Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-07-27

espcct 10 our star-spansled banner, when hFsl y
loaled in, ieailcssly among Them, on The waves ~
he ocean and had made their obesanee 10 me
- Of our county, as the sheayes oihe patriarch
lrolhcIs made obeisance 10 The ratIlarchs smear VI
wheat i, would scarcely have been SO true anu ueep
compliment 10 our eagle as is found IN lhc lae'
hat he is constantly hawked al 10y every NOUS
ing owl Of England, who has indeed only ,le
same feelings towards us as the more clear.signt'
I'd birds, without the decency OF grace SO dexter
ously 10 conceal Them.
Her statesmen are thoroughly informed men,
Taught by severe discipline 10 reason clearly, 10
study The past and shrewdly forecast The future;
and upon the phenomenon OF this country risins
in the horizon, tiey have doubtless tIied theif
cunningest skill. as astronomers gaze intenily on
some newly appearing STAR in The sky ana iail
indeed The vision must be 10 their eyes ana iol'y
indeed must be the ascension 10 which lhey see
lhal lis course in The heavens is conducliis u,
when the only confer, they can extract, IS III inc
effort TO throw fictitious dimness over II. 10 ue-
ceive even their own eyes, 10 diminish as 'neJ
can every ray Of The golden honor with wh'cn !.
is crowned and in deiacing as much as posslpie
every trophy and every record OF our glory; ana
when all these fail they turn about IN des'
pair ar 1 themselves Tor some mlgn-
ly connie. against a world in arms, as
il they felt that The same world was not wide
enough 10 contain US both. Although there IS
now 10 remaining cause OF quarrel between US
The Mcleod case, the Northeastern boundary,
and the Oregon boundary all being selIied-we
are trading freely and favorably with her-ieeu-
ING her starved paupeIs we speak her language
read her vile books-and, by The swift speed Oh
the steamers, are brought near, even 10 hel very
shores-and we had been iondly calculating on
many long and happy years OF friendly ih'eE-
course and mutual benefit; yet, when lhey re-
ceived the news in England OF The capture ol me
Mexican fortress OF Vera Cruz BY our army and
paper, a very influential one there, went sravely
10 work 10 calculate what advantage that fortress.
The Gibraltar OF The West, as they term 1t, would
give 10 the United States in future war win
England. There hangs that same vision OF war
with US, forever marking terror on her eye-bails-
that world wide struggle 10 maintain her ascen-
dancy-thal
-"Geld of the dead, rushing red on lleI sight,
And the clans Of Cuoden all scattered in flight
OF which We had thought there was now no dam
ger for many years 10 come, and Tor when haunl.
ing and knawing vision we can see no earthly
necessity. unless il be necessary eIhalaion
from The fountains OF an envy which feels il can
not live while We live also. We shall, with his,
lurn 10 notice indications al home oil The social
spirit Of our people.
l[. Questions in relation 10 social and COM
mercial improvement are not inappropriate or
unimporanl questions in connection with liber.
~. The waichfuiness OF people over The Tree,
untel,ered condition Of their trade and industry,
has always furnished The entering wedges 10
freedom, and The locks and keys 10 guard IL
Such questions we're intimately connected with
The achievement 81 whatever OF freedom there IS
in England and such question was al the bot
tom oi ourown struggle fer, ard achievement oil,
lha, great blessing
The cheflhne in this line, which ale allrac-
ing attention al his day, are The railway I'M
proyemenis, the magnetic telegraph, and he ocean
steamboats,. The first Of these is IaIher older
subecl al Ibis lime than The rest Many sections
of The Union have been tor some time reapine
The rich benefits Of the railways. BY this means,
the cities oil Boston and Buffalo are connected
together, the one on Massachusetts Bay, he other
on Lake Ellie. So, also, are New York, Phila-
delnhia. Baltimore, Richmond, and, with no great
intervals Charleston and New Orleans. II may
mol be very long before Charleston will, by The
same means. shake hands with Memphis ati-
more with Cincinnati and ST. Louis; and II
wopld be extremely pleasant 10 say II, II mere
was such probability, that Richmond would be
placed in communication with GIyandoHe or
Point Pleasant.
These lines Of communication, bearing The
productions OF one region quickly 10 The wants oil
another. together with The highways which ma
,ure has made, seem calculated u act DIS weos Oh
iron cordage, binding the States OF The Union
more irmly together in The bands OF commercial
interest, as they must perhaps always De o1uhe
in those of civil and prudential interest, and az
fordins those facilities for speedy neighborshp 50
necessary in a single government over SO great
an eylen, OF territory.
And switler than either the flying Indian or The
railcar itself, We have the magnetic telegraph
an American invention, Of which We have and
probat ly will always have, longer lines Than any
other nalion-lelIing but little grass grow under
lis hees--sending The news i'll flash Of light
ming from Maine 10 Texas, ard JLelp The htd Ia
supersede, on some routes altogether the loo tar
Dis rai.car ITSELF. Our counrymen have also re-
Gently entered tie European competition in the
construction Of sea steamers, and are said 70 have
sent across The waters one ct the best and hnesI
of the "Aoaling palaces that has yet been con-
snuc:cj. In the nation al large, The spiri, Of 50.
cial improvement is in great vigor, and is Golre
a noble worl; wisely and well.
II is matter OF deep regret 10 be obliged 10 think
as any one mnst tc who compares our own with
employed with prcpriely in reference 10 the ad.
vance menl oflhe Ancient Commonweallharound
us-the cherished mother OF US all. With, as
believe, mole dignity OF personal character among
her people than almost any other sister State,
perhaps than any nation with which she can he
compared she is sill slumbering in ndoleni, IN
thrifty rerosc drowning herselfin Federal politics.
while The broom. straw and The dwarf pine wave
over her still beautiful face employing species
OF labor most manileslly Improbable Tor her
grinding 10 death naturally fertile soI-lasgine
far behind if not in The very rear, in that career
OF social Improvement which alone can pour into
State the leGnemenls and felcties OF life in any
general diffusion, and yet opposing still those i'm
provemenl a logic which both contradicls IL.
self and keeps The country down-a logic which
holds that il is mol good policy 10 lay out one dol
lar this year 10 receive back five or len dollars i've
or len years 10 come. shall make no parade
here OF love for this old Commonwealth, be-
cause admit The right OF no one TO call in ques-
tion the existence OF such attachment, and can
find nothing against that superstition in seeing and
lamentine lis errors ard misforiunes.
|, is 4 remark Of The distinguished statesman
Edmund Burke, that "among The standards By
which the effects Of government on any country
are 10 be estimated the state OF lis population is
not The least certain. No country in which Po-
pulalion flourishes and is in progressive improve
ment can be under very mischievous govern
menl.H. Applying This standard to the whole
United States and The immense rapidly with
which The population advances tells plain tale
in relation TO The social policy prevailing; bur ap-
plying lilo our own commonwealth, and The slow
aud sometimes probably relrograde step Of the
population Of that portion Of it lying eastward Of
Inc mounlan n, and The constant weakening
draushls made upon Ler best and lvelesl bleed
b. western emigration, impels US 10 conclude
l6a, her social policy cannot be proper subject
OF very high encomum. We talk much OF The
glory OF our ancestors in The days Of yoIe-and
theirs was glory which may we'll lie TALKED Of
nd will be talked Of while men have hearts 10
eel or tongues 10 express admiration Of he no.
blest vrlues-and The sons of Virginia still love 10
call the names and TO conjure up The venerable
forms Of her mighty dead, even where they live
e1pa,riaied, from Kentucky TO The Rio GIande.
But we cannot much longer live on the fame Of
the fathers. Glory will no, serve US in The place
OF bread; nor is The fame even Of Washing
Ion and Henry, Of Marshall and Jefferson, Of
Madison and Monroe, magnetism OF sufficient
power 20 keep her sons whitening at home, dream