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greateft approximation towards human perfe6lion the political world ever yet experienced ; and which, perhaps, will forever ftand on the hiftory of mankind, without a parallel. A great Repub- lic, compofed of different States, whofe intereft in all relpe6ls could not be perfe(5lly compatible, then came deliberately forward, difcarded one fyflem of government and adopted another, with- out the lofs of one man's blood.
There is not a fingle government now exifling in Europe, which is not bafed in ufurpation, and eftablifhed, if eftablifhed at all, by the facrifice of thoufands. But in the adoption of our prefent fyftem of jurifprudence, we fee the powers necef- fary for government, voluntarily fpringing from the people, their only proper origin, and dire61:ed to the public good, their only proper obje6t.
With peculiar propriety, we may now felici- tate ourfelves, on that happy form of mixed gov- ernment under which we live. The advantages, refulting to the citizens of the Union, from the operation of the Federal Conflitution, are utterly incalculable ; and the day, when it was received by a majority of the States, fhall ftand on the catalogue of American anniverfaries, fecond to none but the birth day of Independence.
In confequence of the adoption of our prefent fyftem of government, and the virtuous manner in which it has been adminiftered, by a Wash- ington and an Adams, we are this day in the enjoyment of peace, while war devaftates Europe ! We can now fit down beneath the fhadow of the olive, while her cities blaze, her ftreams run pur- ple with blood, and her fields glitter, a foreft of bayonets ! — The citizens of America can this day throng the temples of freedom, and renew their
B oaths
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