Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-01-26

] prov6enlial fact that misfortune has the
privilege2to ennoble mans mind. There
is n sort Of natural inslinc, of human dig.
nifty in the heart of man, which steels his
very nerves not to bend beneath the heavy
blows of great universities. The palm tree
| grows best beneath ponderous weight
Even so the character Of man! There is
no merit in it, Itis a law Of physiology.
The petty pangs of small daily cares have
1 often bent the character efsmen; but great
misfortunes seldom. There is less danger
in this than in great luck.
! And as to ambition, indeed was meyer
able to understand how any body can more
love ambition than liberty. But am LAD
to state historical fact as a principal de-
monstration Of that influence which institl !.
tions exercise upon the character Of nations.
! We Hungarians are very fond of the
principle Of municipal self-government,
and we have natural horror against the
principle 1ot Capitalization. That fond al.
tachment to municipal self:government,
without which there is no provincial free
dom possible, is a fundamental feature ol
our national character. We brought ii
with US from far Asia thousand ears
ago, and we preserved it throughout the vi.
clssitudes of ten centuries. No nation has
perhaps so much struggled and suffered
from the civilized Christian world rs we.
We do not complain Of this lot. 1t may
be heavy but it is not inglcrious. Where
the cradle Of our Saviour stood, and whore
his Divine doctrine was founded, there
now another faith rules, and whole Eu>
ropes armed pilgrimage could not avert
this fate from that sacred spot, nor stop the
rushing waves Of Islamisln, absorbing the
Christian empire of Cons. antine. .s.
| We stopped those rushing waves. The
breast of my nation proved breakwa,er
to them. We guarded Chris endom that
Luther and Calvin might reform it. 1t
was dangerous time, ard the dangers Of
the time often placed the confidence of all
my nation into enc mans hand; and that
confidence gave power into his hands to
become ambitious. But there was not a
single instance in our history where man,
honored by his peoples confidence, had de.
ceived his people by becoming ambitious
The man out of whom Russian diplomacy
succeeded 10 make The murderer of his ma.
tion's confdence-he never had it, but wns
rather regarded always with dlstrust Bul
he gained some victories when victories
were the moments chief necessity. Al
the head Of an army, circumstances placed
him in the capacity to ruin his county
But he never had the peoples confidence
So even he is no contradiction to the his
torical truth that no Hungarian, whom hi:
nation honored with lis confidence, was ev
er seduced by ambition TO become danger
Gus to bis counlry's liberty.
That is remarkable fact, and yet il is
not accidental; it is the logical consequence
Of the influence of institutions upon the ma
tional character. Our nation, through all
its history, was educated in the school oI
municipal self government, and in such q
country, ambition having no iield, has also
no place in mans character.
The truth of this doctrine becomes yet
more illustrated by quite contrary histor
ical fact, in France. Whatever have been
the changes Of govnrnment in that great
couutry-and many they have been, 10 be
sure-we have seen o convention, dlrec.
torate, consuls, and one consul, and an
emperor, and the restoration, and the citi-
zen king, and the republic-through all
these different experiments, Capitalization
was the instrumental tone of the institu.
tiors Of France-power always central
lied, omnipote nee always vested some
where. And, remarkable indeed, France
has never yet raised one single man to
the sea, of power, who has not sacrificed
his country's freedom to his personal am
olion. $zt
ltis sorrowful, indeed, but it is natural.
Il is in the garden of Capitalization. where
the venomous plant of ambition thrives -
| dare confidently affirm that in your
great country there exists not single
man through whose brains has ever passed
the thought that he would wish 10 raise
the seat of his ambition upon the ruins
of your country's liberty, if he could
Such wish is impossible in the United
States. Institutions react upon The char
acter of nations. He who sows vino
will reap storm. History is the revela
ton of Providence. The Almighty rules
by eternal laws not only the material, bu
the moral world, and every law is prin
ciple, ard every principle is law. Mer
as we'll as nations, are endowed with free
will to choose principle; but that once
chosen, the consequence must be abIded.
With selfgovornment. is freedom, ane
with freedom is justice and patriotism
With Capitalization is ambition, and witt
ambition dwels despotism. Happy your
great country, sir, for being so warmly od
dcted to that great principle of self gov
ernment. Upon this foundation your ia
lhers raised home to freedom more glo
rious than the world has ever seen. Upon
this foundation you have developed it to
living wonder Of the world. Happy your
great country, sir, that it was selected by
the blessings Of the Lord to prove the glo.
rious practicabilily Of a federative union o
many sovereign States, oil conserving
their State rights and their self govern
ment, and yet united in one--eveIy star
beaming with its own lustre, but all togeth'
er one constellation on mankind's canopy
| Upon this foundation your free country
has grown to prodigious power, in sur
prisingly brief period. You have conquer