Washington sentinel., 1854-05-21

this would be 10 change an address into volume; I;
and this anniversary day is due 10 none but our
early colonists, and to that Creator by whom they
were guided
g Safe through the desert and the deep"
Instead of tracing out thar stupendous history,
the basis of, which was laid by hundred and
twenty settlers at Jamestown, the residue OF this
address will be devoted 10 few truths which re-
ceive their illustration from that colony. We de.
rive from that settlement the fact that there is an
adaptedness in the Anglo-Saxon idosyncracy 10
the purposes OF colonization. Colonization de-
mands temperament vigorous and persevering.
Emigration may be sung by the poet, Tor II has
been sung by Campbell and Mrs. Hemans but
emigration itself is not always poetical. The
charm IS IN the imagination more than in the re-
ality. The Egyptians found il so, when they set
tied Greece; and the Greeks, when they went oil
10 the islands of the Egean and the shores OF
Asia; and the Romans, when they planted towns
and military stations far away from the Tber; and
the Spanlards, when they set up the symbols OF
their religion in South America; and the Gauls,
when they went into Wales; and the Dutch, when
they occupied New Holland And such was the
experience of our fathers in Jamestown. Instead
of finding themselves in the soft planet called
Venus, they were in the sterner planet OF Mars.
They encountered war and want. Yielding, how
ever, only for time 10 the passion Tor precious
metals, they began to WELD the axe, 10 drive the
plough, 10 till the fields, TO drain the pools and
change the wild aspect of nature and, 10! the de-
sert smiled. Virginia is but the combined fruit
age ofAnglo-Saxon skill The germ was adapted
TO the SOIL and the soil 10 the germ. II shot out
its branches through the vales and those branches
crept quietly over the mountains. Our fathers
labored on, appalled, indeed, but not overstartled
by the yell of the savage and the wardance OF
Powhatan and Opechanconough. And their work
begun, has ever since been onward. The poor
Indians have disappeared before the white man.
We have gained French possessions and
Spanish territory. How changed the prospect
since Raleigh steered his lonely barque along our
southern coast. He was called by Spenser, the
bard of Mulla, the shepherd Of the sea; but his
flock consisted of only few mariners, whom he fed
along the green wales and on the blue mountains
OF the ocean. How changed the view since the
white canvass of Newport ascended the James,
and what a change since l7Sl, when at Yorktown
the British lion lay down like lamb before the
strong wing and resistless beak of the American
eagle and Washington rode home from purple
war and sublmely changed his steed on the lawns
of Mount Vernon. Our country has advanced in
all the arts of peace which give dignity and en-
bellishment to life. The plough, the anvil, and
loom are at work invention is untirng; industry
finds its own rewards information is enlarging !;
education is becoming general; the press is
abundant in its productions; steam is propelling
numberless wheels; rail-cars outstripping the
swificst deer OF our forests and the electric tele
graph. discovered century ago in Scotland but
simpied by Morse, is Transforming the United
States into one vast whispering gallery. To this
summary we may add our increasing commerce
in new staples, the opening of new States, and
the requisition of unlimited territory, and the un-
rivalled prosperity of Liberia. The Anglo-Saxon
stumbles not on the Rocky mountains, but gldes
over with no fortune in his hand but the imple
ments of industry, and no propeller but his will
and no engine but his bounding knee. II seems
at times as if we should realize the vision of Ten
nyson, when he sings:
"The parliament of and confederation of the world"
As nation we are forever released from the
British yoke. We have since met England on
the sea, where we have sgnally triumphed. But
we owe debt of gratitude to the parent country,
and Jamestown illustrates that debt The letters
patent issued by King James 10 knights grocers,
and mechanics, in London, led to the settlement
of Virginia. England fed that colony with people
and supplies. We are aware of neglect on her
part, of her rude behavior, Of her threats, and
in fact of all the wrongs complained of in our De-
claration of independence; but our great quarrel
with her is past and II is time for us 10 weigh the
debt we owe her, and let impartial history adjust
the scales. We ought not to disown our ances-
try, for we are not sprung from the fickle French
or the proud and INDECENT Catalonan, but we are
scions from an Anglo.Saxon stock Character
is often the result of descent. II is not my wish to
pronounce any gorgeous eulogium on England, but
she has produced an Alfred in government Ba-
con in reasoning, Churchhill in war, Newton
in philosophy, Milton in song, Shakespeare in
genius, Davy in chemical science, a Fox in ora
tory, Wilberforce in philanthrophy, and Smith
in chvalry. To the last we Virginians are under
special obligations, for he has written an admirable
Typographical history of our State. His monu-
ment ought not to be in England. 1t ought TO
stand on the James. We differ with England in
her politics. She is governed by hereditary de
scent, and, were her present Queen TO die, the
whole hive would be thrown into grief and con-
fusion And yet we owe 10 her some ofthe prin-
ciples of popular and representative government
which pervade our Constitution. We should not
forget The assault of her barons on King John, or
the decaptation of Charles, or the descent of the
Prince of Nassau We should not forget that elo-
quent tongues espoused our Revolution, even in
as well as out of Parliament. We are indebted to
her for many landmarks Of law, for many oracles
for many lights of education, for
many discoveries of philosophy for many works
of taste, for many fruits of Christianity. We are
indebted TO her for language vigorous, masculine,
and capable of indefinite copiousness; in which
Chatham addressed his peers and Burke his
equals; in which Addison taught daily wisdom,
and Johnson thundered, and Cowper sketched the
scenes of an English home. Her literature has
been daguerreotyped into the Old Dominion. This
will last, however only till proh-
btion of all foreign books shall be decreed by Con-
gress, and then all Virginia writers will create
mental productions out of our own rich and in
dgenous materials. Who, them that reveres
jamestown, can fail 10 venerate England?
"wth all her faults, we like her STILL"
The Jamestown coleny may be used to illus
trate the value OF our federal Union. Under
the Constitution of 17S9, the provinces soon
passed from chrysalis state into the maturi-
y of national life Credit was restored, our treasu
~ was filed, agriculture improved, commerce
was enlarged, and legislation commenced on
scale commensurate with our independent posi-
lion. Foreign nations opened their ports for the
of productions. Had this great COM
pact never been formed, we should have been
neither respected at home nor revered abroad.
Il has been the source Of blessings without num-
Der. We could have resisted neither foreign nor
domestic foes. We should have been like the
Saxon Heptarchy, or the departments of Gaul
waging useless and sanguinary wars; or like Eng
land and Scotland, sleeping our respective borders
in blood; or like the provinces Of Spain, engaged
in perpetual forays till the Alhambra fell before
the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella We agree
with General Jackson that the Union must be
preserved; but not by coercion. The first gun in
a conflict between State and federal authority
would be the signal for the breaking up of this
vast confederacy, The Union was voluntarily
formed and il must be voluntarily continued. II
must be preserved by patriotism coextensive
with the area of the country, and by cultivating
feelings bind all together, We