The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1858-10-26
.-HILLsDALEs, MIcH, cH, II tuesday,, OCT es 1858

cny OF the seven hiffA 81 with little eor-
row had hidden Q last farewell 10 Old Eng.
laud.s The Britoha rSgnedI and tho Sax.
ons conquered, still Rthcypand, ,yasnA Asfory
new The France, Spain ana Italy Of 10.
day, too. had existed thousand years
under the same systems of government
which now give their citizens degree Of
security; and long before the epoch to
which l allude, Denmark, Russia, Germa.
ny and Turkey had taken their places
among the nations Of the earth. Charlie
magne, Alfred the Great, William the
Conqueror, Robert Bruce and William
Wallace, had all performed their parts in
the drama Of the worlds histo y. The art
oi printing, the manufacture Of gunpow-
der, and the manufacture Of glass, all were
in successful operation. The Universities
of Oxford and Cambridge, had for FIVE hun.
dred years been the repositories of learning
in England, and her sons had during ali
thut time participated 10 their advantages.
The House of Commons, that first great
type of representative branch in govern.
ment, and Magma Charta the embodiment
of more political freedom than can be found
in any instrument, save our own Declara-
ton ard Constitution, both had been con.
ferring their blessings upon the English
people for nearly three times the period of
our national existence, before the tread of
white man had ever echoed upon these
shores. We find then that nations now
existing had grown old, that individuals
great in modern history, had lived and
died that tho arts had been cultivated,
learning fostered, and government improv-
ed, before even the discovery of the land,
which we have undertaken to improve and
govern.
But the period which marks the date Of
our national beginning, falls nearly three
hundred years nearer the present hour
The Old World progressed, and its Mon
archies, though often shaken, made their
foundations stronger and stronger. The
New World began to be resonant with life,
and that stern discipline which fitted the
age of tho Revolution for great action and
achievement, was progressing, until at last
the free thought and noble aspirations Of
men who had braved every danger and en-
dured every hardship, to reclaim coLti-
nent from its primitive condition, and from
the grasp of a savage race, found its first
tangible expression in the Declaration Of
Independence. ...,.t
And here let us pause for one moment,
and pay our need of gratitude to that no
bic, selfsacriicing age. 1t was an age
whose infancy had been cradled in the shift.
ing successes Of a protracted struggle be-
tween nations contending for supremacy up
on this Continent-an age made bold, and
vigilsnt, and strong, in its conflicts with
an untamed race of men who claimed an
exclusive right to occupy the soil. An ago
made patriotic by the exactions Of tyranny,
and religious from early teachings, and the
solemn consequences which attached to the
Pr2ps of ,h bh E1n Ene5Sasn@ and
mushroom aristocracy, found no foothold
among men whose axes were hewing away
forest trees, and whose councils and rifles
were achieving liberty. And iow unselfsh
was all their toll Liberty for themselves
and posteri,y was the high and noble aspi-
rations which gave vigor to their arms, and
resolve to their hearts. Their fortunes
melted away, and there was no murnur.--
Their lives were worn out in protracted war
fare or were suddenly and gloriously yield
ed up on tho field of battle; but their last
heart beat was for liberty,--and the rigid
hand Of death could not conquer the placid
joy which fingered upon their faces. A
proud cenotaph has been erected to their
memory in the hearts Of grateful people,
and each year upon the return of this. glad
day sweet garlands deck its sides, and
grateful offerings crowd its base.
The Fourth Of July, 1910, is registered
before the world as the birthday of our
nation. Not a hundred years have yet
tested the practical operation of our system,
but still the time is long enough to furnish
some data from which we can Judge of its
inherent merits, let us examine briefly tho
workings Of this system, and discover wheth-
or it gives promise of q great and perma-
nent success, or is it likely to prove ru
inous failure.
In population there has been an unprec-
edepted increase. From three millions we
have become thirty. The over-populated
States of Europe have assisted to swell this
increase. Population in itself gives no as.
surance of national prosperity, or Of the
strength and practicablity of Governments.
But in such country as ours, an increase
in population until there is force enough to
improve and cultivate all our broad acres
is desideratum much to be desired; and
whcre there is room-where the soil is
cheap, and as fertile by nature as any the
sun shines upon, we may expect, for years
to come the same rapid increase. A sys-
tenn Of government which gave security to
three millions of people, might be found
lily calculated for thirty or one hundred
millions; but most happily our experience
demonstrates that tenlold increase has in
no manner impaired the protection which is
thrown around each individual. True, we
have had our share Of riots and mobs, but
government, whenever it has made the at
tempt, has easily subdued them. Upon
our borders scenes ofirregularity are Of fire.
quent occurrence; but these generally re-
suit from that condition which is insepara-
BILE from the first tide Of emigration which
flows into new State or Territory. The
eager settlers are, in great measure, stran-
gers 10 each other. Thousands of adyep-