The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1853-08-31


ny could not have appreciated if they had
Inown-the deep principle ofpaternal care
and kindness which governed him. Nor
was Mr.. Veazie disappointed in his calcu-
lations. The same heart that had cher.
ished such pure and holy filial love, prov
ed sacred altar for the affections of the
husband; and Leila never had occasion to
regret, but always blessed her Fathers s
| CHOICE.
From the Melbourne Argus, April Is.
Is Australia to become Tndepen-
dent?
i i
We want freedom! With that, all would
go well. TO achieve this grand desider-
alum should be the principal object Of that
body which affects TO represent the public.
We shall get it some day, and with the So
called representative rests the alternative
of acquiring i, for us by constitutions al
ken by more summary process. One
or the other must be done, and that right
early. The times brook no delay. IN
der ordinary circumstances we might be
contented to linger along in this semi death,
social and political, which England ap-
pears TO consider the proper condition for
her colonial offspring; but this torpid con-
dition, disgraceful 10 us as men, and dou-
bly, disgraceiul to us as representatives Of
the vaunted race of Anglo Saxons, is Ut
terly incompatible with our present condi-
ton. We must be free. The main duty
of our council will be TO point out the
mode. AT present we are mere slaves
subject to the misrule, and bowling 10 the
caprices of an irresponsible nominee, who
bitter, bitter experience has taught US may
be both very bad and very silly man.
We are slaves to all intents and purposes.
cause they are gilt with some fanciful
mockery Of freedom. How true is this.
when the very body of whose composition
we now speak, the ''Legislative Council"
itself-that .deliberative assembly" to
whom we ought to look as the constitutional
means TO redress all our grievances-that
body upon which, as men knowing what
! freedom is, we ought to be able Immediate
| ly to rely, is nothing better than an assem-
bly, deliberately packed Of squalters and
nominees, where the peoples voice is
scarcely heard, and where their few real
repre- esentatives are constantly out-vo.ed
! upon every great question. by the vote
| giving machines of the nominee master Of
this nation of slaves.
| All this will have to change. The pres
ent state Of things cannotlast. A govern
ment may linger on, utterly unpopular,
for while; but the insolent defiance Of
public opinion, which is the grand char
ac,eristic ofsour present executive, car
ries within itself the seeds of its own des.
truction, and the destruction, too, OF the
vile system which could have organized it.
A change must come. and we cali upon
the Legislature OF Victoria seriously TO be-
ware that 1t come peacefully. We want
no outbreak. We hate bloodshed, wheth.
er the single murder of the gallows, or the
Wholesale murders of the melee; but we
cannot always continue race of slaves.
and the most abject soul among US may
rest assured that we shall not.
We write thus principally for the salts.
| faction Of those mealy mouthed politicians
who cannot bear to speak above their
| breath; for those tmid totterers who look
upon every bold stride in the march oil
] freedom as social revolutions shaking
Of the very fabric OF society; and who
tremble at a reform, however slight. with
childish fear that the next thing will be
the demand of an infuriated multitude for
| their money and their life. For ourselves,
our repose has never been haunted by
such dreams. With some little experience
OF the mind and disposition of our coun-
trymen, we have the most unialtering re-
lance on the love of order, sense of JUS
tce, Difference TO the law, fair dealing, and
general intelligence Of the masses of a
British. people. When timid twaddlers,
then. have bored us with imaginary dan
gers, we have already put down their hal
Iucinations to the unhappy prejudices in
which they have been reared; to their wish
sonally profitable to themselves; or to the
want Of that experience in the organiza-
ton of the English mind which could have
enabled them 10 chase such spectral illu-
sions from their own.
Cheered always by the firm reliance we
have mentioned, we suffer little dread un-
der almost any possible contingency; and
should it please Providence to allow the
earth to swallow up, like Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram, the whole Victorian execu-
tive tomorrow, from the Lieutenant Gov
ernor down to the most in significant police
constable or crown nominee who has ever
submitted to the indignity of the govern
ment brand. we believe firmly that the
people of Victoria are quite capable of
organizing in one month, amongst them
selves, better government in every de-
partment of the public service. Or if
Great Britain should cast off tomorrow
the tow line by which she drags US along
the muddy ditch of her colonial policy,
We have such confidence in our fellow
colonists as to know with certainty, that
our safety would be greater, our prosper
ity more firmly established, our national
character higher, our progress more rapid,
and ourselves bolder, greater, better men
than will ever be the case in our present
condition of miserable vassalage.
The change will come. We believe
that it is far better for both countries that
it should come quietly. And to that end
we conceive that it is essential tha it should
come soon. There is nothing so much to
! he denrecated a that tho efoal;no nj acri.