Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-06-15

! The boat rocked idly by the slo,
| And ON the ocean shore;
| The bolted burghrr pacrd his street,
Tho seaman wheeled his gun;
! Steel CLEANED along the rulers seat,
! And sludy's task was done
sold Narngauscii rang with arms,
And rang the silver bay
/ And that sweet shore whose girdled charms
Were Philips ancient sway;
\ And our own islands halcyon scene
Il The black artillery sent;
| And answered from the home Of Greene,
The men of dauntless kent!'
! Thus, in strains worthy of his theme,
sung one of our own poets. The spirit
stirring scenes have passed away. The
tempest, which blackened our whole hoti-
zon, has left it TO be spanncd by tho bow
of promise, and To reflect the glolies Of
an untroubled sky. Let us not forget,
however, in this season oI our joy, the
solemn lessons taught us III the day Of
our calamity. How impressiveIv do the
events Of the last year admonlsh us Of the
great danger to be apprehended from
visionary theories, which, though osten-
sibly addressed TO the understandings Of
the people, take the strongest hold of
their passions, aud which Ultimately lead
the people 10 the grossest misconceptions
of their constitutional rights aud social
duties. Strange as it may seem, no in
considerable portion OF our fellow citizens
were deluded by wretched sophis,ries
INTO conviction that, in all their efforts
TO establish the peoples constitution, they
were sustained by the example Of our
revolutionary fathers, aud by the eternal
principles OF natural Justice. The de-
fusion did not exp"nd itself upon their
understandings. From the lips and the
pens Of false teachers, muhhades learned
the captivating text Of scditton-their
passions supplied The lnlerences. And
yet more--in order TO lmpart additional
energy and ardor to the popular passions,
dema2ogues, educated and uneducaied,
were incessant in the work of exaspera-
ting them by appeals the most ariul and
iervid. Thus did II come to pass, that,
IN Rhode lslann, where no man hitherto
had dreamed OF oppression, or meditated
resistance To the laws, multitudes were
persuaded to think themselves oppressed,
and to rush madly for redress upon the
por,entOu issues of Revolution. The
sad experiences of The last year should,
likewise, teach us not TO coDiound the
love Of freedom, which never exists with
out producing the happlest effects, with
that morbid ambition for uncontrolled
political power which, whether raging in
the breasts ol individuals or OF masses,
threatens, especially in seasons of ex-'
cuemcnls, the worst evils TO a State.
The former, us has been Justly remarked
by philosophical historian, will produce
disturbances only when real evils are
felt; the latter frequently produces con-
vulsons, independent OF any real cause
of complaini or, II il has been excited
by such, it continues after it has been re-
moved. "Jhe one complains OF what
has been felt /; The other anlIcI 2a,es
what may be gained; Disturbances arising
from the first, subside, when the evils
from which they spring are removed !;
troubles originating ~ the second, mag
Nifty with every victory which is achieved
The experience Of evil is The cause of
agitation from the first f; the love Of power
ilhe source Ut commissions from the last.
Reform aud concession are the remedies
appropriate To the former steadiness
and resistance the means ot exiting uish
ing the flame arising from the Latter"
The dangers, fellow -cilizens, through
which we have passed, should also i'm
press more strongly upon every mind the
the conviction that those are the worst
enemies Of tho people, who, under cap
uvaing names and false pretcx's, violate
The essential principles oi all popular tree
dom. Without Law, and without req
erence lor Law, Democracy cannot ex.
isl there can be no sccnrity for equal
rights there can be no protection for
the weak against the strong there can
he nothing to save the few from the ty-t
fanny OF the mnny nothing to shelter
from the rapacious and the idle, the ac-
cumuations of honest ndus,ry-nothing,
IN short, to arrest the tendencies OF society
towards either the barbarism of savage
life, or the repose OF sullea despoilsm.
Law and rererence tor Lao are bound
up in all our hopes of the future triumphs
o'thc democratic principle The fIiends
and the foes Of the existing forms Of civ.
II government in Europe, look, with in
tense solici,ude, to the results of the
mighty experiment, now making in this
country. This experiment, perhaps the
grandest which, in the progress Of socie-
ty, hath ever been Witnessed, will fail,
# it be destined to fail, from perversion
Of the true notions Of liberty from The
relaxation, among the people and in their
rulers, of those conservative principles,
without which, IN the absence of physi.
cal force, there can DO neither freedom
nor civilization. BE ii our duty, there.
fore, Men of Rhode Island, to discharge,
faithfully, the sacred trust confdcd to.
ouI hands. The lines are fallen to us
IN pleasant places. We inhabit "A terri
tory which is unrivnlled for salubriiy-I
and which, in its physica characteristics,
supplies, The most ample facilities for n
progressive advancement IN social refine
ment. Numerous and densely peoplcd
towns concentrate within themselves the |
means of high intellectual Improvement
our rivers, ere they finish their course