The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1851-10-01
MORNING, SEPTEMBER q
Our Country.

SATURDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER q.
Our Country.
The time was, when the American citizcn'
With all his national pride, would cast glance
,yer the face of nations, and feel that in all
things, save liberty and military prowess, ms
country was far in the wake OF European
powers. An infant as yet in the arts and
sciences. and in all the various branches of in
dustry, he felt that, when contrasted with
others, she occupied one amongst the humbieit
places in the scale of sovereignty. He felt that,
however unwilling he might be to acknowledge
superiority in any, it was nevertheless claimed
without ceremony by most Of the civilized powers
of the globe h1lf century has rolled away,
and a new condition Of things taken the place OF
the old. That liberty, in which he formerly
stood alone in an attitude of pride that was re-
ocrrded with contempt by his more enlightened
transatlantic brethren, has become the watch
word of nations, and turned the eyes OF the
civilized world upon him, as upon one who COM
poses constituent element of people who are
destined to revolutionize the long recognized
systems of by-gone days, and establish upon
new and ORIGINAL basis the relative conditions of
men, The days of preceden.s have passed
away. and with them the countless absurdities
that followed in their train. This or that, IS no
Longer thus, or so, simply tecal'e it has been
recognized, slime ,chereof the memory OF M"
ruunett not to the contrdry;" but it is thus, or
so. because it recommends itself to reason, or to
the wants of the people. People with us adapt
| all thnos. even government itself, to their own
| peculiar wants, as regulated by the necessities
of the times In other days, and even now IN
other countries, people adopt themselves 10
certain inflexble rules, customs, or precedeh's'
without the privilege even, it would sccm' OF
thinking or doing otherwise than as their sires
and prandsires had done before them With us,
every one thinks and acts and speaks for HIM
self REGARDLESS of the o3servances OF the past,
and consequently it is that, to the citizens OF the
old world, We, in many things, appear SO iu-
dicrous as to excite in them sage, II not con-
temptuous smile, as though they were not per-
mittcd to deviate from the usagcs of their pre-
! QcCSSSOrS. 1O"A
sure and pains to rdicule and stigmatlze every
THING American that was contributed to the
great exhibition in the Crystal Palace ; and tins
simply because it was American, as well as from
the force of habit. They never stopped to CON
slider the utility, or advantages of this or tint
Improvement to be sneercd at it was suthcien
for them that it differed from anything they hao
ever seen or been accustomed to. They neve
reflected that that necessity, which is the mo
ther of invention, originated this improvement
and that, consequently, it might be eminentl,
, adapted to the purposes for which it was in
tended The American reaping machine,
, which was the butt of ridicule for the Who'll
London press, having been fully and fairl
z tested, and having borne off the prize premium
has taken some of them back amazingly. This
g with the late triumph of the yacht America, ha
e given a new direction to the cogitations OF tn
r more enthusiastic amongst the admirers of HON
superiority The yacht America has been sol
in England for f5 900, and the builder at Ne
York has received orders from that country ft
the construction of three others after the sam
, model The much laughed at American rear
ing machine has been patented by some Eng
!, lsh capitalists, and will supersede all others
use A London paper, speaking of this ina
chine, thus offsets our superiority /" Americ
$ sends to England her 'reaping maehine,' by til
t use of which the British farmers will reduce tn
expenses of harvesting from forty to fifty pr
$ cent, and England sends to America her fiji
: annhilator,' as a protection against the mo-
. :, dangerous enemy society has to CONTROL
b A Coon PREcEPT, BUT A BAD EXAMPLE,
u The President has Just returned to Washington
: and embarked in the duties of his office, ate
2 an Absence of the entire season on pleasure, a"
e his first act has been to remove the collector
New Orleans, for being absent from his po
It four days.
Its sometimes convenient to have cnemie
to punish, especially iii friend is in waiting
II be rewarded.
It The policy of compelling public officers
), be at their post. is very good one, althoug
). our Consul at Havana had better, for his ow
$ credit and that of the government, have been tie
a thousand miles from Havana when poor CritteI
den and his comrades were butchered; but
the rowing propensity of the President and h
: Cabinet should be m de criterion tor the g
!, vernment Of subordinates, then the Collector
If New Orleans might, with great propr'ety, al
: sent himself for few days from his post, will
:, !, out being summarily ousted and dsgraced
u Pay Up!