Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1836-01-14

discoverv of America-a discussion about q
tariff or turnpike, summons from their re-
motest cares the adverse blasts Of windy
rhetoric-and on these great Serbonian boys,
known in political geography as constitution
al questions, our ambitious iucncy often be-
gins with the general dcluge, and ends with
its own. II il thus that even the good sense
and reason of son,o become oppressive, while
the nndisciplncd fancy Of others wanders IN
10 all the extravngancies and the gaudy phra-
seology which distinguish our western orlen-
t,lism. The r, suit il, that our public affairs
are in danger of becoming wholly misintelli-
gible-conccaled rather than explained, as
they often are, in long harangues which Few
no can escape will heaf, and IN massive
documents W hich all who see will shun.-
For this idle waste Of words-at once po-
litical evil and social wrong-the only reme-
DIV is study. The last degree Of refinement
is simplicity; the highest eloquence is the
planest; the most effective style Is the pure,
SC we're and vigorous manner, Of which the
great masters are the best teachers.
But the endearing charm of letters in a
statesman, is the canness & nd dignity which
they diffuse over his whole thoughts and
character. He feels that there are higher
pursuits than the struggle for place. lie
knows that he has other enjoyments. They
assist his public duties-they recruit his ex-
hausted powers, and they fill, with calm
and genuine satisfaction, those hours OF re-
pose so rssome to the mere man OF politics.
Above oil, and what is worth all, they make
him more thoroughly and perfectly indcpend-
ent. It is this spirit of personal independ-
ence which is the great safeguard of our in
st,tutions. It seems to be the law OF our
physical and of our moral nature, that every
thing should perish. in its own excesses. -
The peculiar merit Of free institutions is, that
they embody and enforce the public senti-
ment-the abuse which has destroyed them
is, that they execute prematurely, the crude
opinions of bodies Of men without adequate
reflection, and before the passions which en-
cited them can suhside. Opinions now are
so easily accumulated in masses, aud their
action is SO immediate, that unless their first
impulses are resisted, they will not brook e.
ven the restraints which, in cooler moments,
they have imposed on themselves, but break
over the barriers OF their own laws. Their
impatience is auickened by the constant adu-
lation from the competitors for their favor,
TILL at last, men become unwilling to hazard
offence by speaking wholesome truth. 1t is
thus that the caprice of single individual,
some wild phantasy, perhaps, of some unwor-
thy person, easily corrected, or, if there were
need, easily subducd ot first-when prcpaga-
ted over numerous minds not more mtelli-
gent than the first, becomes, at length, COM
manding-ond superior intellects are over
awed by the imposing presence OF wide
spread folly, as the noxious vapor of the low
est marsh, may poison, by contagion, a thou
sand free hills. That is our first danger
The second and far greater peril is, when
these excited masses are welded by Tempo
rary favortcs, who lead .hem against the con-
stitution and the laws. For both these dan
gers, the only security Of freedom is found
in the personal independence Of public men.
This independence is not mere abundance
of fortune, which makes place unnecessary
for wealth is no security for personal upright
ness-but it is the independence Of mind, the
result of talents and education, which makes
the possessor conscious that he relies on HIM
self alone-that be seeks no station by un-
worthy means-will receive none with hu-
miliation-will retain none with dishorror.-
They take their stand accordingly. Their
true position is that where they can best de-
fend the country equally from this inhamed
populace and their unworthy lecders-oD the
one hand, resisting this fatal weakness-the
fear of losing popular favor--and, on the 9TH
er, disdaining all humiliating compliances
with men in power.
OF the ancient and modern world, the best
mode Of the union of the man Of letters and
the statesman was he, with whose writings
your studies have made you familiar-Cicero.
The most dilIgent researches, the most vari-
Gus requirements. prepared him for the ac-
tive career of public life, which he mingled
with laborous studies, so as never, for a mo-
ment, to diminish the vigor of his public char
acter. How often, and how well he served
his country all history attests. When the
arts and the arms Of Cataine had nearly de-
stroyed the freedom of Rome, it was this
great man of letters who threw himself into
the midst of that band of desperate conspira-
tors, and by his single ntrepdity and elo-
quence rescued the republic.
When that more noble and dangerous
criminal, Cesar. broke down the public liber-
ty, after vainly striving to resist the tide Of
infatuaiion, Cicero retired to his farm, where
he composed those deep philosophical works
which have been the admiration of all sue
ceeding time. But they could not avert his
heart from his country-and on that day--on
that very hour when the dagger Of Casca
avenged the freedom Of Rome, he was in
the Senate, and the first words of Brutus on
raising his bloody steel, were to call on Cice-
ro-the noblest homage, this, which patriot
ism ever paid to letters.
Let it not diminish your admiration that
Cicero was prescribed and put to DEATH
They who live for their country must be pre-
pared to die for it. For the same reason, ha-
tired to those who enslaved his country, his
great predecessor, Demosthenes, shared a
similar fate. But both died in their country's
service-and their great memories shall en-
dure forever, long after the loftiest structures
of the proudest sovereigns. There were
kings in Egypt who piled up enormous monu-
ments with the vain hope of Immortality
Their follies have survived their history
No man can tell who built the pyramids.-