The Arkansas banner., 1843-12-16

sovereign, such qualities certainly cannot be imputed by themselves. Every citizen of a sovereign State should be expected to recog- nise in that State an object at once august and lovely, before which all that is evil in man should stand rebuked, and to which all the better affections of the heart should cling with humble but proud devotion. And is it thus that the citizens of Virginia are affected to her at this dayo It should be so. The memory ol her old renown is still our iihe- rltance The men who ade her name H. iustrIons In the annals of the world arc still remembered as her sons. She is still the mother of heroes and the nurse of states men and the same simple integrity and self renouncing devotion to the right, which once distinguished her, are still her characteristics. She IS still the mistress of our acts, the pro- tectress of our lives and fortunes, the guar dian of all our rights, the sanctuary of our honor. What has happened, that so few hearts are animated by the sentiments appro- priate to this relation? Why is it that so few regard her with the eye of reverential love,
 Such as is bent on sun-ilSe malesty:
 But rather drowse, and hang their eye-lids down.
 Sleep in her face, and render such aspect,
 As cloudy men use to their a1versaricss
 Why is il that her own proud banner no longer floats from her capitols Why is it, that, with name to live, her sovereignty is us though it were dead, Why, that while none among LIS deny it, none find pride in asserting 1t; none resent the denial or inva- sion of 1t by othersi
 Do l speak of that which IS not. Are not you all sensible that these things are so? And why? Is it that she has stripped her self of the means of rewarding her chl,!ren's love Is 1t that the honors that tempt ann bition are bestowed by functionaries who act on behalf of other states as well as her l? Is 1t that the revenue to which the mercena- " zeal Of avarice looks for it's reward, have been poured into the common treasury of the Union' Alas yes. The simpls badges of distinction won in her service, the laurel garland and the oaken wreath, have losttheir charm. There IS now no value but in glded honors; no majesty in diadem that does not glitter; no authority in any sceptre not of gold. Thus it is that no man cries $ God bless her!" and thus 1t is that they who speak of her sovereignty as any thiag but q name, provoke the rage of such as $ dc but crook the hinges of the knee, where thrift may follow iawning.n
 How else is 1t, that over a transaction like that of which this day reminds us, the sable pail of oblivion has already fallen How is 1t that the memory of such an event has perishcd from our minds What pil- grim visits the spot consecratcd by that glorious act' What monument marks it to the cyc' Alas .'1hc fire has rcsoundcd in it's halls, and the voice of the people is heard no more. None summons the sons of Virginia to ss build the walls of her politi- tical Zion. None ( takes pleasure in her stones. 3 The scene of so many halIowing recollections is waste and dcsecrated;
 While Desoation, on the grass grown streets,
 Expands her raYen-wny and mp the wall
 Where senates once the price Of Inonarchs doomed
 Kisses the gliding snake, through hoary weeds
 That clothe the mouldering ruin. v
 Are we then indifferent to the blessings which that event brought with it. Have the rights then asserted lost their value in our estimation Are the principles then pro- claimed, and consccrated by the blood of our fathers, no longer sacred to our hearts '- Have we lost that honest pride with which men cherish the glories of their ancestors and have our minds, impatient of the debt of gratitude, hastened to shake off the memory of obligations to the men of that day, which can never be cancelled
 No gentlemen; such is not the temper of this people The men of that day live, and, ! trust, will live forever, in the hearts of their descendants. We cherish them as the founders of our free institutions, and the champions of our rights. We senerate them as our instructors in the science of seli-go-
 yernment; and our great excmplars in all it's , arduous duties. We boast them as the bold defenders of the rights of an infant people, , against the power of the most formidable nation upon earth. Not year passes over that the fourth of July is not hailed as the birth day of American independence. Never does the sun rise on that day, that his ad- vent is not welcomed with the roar of artil- lcry, while the sound of jubilee rises up in { grand and harmonious accord from the lips l and hearts of grateful millions. Negcr docs it pass, that the hymn of grateful praise, the choral song, the voice of eulogy, does not ring through the land, celebrating the glories of the illastrious men who acted and suffered and triumphed in the scenes which the re- turn of that day recalls. And we'll may this be so. Tine annals of mankind may he searched in vain for examples more illus trious of virtue, wisdom and ability Above all we contemplate, with admiring wonder, the intrepid boldness, and self-devoted mag nanimity, which manned the hearts of thir- teen feeble, disunited colonies to defy pow CT accustomed to give law to Europe. We remember, that of their own strength they as yet had no experience Their euii;;ciency had seemed all derived from her. 1.nd now f.l. I | I q L -r-.-- them, guarding, like that of the angel of the Lord, their forest paradise, was to be turned against them. Without armies, winthout na- vies, without revenue, without resources of any kind, but such as good cause, clear conscience, strong wiii and firm reliance on Providence, suggest to impotence itself, they stood, like the son of Jesse, confronted with the mailed and giant form before which T AL bod -,,