Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1832-07-12

IN az AZ AtHt 1bo 0tEIt sun VI
NAPOLEON. Yet to my mind the establish
ment Of the existing government Of the Uni
ted States;-he contamination Of this GLoRI-
'oUs UNION of Confederate Republics presents
by far the most illustrious and memorable
epoch in the history of this nation. The pa
tent sufierings, the ~chequered fortunes, the
desperate struggles, the rapid vicissitudes, the
alterations OF hope and despair which agi
.tated the actors Of the Revolution, create a
vivid and awakening interest-we read them,
and we pronounce them a godlike generation
of patriots and sages. But it is when we are
brought to contemplate the dark cloud which
hung over the political fortunes of this ccun-
try at the termination of the military contest
to appreciate the difficulties and embarass
ments which thwarted every suggestion
which patriotism could devise-to know the
pious and poignant solieitude with which
those same patriots and sages watched and
labored at that crisis of their country's fate
to estimate The extent s. force Of those "mise-
rable State jealousies, which like malignant ia
fuenceS, attended at the birth of the Constitu-
ton and assailed It in its very cradle as the
serpents Of Juno assailed the cradle of Her
cules"-and at length to behold the gallant
vessel Of State, amidst the rocks and reefs,
and shoals, and whirlpools of the political
tempest, riding safely into harbour, freighted
with the hopes and expectations of a whole
people,-oh it IS then, that we are made sensi-
BILE Of the extent that gratitude which is due to
those illustrious men it is then that we see ex-
hibited that spectacle of subiimity which
clothes a nation in the attributes of ma jesty
and power.
My fellow citizens, we should ever hold it
a sacred duty to recur to those periods OF our
history. There is a freshness of virtue and
patriotism in them which sheds a salutary in
iuence over the mind and principles. They
are times hallowed by mighty events-times
green v ith the primitive purity of our re-
publican faith. 1t is impossible to contem-
plate them without learning something OF the
value of our institutions, for it will there he
seen in how pure a love of country, those in-
situations had their origin,--with what ditfi
Guilty they were established and what benefits
they have conferred. Surely such a subject
cannot be undressing to this audience No
day could be more becoming for their con-
temptation than this, which has by a prescrip-
ton as hallowcd as il is universal, been set "a
part, for a recurrence to the causes which
led to the establishment of our freedom. No
lime could be more appropriate than the pre-
sent, when we hear the shrlll accents OF
Disamion breathed over our land, sweep
ing by us as the Southern tornado, bearing
ruin and desolation on its wing.
Let me not be understood as in any thing
a~ssailing either Of the two great political
parties which now divide this nation. The
occasion | know is too sacred to permit any
diversity of opinion about men or measures,
to interfere with that spirit of expanded PHI
| ,nthrophy which the Anniversary OF Ameri-
can Freedom should always excite. lam not
sure, indeed, that | could be justified upon
this or upon any occasion IN ascribinS
to either OF those parties hostility to the Uni
on. | am content to suppose that however
they may differ as to their means and mea-
sures of policy, they are each sincerely seek.
ing the true glory and permanent prosperity
of the country. | am content TO believe mat
they are both equally attached to the Union
of these States, and that they would together
vie ia denouncing the rash hand that would
dare to throw the torch of discord into the
temple of the Constitution. But that there
is-not to be identified with either of these
parties, a spirit in the laud, struggling a
gainst the spirit OF Washington and the Con.
stitution-a spirit at war with the permaneh'
cy and stability of this government, all who
are apprised Of the present critical J~ineture
of public events in this nation, must bear
me testimony. Does not every day, indeed,
furnish us with mournful evidence OF the fact!
Do we not already hear it said that there is ra-
deal hostility of interests between the W great
sub divisions Of this Confederacy? That the
prosperity of one portion IS Incompatible
with the welfare Of the other? DO we not
hear il proclaimed-nct in whispers. not by
a few. but from the sources OF authority mat
the government is lettering upon the eve oil
a dissolution? Is there a measure now agi-
tated in the nation in which the fell spirit OF
sectional discord does not display itself? Is
there one debated in the Legislative Councils
Of the nation, in which the terrors OF disu-
MON are not announced? Let there be a
nroyision contemplated for sustaining the
Constitutional Judgment of the Supreme Ju-
d;c;arv. we hear il said-beware before we
can submit to the operation OF such a sen
tence, this land shall present one wide, howl
inc wilderness of waste and desolatIoD. Let
there be a law enacted to protect the INDUS
,ry Of our citizens against the unequal COM
petition of foreign capital ana foreign enter.
pr,se. we hear it. proclaimed Repeal that
ar or in five months this Union is dIssolv-
ed. Let there be a proposition submitted 10
( solace the last remaining years oil the sur
y;y;nr soldiers of the Revolution, not even
ltha baailoxed associations OF that SUBJECT can
soten the exaggerated tone OF lacuon, and
we are told. that the passage OF such a biil
,ons, no the signal of dissolution. Need
Overt n The clouds which are now gather
ing in the South? 10 those Signs U an Of,
proaching storm, which already cause an0
pati lot TO tremble for the safety oil une oouN
Itr,? Where in fact has been The measure %
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