During the whole of this excitement, so momentous and alarming, we have to thank God that our country w^as stained by one act of treason only ; and to alleviate our grief and mortification for this act, we have to offer the incorruptible integrity of three militiamen in the common walks of life, (where virtue always resides,) in whose breasts all ordinary springs of action were absorbed by the love of liberty, and whose enthusiastic ardor in the cause was regulated and guided by prudence and firmness ; and we have it to say too, that if one proud, envious, canker-hearted general had his price, our soldiers were above purchase ! -- that if treason found its way to the stronghold and the citadel, it was in the end crushed at the outposts. To commemorate this event, that posterity should not lose sight of it -- that future ages should understand it by full and satisfactory proof -- that our countrymen know how to respect and value patriotism as well as to practice it -- that they were as ready to

2i0 HISTORY OF THE

render justice to the merits of a private soldier, as (o the officer highest in rank -- and to show, too, that our Revolution was achieved by principles of the highest order, we have assembled to erect this monument. Such an act is in conformity with the usages of the wisest of nations in every period of history, and, whenever neglected, has been a source of censure and regret ; such an act is in conformity with the habits of our own country, for it is consonant to a sense of gratitude in every bosom. Monuments are now rising to the heroes of the Revolution in every part of the United States. Montgomery, Warren, De Kalb and others, are now remembered by a grateful people, and on the banks of our majestic Hudson has lately been placed a tasteful monument to the great and good Kosciusko, who dispensed honors and rewards for the freedom of rnan.