The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1854-02-08

other causes, has Sanhanced the hard.
ships Of poverty, and arrayed in fear
ful antagonism'the despiscd and grim
sons OF labor, and the bIoated posses
sors ofwealth. From this antayonism,
our country has hitherto enjoyed com.
parative immunity; and the spectacle
which she has exhibited >of precocious
growth in wealth and power, of plenty
and individual liberty, has excited
among the masses Of Europe a thirst
tor democratic institutions, in the fool
lsh hope that their establishment would
be the dayspring of rcalizations, long
dreamed of and painted after. They
have been told by their lcadcls, tha,
property was crime against the
equality OF nature-that royalty and
k'ngly institutions were monstrous
usurpations-that government was a
pupPet to be put up, or cast down, as
it favored or oppoaed their rampant
'deas-that all governments were dcs
potlsms, wherein any limitations were
imposed upon the will Of the mob; in
word, that the only lawful and Just
government was the majority of mum.
bers; and that upon the graves of
kings, and the ruins Of ancient systems,
secure freedom would bloom forth.
to bless with peace and abundance.
Need we tell how in every case
these fair hopes have been wrecked i?
How in Germany.* when her freely
chosen representatives assembled in
ancient Frankfort, in the Romer Saal.
the Hall c"nsccratcd by SO many Clio.
rles OF the past, where Frederic Barba-
rossa, the O'hos, and the Ienrys, the
llohenstau'lcn and the IInpsburgcr re-
celvcd the silver crown of Ciarlem-
asnc; how they marched thence, amid
the shouts Of the people, the thunder
Of artillery, and the waving of national
flags of black and gold, to commence
their solemn deliberations in the
Church Of St. Pau" and how, as the
fruit of this bright promise, true free.
dom went down beneath the orgies Of
red repnblicanism
Or shall we tell of Hungary, that
bnlwark Of European civilization.
against which the Moslem host was
So SIz2Fcd
with the dreams and .fancies Of Wild
enthusiast, dashed like Gagged birds
against their bars, longing for the free
air without, which had they reached,
their weak pini"ns would have essayed
in vain. And of I,ality, torn and
bleeding now, her families decima,cd
by execution and cxile-the terrible
rctr'bution of the lessons Of her demo
cratic leaders.
Such is briefly sketch Of Dcmncra-
cy in Europe during th,. last halfccn
tnry, and full indeed Of warning to us
the sons and citizens of this great
Republic. Is latinn from the iulu.
encc OF other nations is impossible now,
when steam, the press, and free eIni
grafton are c"mningling the race of
men, and levcllinG national pcculiar.
ties. Our rich argusics are friuh,en-
cd with more tha" the production of
distant skies. They bring to us the
opinions and Influences Of every school
and peopIe-the noxinus as well rs the
good. 10 alaliZe and discriminate SO
as to adopt or reject, is necessity
demanded by our honcs and our cx
lstcnce for nothing can be clearer than
that the seeds nf death are Already
fr'ctity'ng among lis, and that princ-
pies fatal to republicanis,n are gaining
rapid mastery.
would then, gentlemen, address
you, the young soldiers of principles
sanctilicd with patriotic blood and wis.
dom, you the hopes of a beloved State,
second to none in the excellence of her
'nstitnt on|, you, lastly the foster sons
of this College, upon n few Of those
prominent principles. which constitute
the essentials Of true and enduring
republic.
The two greatest dangers which be-.
set all human government. are the
extremes of Radicalisn on the the one
hand, and stngnant inactivity on the
other. Both are equally hostile to
liberty and civilization, just as the un.
fettercd violence of the madman, and
the stupor ofthe opium eater, alike
cannot consist with individual we'll
being. The tendencies to eithor varies
greatly with the character Of the pco.
pie, and the political system under
which they live. With absolute and
dcsPotic governments, the tendency is
most intense to the latter; but with
the tree and liberal, the procivi,y is
equally strong towards the opposite
extreme of radicalism. In this, as in
all things else, the path of sound wis.
dom lies, in that happy medium which
we call Conservatism And hence it is
that people which tempers its pro
gress ny the experience of the past,
exhibits the first element Of great
and lasting prosperity. That policy
which Ignores the past and its sober
lessons, which rejects rs adequatcd and
Inbeslle, whatever is woundng to
vanity, or unwelcome to graspng am
bItIon-ins n word, that policy which
substitutes the ideal for the real, the
See Garnott's Address before the Virrina
vnr ~ ft l. ~s,lI