

A century! It extends beyond the period of the life of man, and yet it comprises but the infancy of a nation. What changes have been wrought, and what a multitude of marvellous events have been crowded into that period of time! Not one of all this vast assemblage saw the sunlight of heaven on the 4th of July, 1776; and not one of us here to-day will participate in the exercises of the next centennial.

One hundred years ago to-day at Philadelphia, in Independence Hall, or rather on the steps of the Hall, at two o'clock in the afternoon was published to the world the Declaration of our national Independence, framed by Thomas Jefferson. And when, after the terrible struggle of the Revolution had secured the acknowledgment of that independence among the nations of the earth, a constitution was framed and submitted to the people of all the States for adoption, it was the vote of New Hampshire, given in convention, June 21, 1788, which secured the requisite number of States (a two-thirds) as required by the Constitution, and it became the Constitution of the United States of America which formed the Union of the States which exists to-day, and which we trust will continue to exist through all the ages to

come.

In the contest for freedom New Hampshire was among the foremost, and we may well to-day have a just pride in the names of Stark, Poor, Goffe, and Sullivan, and all those who stood shoulder to shoulder during those trying years of the infant republic. We revere their memories. The hero of Bennington sleeps on the banks of our beautiful river. His body may turn to dust again, "old time with his chisel small "may consume the