South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1837-04-22
o U R C o U N 7 BY.
BIZ JUDGE STORY.

BIZ JUDGE STORY.
When we reflect on what has been,
what is, how is it possible not to feel a
profound sense of the responsibilities
Of this republic to future ages' What
| motives press upon us for lofty effort
| What brilliant prospects invite our en-
thusiam? What solemn warnings de-
| mand our vigilance, and moderate our
confidence.
The old world has already revealed
to us in its unsealed books, the begin
! ming and end ofan its marvellous strug-
giles in the cause of iberty.-Greece
lovely Greece the land of scholars
and the nurse of arms, where sister re-
publics, in fair procession, chaunted
the praise of liberty and the good
where isshe1 For two thousand years
the oppressors have bound her to the
earth. Her arts are no more. The
last sad relics of her temples are but
| the barracks Of ruthless soldiery: the
fragments Of her columns and palaces
| are in the dust, yet beautiful in ruins.
She fell not when the mighty were up
on her, Her sons were united at Their
mopyla aud Marathon, and the tide Of
her triumph rolled back upon the He
lespont. She fell not by the hands of
her own people. The man of Mace
donia did not the work of destruction.
1t was already done by her own cor
ruptions, banishments and dissentions.
! Rome! republican Rome! whose
eagles glancedin the rising sun-where
and what is she? The eternal city yet
! remains proud even in her desolation,
| noble in decline, venerable in the ma
iesty of religion, and calm in the com
posurc of death. The malaria has but
| travelled in the parts won by the des-
troyer. More than eighteen centuries
have mourned over the loss of the en-
pire. A moral disease was upon her
before Cesar had passed the Rubicon,
and Brutus did not restore health by
the deep probings ofthe senate cham
Der. The Goths and Vandals, and
Huns, the swarms of the north, COM
pleted only what was begun at home.
Romans betrayed Rome. The legions
were bought and sold, but the people
paid the tribute money.
And where are the Republics ofmo-
dern times which cluster around i'm
mortal Italy! Venice and Genoa ex-
list but in name. The Alps, indeed,
look down upon the brave and peace
full Swiss, in their native Businesses,
but the guaranty of their freedom is
their weakness, and not their strength.
The mountains are not easily retained.
When the invader comes, he moves
like an avalanche, carrying destruc-
ton in his path. The peasantry sink
before him, The country, too, IS too
poor for plumber, and too rough for a
valuable conquest. Nature presents
her eternal barrier on every side, to
check the wantonness of AMBITION
| And Switzerland remains with her SIM
pie Institutions military road to CHI
mates scarcely worth a permanent pos
session and protected by the jealousy
of her neighbors.
We stand the latest, and if we fall
probably the last example Of self-gov-
eminent by thepeople. We have be-
gun it under circumstances ofthe most
suspicious nature. We are in the Vi
cor of youth. Our growth has never
been checked by the oppression oftyr-
amy. Our constituents have never
been enfeebledby the vices or Injuries
of the world.
Such as we are, we have been from
the beginning; simple, hardy, intelli-
cent, accustomedto self-governmcnt &
sself-respect. The Atlantic rolls be-
tween us and formidable foe. With
in ourown territory, stretching through
many degrees of latitude we have the
choice of many products, and many
means ofindependence.-The govern
ment is mild. The press is free. Re-
lioion is free. Knowledge reaches, or
NAV reach every home. What fairer
prospects of success could be present
ed? What more is necessary than for
the people topreserve whatthey them
| selves have created.
Already has the age caught the spir,
| It of our institutions. 1t has assembled
! the Andes, and snufed the breezes Of
| both oceans. II has infused itself in
the life blood of Europe, and warmed