way, good may come to this afflicted people out of this terrible evil.

As I know how anxiously you watch for the latest news from Washington, I have arranged that any bulletins which may come during the exercises shall be brought here, and I will announce them as they are received. [Immense applause.]

NOTE. Soon after the delivery of the Oration was begun, it was interrupted to permit the Mayor to read the gratifying despatch, to the effect, that the President's symptoms were declared to be more favorable, and that one of the attending physicians who before had been doubtful of the result, now expressed confidence in his ultimate recovery. This announcement was received by the large audience with loud and prolonged cheering; after which the oration was listened to with close attention.

ORATION.

It is, indeed, Mr. Mayor, a high honor to stand in the line of the orators of Boston, and voice the common sentiment which this occasion inspires. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA rejoices in her One Hundred and Fifth Anniversary, worthy to be commemorated by all her people throughout her extended domain. As when in the time of some great national crisis the assembled multitude await anxiously the result, and the good news comes at last, a spontaneous shout is raised, and all join hands, strangers, friends, the estranged, alike; so on this return of Independence day, all political and personal animosities subside in the general joy which fills the air we breathe. Even while just now listening to the long historic list of grievances set forth in the Immortal Declaration, so eloquently read to-day, an ever-appropriate part of the celebration, we feel no resentment towards the memory of King George the Third; for we bear in mind his reception of John

Adams, as our first minister-plenipotentiary to his court, in June, 1785. "I was the last," said the king, in concluding his reply to Mr. Adams' address, "to consent to the separation; but the separation having been made, and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power;" and such, for the most part, has been the feeling of his successors of his own blood on the British throne to this hour. And always in Queen Victoria's cosmopolitan capital, bear witness the memory of George Peabody, -in charming Paris, and in all the principal cities of continental Europe, of the great Orient also, as well as of the isles of the sea, wherever two or three Americans are brought together, there is this day well remembered, and there to-day is a fervent prayer offered that the life of the President may be preserved. The boundless Ocean, as yet unconscious of this great shock on Earth, amid its incessant roar, hears now the resounding cannon, numbering the stars of our great republic, as our ships ride the billowy waves, streaming in their holiday attire and playing the inspiring notes of our national airs. No other country under heaven has so stamped on the world's calendar for the past century, and for

centuries to come, its distinctive day, like our own gladsome and glorious Fourth of July.

Boston, which did so much towards the making of the day, has been the most constant of all in its patriotic commemoration. Beginning in 1783, before the treaty of peace with the mother-country, there have been, including the present, under the auspices of the municipal authorities, ninety-nine celebrations. No gap has been made by foreign war or civil discord, by adverse times or party feuds; whatever clouds have flitted across the sky, she has cast aside all gloom, and, robing herself in the flag of her country, she has hailed this day of jubilee with signal tokens of rejoicing. On this day she makes all her children happy, and in seeing their smiles and sports we all are young again.

Let us picture to ourselves the scene of the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, in Boston, on the 18th of July, 1776. The news of the event must have reached Boston several days before; but it took a fortnight in those slowmoving times before the full text of the precious document could arrive and due notice of its proclamation be made. It was not read at the head of the army in New York till the 9th of July. The Town House which we now call the Old

State House was not then connected with the web of wires in the basement and roof, stretching through the air to such then unknown cities. as Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington, and San Francisco, like a harp's thousand strings, whose play now electrifies a continent. The king's arms were the most conspicuous thing on the building. The day appointed was Thursday, immediately after the Thursday Lecture at the First Church, nearly opposite, on the site where is to be the new Rogers Building. As they came out from the lecture, which probably had some reference to the great event, whether it was preached by Dr. Chauncy, or one of his brother ministers, the people took position in King's street, as it was then called, where two regiments and a detachment of artillery were already posted in lines. The people had flocked in also from the neighboring towns. The Council Chamber was crowded with the councillors, representatives, magistrates, ministers, and distinguished citizens. It was just four months and a day since the British troops had evacuated the town, with the American loyalists, who had not given up the hope to return to their homes, under the old regime reestablished. Washington had withdrawn the main part of his army. Imagine the feelings of suspense and agitation with which that