Excerpt from An Oration Addressed to the Citizens of the Town of Quincy, on the Fourth of July, 1831, the Fifty-Fifth Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America The Declaration of Independence was a manifesto issued to the world, by the delegates of thirteen distinct, but united colonies Of Great Britain, in the name and behalf of their people. It was a united declaration. Their union preceded their inde pendence; nor was then independence, nor has it ever since, been separable from their union. Their language is, We the Representatives of the United States Of America, in General Congress assembled, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and de clare that these United Colonies, are, and of rightought to be, free and independent States. It was the act Of one people. The Colonies are not named; their number is not designated nor in the original Declaration, does it appear from which Of'the Colo nies any one of the fifty-six Delegates by whom it was signed, had been deputed. They announced their constituents to the world as one people, and unitedly declared the Colonies to which they respect ively belonged, united, free and independent states. The Declaration of Independence, therefore, was a proclamation to the world, not merely that the United Colonies had ceased to be dependencies Of Great Britain, but that their people had bound them selves, before g'od, to a primitive social compact of union, freedom and independence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.