Mariposa Democrat., 1857-07-30

nation, thousands of years younger than her
self. VIII it be said, that though not so pop
ulous as China, yet that we possess far greater
the elements Of power, superior wealth, and
more prosperity; and that these will secure
us against the vicissitudes of her fortune?
Trust it not. The idea that the possession Of
power, and wealth, and prosperity, are all that
Nations should aim at; and that these alone,
unassisted by the presence of virtue, and the
practice of Justice will secure to them the
permanency of their duration, is dangerous
delusion. | repeat it, dangerous deluson.-
Ask History that comes down to us from the
dim ages Of the past, freighted with so many
stupendous but saddening monuments of Ma
tional decay and it will tell you that the pos
session of power has never yet guaranteed the
security even of its possessor.
A thousand years before the Christian Era
dawned upon the World, Egypt, the inventor
of letters, was powerful and prosperous State,
luminous in Arts and invincible in Arms Yet
the marshes of the Nile have resumed their
sovereignty over the fertile field, called forth
from their bosoms by the magical industry OF
her people the great Lakes and vast Canals,
constructed to supply the deficiencies of Nature,
and whose very shades reproach the vanity OF
modern pretensions, are destroyed by the re-
lentless hand Of Time leaving naught but her
yet tenanted Catacombs, and her imperishable
Pyramids, to corroborate the almost fabulous
assumption Of her history.
Persia, too, was powerful. Her victorious
monarchs carried their military conquests from
Egypt to the Indies, and with an army whose
numerical strength exceeded all of ancient,
and of modern times, were only baffled at last,
by the more heroic spirits of Greeks Yet
Persia too has fallen, and left behind her, not
one trace of her industry, not one memento of
her power
And Greece was powerful. By the vigor-
Gus union of her arms she leveled the walls of
Troy; and ages aflerward controlled by the
military genius, and fired by the indomitable
energies of Alexander, she crossed the Helles-
pont, traversed that dangerous desert, where
in the gloom of Death reposed the once spen-
did armies Of Cyrus and Semiramis; overrun
Lesser ASIA subjugatcd India; conquered
Egypt and founded commercial emporium
OIL the barren coast of Africa, that for centu-
ries controlled the rich commerce Of Asia, and
constituted the centre of Science, and of phi
losophy. But where now is Greece? The
wisdom of her Sages, the eloquence of her
Orators, and the inspiration of her Bards, it is
tuS, hdNO gwen " Hti IL iihpeiisho'iNo oo
the mournful memory of the past-but her
power has vanished-her name has been blot
ted from the Book of Nations and her sacred
soil polluted by the presence of a foreign and
sacreligious soldier
And what of Rome? Founded by military
colony of Ancient "illibusters" animated by
n thirst for conquest, and sustained by success:
She went on step by step, even as our own
Iop ,on,por,po triba a flor
tribe, province after province and Empire
after Empire; and though often checked by
reverses, and defeated in the field, though
Legion after Legion perished in the sands of
Africa, and the forests of Germany, and whole
armies were extermnated in the fields Of
Asia Minor still she pursued the path of con-
quest and of power until the radiations Of her
empire absorbed almost all the provinces of
the then known world. Yet all her colossal
accumulation of power could not so much as
secure TO her the permanency of her duration;
and Rome fell at last, crushed beneath the
hands of the very barbarians she had defeated
and despised.
How vain is it then, to anticipate the perpetui-
ty Of government from the possession Of power.
Neither is it to be found in wealth and pros
perty. The nations of Antiquity were rich
anu DIOSptTOuSs Iuo uOlu Vi Oplllt thc pun
pie of Tyre, the pearls of the Persian sea, the
perfumes of Arabia, the steel of Damascus,
the diamonds of Golconda, the Gold-dust and
Ivory of Africa, and the rich wines of Faer-
mum and Sabinum comminglcd in their COM
merce and gave them wealth: but wealth could
not avail, and all those powerful States, and
respondent cities with all their gorgeous
wealth, have vanished like the costly COM
IL IL
but mouldering ruins in the solitary waste to
mark those spots of Earth once thronged with
busy life, and filled with human beings like
unto ourselves, with the same hopes and ankle
ties, the same feelings and fears; urged on
ward by the spur of ambition, and enticed by
the allurements of wealth. Look at Spain,
poor, degraded, unfortunate Spain, and tell me,
fyou can, where is her once fabulous wealth
Shaking the Moorish yoke from her neck, she
stretched her omnpotent arm across the sea,
annihilated at stroke the Empires OF Monte
yuma and the Incas, founded colony after
colony. until she boasted that the Sun never
sat on her dominions, filled her nsatiate Golfers
with the vast spoils, and untold wealth of Mex
leo and Peru, and then reclining on her golden
couch, yainly dreamed of an Eternity of En-
pire.
Dut Her iiCheS ohiy peBdt coiI IuPuoi, anu
when misfortune found her at last-encumber-
ed with her wealth. her industry gone and
her enterprise prostratcd-one by one strip
cd her of her hundred provinces until now, to
day, the beautiful, but ungoverned Island of
Cuba-that "key of the Gulf"-that "gem
of the Antilles" is the last plank in her Colo
NAL shipwreck, and Spain herself owes her
sickly existence more to the pity and contempt
of foreign States, than to her own inherent
strength. Thus hath persisted, and thus here
after will perish every Nation that forgets vir-
tue and justice, in the pursuit of wealth and
power.
Let, then, those great Statesmen who are to
control the destnes of our Country, incline
their willing ears to the warning voice of His
tory, and map the path of the future from the
instructive lessons of the past. Let them re-
gard wealth and power as useful, only as a
means, but fatal as an end. Far be it from
my intention to undervalue the possession of
those great National Attributes. Controlled
by the great principles of Justice, the pursuit
of wealth begets healthful industry, and the
possession of power bestows security. But
when those principles are properly understood
and carried out in the policy Of Governments,
the greatest glory Of Nation shall be, to boast