Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1842-07-16


bed into dust, and the nume of monarchy
shall have withered from the earth, the star
Of Empire shall not caIumniate and gem
our political galaxy ; and our banner, torn
from The spanged throw OF Heaven,
dance in the breeze Of every cline. But;
let us not vainly boast Of our prosperity pre-.
Stunning that our liberties, without vigilance
on our part, will be eternal. Let us re-
member that all earth has, of brightest and
Of best, is subject 10 the vicissitudes Of for
tune. Not a nation has fourshed but caR
testify to this melancholy truth. Could we
trans port ourselves back in Imagination, and
inquire of Grecian whether the Parthenon
would endure forever, he would exclaim,
yes! the head of Medusa will petrify the
demon who will dare invade her sanctuary.
Yet fire and the sword have scathed the
dwelling Of Minerva, and age has shaken
Athena's towers. To the classic enthusiast;
the scenery OF Athens, proud even in her
desoIation, may afford delight; but to the
traveller, how wretched is the cline Of the
mightv-the unlorgolten dead-how dim
med, by the mist OF years. is the bright eye
OF Greece. The Acropois crowned with
the ruins Of the Parthenon--her lanes and
temples desola,e and decentralization
and Parnassus no longer fleIuented by
the sacred Nlne-the plains Of Marathon;
the shores Of seasglrt Saamis-remind us
OF the moral reflection of Byron,
The isle, Of Greece the isles of Greece!
Where burning SapPho loved and sung
Where grew the Of arms and peace
Where DeIos and Phoebus sprung
Eternal summer gilds them YET
Bu, all, except their sun, is set"
If. in her palmiest days Of power, Roman!
citizen had been asked whether the liberties
Of his country would be eternal, the proud
Roman would haze answered, yes When
granite mouders, then may Rome decay
Yet the curse Of mournful immortality
has rested on the summit Of the Collseum{
and the Pantheon the temple of all her
| Gods--.-is fast mnging with the dust. The
visible effects OF political corruption on ma.
tjonaI gory--,he ruin Of an empire, the
mightiest that ever rose or fell, warn US
that human institutions are pregnant
with the seed of selfdissou,ion. Could we
behold Ruin throned on the imperial hill
where glory and freedom sat, and at her
feet, the seven-hiIled city---the "Nl-
ODE of misunderstanding and brownies
IN her VICE. we would hear the voice of the
angel Of death, exclaiming; with its wings
spread on the blast,
"Alas the ofy city, and the day.
When Bru,us made the deggers edge surPas';
| The conQuero's sword
Alas! for 1ully's voice, and vlrgil's lay,
And Lvy's pictured page!
The permanency Of empire depends no, on
| physical causes, but on the moral condition
of mankind. BY US then the problem must
be solved, whether a people are capable OF
preserving republican government, or
/ must eventually seek protection in the arms
Of monarchy. On you, ye lovely daugh.
tiers, whose influence is so transcendenty
unlimited in the moral world--on you, has
! devolyed the task to keep alive the fire of
Vesta, by instiIIing the principles of pat
riotism into the bosom o. those who are
destined to be the pillars Of our Republic,
and TO administer in the capacity of high
priests at its sacred altar On this genera
lion it depends, whether the principles Of
the revolution shall long survive the con-
vuIsions in which they had their origin;
whether the last hopes OF freedom 10 the hu.
man race shall lie smitten and crushed in
their last asylum, and the Goddess Of Liberty,
finding no resting place upon the earth,
shall return to her native Heaven. Forbid
it, supernal Power! that Freedom, ascend
ing in her shining car, should leave no yes
,ige--no whispering OF her name behind.
Let her be exiled hence, and man, no longer
defended by her polished AEGrs, will Petrify
al the Gorron glance OF Monarchy. Let
her take her flight, and the glorious pillars
of our Union will lie rent asunder-the
:. proud fabric, reared bv the wisdom Of the
master-splrits of this Republic, will crum:
Die into ruins, and the Temple Of Liberty
, be leveIIed with the dust of the valley. But
why indulge in such gloomy apprehensions,
Imerclv because Rome and Athens, and Car.
: thnge and Cornth have been swept from
( the earth with the bosom Of destruction!
Let US remember that to the sages Of this re-
public was the triumph Of establishing sys-
tenn of government which harmonizes and
, protects the diversified interests of inde-
S pendent soveVelgnties; and we, their de-
scendents, tracing the effects Of their ex.
panslye philanthropy, behold knowledge
become power, laws receiving the subms'
. sion Of treemen, and monarchy-that bane
. to individual enterprise and political pros
l. Eperity from the lard. Thrice
/ happy America - thou hast proved that a
s. people can govern themselves. Thy
= daughters, squire as the raPlured Thrill o.
e ioy''-Ihy warrior.sons, generous ano
e brave, are honored and respected in every
n and. From the shores OF the calm Pacific