The Woodville Republican. [volume] (Woodville, Miss.) 1847-1853, 1850-07-02
FOURTH OF JULY.

1HE EWNl9@ -
Ian. editorial in the Matches Courier which
=. copy for the benefit Of our Eellow-cili
~ss. who meet oh the Fourth Of Jolly, fol
eslebnting that anniversary:
The Board Of Managers Of the Washing.
on National Monument Society have
adopted a resolution requesting the people
cethe United States, either Individually or
associations, TO take up collections through.
out the Union, on the approaching anniver-
mry Of American Independence, in aid OF
the great National Monument, now being
siectedat the metropolis, and nave request
ed the press to urge the subject on public
mention. What nobler manner of celebra-
ting the day than cooperating in this work
What more appropriate exercise than throw
ing in aid to build high that monument,
which, while it cannot consecrate the men,
ory of the Father of his Country, (for that is
done already in a volume whose pages are
more enduring than marble or brass,) will
yet serve to illustrate national gratitude,
arouse national pride and patriotism! Let
the suggestion then pass round. Where
ever our citizens are gathered on that day,
lie their numbers few or many, let some ev-
idence be given, be the amount trihing or
large, of our willingness to assist III the cree.
ton Of the proposed edifce. Let those in
dividuals and associations, who will not
be probably called upon to contribute their
means to the festivities and displays which
ordinarily mark the day, realize their obi
cation to devote an equal amount to the
purposes now urged, and the immediate
completion of the National Monument will
be NO longer a problem.
While on this subject it cannot be amiss,
and II may serve as an incentive to individ-
uaI effort and generosity, to quote the words
Of Kobert G. Winthrop, and to ask for them
the attention their truth and ~eloquence de.
mands:
Let the column which we are about to
construct, be at once a pledge and an en-
biern of perpetual union! Let the founde.
tons be laid, let the superstructure be built
up and cemented, let each stone be raised
and riveted in a spirit Of national brother
hood! And may the earliest ray of the RI
sing sun--till that sun shall set to rise no
more-draw forth from it daily, as from the
fabled statue of antiquity, a strain of nation
IL harmony, which shall strike a responsive
chord in every heart throughout the Re.
public!
''Proceed then, fellow-citizens, with the
work for which you have assembled. Lay
the corner stone of a monument which shall
adequately bespeak the gratitude of the
whole American people to the illustrious
Father of his Country! Build it to the
skies you cannot outreach the ~loftiness of
his principles! Found it upon the massive
and eternal rocks: you cannot make it more
enduring than his fame! Construct it of
the peerless Parian marble: you cannot
make it purer than his life! Exhaust upon
IL the rules and principles of ancient and
modern art, you cannot make it more pro.
portionate than his character!
"Let us, fellow-citizens, fulfil further OBJ.
legations of our trust, by contributing to
erect a monument to Washington, not alone
as Q tribute to worth so exalted, but as a
means OF promoting patriotism.
''The Trajan column at Rome was dedi-
Gated to the Emperor Trajan by the Roman
senate, and belongs to the third class. 1t
V The masterpiece of all the masters of an
t~iquity-the most beautiful of all the remains
Of ancient architectural genius.
"The National Washington Monument,
q the erection of which l this day invoke
your aid, will surpass them all, in the great
r4gc uyhich II 10 intended 10
and in the magnifcence of its structure. 1t
y now being reared, and twenty-six feet of
easement has been furnished. 1t is TO be
constructed of granite, encased in marble,
and the shaft alone is to be 500 feet high
q little higher than the highest of the eter.
1lal pyramids. 1t will be the most illustri-
Gus single column ever prompted by the
gratitude, or built by the art of man. Its
sanitation is the affection of a nation, and
its altitude will but family symbolic the
towering elevation of that character, which,
without its aid, will be immortal. Ii wW
6ekhe Involuntary trtbme 9fa great people
t1ztear great detsveyer1reedons'S Offering
g Jreedom's greatest champion.
lit will stand in the midst of the Capital
ct fhe Union, IN the banks of the Potomac.
Is will preside, a cenotaph, over the ashes
Which sleep at Mount Venom. Il will over
sAAdow the Halls of Congress and inspire
~ deliberations. 1t will express the graft.
fHde OF the nation-rebuke the degeneracy
e all coming times-and impersonate the
Ienown of Washington. 1t will arise, peer
tess, as his name, TO greet the civilization of
ne Eastern World, and to herald the pro-
eFess of the Western Empire"