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

tainly the utmost stretch Of imagina.
ton to compress incidents of 80 dis.
similar character in the short
epoch of seventy-five years, in which
they are actually comprised.
That all this should exclusively be
the work Of a few doomed and perse-
cutcd men, who, under the dcnuncia-
tions of an angry sovereign and n
powerful empire, had the boldncss to
assert their own rights and their
country's freedom, would have been
announced in prophcsy as the blind
est infatuation. That a light should
have cleaned from the councils of
these wilderncss-rearcd patriarchs to
mantle the christian world with a
flood Of civil and political radiance, to
illumine the dungeon and to conAa-
CRATE the throne. to beam unquenchcd
through the blood of revolutions, to
rise undimmed a. the hccatombs
0? mattyred and D yring victims,
to cnlighten the intellect, to spread a
world wide intelligence. to convnse
nations, and yet to leave all purer,
brighter, calmcr than before, was, in
deed, one Of those wonderful phenom-
ena 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 pedestal of moral as Of po-
litical intelligence. Who ever heard
previous to its development, of a toll
Grated and harmonizcd religion in the
midst Of evangelical enthusiasm? OF
party strifcs to preserve, and not to
destroy, the constitution ? Who cs-
Inmates virtuous heroism, military re.
nown, and an cnnobling patriotism,
but by the standard of Washington !?
Who does not glide through the long
lapse of ages between Pcriclcs aud
Jefferson, to'ook for high examples
OF consummatc craftsmanship q
Where was galantry mo-, embodied
than in Sumter, or a Fayian wisdom
better displayed thau in Marion -
David slew his giant adversary with
a sling; the Roman Consul.s noble
son fought and conquered the enc
my's champion i'll single combat. -
But when we search history for cx.
amples of personal exploits they fadc
into the ordinary incidents of common
life, in comparison with the energetic
daring Of our own Manniny-grap-
ping 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 VIC have alluded?
Could steam, for instance, have ex-
pandcd its distance annililatng iuhu-
cncc under tho iron pressure of en-
shaving Laws and institutions? Could
the fettered mind have extended its
investigations to such vast far.rcach.
ing results ? 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 ncrvel to deeds of
emprse and Of daring, in the hoary
age of a fcudal imbcci!ity, or under
the rondcrous trappings of an abso-
lntc government? No, it was resery-
cd to our aye 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 kindlc the lamp of this word.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 srlendor,
animated by their glory, men forget
the difficulties, the endurance,
the contumcly, and the privations,
through which they arc accomplished
and feel rs if they could aspire to
emulate the heroes Of their own adj
miration. Impcdilncnts to success,
doubtless, constitute the highest mcr.
it in attaining it. The fortitudc that
resists danger, the frmncss that with
stands temptation, the soul.subduing
patience that wears away opposition.
the selt-sacrlficing martyrdom to prin.
ciple, are the elements by which
alono tho character of all great
achievements IS truly to be estimated.
In this aspect Of our revolution, 1t
looms through all time as the noblcst
triumph of human daring and virtue.
Dcliberating through martyrdom,