Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1807-07-08

ties have split on this ~roEksrand we would not
uingle.our fate with theirs, and prcmaturcly
leave it to history like an antiquarian, to s pick
our constitutions fragments from the sand
we should be thoughtful in time not to
brave the hurricanes Of factipns conmotiOn,
&c which we may be exposed ia so many
quaters of this complex structure Of govern
ment, and through the immense space which
it sways surcharged with such innunaerable
temptations to conflict. Moved as our political
machinery is by so many nice and intricate
springs, revolving as it does. on its axis with
asdouble set of wheels, the general compact
and thesstate soyereignties, it is very conceiy-
able what loss and arrangement may be pro-
sduced, ifhy any artful or bungling continuance
they should be made to clash or run counter /;
and hence 1t may be inferred how much must
hereafter depend. in the bustles ofSan emer-
gcncy, on the dispasionate and well-afected
Judgment, the cool collected wisdom, and the
undivided practisSd abilities of all the master
spirits that dwell nader this mighty fabric,
among whom there are yet a surviving few
that assisted at its formation, in order to keep
the head and the several coordinate spheres
active, and upright, and true to their proper
functions
- nv soul akes
{. 10 know syhen tzuo authorities are Ah,
g Neither sMlrene, how sooa confusion
g 1faay enter 't1vixf the gah Of 9ath, and taks
6 The one 6y t'otAer,"
It would be an invidious and weafisome dis
course TO expatiate en- all the possible hazards,
the quicksan and the pitfalls of ruin, that
border in our way, and which are most peril
Gus because they are UNDECIDED or unseen
If we would pass on respected and %prospering,
we should neither reel In idleness nor wander
into forbidden fields neither sink ~faint-hcarted,
nor be alhured into the entanglements of obi
putty. IF We would show ourselves worthy of
beins, saved, VIC must invoke the same celes-
tial auspices that smiled on our dawIing
rise ! we must not be forever running after
new guides and setting up strange idols !;
neither ought we TO suppress honest en-
~ulation, Hthat unbought grace Of life and
cheap defence of nations, by reqniting desert
with disgust, and neglesting the trophies Of
departed goodness. Next to the great FIRST
source Of eli good, there is an ingenious debt
OF honor due to the chosen instruments of his
favor, which does not grow obsolete like O.
thcr claims, but is to be spontaneously acknow-
lodged, and can never oe deprecated except
shy an ilsensi5le and %Scandalous breach Of the
basis of al credit. Their disregard or indif-
ference to this obligation has indeed generally
announced and sometimes fastened the down
fall, and it has iii every age been the oppro-
briam'o of republics, until it is now repeated,
almost With the tfiteAsss and currency OF q
provelb:
/" IN ha6itation yiddy and uaasure
6 Hath he that 6uildeth on the Oukgar Aecr..s
tits to be presumed that the American re-
public means to render herself a signal ex-
ception to this remark, and therefore that the
present seennlg pause in her offerings of
gratitude, to that august dead, whose deeds
exceed all speech, is but the forerunner Of
extraordinary preparations--Else it were
much to be marvelled that, while we have
enjoyed the continuance of an abundant peace,
and are even called upon to devise new modes
of expending a superfuous treasure, no pitt
lance has yet been allotted to the memory Of
the chief Of chiefs, who lived but to save, to
bless and glorify theIand. Eight leng years
of yexatious. war constituted but a portion of
those t~ranscendant tolls, in which all the facul-
ties of his soul were strained and dedicated to
the common welfare with a magnardImity that
defes all parallel. The same term has nearly
elapsed since WAsHINGToN glided to the
tomb, and yet no marble has risen to tell that
he is not forgotten. There is neither g stori-
ed urn nor 6 animated bust y and the ira
weller, who should seektto view what gorge
Gus and emblematic pillars America has erect
ed. to the mourned and iIlustricus guardian,
the benefactor and father Of her political cx-
~istence, to whom she owes that she is reputed
abroad, might be tempted to enquire, what
Hostile i~rruption or fierce carth-shaking
power" has been busy among us.to destroy all
the towering columns, the statues and ar1no-