Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-04-26
efs5 From the Philadelphia Enquirer h 1zzs6
Human Rights. An Eloquent Extract.

AuAldM MlSnsS.-hu LAV4uCut EAtEdCtiI
We have been favored with a copy, Of
an oration that was recently delivered be-
fore the Literary Society Of the Uniyersi-
ty Of V ermont, by J. T. HEADLY. Its IL.
tie is the One Progressive Principle, and
it is one Of the most thriliingly eloquent
productions that ever came u1der out no.
tice. We annex a stirring passage: - -
1sI have thus erdeayored 10 make history
illustrate my proposition, by watching he
appearances Of this principle at different Pc
riods, and studying its j characters, and
gauging its strength. But the present, no
less than the past, ID VOWS ii, Jig testit,otly
and even now this strange, nconqnerable3
principle is moving on, dragging the life
and energy of the world after it. Oh, it
is fearful to behold its strength and the up
heaying it has occasianed! Ever since
the time Of Christ, man has striyen more
or less resolutely to get an acknowledge.
ment of his rights, either in religious, or po-
litical matters, or in both. Despots have
made use of. old revcrence-sup
fears, trickery, falsehood, the dungeon, The
bayenet, and the scnffold, to silence his
claims and overcome his arguments. Force
has done much, for though i'2S:4 ''<i-@
l. "Truth crushed to earth win rise again.
it often requires the, eternal years Of Cod ,
and men have succeeded in burying it faith
onis deep. But the one Of which I have
been speaking, has two mild resurrections-
one in England, when Cromwell shouted
over its grave, and one in France, when
the infuriated populace call it in srhieks
forth from its burial Of ages. Oh! how
man has struggled to be free-free TO eat
the bread his own hand has sown, to
breathe his tho'ts over the Tyre, or utter
them through the pages Of his country's
literature, free to lay the taxes he himself
pays, free to worship God according to- the
dictates Of his own conscience See Eng.
land cohvulsed, her House Of Commons in
tears, and the torch of civil war blazing
over the land, and all for a principle the
principle of personal freedom, Behold
this country pouring out its blood like wa
ter, see it, clothed in mourning chill.
dfen marching barefoot over, the frozen
grounds leaving their bloody testimonials
ON every foot Of it they trayersed-5 may,
marching by hundreds naked into bat,le,
and all for this one principle .sz~'.' .5al'z-%'
See France rent asunder, her streets
flowing with blood, and the loud beat ofth
alarm drum, and the steady peal of the toe
sin, and the heavy peals of the tumbrels,
going TO and from the scaffold the only
music of Paris for years, and millions OF
nen sacrafced; and yet this principle, in
some form or other, lying at the bottom oi
it oil. Deceived as the fierce actors Of this
tragedy may have been, and diverted
though the thought. for a while, might have
been to personal safety or PERSONAL pggran.
dizement, yet the spell words by which the
storm was directed, were freedom and e.
quail rights'--L at Europe while the
great Napleonic drama was performing
there is something more than the unroline
of banners and the pomp and majesty o
arms. Greatdeed are wrought and glory
is the guiding star to thousands, yet thai
long and fearful struggle, notwithstanding
the various pretences set forth, was, with
all its bloody accompaniments, and waste
of treasure, and loss of life and suffering,
simply an effort to stop the progress Of thi:
one principle H ere all the diplomacy
aud ypocrisy Of Europe are reduced to .
single element-the world in arms agains
human rights. France threw down the
head of king. as the guage Of battle, ane
the conflict was set. Cromwell's ar
nay shouting through the fight, and French
patriots stofming over entertainments with
Republican songs in their mouths, may
have been fanatical or deluded tuen ant
cheated at last by ambitious chieftains, bu
the thing they sought was no delusion.
| What a terror it is able to inspire wher
such vast expenditure Of life and monty
is made TO check its advancement. Behold
the Gar ofRussia, the Emperor of Ger.
many, the King ofPrussia, and even Pit. .-o
England, combined together, calling on the
| wisdom of the statesmen, and summonins
to their aid million ofmen to crush a sin
gle principle. | 50 42l1