RC (MHi); dateline at foot of text; endorsed by TJ as received 11 Nov. 1823 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Ewell, An Oration, delivered on the Fourth of July Last, at the Court House of Prince William County, Virginia (Washington, 1823), emphasizing that all Americans should remember and celebrate the deeds of their revolutionary ancestors and that “we should be filled with the immensity of their labours, their dangers, and losses; their godlike magnanimity, and their wonderful success in effecting a revolution demonstrably more pregnant with important consequences to the whole human family, than any recorded on the historical page” (pp. 5–6); comparing the American Revolution favorably to past political upheavals in Asia, Africa, and Europe; remarking that, by extending the blessings of freedom and self-government, the revolution has made possible all subsequent advances in commerce, agriculture, and the arts and sciences; asserting that “the seed of freedom grown to perfection in America, is sown in most of the nations of the earth,” where it is “sprouting and spreading with a rapidity which no violence can arrest” (p. 12); hailing the martial prowess of free men throughout history; claiming that TJ, the “venerable sage of Monticello,” credited Patrick Henry with first setting in motion the “mighty machine” of revolution (p. 14); commending the sacrifices and sufferings of the revolutionary generation; recalling the many battles fought during the conflict; calling on his contemporaries to do everything in their power “to preserve immaculate for our posterity, all which we have inherited” (p. 20); and warning against political indolence and the delegation of “power to favorites—to demagogues” (p. 21).