Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1858-02-25

AN ADDRESS
Before the Students of Liber College, Ind
By SAMUEL PUMPHREY.

AMoNe the various principles or
qualities which it has pleased the
All-wise Creator to implant in the
human mind, is one which prefer
to call by the homely name of Curl
osity." 1t is the principle which un-
derlies or is the cause of all our de-
sire for the acquisition of knowledge,
which prompts us to look as far as
possible into the future, and frequently
leads us to endeavor to unroll that
portion Of the scroll of time that has
been folded up, and to inquire
"What am !, or from whence?'
1t is partly the desire to crafty, as
well as | can, this last manifestation
of the principle named, that brings
me to the place now occupy.
"a true-born Englishman's contradiction:
In speech an irony, in point fiction;
A banter, made to be the jest of fools,
Which he who uses justly ridicules;
A metaphor intended to express
A man akin to all the universe
This is the language Of that keen sa-
tirist, DeFoe, on an occasion that in
duced him to wish to exercise his pow
ers of ridicule upon the exclusiveness of
the English people, and it will be found
just about as applicable to us Ameri-
cans. TO answer the question, "What
is an American?" will involve an in
quiry into the character, habits, man
ners, and religious faith, of those ma
tions from which he has descended,
and will extend over period of almost
two thousand years. From the extent
Of the subject, it will be necessary for
me to leave oil minor points and pre-
sent to you only the more important
particulars.
When Cesar invaded Britain, he
found the island inhabited by race Of
painted savagcs, wearing little cloth
ing but the skins of beasts. and living
principally on the produce of the chase
and the spontaneous productions of the
soil. The people were divided into
numerous tribes or kingdoms, each
governed by its own monarch, and
these being constantly at war one will
another, there was but little oppor
tunity for the exercise Of any thing
like dcspotism, in fact each monarch
was but the first man in tribe o
frcemen. But they were victims of {
: dcspotism the most terrible and gall
ing under which men can suffer-,
religious dcspotism, which cnslaveC
the body and debased the mind
This was the Druidical system. Th
Druids were at once the priests, teach
ers, lawmakers, and magistrates, and
uniting in themselves all these offices
welded them in such n manner as I
secure to their order absolute power
and to keep the people in abject sub
o mission. The person of the Druid wa
sacred, none dared to offend him
e he did, he was accommodated, shun
ned by his fellow who burst nc
in any way aid or comfort him, anC
the doctrine of the mctempsychosi
> being part of his religious faitl
:, died with the conviction imprcssc
b upon his mind, that the soul of OF
under the ban of the Druids, woul
live for ever in various animal form
each more contemplate or mo-
abused and hated than the othc
For the rest, the. ancient Briton W.
y brave. honest. and possessed Of th
love of individual liberty that distil
guishes his descendants at the prcsc,
day. lie could not, even then,
: made good slave. The Roman
who enslavcd the people Of almost O
the nations they conquered. had b
!, little success with these high.spirit'
islanders. and no other people broug
80 low price in their slaye-markc'
d. Tho Romans held possession, wi
=" some turns Of fortune. for about Il
!. hundred years, during which gre
Advancement was made in civilizatio
nc At the expiration of that period, /
gins that series Of invasions and co
.h quests of England, by various Con
mental tribes. which has resulted
mt producing the most remarkable FAM
'f' now existing,--thc Anglo-Saxon |;
u, family which. by its inventions a
- discoveries--by its enterprise in col
mercial afiairs-by its love Of ci
~ and religious liberty-by its supre
"a acy at sea and its prowess on shore,
Justly pre-eminent over all others.
No sooner had the Romans depa
ay, ed, than the Picts, who dwelt in
northern part Of the island. and FRI
ms whose incursions the Roman legie
=. had hitherto protected them, atta'
ed the Notifications which had b,
at. erected to restrain them. defeated