JOHN WARREN, M. D.

JULY 4, 1783. ON THE NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

THE last public act in the career of James Otis, that presiding genius of our colonial Revolution, occurred at a town-meeting of the inhabitants of Boston, March 5, 1783, at Faneuil Hall, when he officiated as moderator; and it was voted to substitute the celebration of the Declaration of Independence for that of the Boston Massacre, after Dr. Thomas Welsh had pronounced the annual oration on the latter occasion. Otis was struck out of existence by a flash of lightning, at Andover, in Massachusetts, on the 23d day of May succeeding. Who can tell but what this time-honored festival of liberty originated in his penetrative mind? It may be said of Otis that his political career was as a poem that lights warm hearts with living flame. How cheering was it to witness the eagle-eyed, round-faced, plump, short-necked, and smooth-skinned Otis, as he has been described by an enemy, at the head of the assembly in old Faneuil Hall on this glorious occasion!

William Cooper, the town-clerk, made the following motion: "Whereas, the annual celebration of the Boston Massacre, on the 5th of March, 1770, by the institution of a public oration, has been found to be of eminent advantage to the cause of virtue and patriotism among her citizens; and whereas, the immediate motives which induced the commemoration of that day do now no longer exist in their primitive force, while the benefits resulting from the institution may and ought ever to be preserved, by exchanging that anniversary for another, the foundation of which will last so long as time endures; it is therefore resolved, that the celebration of the 5th of March from henceforth shall cease, and that instead thereof, the anniversary of the Fourth Day of July, 1776,- a day ever memorable in the annals of this country for the Declaration of Independence,- shall be constantly celebrated by the delivery of a public oration, in such place as the town shall determine to be most convenient for the in which the orator purpose, shall consider the feelings, manners and principles, which led to this great national event, as well as the important and happy effects, whether general or domestic, which have already, and will forever continue, to flow from this auspicious epoch."

At a town-meeting on May of that date, Hon. Samuel Adams mod

erator, the resolve was accepted, and a committee consisting of Perez Morton, William Tudor, Thomas Dawes, Joseph Barrell, and Charles Jarvis, were chosen to consider this matter at large, and report at the adjournment. At a town-meeting, July 4th inst., Hon. James Sullivan moderator, the committee announced that they had unanimously made choice of Dr. John Warren to deliver an oration on the 4th of July inst., who had accordingly accepted that service. They also voted that, as Faneuil Hall not being capacious enough to receive the inhabitants that may attend upon that occasion, it should be delivered at Dr. Cooper's church, as soon as the General Court is ended; and that leave be requested of the committee of said church for the use of that building.

According to Edes' Boston Gazette, that mirror of patriotism, the joy of the day was announced by the ringing of bells and discharge of cannon. At eleven o'clock, His Honor the Lieutenant-governor, Thomas Cushing,- His Excellency, John Hancock, being absent by reason of sickness,― the Hon. Council, the Senate and Representatives, escorted by the brigade train of artillery, commanded by Maj. Davis, repaired to the church in Brattle-street, where the Rev. Dr. Cooper, after a polite and elegant address to the auditory, returned thanks to Almighty God for his goodness to these American States, and the glory and success with which he had crowned their exertions; then an anthem was sung suitable to the occasion, and the solemnity was concluded by a most ingenious and elegant oration, delivered by Dr. John Warren, at the request of the town. They were conducted back to the Senatechamber, where an agreeable entertainment was provided. At two o'clock, the brigade train, and the regiment of militia, commanded by Col. Webb, paraded in State-street, where the former saluted with thirteen discharges from the field-pieces, and the militia with thirteen feu-de-joies, in honor of the occasion. The officers of the militia dined together at the Bunch of Grapes and the brigade train at the Exchange taverns. Thirteen patriotic toasts were drunk by each corps, and the same number, which were given in the Senate-chamber, appear in the Gazette, one of which was, "May the spirit of union prevail in our country." On the next day the selectmen of the town, consisting of John Scollay, Harbottle Dorr, Thomas Greenough, Ezekiel Price, Capt. William Mackay, Tuthill Hubbard, Esq., David Jeffries, Esq., requested a copy of the oration for the press. Here we have the modest reply of the author:

GENTLEMEN,- On condition that the honesty of my intentions, and the warmth of my feelings, on the important event which was the subject of this oration, may be admitted to atone for the imperfection of the performance, I deliver a copy for the press.

"I am, with the greatest respect,

"Your obedient servant,

"JOHN WARREN."

This was a brilliant production, breathing patriotic ardor and fraternal warmth, of which we present a specimen: "Transported from a distant clime less friendly to its nurture, you have planted here the stately tree of Liberty, and lived to see it flourish. But whilst you pluck the fruit from the bending branches, remember that its roots were watered with your blood! Remember the price at which you purchased it, nor barter liberty for gold. Go, search the vaults where lay enshrined the relics of your martyred fellow-citizens, and from their dust receive a lesson on the value of your freedom! When virtue fails, when luxury and corruption shall undermine the pillars of the State, and threaten a total loss of liberty and patriotism, then solemnly repair to those sacred repositories of the dead, and, if you can, return and sport away your rights. When you forget the value of your freedom, read over the history that recounts the wounds from which your country bled,- peruse the picture which brings back to your imaginations, in the lively colors of undisguised truth, the wild, distracted feelings of your hearts! But if your happy lot has been not to have felt the pangs of convulsive separation from friend or kindred, learn them of those that have."

The noble remark of John Adams, the apostle of liberty, in allusion to this great natal day, should be printed in capitals in every newspaper of our vast republic, on every anniversary of that event: "The 4th day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

The attention of the Bostonians was involuntarily directed to the

brother of the hero of Bunker Hill, as we have seen, as the most suitable person to deliver the first town oration on our national independ

ence.

John Warren was born at Roxbury, July 27, 1753, and graduated at Harvard College, 1771, where he was leader of a College Club for the study of anatomy. He was a student in medicine under his brother, Gen. Joseph Warren. In 1773 he established himself at Salem, and was associated with the famous Dr. Holyoke. On the 19th of April, 1775, the regiment of that town marched to Lexington, and Dr. Warren acted as their surgeon. Two of his brothers were in that scene of contest. "The life which has been devoted to the public good," said Dr. Warren, in a eulogy on Thomas Russell, "must be an interesting theme of historical narration; because scarcely any events can take place, in the course of such a life, but what must derive dignity and importance from the character which it sustains,”— and this may be suitably said of John Warren. We will continue his history in the language of his own journal, dated June 17, 1775: day, a day ever to be remembered by the United American Colonies,

at about four o'clock in the afternoon, I was alarmed with the incessant report of cannon, which appeared to be at or near Boston. Towards sun-setting a very great fire was discovered, nearly in a direction from Salem for Boston; at the beginning of the evening, news arrived that a smart engagement had happened in the afternoon on Bunker Hill, in Charlestown, between the king's regular troops and the provincials; and, soon after, we received intelligence our own troops were repulsed with great loss, and the enemy had taken possession of the ground which we had broke the night before. I was very anxious, as I was informed that great numbers had fallen on both sides, and that my brother was in all probability in the engagement. I, however, went home, with a determination to take a few hours' sleep, and then to go immediately for Cambridge with my arms. Accordingly, in the morning, at about two o'clock, I prepared myself, and went off on horseback; and when I arrived at Medford, received the melancholy and distressing tidings that my brother was missing. Upon the dreadful intelligence, I went immediately to Cambridge, and inquired of almost every person I saw whether they could give me any information of him. Some told me that he was undoubtedly alive and well, others that he was wounded, and others that he fell on the field. Thus perplexed almost to distraction, I went on, inquiring with a solicitude

which was such a mixture of hope and fear as none but such as have felt it can form any conception. In this manner I passed several days, every day's information diminishing the probability of his safety.

"O, ye blood-thirsty wretches, who planned this dreadful scene which you are now forcing your bloodhounds to execute! Did you but feel the pangs of heartfelt, pungent grief for the cruel wounds you inflicted upon the tenderest part of the public, as well as individuals, you would have execrated those diabolical measures which by your counsels have been adopted, and precipitated us into all the horrors of a civil war. Unfeeling wretches! reflect, a moment, if you have still one feature of humanity which is still unobliterated from your minds, and view the helpless orphan bereft of its fond and only parent, stript of every comfort of life, driven into an inhospitable wild, and exposed to all the misery which are the results of your brutal violence, and forbear, if you can; but I defy even you to show yourselves so refined in your darling acts of cruelty as to be capable of supporting the shocking reflection. Here stay your hands, ye miscreants! stay your bloody hands, still warmed with the purple fluid, and ask yourselves if you are not sated with the inhuman carnage — your hearts long since inured to view these shocking scenes without emotion! Go on, then, ye dastard butchers! let desolation and destruction mark your bloody steps wherever your brave opposers are by fortune destitute of proper arms for their defence; but give up forever your pretensions to honor, justice or humanity, and know that this brave, undaunted and oppressed people, have an arm which will soon be exerted to defend themselves, their wives and children, an arm which will ere long inflict such vengeance on their haughty, presumptuous foes, as shall convince them they are determined that British cowards, though their number be as the sands on the sea-shore, shall never subjugate the brave and innocent inhabitants of the American continent. Cover your heads with shame, ye guilty wretches! Go home, and tell your blood-thirsty master your pitiful tale; and tell him, too, that the laurel which once decorated the soldier has withered on the brow, upon the American shore! Tell him that the British honor and fame have received a mortal stab from the brave conduct of the Americans. Tell him that even your conquests have but served to inspire the sufferers with fresh courage and determined resolution; and let him know that since that accursed day when first the hostile forces of Britain planted their foot on the American shore, your conduct has been such as has resulted in a con