Newton died; yet the
courses of the spheres are still known, and they yet move on in the
orbits which he saw, and described for them, in the infinity of space.
No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it may be doubted whether
any two men have ever lived in one age, who, more than those we now
commemorate, have impressed their own sentiments, in regard to politics
and government, on mankind, infused their own opinions more deeply into
the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction to the current
of human thought. Their work doth not perish with them. The tree which
they assisted to plant will flourish, although they water it and protect
it no longer; for it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the
very center; no storm, not of force to burst the orb, can overturn it;
its branches spread wide; they stretch their protecting arms broader
and broader, and its top is destined to reach the heavens. We are not
deceived. There is no delusion here. No age will come in which the
American revolution will appear less than it is, one of the greatest
events in human history. No age will come in which it will cease to be
seen and felt, on either continent, that a mighty step, a great advance,
not only in American affairs, but in human affairs, was made on the 4th
of July, 1776.
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