Hillsdale Whig standard. (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1846-1851, 1851-07-29
,ut which shall brighten to

AS early as l73e certain scheming Eng
lsh politicians suggested TO Sir Robert Wal
pole, then Prime Minister. the proprety Of
taxing the colonies, which subsequently pro-
we'd so fatal TO her interests here. But thai
sagacious statesman replied, with an ironical
SIN lie; al will leave that operation to some
Of my success ssors who shall have more cour-
age than |, and less regard for commerce"
But in 1863 Great Britain found IL to be
10 her interest Ia search out every occupation
and object susceptible In taxation, 10 defray
the expenses OF Esr royalty and nobility. who
had incurred debt amounting 10 the extra
ordinary sum OF five hundred and fifty seven
million five hundred Thousand dollars. Al
which time Greenvile the meanest OF even
English statesmen. saw fl and did introduce
that resolution which resulted in our inde-
pendence and her shame; viz: that 1t was pro-
per Ia charge certain stamp duties 10 the
plantations and colonies. Although this res
olrIion was opposed by many noble, gener-
Gus and talented men, yet through the stu
pdi,y Of their ,eigning moualch. il fnally
passed and then came those various acts.
which for injustice and oppression have rare
ly been e1nsed and considering the services
rendered by The colonies in the previous war.
exhibited degree of ingratltude on Enalind'
par which she is so supremey cal able oil ma
nifcs'iog, and drew upon her the contempt OF
all honest men. That was periot OF gloom
for America. IL the language Of Franklin
the ,un Of liberty had set and darkest night
I seemed To have enshrouded the American
( Continent in profound darkness. Ourfa-
thers petitions they demonstrated in hum
bic terms against such gross injustice, they
appealed 10 lhoir humanity and their com
mon origin. All the powers OF eloquence
and logic were exhausted. But their petit
lions were slighled, their "Reminiscences were
useless, their appeals were vain. and they
themselves ''spurned with contempt from the
foot Of the throne and thus were thrown
back on their primitive rights. Thus the
two parties stood one determined TO opptess,
and The other equally determined TO resist;
until AT Lexington the crisis came, upon her
soil was split the first blood devoted to Anne
rican Liberty. from her plains ascended the
first long loud shout in favor Of freedon.-
Greece had her Thermopyla; Rome her sen
ate Chamber; bur America her Lexington
and her Bunker Hill. Where is the Ameri-
car, with an American hesit throblng IN ms
bosom. as he looks back at that band OF far
me,s, chasing from off the plains OF Lexing.
ton the British minons, or at that band oil
UNFRAMED militia. time after time, and not
| reel every pulse lHFlii Win o"N
admiration. The news Of these conflicts
spread like lightning from Maine to Georgia.
Massachusetts stood boldly up and called a.
loud to Virginia, and Virsioia answered,s sen
ding her clear calm voice like ray OF ligh,
through the impending storm. The cry TO
arms! TO arms arose from brave hearts and
true. was echoed back from every valley. bill,
slope and curtain top, until the deep ton
sd, Shl, ,dar. pa-1 Sd. call in arms and the
parties; on one side see set of men slim
ulated by no other feeling but a deep love OF
Liberty; few in number, situated in a coun-
try vast in extent filled with hostile Indian
tribes cruel BY nature, but rendered still more
cruelb By British e,nmissaties sent among them
without money or any Of the means oil de-
tense, leaving their homes their wives and
their children, all defenseess as they wee
perhaps TO perish by the tomshawk
Of the midnight savage, seeking Their
countries foes TO meet glorious death, or
obtain glorious victory. On the other we
we see men brulshy obeying the mandates
Of their inhuman monarch on two pence a
Iay engaging in the slaughter Of thei' kind
red and friends.
Turn from this picture look in upon that
assembly who debating the propriety CT de-
claring themselves Independent OF so lnhu-
man a mother: an assembly which for learn
inc. for talent. for Patriotism, has never
been euualed mark the deep solemnity that
is reflected from every countenance, por-
traying a consciousness of the deep responsl-
bilty resting upon them, notice the deatr
like stiffness that reigns throughout thaE
! then supreme, as they sit there each ousy
t with his own deep thoughts VIXEN gradually
Y in their midst the form of John Adams rises,
| IL. i cd him
: higher he rises, as though big with the i'm
@ mensity of his subject. Hear him, as the
first accents break from his sacred lips; Let
= us pause! This step once taken cannot be
G rotraced; this measure once passed cannot be
0 recalled shall we not thus loose the sympa'
}, thy of mankind; will they not look upon us
J. as an ambitious people in open rebellion a
S painst our sovereign, rather than as loyal
o subjects struggling to maintain our rights;
o and thus, after viewing the subject in all Its
d liphts, aftor holding il Gp in ell its bearings
II with a perfocI consciousness oil the respon
d sibility resting upon him, with the certainty
o of envolving his country in war with the
S most powerful people in the world. and the
Q unfailinp certainty Of having halter for q
! necklace both tor himself and his compatriots
Q in case they were conquered, all them star
J. ing him boldly in the face. Hear him fear
o essly excam. "sink, survive or perish, L an
5, for the Declaration That sentence wen
n like an electric shock TO the remotest parts
Y, of the bos ON Of that audience, it reboundet
r and burst upon their lips, and spontaneousl.
II from the inermost depths Of their souls, burs
Is forth 81 am for the Declaration" and twen
g forth. The great charter Of human freedom
D. mankind read and admired. IL fell hke
u. thunderbot upon The rotton monarchies o
'e Europe. 1t came like bright star from the
ID infnity of space, to guide man to his long los
d. home. and invite him 10 repose beneath thu
n, Genial shades of the tree of Liberty. |
Or shono with dazzling splcndor upon the polit
m ical horizon heretofore nothing but intens
ly darkness, and it rays have penetrated the re
by mQtest parts of the earth. Illuminating IN
d. midnight gloom that envoloped the huma
in mind. Hope once more ran triumphant i
he the human heart-Liber,g once moro foun
to a resting place on csrh--the mountain ia
n Gle shrioked her notes more clearly,
,rs When freedom from her mountain height
- Lnfurled her banner % the air,