The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-07-12

But a few years since, and it was a siran.
ger among us-now it daTes the storms
and pillows Of the Atlantic Ocean, makes
ncghbors Of the two continents, and. a.
q man Of war, giant armed,.a hundred
handed Briareus, it ministers to our de-
fence.
But a few years since, also, ouI Frank.
lin, tie modern Prometheu-, dared to
draw down the electric fame from It's ma
i've heaven; bat now that which was
once rcgardc! as the peculiar weapon Of
the Almighty and the minister Of His ven
gcancc, which, in playful sport rcnd5 the
clouds and causes the earth to ,rembIc, is
made subject to the control Of man. 1t
has become, already, the winged messen-
ger Of his thought, and, in still other APP
pIicalions, may as far outslrp the other
powerful agents Of nature as it does in its
native elements.
The uronaut, with impious boldness,
asccuds the skies; he passes the home
Of the Iighning3 and the storms and the
ken Of mortal vision, and, by the assis-
lance Of genius, he may yet direct his
flight, vie with the birds Of passage,
and become the rival ol'ihe eagle in his
own kingdom.
Turn now to the moral world. Here
the mind has made acquisitions, if posi-
bic, more worthy Of itself. The great
characteristic here is action, the most
sublime and extensive in influence. The
principle Of voluntary association may
have been appealed to in other times, but
the application Of it as an engine of pow
cr to the removal Of public moral evils,
belongs to this age. 1t is great engine
Of power, and, consequently, we see So
cictcs Of every kind temperance so.
ciclcs, societies religious, moral, polite
cal, and scientific, whose sphere of action
is bounded only by the confines Of the
earth. The spirit Of reform hoyors over
the world; he hath spread his wings for
a high and continued flight. But the
greatest movement of all is, perhaps, that
for the attainment Of evil and religious
liberty, which we have already consider
ed, SO far as regards our own country.
But these principles, and their effects, are
not confined to our land. They have
gone abroad on their errand Of mercy ;
they have brought our sister republics OF
the south into being; they have awakcd
heroic Greece from her long slumber of
ages. Poland, struggling in chains, ac-
knOwlcdgcd their influence, though her
reward was to he divided and devourcd
by despois, They scattered the old mon
archy of France into thousand irag-
monls; and, though they have been gath
cred together again-tho' Louis Philippe
sits upon throne; yet it is shattered and
is not supported by blind alteration, as OF
old. They stand, as it were, on a vol
cano; the turf is warm beneath their feet
and the multerlng thunder is already
heard. The same may be said Of Eng
land, tho not, perhaps, TO the same extent
-.England, the land olsplendor and mise
ry, of riches and poverty. Free prnci,
plies are now progressing in oppressed
Ireland. Repeal is now the watchword,
repeal Of that lnglOrlous union which has
stricken the land with poverty and mise
ry. Ireland, in all other respects unior.
tunaIe, in one is peculiarly fortunate.
The Almighty God, in his providenliaI
care OF the universe, raises up great and
fit men to meet important crises" to
ride the whlrlwnd aud direct the Storm
and in this particular Ireland is peculiar
! ly fortunate. Go on, ilustrious man
Agitatc, agitate, agilato knowing that
truth comes forth from the alembic of dis
cussion, pure, as gold refined; that the
waters of the pool of Sloan had no
healing power till they were troubled by
the angel. Go on, be the father and sa-
vior of thy county! Lead on those en-
thusasic millions to victory, and let their
harps, now long slumbering, resound in
golden strains the notes of freedom
Regard not those Prison walls that now
surround thee; and, even if fate still
lowers and the voice of thy country bids
thee, remember Emmet-be a blessed
martyr and live forever in the hearts Of
thy counirymcn
"All men are created equal" Let this
truth 90 forth as on the wings of light,
DER hlli and valley, DER land and sea,
with power to wrest the sceplre from ty.
rants and wake the sons of liberty to clio.
ry. Let ii reach the ear of every son OF
oppression in the most dark and benight.
ed corner of the earth. Let them hear i,
with JOY, assume their "long lost liber.
ty," and Clolhe themselves with all the
native dignity and majesty of man.
The Roman poet thought it was hap.