Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1850-05-27

man history, can spectacle be found equal to
this for moral grandeur and subinity The
spectacle OF vast and mighty people swayed
by all the commingled passions of our nature,
instantly relapsing from excitement to repose,
yielding ready obedience to the majesty of that
law, and doing voluntary homage TO that plinci-
pie, which they themselves had established, that
the majority SHOULD prevail.
have beesl told by honorable gentlemen oP-
posed to me, that they entertained not doubt
but that the system of an elective judiciary
would ultimately be adopted but they stated
we were not prepared for it now. The state OF
our preparation can have nothing to do W it'll the
question. If it be right are are prepared tor it
now IF il be wrong, we shall never be prerar-
ed for it. But why do they suppose that this
system will ultimately be adopted 1t is because
gentlemen feel and know that il is truth and not
an error, and tina, truth is mighty and must
prevail Error can be attacked, uprooted
and destroyed but truth mocks at your efforts
and Geiies your power. No matter what chang
es and vicissitudes may take place in human al
fairs on the face Of the habitable globe, truth
will still flourish in immortal youth. Revolu-
tions may sweep DER the earth--war may kim
die and extinguish its battle fires around the
globe-new empires may rise and sink like
bubbles on the water, and nature herself may
be dissolved in elemental fire--yet truth-truih
VIII i've HatSe anu w
walk unscathed and unframed through the coll
nagration.
Mr. President, whatever may be the action
of this convention, at all events my duty has
been discharged, and leave the consequences
TO those whose province il is to determine, and
to him who holds in his right hand the destinics
of men and of nations Should this Convention
decideto abandon truth and principle for the
prejudices of habit and early education, there is
tribunal TO which we can appeal with "a con-
| tiftnce almost amounting to certainty. There
is power behind US greater than we; that will
sit in Judgment over our work and to the peo-
pie themselves we must look for this great and
salutary reformation. | stand here, one OF
a feeble and powerless minority yet few and
weak as we are, we have weight and moral
influence that can only be derived from truth
and COED and honest rse-not from any a.
bilites we possess, for we are the weakest OF the
weak the hnmblest of the humble. Yet, sir,
we are the champions of the people-the advo-
Gates of popular riehts--the defenders Of truth
and Justice The great masses of the country
are with us, and it is their voice which urges on
the conflict, and which cheers aud amnates rs
in the approaching hour of defeat and disaster
If honorable gentlemen expect that the agita-
ton of this question will cease with the decs-
ion of this body, they most wofully mistaken,
The agitation has but commenced. They have
but heard the flrst murmhrlngs OF the Storm
When the public mind shall grapple with this
subject-when the public attention shall be fix
ed upon tive will then see which way the
popular current sweeps; and wo be to him who
shall lift mp his puny arm TO stem the current OF
the niagara!
have no despair, sir. can look from under
the gloom Of the present, to the rainbow Of Hope
which spans the heavens in the distant future,
| am no prophet, and no son of prophet yet |
can see traced in letters of light upon the broad
and ample page OF our country's future history,
the ultimate triumph and ascendency Of the great
principles for which | am now contendng. |
may not live to see tiny heart may ere then
have ceased lis anxious beatings-its hopes and
its fears may alike be extinguished in the grave
yet theteare those living, older than 1, who
will hail its consnmmation.
Truth, crushed to earth, viii rise again
The eternal years Of God are hers;
| But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies amid its worshippers.