The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1851-07-29


tainly the utmost stretch of imagina-
ton to compress incidents of so dis.
similar q character in the short
epoch Of sevcnty.6ve years, in which
they are actually comprised.
That all this should exclusively be
the work of q few doomed and perse.
cuted men, who, under the dcnuncia.
tions of an angry sovereign and a
powerful empire, had the boldness to
assert their own rights and their
country's freedom, would have been
announced in prophcsy as the blind
est infatuation. That light should
have cleaned from the councils of
these wilderness-reared patriarchs to
mantle the christian world with a
flood Of civil and political radiance, to
illumine the dungeon and to conha-
CRATE the throne, to beam unquenchcd
through the blood Of revolutions, to
rise undimmed above the hccatombs
Of ma;tyrcd and martyring victims,
to cnlighten the intellect, to spread
world wide intelligence. to convulse
nations, and yet to leave all purcr,
brighter, calmcr than before, was, in
deed, one Of those wonderful phenom-
cna which mankind could have been
prepared by no moral or historical
experience to anticipate.
Nor is this all. We have been
placed, by the events of this day. as
high on a pedestal Of moral as Of po-
litica' Intelligence. Who ever heard
previous to its development, of a toll
Grated and harmonized religion in tho
midst Of evangelical enthusiasm Of
party strlfcs to preserve, and not to
destroy, the constitution n? Who cs-
Inmates virtucus hcroism, military re.
nown, and an ennobling patriotism,
but by the standard Of Washington -?
Who does not glide through the long
lapse of ages between Periclcs aud
Jefferson, to'look for high examples
of consummatc craftsmanship .
Where was gallantry mo.a embodied
than in Snmtcr, or Fa5inn wisdom
better displayed thau IL Marion :
David slew his giant a lyer$ary with
sling; the Roman Consul.s noble
son fought and conquered the enc.
mys champion i'll single combat. =
But when we search history for cx.
amples of persona exploits they fade
into the ordinary incidents Of common
life, in comparison with the energetic
daring Of our own Manniuy-grap-
plinS British major at head of his
column, and marching with him
through the hottest of the action to
the American lines.
But to the arts, the sciences, and
to literature, have we not given an
impulse and an epoch, quite as mem.
orablc as the moral and political
phenomena to which We have alluded?
Could steam, for instance, have cx-
pandcd its distance annihilating inhu-
encc under the iron pressure of en-
slaving laws and institutions? Could
the fettcred mind have extended its
investigations to such vast far-reach.
ing results p? Could the lightning
winged telegraph have sped its noise
less and tracklcss way through the
thick gloom Of a despotic age? Could
thought have been free to investigate,
the mind clatcd to soar, the limbs un-
shacklcd to roam or to toll, commerce
have penetrated its remote rcccsscs,
and man himself ncrvcd to deeds Of
emprise and Of daring, in the hoary
age of a fendal 'mbccility, or under
the pondcrous trappings of an abso-
lntc government? No, it was rcscry-
cd to our age to achieve them, to our
revolution to inspire and awaken
them, and to the genius and the yir.
tue of our ancestors to conceive and
to kindle the lamp of this world.rcgcn.
Grating intelligence.
The cost and sacrifices Of great
and heroic actions are, however, but
too apt to be overlooked in the CON
temptation Of their magnificent re-
suits. Dazzled by their srlcndor,
animated by their glory, men forget
the difficulties, the endurance,
the contumcly, and the privations,
through which they are accomplished
and feel as if they could aspire to
emulate the heroes Of their own adj
mlration. Impcdiments to success,
doubtless, constitute the highest mcr.
it in attaining it. The fortitude that
rcsists danger, the firmncss that with
stands temptation, tho soul-subdumg
patience that wears away opposition,
the self-sacrifcing martyrdom to prin,
ciplc, are the elements by which
alono the character of all great
achievements Is truly to be estimated.
In this aspect Of our revolution, 1t
looms through all time as the noblest
triumph Of human daring and virtue.
Dclbcrating through martyrdom,
Al 4 n