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

OOTernment, rs has been well
said, "is contrivance Of human wis.
dom to provide for human wants f.
and the greatest of all wants. at least
in Republic, is seifcontrol. That
Government which limits and restrains
least, depends for pcrmancncy upon
the stable and harmonious character oi
the people.
And if it be true, that "that is the best
government which governs least it is
so only where its action is suppressed
by the wholesome self CONTROL of the
governed. The Autocrat of Russia
can well be Indifferent to the opinions
which ferment and threaten in the DO.
SONS of his subjects; for the dread
knoot is his ready minister, and bayo.
nets bristle at his beck. Here is a
government Of force, and not Of opin-
ion. The widest and most herciical
doctrines may agtatc the hearts OF the
masses; but they move not the deep
planted rock, against which, they fret.
Conservatism, in such system, in
any, where force compels obedience,
IS the certain policy ofthc government.
1t wants no change which may loosen
the grasp, conservatism is the safeguard
of the people. They constitute the
government, and they have nothing to
fear from it, but what they should fear
from themselves. Conservatism, there
fore, protect them against themselves.
1t is great public conscience which re-
Dukes the sacrileg ious thought and
unnervcs the reckless arm. 1t is that
hearty and stcadtast discrimination
between the stable and transient which
IS not charmed with the fancics, nor
led blind by fair promises, but which
while it gropes through the night of
political crisis, ever and anon casts its
eye upwards to those unchanging stars
of truth and wisdom tha, have in all
generations gladJened the hearts of
faithful men.
We are told that conservatism is an
antiprogressive principle, and that the
limbs of mighty and free people
should be unteCtefEd iii tfie ir III arch.
The answer is simple and direct. True
conservatism, is the highest and only
sure element of advancement. And
certain it is, that all this country has
achieved, worthy of a great people or
of history all that will command the
admiration of future ages, or abide the
shock of time, is the honest fruit Of
this policy. And so it must be in the
future. The tree Of a prosperous State
is no upspring of II day. 1t demands
a careful and elaborate culture. Its
growth is Of the past. Far down and
wide its roots extend, drawing thence
life and beauty.
In the eloquent language of Cole
ridge, with blood was it planted. i,
was rocked in tempesls, tho goat, the
ass, and the stag gnawed it the wild
boar whcltcd his tnsks on its bark
The deep scars are still on its trunk,
and the path of lightning may be
traced among its higher branches.-
And even after its full growth in the
season of its strength. when its hcigh,
reached heaven, and the sight thereof
to all The earth, the whirIwind has
more than once forced its stately top
TO touch the ground; it has bent like a
bow, and sprang back like shaft"
In arms and in arts, in laws and
government, in science and morals, we
would see this almost magic land de-
vclopc and expand, until it overflow.
cd in prosperity.
We would see our Republic like
some tree Of the primcval forest,
spreading over the face of nature its
stalwart arms, defiant of the storm,
crowned with firuilage and shooting
alolt perennial green. But it cannot ut.
tam or approximate to this, under the
lead oiirrcvcrcnt propagandsts. Com.
pare the conduct of England in 1858,
and France in 1870, and mark the con.
trast. See how, amid all the coniu
sion, blood and fanatici>m of that day,
the people Of England still cherished
the maXims and institutions of the
past; how they clung to the old ark
~ w >'"''' VI 'oSi'J, anu law, anu
ut least renodclcd trecr and more
enlightened system, upon tried f,unda.
tons. She came forth from th It cri-
sis vigorous and full of hope-thc
healthy blood bounding through her
vens-hcr head erect, and her eye
clear, and onward she strobe, conquer
ing and to conquer. Not SO with
France in her trial, q century later
with this example by her side. In
the confidence of scf:vaunted wisdom
she despised everything which wore
the sanction of time, save crime and
impiety, and the world knows how
bitter was the fruilion, not yet com.
Plcte Here were two neighbors, the
one conservative, the other radical.
England's progress was that of the sun
steadily eliminating in the heavens,
each step brighter than the last. The
progress of France, was the meteor
swallowed up in gloom. Well may
we sny with burke, "we have consecra.
ted the State. that no man sh0uld nm.