Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1850-01-15

ideas or institutions is no test oil their Tutu
or of their worth: for, either, they NAV
have never been examined, or VIII toler-
ate no examination; and are thus main
tanned by the acquiescence OF habit or the
silence of coercion. And, as l nave al
ready said, it does not signify what form
the power has, which exercises tins coer'
cion, whether it be in the personality oi
king or the abstraction of majority, 10
the degree that it crushes discussion. and
meets the proclamation of thought win
threatening or infection, to that degree II
is tyranny. No eXcuse-not even what
is called necessity-can clear 1t from this
name, within these limits--tor, the eXlS-
tence of the one includes the existence OF
the other; the tyranny creates the naces-
sity; and the necessity bears wltiess to
the tyranny.
Let freedom be cherished. First
Of all. and last, let freedom be held sacred
let it be guarded and sustalned--tor 1t Is
the essential condition of all noble eXls-
tence, and without it no generous virtue
can come to its maturity. Let the loss OF
freedom be regarded as among the greatest
of caIamities. No mere abstract or aggre-
cate dominion can compensate Tor 1t. we
do not live as masses, we live as lndIvldu-
ais. All real life is Individual TO the de-
gree, therefore, that individuals are crush
ed. life is crushed. | can accept OF moth
ing for my personality, and this person
alitv, know only in my freedom. Take
that from me, and you lerve me nothing
after, worth the keeping. Take that from
me, and you destroy me. This freedom
rests within the mind: ii is the very life
of intelligent existence. There IS, there
fore, in the universe, nothing more desira-
bic than free mind; as there is nothing
more sublime-nothng more God-like 50
long as man has this, he has that which
is invaluable; he has that which nothing
can subdue: he has that which nothing
can subvert: he has that which renders
him monarch-though he may lie down
upon the bare and cold bosom OF his mother
earth he has throne which is establish
ed for ever, and a kingdom which can
never know an end. He is independent.
4 rack NAV tear his body but 1t cannot
touch his soul. A dungeon may hide him
from the light, but he has light within
which nothing can eXtingulsh. Changes
of fortune may come rapidly upon him
each may be the messenger of new al
fiction. His worldly riches may dIsap-
pear his children may die; his friends
may desert him; his foes my revlle HIM;
his health may leave him, 'o); sickness
may turn his fairness to ashes; yet, poor,
companioness, weak, with none TO bid
him hope, and none to do him reverence,
he has in that independent soul of his,
grandeur before which the blaze of royalty
grows pale he has in it might, before
which the powers of empire are feeble.
This is the freedom which a man should
guard invincibly; which he should hold
most relgiously; and which if he parts
with, his life is little worth. This is the
freedom which a man should esteem abo,e
political privilege, and for which political
privilege, has either dignity or importance.
This is the freedom which man should
esteem above outward prosperity; above
all the comforts of ease, and above all the
pleasures of sense.