True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1855-04-05

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her turreted cities from the very heart Of
her primeyal forests. She wakens the
echoes Of the boatman's horn amid the ST
lence of her mountain gorges, and tunes
the rude whistle of the ploughboy dong
the slopes of her yerdant valleys. This is
America-our own united, beloved, inde-
pendent America This may she ever be
-the daughter Of the revolution, the bride
of liberty, the mother Of nations.
But let itnever be forgotten that, with
all this, ours is an American country. 1t
lis American by discovery and settlement; /;
by purchase and conquest; by inheritance
and government. America welcomes the
stranger to her domain as guest, not to
be her ruler. If the foreigner from abroad,
unites with the sons of the soil of Ameri-
ca to develop her resources, to increase her
wealth, to extend her republican glory, it
should be enough for him that he shares
in the great and blasting benefits she confers
upon him; that he is protected in his per-
son, guaranteed in his property, and guard
ed in his rights againstall the tyrants that
would oppress him. What more can the
foreigner justly ask? But let him ask
more CIR less, he may rest forever assured
that America will always keep her own
honor in her own hands. She never will
confde the ark of her liberties to the care
of strangers. What the Irishman does in
ireland, what the Englishman does in Eng
land, what the Frenchman does in France,
what every native recipient of power does
in the land of his birth, the American
does, and does rightly, in America. When
the upright foreigner has resided in Ame-
rica twenty-one years; when he has care
fully studded for that length of time our
form of government, and the practical
workin of our democratic institutions; /;
when he has thus witnessed the operations
Of onr laws, learned to prize, at its true
worth, our system of universal education
and entire liberation in religion; when he
has washed away, at this free fountain open
ed in the wilderness, every alien prejudice,
every extraneeus alliance, every vestige of
devotion to kingly rule and papal suprema-
cy-then, but not till then, is he qualified
to assume the high position of an Ameri-
can elector.
America owes it not only to herself, but
to the exile, too, that she should hold in
her own grasp the covenants of her power
Our country is we'll called the home of the
oppressed, not the stronghold of outlaws.
It is the house of the pilgrim and the wan
derer, not the castle where the malcontents
may concoct their schemes of war It is
the field for honest enterprise, for peace
full labor, for virtuous repose, not the pyro-
technic laboratory where masked engineers,
skilled in their foreign plots against foreign
tyrants, may manufacture their wild torpe-
does, and launch their Internal machines.
Are we enemies of the fureigner because
we tell him these vital truths? No; we
are his friends. They are his enemies, and
his worst enemies, too, who fatter that
they may use him; who cajole that they
may control him; and who, while they lack
er him all over with honey,d words in pub.
lie, sneer at him in secret, and having EN-.
ployed him for their selfish and slavish
purposes, are the very first to cast him
away. Yes; it is the Americanism of Anne.
rica that must make her real blessing tc
other nations. 1t is only by keeping her.
self purely, intensely, strongly American
that America can do her high part towards
the final destruction of tyranny, and the
redemption of the world.
Heed us well, 0 foreign brother and
be not angry with us that we would guard
the sanctuary and shrine of our destiny
1t is for your good as well as ours that We
thus rear aloft the standard of living ma
tionality. Let that standard be born,
above you by American arms, and you vii
be safe, prosperous, and happy Strive II
bear up its glorious folds in your unprac
tised hands, or, worst of all, seek to EN-
blazon upon them any imported insigni
of superstition and wildfre, and instantl
you meet the fate of the profane wretcl
who fell dead in his mad attempt to stead
the ark of God. For we remember th
farewell words of Washington, our father
: when he sa id,"AgainSt the insidious vile
of foreign influence the jealousy of a fire
people must ever be awake"
: Here, then, at the portals of Washing
e tons tomb, we rest the American platform
: We felt little extra interest in the resu
e of the election in Wayne Township, as thel
n was a question of veracity involved in til
e issue in that township. The editor of I'll
!, | IIn;on !, roenootf,1l, ,o(oroJ b Al .: