Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1841-09-10
oWA,,cRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1s4l.

III y y Blosalz ~ now. -.
M m teM Ting are the words Of my text for
81 drac'dar OCCASION:
Let Independence be your boast,
Ever mindful what it cost.
MY hearers-This is the birthday of Amer
lear Liberty-the day upon which our star
spangled banner fret waved in the breeze of
Ffeedom-the day that the proud eagle Of the
Imountain first looked down from his eyry on
free and independent nalion--thc day upon
which the fat, ragged and saucy children of
Columbia broke loose from the apron strings
of their mother country, and kicked up their
heels for joy, likesomany colts released from
the bondage Of winters confinement. You
I.onght to be as fall Of glory as gin bottle, that
this blessed anniversary has once more dawn
ed apon your heads, and found you reaping the
harvest Of those blessings, the seed Of which
your fathers sowed in revolutionary sol-wa-
tered with their own blood, and MANFRED with
their own ashes. Yes, you ought to throw up
your caps, and make the halls Of Freedom
ring with loud huZza's: and then sit down and
mediate on the groans and the pains of trav-
all which attended this mighty Republic d.
ring the delivery Of her st-born-LIBERTY.
My frends-to-morrow the celebration will
take place. The whole nation wilLbe alive,
like beggar's shirt: there will be general
crawling of the genus homo from one end of
the Union to the ether; the fires of enthusiasm
will be kin6led in almost every breast; and
those who lack in glory will doubtless supply
themselves with the artcleeat the booths round
the Park. But, my dear friends, this six-pen-
ny patriotism is most horrible stuff: it is "a
triotism Of the head, and not Of the heart
1t makes you feel too independent altogether.
1t induces you to fight in times Of peace, and
takes al! the starch out Of your courage in times
of war. While this artificial patriotism is ef-
iervescing in your cocoa-nuts, your boasts Of
| Independence are loud and clamorous but
when Its spirit has evaporated, you are the ver
lest services that ever writhed under the lash
OF despotsm. If you suppose, my friends,
that the proper way to observe our national in
dependence is by drinking brandy sings and
cocktails, you are just as much mistaken as
the boy who set steel-trap 10 catch moon
shine. But there is very little use in scatter
| ing the seeds of my eloquence on such barren
| soil as the bosoms Of run-suckers present.
Ii is just about as easy 10 preach salvation in
to basket of tainted fish, as to turn them from
the errors of their ways.
| My friends-while you are citizens Of free
and independent Republic, you should always
let Independence by your boast, but never for
| get what il cost. il cost uncle Samuel a little
more than mere powder and shot. ltcost him
| some OF the most precious blood that ever
couTsed through the veins Of mortality ard
the homes Of mar'yred heroes that now lie
cruIabling in their sepnlchres, or bleaching up
on the battlefield, are the solemn memoranda
Of the price at which our liberty was pnrcha-
~ ,eaI.
| upon their country's altar, in order that you
and your grandchildren might live in clover
and feast upon the fruits Of freedom to your
stomach's content. Will you then, my friends,
| tomorrow break into the enclosures of the
dead, and hold drunken carousas upon the sa-
cred graves of your fathers, who fought, bled
and died in defence Of your dearest rights b
Mol am perfectly convinced that most of you
won't do any such thing but on the contrary,
| you will behave yourselves as men, patriots,
christians, and gentlemen should, and not like
soaplocks and rowdies, who would glory to
| leftover even the Goddess OF Liberty herself
| in her own sacred temple. know there will
| be some who will declare themselves free and
independent of all moral law, restraint, order
and decency--who will be SO carried away
with brandytt,nd enthusiasm, that it will take
them whose v eek to gather up their scatter
cd fragments of ideas, and return again TO the
| homestead of common sense and reason.
My dear hearers-I like to hear you boast
of your Independence. if it be not done thro'
a vain and brageadocia spirit; and my gfatu-
itous prayer is. that you may maintain 1t so
long as you are permitted to squat this side of
the deep, still river of death. TO preserve
your collective strength, your hearts, your feel
ings and pure sympathies must be all joined,
like the links of log-chain: you must all
hang together like string Of fish: and stick
to one another through thick and thin, like
bunch Of burdocks in bell-wether's fleece
But remember. my friends, that with all your
boosted independence, you are poor, depend
ent, miserable beings. That same Almighty
hand ws,ch provides you with soup, shirts,
beef and breeches, can take them all away
| from you in little less than short space of
time, and leave you as destitute as crab apple
tree in water. Yes, my friends, you must
recollect that you are dependent as well as In
dependent and that ali the favors you receive
are donations from heaven, brought down by
angels Of mercy, and distributed impartially
among the grabbing, snatching, tllieyins sons
Of man. So mote it be.
BANK NoTEs. The mere emission Of
bank notes add nothing to the amount of
capital OBVIOUSLY existing. 1t creates
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