Fremont weekly freeman. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1850-1853, 1851-07-26


the practical acknowledgement of the brother
hood of man, inspires respect for law and Or
der, and gives strength to the whole social
fabric; at the same time it conducts the hu-
man soul upward to the Author ofits being
As one of its necessary consequences, it may,
think, be stated with truth, that in no coun-
try, in proportion to its population, are there
so many benevolent establishments, bible, mis-
sionary and tract societies. supported by pub
lie and private contributions as in our own
There are also institutions for the education
of the blind, the deaf and dumb, of idiots, for
the reception of orphan and destitute chill
dren, for moral. reform, designed for children
and females respectively; Institutions for the
reformation of criminals, not to speak OF those
numerous establishments in almost every
county and town in the United States, for the
reception Of the aged, intrm and destitute
pocr many of whom have fled to our shores to
escape the poverty and wretchedness of their
condition at home. In the United States there
is no church establishment or ecclesiastical
authority founded by government Public
worship is maintained, either by voluntary
contributions, or by trust and donations of a
charitable origin Now. 1 think is safe to say
that greater portion of the people of the
United States attend public worship, decently
clad, well behaved. and well seated, than of
any other country of the civilized world. Ed
ifces of religion are seen everywhere. Their
aggregate cost would amount to an immense
sum Of money. They are, in the general, kept
in good repair, and consecrated to the pur-
poses of public worship. In these edifces the
people regularly assemble on the Sabbath day,
which is sacredly set apart for rest, BY all
classes from secular employment and for re-
ligious meditation and worship, to listen 10
the reading of the holy scriptures and dis
courses from pious ministers of the several de-
nominations. This attention to the wants of
the intellect and of the soul, as manifested by
the voluntary support of schools and colleges,
of churches and benevolent institutions, is one
of the most remarkable characteristics of the
American people, not less strikingly exhibited
in the new than the older settlements of the
country. On the spot where the first trees of
the forest were felled, near the log cabins of
the pioneers, are to be seen rising together
the church and the school house. So has 1t
been from the beginning and God grant that
thus it may continue.
'On other shores, above their moulderng towers,
| In suen pomp the tall cathedral frowns,
Timpe and fraiI our Iowly temples throw
Their slender shadows on the paths below;
Tcarce steals the wine, that sweeps his woodland
| track,
The arch's perfume from the settlers axe,
i Ere like uision Of the morning air,
His slight fram'd steePe marks the horse of prayer
Yet faiths pure hymn, beneeIh its shelter rude,
Breathes out as sweeIly TO the tangled wood,
J As where the rays through blazing oriels Pour'
/ On marble shalt and tesselated hoor.'
Who does not admit that this unparalleled
I al,
suits under Providence, of union of these
States under general constitution. which
guarantees TO each State a republican govern
ment, and TO every man the enjoyment of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. free from
civil tyranny or ecclesiastical domination! To
bring home this idea to the present occasion,
who does not feel that when President Wash
indton laid his hand on the foundation of the
first capitol building he performed great
work of perpetuation of the Union and the
constitution? Who does not feel that this
seat of the general government healthful in
its situation, central in its position near the
mountains from whence gush springs of won
derful virtue, teeming with natures richest pro-
ducts, and yet not far from the bays and the
great estuares of the sea, easily accessible
and generally agreeable in climate and asso-
citation, does not give strength to the union oi
these States; that this city, bearing an immor-
tai name, with its broad streets and avenues
its public squares and magnificent edifces o1
the General Government, erected for the pur-
poses of carrying on within them the impor-
tant business of the several departments, fol
the reception of wonderful and curious inven
tions, the preservation of the records of Amer.
lean learning and genius, of extensive collec
tions Of the products Of nature and art brought
hither for study and comparison from all part;
of the world adorned with numerous churche:
: and sprinkled over, am happy to say, with
many public schools where all the children o
the city, without distinction, are provided will
the means of obtaining good education
where there are academies and colleges
professional schools and public libraries
should continue to receive, as it has hereto
fore, the fostering care of Cangress, and shoulc
be regarded as the permanent seat OF the Ma
tionl Government, Here, too, citizen OF tht
great republic of letters--a republic which
/ knows not the metes and bounds of politica
geooraphy-has indicated, l trust, prophet
caly, TO this nation, wide and powerful in
fluence in the intellectual world and to thi
!; city, commanding position in the field OF SCI
i ence and literature, by endowing here, ant
: placing under the guardianship of the Govern
ment, an institution for the increase and diffu
L sion of knowledge among men, With eacl
i succeeding year new interest is added to tn
a spot 1t becomes connected with all the his
Y torica associations of our country, with he
:, statesmen and her orators and alas, its ceme
e terry is annually enriched with the ashes q
II her chosen sons. Before US is the broad an
IS beautiful river separating two of the orglna
: thirteen States, and which a late President,
e man of determined purpose and infexible vii
y but patriotic heart, desired to span with archie
d of ever enduring granite, symbolcal of tn
e firmly cemented union of the North and tn
9 South On its banks repose the ashes of til
d Father of his country, and at our side, by
II singular felicity of position, overlooking tn
j. city which he designed and which bears hi
e name, rises to his memory the marble column
+; sublime in lis simple grandeur, and fifty In
l I, l1c,; tInr ci