Arkansas true Democrat., 1859-07-20
MORNING, JULY 20. l85!

otoutest hearts have qualled at the contem piatlon Behind them they saw aggrava- ton and wrong.piled mountain high Before them they beheld the fierce hordes of an en ragged nation, already covered with the pres tlge ot hundred brilliant victories. But thanks be to God, who had instilled in the hearts ot these heroes, patriotism and love ot liberty, that could not be ouenched by the hand of a despot. They saw and knew their rights; and knowing, dared maintain them; and mutually pledyng to each other their lives, their fortunes. and their sacred honors, gave birth to a decla ration ol principles of right, that will be cherished forever, as the most sacred char ter of human liberty
 Glorious persecution! 1 say glorious, for 1t was deep sense of their wrongs and humiIiations that were gathering toGe- ther like the internal workings of vol cano, the successful elements of the Ame rcan revolution; until at its proper malu rty, It blazed out with the brilliancy of meteor over the benighted universe, and reslstlessly swept before it like flood of burning lava, every vestige of tyranny from the American soil
 Long and sickenng ale the details of the American revolution. Time and again, the cause, with those who had su galantlv es l poused 1t, sunk as 1t were, beneath the in- creaslng wrath of merciess enemy. But like contiagration half quenched, while the enemies of liberty were glorying over the ruin they had wrought: with one mighty tempest It swept again through the land and wrapt them in the flames of irrevoca- Die destruction.
 Freedoms battle once bequn
 Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son. Tho batlled oft, is ever won
 Our forefathers, adequate to every emer- pgency, and unquailing before the threat of the halter, the promised need of patriotic daring, indignantly flung back into the face ot the tyrant king the chains he attempted to rlvet, and breathed out their souls. on the bloody sword, for the sacred cause of justice. But as 1 sincerely believe, it had been decreed of Heaven, the unconquerable ! will ot these devoted heroes, triumphed over British bayon ts and mercenary Hes slams. Proud Albion! humiliated by the victories of handful of patriotic soldiers at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga and at York town, sulIenly and reluctantly acknowledge ed. Ill the presence of an astonished world. these colonies to be free and independent States.
 The poet may sing the deeds of the mighty dead, and the eUlogist grow elo- 1 quent over the exploits of antiquity, the AthenIan heart beat high as he tread, the plains of Marathon, and the Spartan eve grow bright, as he points with pride to the de%otion ot Leonidas, but the historic muse VIII ever delight to blazen the achieve ments of our revolution on the most bril- hant pages of universal history. The world affords no example so sublime, no un- dertaking so stupendous
 And as the tidings of our indepena- ence boomed ill thunder tones across the darklInS waters of the Atlantic see how the deSpots started from their high places how the recollection of their own guilty deeds shot up before their terrified imagi- natlons-how their thrones shook-how. their sceptres trembled in their grasp-how the century bound frame work of Euro pean deSpotlsm rocked and quaked to its very center.
 Thus liberty shed its genial influence throughout our land, and freedom smiled upon the dreary wastes of the American world. Its spirit pervaded the whole coun- try. Twas heard in the plaintive dittvs of the milk maid, in the merry whistle of the plough-boy, it nerved the arm of the hardy pioneer, and rung to the Moke of his axe, through the aisles of the echoinc for ests. It breathed forth in the axioms of the philosophers it. cheered, 1t enlivened the benignant labors of the philanthropist. \ It has been but S3 years since the decla- ration of our independence, and but little more than 70, that the deeds have been recitn5 transpired; and to-day over 30 mil hons of trecmen, proud, prosperous and happy are assembling throughout the wide expnnse of our mighty realm to do honor to tine memories of the ilustrious dead and | shout their thanks in loud hosannas to swell the dlapaSon of nations praise Norng- Ing ot bells, no roar of deep-mouthed can. non, no bIazoning of banners, no spirit stirring tones of martial music no military pageant has usheled in our anniversary here to-day. But calmly rcpoSing beneath the peaceful shades of our own vine and ! hgtree, we rejoice in the privileges of common brotherhood and feel that gre too, are covered with the broad agis of the American constitution.
 And truly my friends, ours is glorious privilege. For while the elements of Eu- ropean society are upheaving from their lowest foundations, seething and hissing like a boiling caudron, anl while the plains ot all southern Europe are bristling with the bayonetS of congregated armies, we are peacefully pursuing the avocations of in- dustry, and our fields are waving with the rich promises of agriculture. The progress of our country in every department of sci ence and learning is truly gratifying to the American heart. A short time ago we came out of the revolution few crippled colonles-our treasury exhausted, our cur rency depreciated, our commerce paralvzed, and had almost said, our energies palsied
 To-day we stand forth amidst the nations ol the earth the proudest, the freest, and most prosperous on the globe. Victorious Tn the arts ot peace, triumphapt in the operations of war Our whit winged commerce glitters on the broad expanse of every water, our Star Spangled Banner
 floats upon every breeze, loved at home, respected abroad--our manutactories are musical with the hum of honest industrv- our temples vocal with unrestricted pietv.
 But sure my friends, is the lesson history teaches us, that allnations have dated their downfall from a most prosperous era.- Rome, the once proud mistress of the world, intoxicated with the glory of her brilliant victories, laughed at the decay of her rival States, and called herself eternal Yet the deeds of her heroes live only in song; and now "none so poor to do her reverence y ] Athens the seat of leaning and centre of