Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-12-14

shall combine to produce new means and
appliances for disemboweling old mother
Earth of her dden treasures, we sufpass
the imaginings Of the most exuberant fan
cy. Our mountains of iron and veins of
copper, our placere of gold and beds Of
salt, our quarrles Of marble and banks of
coal, constitute the mighty deposits which
shall be giving forth annually increasing
supplies, and, which, coming generations,
though pcrsistently laborious, shall fail to
exhaust. Then, too, our millions of acres
ofrichest, but. hitherto unfurrowed soil
that Bank Of Nature, never refusing
liberal discount to the painstaking and en-
ergetic husbandman--are waiting to repay
the labors of the husbandmen with gener-
Gus returLs-returns that during many
many unborn years, shall be marvelously
great. Superadded to all this the mo-
mentous consideration that our inter-oce-
anic position is such, as TO enable us, at
no very distant day, (if we remain
a united people, ITO. control much of
the commerce of the world, and this,
whether the iron road from the Atlantic to
the Pacific is reconstructed or not; and, it is
apparent, l think. that the Almighty has
blessed us not alone, with vast amount
of actual wealth, but, also, withth means
of increasingly it to an extent, which, now,
it would be idle even to speculate upon.
A.. Tile la9 particular I name, as giv-
ing emphasis to tie assertion that aOe are
favored a6ece all nations Of earth, is
The fact, hatbse are IN the undisturbea on
joynaent Of ctvik and religious liberty.
We stand alone in the possession of this
noble boon; and all history attests that we
stand first in the order of time. The He
brew commonwealth forms no exception to
this sweeping statement. The po!ity of
the Israelites, though admirably adapted
to their condition, and confessedly the
basis of our own organic laws, was devoid
of some important features which Christi
anity has impaired to the system of gov
ernment under which we live. Nor can
that "fast anchor'd isle" on the opposite
shores of Old Ocean, be deemed an ex
ception; since, while enjoying very many
of the invaluable privileges we boast, she
is still partially fettered by the odious union
of Church and State. In no other portion
of the globe is religion as untrameled as
here. In many lands, pure Christianity
cannot at present gain foothold; while, in
many others, ii corrupted form of it is
guarded by frowning bayonets, and upheld
governmental enactments. Subservlent
to tyrants, regal and hierarchical, she is
called upon to utter the dogmas of man,
and not the doctrines of Jesus. By her,
the divine right of kings and the duty of
a willing, unreserved submission to the
State and the Chu, ch--no matter how op-
| tp ha or Ipt
the dictates of conscience their require
ments may be-is steadily proclaimed, and
inculcated, and enforced; by her, too, is an
nounced the intalibilty, not of :he Bible,
but of that which sets the Bible aside
Persecution usurps the place of charity;
superstition is mistaken for true, heartfelt,
devotion, and ignorance, in holy indigna-
ton at the effronlery of science, oftentimes
demands from the latter retractation Of
everything she cannot comprehend.
In contrast with all this, glance for a
moment az our own condition. Neither
bulls of Poue, nor dscretals of Council
illuminate anatbemas when we worship
God, in any manner that best accords with
our inclinaiions. We may enter meeting
house, or cathedral, or synagogue, and en-
gage in the solemn services Of the first,
or participate in the mlmmeries Of the
second, or heartlessly go through the tire
some routine of duties performed i'll the
third, and there is no earthly conscience
keeper to interfere and call us to account.
We may contribute much or little toward
the support Of any particular system OF
religious faith, or we may refuse TO give a
single farlhing, and we are alike secure
against exaction or cruelty.
And, then, in regard to political rights
and privileges, how immeasulably superior
our position! Nowhere beneath the sun
do men enjoy the rights and immunities of
freemen in such fullness and irdefeasibiity
as with us. OF course do not include
in this remark that class of persons who
are said to have no rights which the white
man is bound to respect! But, leaving
them out of view, the people-the whole
people-in accordance with che broad prin-
ciples of democracy, give direction to pub.
lie aHairs-the genius of our institutions
being opposed as well to oligarches as to
an autocracy.
The Chief Magistrate of the nation is
simply high steward, who, when he has
fulfilled the duties growing out Of his sta
ton, descends from an executive chair to
become again. with his fellow citizens,
a sovereign. Our Legislators are but dep
uties, and when they fail to render salts
faction, we readily dispense with their
services. True, there is room amid this
state of things, as under the aristocracies
of the old world, for corruption and profit
? gacy; nor can we deny that corruption and
profigacy oftentimes manifest themselves
Ia. L., Q,.k
they are not legitimate results of our gov
ernmental system. Rather are they the
abuses of t-abuses introduced by knaves
and peculators of the worst description;
abuses, too, from which there is no escape
save through the untiring zeal and patriot
ism of the masses.
And now, in view of all the blessings
by which God has signaized his kindness
Il Al