Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-08-02
TUESDAY M@RNN1y@0 AUGUST 80 1885,

powerful for the tribes of the ignorant.
Here and there, a stricken few remain,
but how unlike their bold, untamed,
untameable progenitors! The Indian, of
falcon glance, and lion bearing, the
theme of the touching ballad, the hero
Of the pathetic tale, is gone! and his
degraded offspring crawl upon the soil
where he walked in majesty, 10 remind
US how miserable is man, when the foot
of the conqueror is on his neck.
AS race, they have withered from
the land. Their arrows are broken,
their springs are dried up, their cabins
are in the dust. Their council FIRE has
long since gone out on the shore, and
their war-cry is fast dying to the un-
trodden west. Slowly and sadly they
climb the distant mountains, and read
their dom in the setting sun. They
are shrinking before the mighty tide
which is pressing them away; they
must soon hear the roar of the last
wave, which will settle over them for
ever. Ages hence, the inquisitive white
man, as he stands by some growing CT
ty, will ponder on the structure Of their
disturbed remains, and wonder to what
manner ofperson they belonged. They
will live only in the songs and chroni-
cles of their exterminators. Let these
be faithful to their rude virtues as men,
and pay due tribute to their unhappy
fate as people.
TO the PIous, who, in this desert re-
gion built city of refuge, little less
than to the BRAVE who round that city
reared an impregnable wall Of safety,
we own the blessings ofthis day. To
enjoy, and to perpetuate religious free
dom, the sacred herald of civil liberty,
they deserted their native land, where
the foul spirit ofpersecution was up. in
its fury, and where mercy had long
wept at the enormities perpetrated in
the abused names o. Jehovah and Je-
sus. "Resist unto blood!" blind zeal
OTIS had found in the bible, and lamen-
tably indeed, did they fulfill the COM
mand. With "Thus saith the Lord"
the engines of oSuelty were SET in mo-
ton, and many martyr spirit, like
the ascending prophet from Jordan's
bank, escaped in fire to heaven.
1t was in this night of time, when
the incubus ofbigotry sat heavy on the
human soul:-
When crown and crosier ruled coward
world,
And mental darkness DER the nations curled,
When, wrapt in sleep, earth's torpid children
lay,
Rugged their vile chains, and dreamed their
age away,
twas then, by faith impelled, by freedom
fired,
BY hope supported, and by God inspired
Twas then the pilgrims left their fathers
graves,
To seek Home beyond the waste of waves;
And where it rose, all rough and wintry, here
They swelled devotion's song, and dropped
devotion's tear.
Can we sufficiently admire the firm
ness Of this little brotherhood, thus
self banished from their country? Un-
kind and cruel, it was true, but still
their coun:ry9 There they were born,
and there, where the lamp Of life was
lighted, they had hoped it would
go out. There a fathers hand had led
them, a mothers smile had warmed
them. There were the haunts of their
boyish days, their kinsfolk, their
friends, their recollections, their ALL
Yet all was left; even while their heart
strings bled at the parting, all was left:
and stormy sea, savage waste, and a
fearful destiny, were encountered-For
HEAVEN, and for You.
tits easy enough to praise, when sue
cess has sanctifed the act; and to fancy
that we, too, could endure heavy trial
| which is to be followed by a rich re-
ward. But before the deed is crowned,
while the doors are yet aboutus, bear
ing like ourselves the common infirmi.
ties of the flesh, we stand aloof, and
are not always ready to discern the spi-
rit that sustains and exalts them
When centuries of experience have
rolled away, we laud the exploit on
which we might have frowned, if we
had lived with those, who left their age
behind to achieve it. We read OF en-
pires founded, and people redeemed, Of
actions embalmed by time, and hal
lowed by romance; and our hearts leap
at the lofty recital: we feel it would be
a glorious thing to snatch the laurels
of immortal fame. But it is in the day
of doubt, when the result is hidden in
clouds, when danger stands in every
path, and death is lurking in every
corner; it is then, that the men who art
born for great occasions, start boldly
from the worlds trembling multitude
and swear to "do or die!"
Such men were they who peopled;-
such men, too, were they who preserved
these shores. Of these latter giant
spirits, who battled for independence,
we are to remember, that destruction
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