The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1845-02-05
THE GALAXY.
Wednesday, Feb, 5, 1916.
Mr. Marsh's Speech,

fathers day has ever brought forth a hiehe
intellectual banquet than was served up t,
the New England Society in New York a
their recent anniversary, in the speech Of tn
Hon. G.. p. Marsh. a richer mine of Histor
ical facts aud of the general causes which
have contributed to mould the character O
the sons of New England, and imparr TO it it:
Distinguishing and noble traits has never beef
presented TO the public. Some portions o
it were received by the audience with tn
most enthusiastic applause.
The great length of the speech rrevent
our publishing the whole, which is the less tc
be regretted as it will soon be before the pub
lie in pamphlet form. Just preceding the
/ following extract, which is the CONCLUSION o.
the address, the orator had been depicting
the unrelenting tyranny and brutal oppres-
sion exercised over the bodies and and souls
of men by the barons and priests of the mid
die ages, when the incendiary flames of feu-
dal warfare, and the lurid glare of the mar
tyr's pile evinced the woes Of that dreadful
night of human Indebtedness.
From all these horrors, the Reformation,
was one indispensable, and only insufficient
means of deliverance, as its principles are
still our only safeguard. Il is vet too soon
to assume, that its results are fully develop
ed. but its fundamental grounds seem TO in
volve all that is necessary for the erection of
harmonious but independent system of civ
il and ecclesiastical policy, which shall be as
perfect as human nature will admit.
The flee developement Of its principles
has received check, from the reaction which
followed the overthrow of Napoleon, and one
| can hardly cast glance at the recent history
of the human mind in Europe, and especially
in that country, which common consent pla-
ces at the head Of the European political sys-
tenn, without doubling whether society be not
in fact retrogaGing, instead of advancing. OBJ
serve the exclusive devotion of British intel
lect TO schemes of mechanical and material
improvements the humble character, with few
exceptions, OF her philosophical writers, the
shallow tone of her asthetical criticism, the
the universal idolitry of rank and wealth, the
suffering and brutifed condition of the masses,
consider that the doctors of her religion are
reviving old and obsolete superstitons closing
their eyes to the beams ofthe noon day sun,
and cropping in the darkness of the middle
ages for spiritual light, and you can scarcely
resist the conclusion that, to use The quaint
words of Browne, :" She has grown obvious,
and doteth. Her ancient civility is gone, and
her face become wrinkled and tetrick."-
Wordsworth seems to have deeply felt all
this, when, in that noble sonne., he invoked
the spirit of the mighty Puritan. whose "soul
was like star, and dweit apart" in words too
harsh for me TO quote, too true, perhaps, for
him nolc to dare TO utter
The dishonest victory" Of Wa;erloo, nee
essary perhaps. for the rescue of Europe
from the temporary iron rule of military des-
potism, came full ten years TOO soon, aud I'M
happily arrested before his task was done, that
great usurper. who, himselfa despot and a ty
rant, was unconsciousiy working out his high
vocation Of preparing men for The acquisition
and enjoyment Of national freedom, by bat
tering down old and misunderstanding nsti-
iutions. practically refuting hoary fasehoods,
aud dispelling the mists of antiquaied preju-
dice. The principal aim Of those who have
administered the governments of Europe
since the downfall of Napoleon seem to have
been to carry back the shadow on the dial, 10
reconstruct the shattered wall, and replace
the shattered framework which he had de-
molished. Restitution, not PREPARATION. has
been their motto, aud the clergy Of those
countries which have a religion of State,
considering themselves official members Of
the body polite, have emulated and oulstrip-
ped their superiors in this bad work OF reed
ifcation, and not content with simple restora-
zion, are seeking. with more or less of open
N,a.laOr lint
even what Luther overthrow.
Even with us, too, the evil leaven is at
work The reaction. which, as some tokens
hopefully indicate, is well nigh spent at lis
source, has at length extended hiiher, aud
retrosade spirit is spreading among us.unhap-
PLY unacompanied by the corrective, which.
in Europe, deprives it Of half its power of
mischief. | mean that intense nationality.
which now pervades every European people,
from the bare North cape TO the southermost
headland of smiling Greece. The national
pride of the phlesmatic Noriherman, the ar
cent son Of the fervid South, the philosophic
German, the mercurial Frenchman. and the
se,ni-orieutal Slovenian, has been reused, and
each is striving, with enlightened and hourly
increasing zeal, to restore the vernacular
tongue of his native land 10 its ancient purity,
and TO excite contemporary emulation by b:ins-
ing into the light the history offs earlier ages,
and thus to awaken the love of country. which
the cosmopolite theories of French phioso-
ply were threatening with general extinction,
while the progress Of French arms seemed
to portend for Paris a supremacy like that of
Rome, when even the Greek gloried in being
a native of city, to whose children the priv
i!eges of Roman citizenship had been vouch
safed.
Knowing that neither can there be private
virtue without a generous patriotism, wise
men everywhere foster this spirit, and teach
that even the hardy energies of The early sta
ges of semi-barbarous society are not to be
despised as void of instruction. In them.we
see the germs of more expanded and cultiva-
ted virtues. They deposited in the earth the
fabulum of better fruits, even as by the gen.
."Miltoni thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee, she is fen
OF stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen.
Fireside. the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their anceini English dover
Outward happiness. We are selfish men;
OH raise US up, return to US again;
And give us manners, virtue, freedom power.
Tbv souI was like Star, and dwelt apart:
Tbou hadst a voice whose sound was like the
,.<.rr.N trz. H.