Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1845-07-10

power Of those great monarehies been es-
tablished; and although at one period, their
courts may have been more magnificent,
and their military achievements more
brilliant than at another, yet, in all the sub
staniial elements of greatness, there IS
every reason 10 believe, they have never
surpassed their present renown.
What, then, must have been the un-
PARALLEL march Of the UNITED STATES IN
the career Of glory, if, within sirfy-nine
genrs after the establishment Gifts Govern
ment, il is ranked throughout the Globe,
in the same class with those ancient mon
arches, whose power and splendor is the
growth of TEN centufesl
But il is not in the mere elements Of ma
tiona greatness, that the comparison be-
tween this our experiment in free govern
ment, and the ancient monarchies of Eu-
rope, should be made. In all that "con-
stliutes State" the award Of the uniyer-
sal world will place us side by side with
those transatlantic powers. II is to loitier
results we should look it is into more en-
during effects we should enqulre-the
happiness of man, that great end and aim
Of existence--it is in reference to this, that
the comparison should be made. And
who that is informed as to the condition
OF the great masses of the people in those
kngdoms-trampled under feet as they
are, groaning in misery, and utlering, IN
their despair, such loud and mournful lam
entaiions as startle the ear Of the world
who. knowing this can turn to our own
favored land, behold its valleys and plains,
teeming with beauty and smiling with "a
bundance its people happy in the enjoy
ment of equal rights and privileges, guar
anteed By charter which all regard as
sacred: and not acknowledge the illimita-
Bile superiority Of that form of government,
which develops. expands, and cherishes,
such manifold and countless blessings!
Let US look upon our Country as it was,
and regard it as il is, and we shall then be
the better able 10 estimate the debt of
gratitude we owe TO those men, who per-
filed "their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor" to secure 10 us the rich
heritage we enjoy, and which, under the
blessing of heaven, we hope 10 transmit
unsullied and unimpaired TO our remotest
posterty.
AT the beginning Of their existence, the
United States contained population of
some three millions Of souls sparsely
scattered throughout the thirteen original
colonies situated along the shores the
Atlantic Coast. Just emerged from the
war of the Revolution, not only were
the people individually penniless, but
crushed to the earth by an overwhelming
burden of national debt. The pursuits Of
agriculture had been neglected, so that the
Earth scarcely yielded scanty supply foi
the necessary wants Of existence; Com
merce, there was none, for seldom did an
American vessel dare TO spread its canvass
upon the bosom Of the deep; Navy, there
was none, for not even had the age o.
gunboats and torpedoes arrived; Raj
Roads and Canas-those great triumph'
of modern improvement had not beer
dreamed Of and Manufactures except upor
the smallest scale, and by the simplest pro
cesses, had no existence in the land.
Such is but faint and feeble pictur.
Of the condition Of the Union at its com
mencementl The aspect of affairs wa
most gloomy; but the future was radian
with promises of brighter hours TO come
and the men who had stood firm and un
, daunted amidst the rude shock and clasl
of the battle field, were not to be turned
aside by ordinary difficulties when The
Halcyon, Peace, had returned TO its rest
, Sirty nine gears have glided by, since thu
declaration of the Independence of tn,
I tInftaI Ntatac moe nnnNnnnaJ 10 bo !
and what do we now behold?
A population oftwenty millions Of souls
peoping the hills, dales, and valleys from
the banks OF the st. Johns in the North
TO the Columbia in the west, and the RiC
del Norte in the South. Twenty Six States
instead of thirteen, with three younge
sisters ciamourously knocking for admis
sion, and several territories yet 10 b,
parcelled out into youthful empires, ant
awaiting but the maturity of age to TAKE
their appropriate stations in that bright anC
peerless band.
We behold the face of the country ra
pidly improving; immense forests dis
appearing before the axe of the hardy pio
neer agriculture reduced TO the exact
ness Ol SCIENCE tne aTtS ana sciences
hourishing; education extending its cir
Gle; literature expanding its germs almos
the entire nation fully and proftably EN-.
ployed; and the universal aspect things
t exhibiting the most unequivocal evidences
of contentment, tranquility, and happi-
ness. We behold cities springing into
existence as if by magic countless herds
feeding upon ten thousand verdant hills
the rivers of the interior echoing TO the
thunder of innumerable Steamboats,, tina,
penetrate, with ease, to the very shoal-
waters Of navigation, opening every mar
ket, and bringing into direct communi-
cation the most distant and diverse portions
of the land.
We behold four thousand miles of ca
nas--those great arteries of commerce
already completed at an expense of one
hundred millions Of dollars, and minglng
the waters Of the Mexican Gulf with those
Of the Lakes of the North, and of the At
lantlc wave. We behold more than four
thousand miles of Rail Roads ,-ihose iron
bands, binding our scattered people with
hooks Of steel-already finished at cost
exceeding one hundred millions of dollars.