The native American., 1838-03-03

strongest, only attachment, was formed an attach
2 ment increasing in feryor and strength learn
to appreciate its admirable proportions, and to un-
7 derstand Its unrivalled excellence.
r Again; it is now more than sixty-one years
! slnce the American Congress, throwing off the
Yoke OF European bondage, promulgated the first
\ principles of civil and religious liberty, and the
4 right and duty of self-government. The nations
.lOf Europe looked with intense interest, but
widely different hopes. Crowned heads affected
to laugh at the untried experiment of Utopian Phi
losophers.
! Since that time, what vast changes have been
effected in other lands. The armed heel hath
trodden down the germ of liberty wherever it had
begun to shoot. Almost every land has been
laid waste by sangninary factions---by domestic
tyrants, or by foreign invaders their harvest
trodden down by the horses of strangers-the
blood of their children wasted, in quarrels not
their own-their cities decentralization towns
and villages made desolate by licentious sol
ldiery--throncs have fallen--new kingdoms have
been created and death have spread
pail over whole countries In our land, the hand
fu Of men who then defed the power Of Great
Britain, have grown to a mighty People. The
woods and wilds over which savage men and
wild beasts then alone held dominion, now teem
with an Industrious population. Science, litera-
ture, and the useful arts, going hand in hand with
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, all
cherishedb by equal laws, have difused peace, and
wealth, and happiness, over the broad face of
vast Territory, still being Peoped with raPidity
that defes calculation, and is beyond hope. The
Government, whose foundations were laid in that
declaration, and which was established in many
hard-fought field, and has been perfected in wis
dom, has closed the contest begun in doubt and
| fear, and now stands vast beacon to guide
other nations to safety. May it be perpetual.
| We have known no other erprinciples of political
association than those in which that Government
originated, and upon which it was founded. They
are practised in nurseries---they are the
household gods we worship-they are instilled
into our minds in our schools--they are practi-
cally illustrated in the games Of our childhood
and, as we advance in years, they are but the
more deeply impressed, till at manhood they are
part of our very existence, and illustrate our
whole life. 1t is thus, and thus only, we can
hope to diffuse and perpetuate the knowledge Of
those great truths that all sovereign power rests
f in the people, from whom the Law must emanate,
and by whom it must be enforced; that the great
end of society, the accomplishment of the greatest
degree of happiness for its members, is to be at
J tanned by political associations and connexions;
+ that laws be made TO affect man in those,
t and only in those relations, leaving him to pay TO
i Nature and to God, the duties he owes to them,
= when, and as his conscience shall dictate.
Y 1t is not SO with him who was born under diff
(erent laws, and nurtured in other schools. The
# power of habit-the paramount influence Of asso-
it citation in forming the character of man, ad
/ mitted truths. We do not mean to be under
a stood, that these influences are universal or in
J, eradicable. We know that there are among US
4 thousands Of naturalized citizens, in whose bU-
SONS the flame of pure and regulated love of So
cal liberty glows bright and clear as in that OF
the native born; that there are thousands who
would noby pour forth their hearts best blood in
!, defence of this land, and who now devote the
whole power of their minds, and wear away their
lives in labors promotive of this country's inte-
rest. To all such, we say God speed you, brother
But long years must pass away with such men,
and the destroying hand Of time must obliterate
thousand recollectons, and the energies of life
must be in their wane before they can give
their adopted land the first and only place
4 in their bosoms There are thousands amonr
j us, too, who admit the abstract truth Of public
Il liberty who admire the structure of our Govern
ment, who appreciate its varied excellence, and
who would, from principle and honor, redress
her wrongs and vindicate her rights-who, in the
main, are good citizens, worthy neighbors, and
4 valued friends.
II But it is not abstract truth that the native
citizens Of this country must regard that public
liberty which is the only safeguard of their pri-
vate rights. With them, from their infancy 10
their grave, it must be vital principle, kept alive
and burning with fervd heat. And as the wor-
\ shipper bows at the shrine of his God, with de-
f|votion ever kindling, and growing more intense
'lby contemplation, SO must every citizen Of this
land, who loves it as his own, daily invgorate his
enthusiasm, and keep alive his love of its institu-
t tons by constant and persevering study of it's
principles. Every occasion must be sought 70
compare its fruits with the decay and deatll,-the
distress and degradation which mark the progress
: of the political history of other lands. Lessons
4 of experience must be drawn from such compa-
risons, to guide and instruct ourselves and those
: who are to come after us, how to preserve untar-
: sished those great principles which enable ev-
$ cry man to lie down in safety; and in peace and
contentment to rise every day of his life. Our chill
f dren must be taught with more care the blessings
f they are to inherit; and from every household,
incense and pure offering of grateful hearts
f should ascend with orizons to God, that these
: blessings may never be impaired
Go to the patriots of other lands-and there
/ are many such among us--who, driven by the