Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-03-24

very machinery as il %cre. by which they have
been preserved and perpetuated. The principle
Of equality, is indeed new: but liberty is old and
aristocratic, and the great wor7 assigned to mod
ern society, Is TO reconcile ancient liberty with
modern equality And, in thus tracing back our
liberties to high and ancient origin, permit nc
to say to you, In the language of the wisest man
OF his age, ''we are guided not by the supersti-
ton of antquarans, but by the spirit of philoso-
phc analogy. In this choice of inheritance, we
giveto our frame of poity the image of rela-
ton in blood; binding up the Constitution of our
country with our dearest domestic ties; adopting
our fundamental laws into the bosom of our fami
ly affections; keeping inseparable and cherishing
with all the warmth of their combined and mu-
tualy reflected charities, our State, our hearths
our sepulchres, and our altars.''
will now advance step further / not only
maintain that our own liberties are ofancient ORR
gina birthright and entailed inheritance, but
maintain that this is equally true of liberty
wherever and whenever it has existed among men,
whether in ancient or modern times; or, to ex-
press the proposition somewhat differently, that
society always begins in inequality and tends to-
wards equality, and that, in its early stages, all
rights privileges and franchises-even liberty it.
self-are the possession of an exclusive cast, from
which they descend in successive stages, with the
progress of society, to the great body Of the ma
ton.
In proof of this assertion let me now call your
attention for moment-it shall be only for mo-
ment-to the Constitutional history of those two
illustrious races which have filled all countries
with the products of their genius, and all time
with the fame of their achievements.
And, first, the Greeks. Every student ofGre-
clan history knows that her institutions like those
of England were founded in conquest The
first distinct fact which meets us in Grecian his.
tory is the presence the same soil of two races
the one dominant, and the other subject. Behind
this, all is myth and fable. And at the first drawn
of authentic history, we find the great Hellenic
race in possession Of the country which they have
conquered and distributed among themselves, re-
ducing the native races everywhere to slavery
These Hellenic conquerors were, like Duke
| William and his Norman chvalry, a band of
warriors, who having conquered the country by
the sword, the sword was the tenure by which
they held it. We accordingly find them estab-
fishing themselves everywhere as warrior cast,
devoted exclusively to arms, and imposing upon
the subjugated races all the mental and ndustr-
al operations of society. At first, and for ages,
all rights, all privileges, all franchises were their
exclusive birthrght and inheritance; and the rest
of the community being in subsection and vas
salage, liberty itself became rank and nobility.
But, while thus establishing their domination
over the subjugated races, the Hellenic peerage
was, like the feuda and every oherpeerage, strict
Democracy within the pale of their own order;
jealous, in the last degree, of their rights
and privileges. They acknowledged no superior;
had no chief to whom they paid allegiance ; and
In this respect pushed the principle of individual
liberty even further than the feudal barons. And
when ultimately, cause for united action arose in
Greece; when the rights of hospitality were vio-
lated in the person of illustrous Hellenic prin-
cess and the most beautiful woman of her age,
when, | say, ultimately, cause for united action
arose in Greece, we find the mobiles electimg a
chief. And yet, SO feeble was the authority OF
that chief, SO little was it respected that Achilles
the most perfect and illustrious representative OF
the Hellenic chivalry, for a mere personal insult
quits the ranks in the presence Of the enemy, re-
tires IN sullen majesty to his tent, nor can any
solicitation or any disaster to the cause Of Greece,
induce him to relent until his friend falls in bat
tie, when, Immediately, maddened by passion and
remorse, and breathing war and blood" he
PUSHES to the fight, call bright in heavenly arms,
not to uphold the sinking cause Of his country,
but to avenge the shade of that slaughtered
friend. So strong, so naughty, SO uncompromising
was the spirit of personal liberty and indepen-
dence maintained within the pale of this old Hell
| lenic peerage.
Thus do we see, that the earliest form of Gre
clan society was that of naughty warrior cast,
everywhere dominant, and holding vast subject
population in bondage by the sword; that, for
ages rank, nobility, power, privilege-liberty it.
self-was the exclusive birthright and inheritance
of this cast but that though lordlng it over the
rest of the community, they were, within their
own body, in the strictest sense of the term, a
military democracy, animated by the fercest
spirit OF liberty, independence, and equality.
Starting from this point, the student of Grecian
history may trace her Institutions through all
the stages of their subsequent development; he
may see the bigotry of race gradually yielding
before the pride of wealth; the pride of wealth
before the spirit of equality. He may see class
after class in the progress of society, fighting its
way within the bosom of that proud democracy,
widening and deepening the basis of the govern
ment at each successive step, until ultimately,
every citizen of Greece becomes member of the
old Hellenic peerage, and heir to it's high born
rights and privileges. Such is the history of lib
erty in Greece, which was strictly an inheritance,
and not the offspring of theory or speculation.
And if, leaving the classic shores of Greece we
pass to that other illustrious race-the mighty
masters of mankind in law and government as
the Greek were in literature and art-we find the
same truth, if possible, yet more strikingly Illus
| trated. And here, permit me to say, in passing
and by way of episode, that history is but in its
| infancy. This may seem bold assertion, but
believe it to be literally true The first half of
the nineteenth century is the beginning of new
historic era. Never before has history been stu
died in such high relations-never before has il
been so penetrated by the spirit Of philosophy
never before has such immense erudition, en-
lightened skepticism and patient, laborious
and comprehensive learning been brought to bear
on this or any other subject The result has
been almost startling Stale common places have
been refuted, consecrated errors exposed-estab-
lished dogmas shaken-ancient rubbish remov-
ed-a full broad light thrown upon things which
have been hitherto enveloped in impenetrable
myth and fable, and, in word, with material
almost entirely new, the hand of genius and phi
losophy has restored the "buried majesty" OF
the ancient commonwealth in forms which will
endure till time shall be no more. In the depart
ment of Roman history, with which we have now
to deal, it was the immortal Niebuhr who, to
borrow his own happy illustration, like the ma
turalist gathering and putting together the fossil