Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-08-14
agfr1)totnor1 gsosaesdrer.

| their hpnurS anu QtstluSlihh' W.
,s 'he u.rds NJ merit, without reference 10 oiiIn
rank or fortune; while we enjoy mooet o. ~.
vernmen, founded in Justice and na'ure-'ne Ia
c;ous beouest ofour fathers, The hope oil our ena,
/! 5rcn. while we enjoy all those blessings -
onr conn,rv is moi without lis elements o. uan
ccr-elenrnts that Turk in its bosom, anu .s.n
now perhaps, threaten lis welfare. 10 r.,n
elements shall be crushed OF suffered - 80"
ca will he The ratio of our republican exls'enrI
! a conclusion warranted ny 'ae suic i"'@
| ing the future by HE past, No COR.
THE masses of The people, who, from li'e e ga!
lies; period OF recorded time, nave Deeii ,ine
! nisea and spolialed hewers oi WOOD ana u.dM
of wafer embody those seeds OF natlona! disso!u
lion. anarchy and blood, which, II not eiauicd;eu
by the fostering hand OF tesisati0m-oy lhe IN
lellec,ual and moral culture of ihe mum, rTa,;
light up the torch Of Liberty al The ai,dr % an"'
cism. and controlled by some MOURN pa :,
Cromwell will erect The throne oi DesPo'''"- -
The Temple OF Liberty itself: .;,h ,nh;,h bic
In The early stages Of society, WIN WhiCh ms
,ory has made us acquainted, the only acKhoW-
ledaed principle Of action was FORCE. !" d. was
thrir only polilcs-conquesi ana glory 'leii enie'
aim-and The subjugation OF man 10 man, 10 Tue
mos, thorough inhuman and oaroarous inehhel'
wos tbe Great feature OF their national economy.
Tae;r sentiment OF humanity was bounded by
| tho narrow horizon Of creed or country. 10 The
lew all things beyond Judea we're unclean; 10 The
| Greek and Roman, The term foreigner was the sy-
nonyme for barbarian. The highest form OF
government was priesily dynasty, which Locked
all human freedom in the rigid form Of Casles,
over which superstition sat predominant
| Succeeding this came an organized conquest
the conservation of the spirit Of arisocracy ana
the right OF nobles-a feudalism which, warmed
BY the first rays OF the rising sun OF CHRISTIANITY
began 10 stretch beyond the contracted limits oil
conntry and 10 meliorate the seventies anu rgoIs
in ihe ,ubiugalion OF man TO man. Natiohs ana
races began TO feel the les al fraternity, and 10
connect themselves in closer bonds, though still
| in obedience 10 The laws Of leudal hierarchy The
mobiles, legitimate heirs Of the first conGucrors re.
oarded themselves only as equals, and as "booted
| and spurred by thr grace Of God" 10 ride and
,rampe The clowns and commoners in the dust.
BuI the latter, everywhere enslaved, grew 10 re-
gard each other as brothers, and thus uncon-
scously, in the distress Of The dark ages prepared
The way for that Future ofjusIice and TRUTH which
| was destined 10 sci up those ights and privileges
so long trampled on by their naughty oppres>ors.
Succeeding the spirit and right OF teudal times,
came 40 era OF mental light, widening inlellec-
tua privileges, and diffusng the treasures oil
! knowledge from the few 10 the many-an era,
having Tor lis spirit the spirit OF Democracy-nol
Democracy, az spouted in political meetings, or
slavered through The columns of newspapers
~.
| crumhc The earth itself, and even pluck God from
his ihrone-not that wild, dirty and turbulent;
| mobism, that would cover with lis slime every
character nobler than ITSELF bat God-ordained
| principle OF Democracy, in which the rights 0!
| every man. however humble, are held sacred, and
an absolute guarantee afforded OF all those ele-
menls, essential TO The growth and development
Of his intellectual and moral faculties. This
was The spirit OF Democracy, which, aided by
that gleal invention, gunpowder, pouring It's food
OF light upon The world, and making The plebsian
equal TO The parician on the battlefield advanced
the masses, through confusions, fghtngs and vol
| canic uproar, from triumph To triumph, 10 their
| present position
The masses contend that man is the chief and
crown Of the created world-that The masses are
an essential element in the community, and as
sert their equal poliiica manhood They stand
al the bar Of their country with honest faces and
broad shoulders, with hard muscles, and The swell
| ling hearts OF men, and demand that they be adj
milied into feilowship-Ihey claim their younger
brothers share OF the patrmony of the common
father And where, ask, dwelis there, on Ibis
side of Heaven, The power for whom il would be
safe 10 resist their just appeals?
The masses assert, that under system OF par
hallegislalon the interests of the rich have been
fenced in with the thick sci hedges of all law,
learning and public opinion; that capital is the
| golden frui, watched by many-headed dragons
but that Education and Labor, The poor mans
only hope, are flung loose TO the winds, and Left
10 shit for themselves, without guarantee, with
| oul protection. They assert that The money pow
er is Sreaer than The legislative power, aud that
the legislative power has been employed to sue
! cor the swindns tungi, The bandilt Of the social
state, in ro5bng The many To enrich the iew-and
that their prejudice niquily has been le!t un-
| tried, no scheme unbroached. They assert the
| coexisience O, two seemingly conflicting facts,
viz: while on the one hand there is an increase
of The aggregate wealth, on The other there IS
growing misery and distress among the MASSES
| Of the people, who constitute six-seyenhs OF the
| whole population whose toll is The nations wealth,
and whose valor is her shield and buckler. They
assert that through The length and breadth OF the
land we are rapidly tending 10 the formation OF
a new afistocracy-one as odious as II is isno-
blc-an arslocracy which, unconsecrated by he
reditary remembrances or actual deeds OF valor,
derives It's only distinction from The ineradicabe
baseness and enacitv Of lis love oil money.
The condition of things, such as described, can
not long continue. The action Of existing causes
and principles is steady and progressing. The
notion Of individual and equal rights has taken
such deep root in The minds of men, that the
masses, unless elevated in an Intellectual and
moral point Of view, will sooner or later rebel,
taking The law in their own hands. Here then,
are the seeds OF that future OF anarchy and con-
fusion, which are destined 10 shake this country
from its centre 10 lis circumlerence-desenera
liberty into Righteousness, regulated society into
the widest anarchy, and overspreading the land
with vice and immortality. Interests, then, as
lasting as time, and as enduring as eternity, are
to be guarded-lnteTests as important as the lives
and liberty Of the twenty million Of freemen who
claim the stars and stripes as the faS OF their
country. But be true 10 The trust transmitted by
your fathers, and purchased with their biood-bui
copy the uncouded examples OF the builders OF
your countTy's glory, and there is not now, and
will not be in all coming time. any system OF ly.
ranny that will not feel lis infuence-any tel!cr
that will not be broken by its power.
The masses then demand that Legislature ac-
tion that will secure "lhe greatest good 10 The
greatest number" They appeal 10 your patriot
ism, 10 your justice, 10 your honor; they seek TO
stir in your bosoms the fires that yet linger in The
ashes Of your fathers. How, then, shall We salts
fy this demand; how meet this appeal; how turn
aside go terrific an explosion Philanthropy
patriotism, justice, all answer, BY the Filtration
OF the people, BY sublime system OF intellectual
and moral E;ditcation, that shall ameora,e the
condition OF cN without depressing any; system
that shall do great good 10 the poor ard 10 harm
to the rich; system thai will enable the pFoie
pcopic 10 appreciate, in lis widest seLse, the civil
and religious liberty designed 10 be secured BY
our institutions, to Distinguish between The aspir-
ing esotism and genuine merit OF candidates for
public favor; system That will enable them to
dissecl The wildness of political heresy and rebuke
with merited defeat the deluded recreant who
would sacrifice the purest constitution and the
deares, freedom 10 his own depraved ambition.
The education OF the masses is important in
every country, but il is pre-eminenlly important
in Government Of representative character
where The people comprise the Government, as
sands form the mountains or drops the ocean
where feelings, opinions and actions come uom
every hill and valley, however remote and seclu-
ded, and, like The unseen winds, give tone TO The
public voice and will. Education" (says Ed
mund Burke) ais better safeguard for Libcyfy
than standing army" "The wealth of Slaie''
(says CALVIN Consists not in great treasures
solid walls, fair palaces weapons and armor;
but its best and noblesl wealth and its ruesl safe