The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-07-04
NJ No paper will be issued from this once



~. .------------
NJ No paper will be issued from this once
tomorrow.
The Fsurth Of yuly. A So
In various modes, the celebration Of the ma
tional Anniversary Is still kept up with some
thing OF the ancient spirit. isstili regarded
N nationafholiday men leave their work,
and boys leave school. As In the good old
times, and, on the whole, as much powder Is
burnt and a. ranch liquor absorbed a. In the
primative era. There b no good reason why
sectional jeaiousies should affect the celebra-
tion Of the Fourth Of ] uly. Even II we have
the greatest contempt for each other, that 10
NO reason why we should hold our forefnshers
in contempt; nor, bscanse we would be tnoe-
pendent Of each other, need we cease 70 ceie-
brate our common independence OF Great
Britain. .z.,t.rs
The s,olitieal and sectional commissions OF
late wars seem to have tested severely the
.trenrth of the Union but, after all, we do
not observe that the Union has given way at
any vital point. All the political parties now
in the field are unanimous and vehement Ia
their protestations Of devotion to the Union,
from which we conclude that the Union Is
populsr. There lie q common deission that 1t
ia in the power Of caucuses and Congresses TO
dissolve the American Union, to discharge the
time.honored old Eagle, who has helped so
many patriots to Office and orators to renown,
and 70 hurl from their orbits the stars which
compose our national constellation, or break
them mn into separate, diminutive clusters,
plimmerine family and affair in the distant re-
xions of space. But il all the political eau
cuses that ever met should decree the disso-
luton of the Union, it would have no more
effect than the yociferations of kennel OF dis.
coutented hounds upon the solar system. And
as to Congress, it is too strongly bound to-
xether by the cohesive power spoken OF by
John c. CALHOUN ever TO cut open the goose
that laws the golden egg. Besides, 1t has no
legal or moral power to dissolve ything but
itself. and il it should ever dissolve itself,
neither the solid earth nor the equally solid
Union would he thereby dissolved. The con-
servative power of thirty millions Of American
citizens is SO m UGH greater than the destruc tive
power of few hundred members Of Congress-
that it is quite safe to permit that body to re-
main in disorganized condition for half
session, and indulge in fierce sectional broils
The other halt, provided they will not adjourn
without passing the usual appropriation bills
and securing their own pay and perq uisites.-
The wranglings of Congress have no more in
f1uence upon the perpetuity OF the Union
Than the milling match of SAVERS and HEENAN
npon the friendly relations of England and
America. A temporary irritation may be the
result in both cases; but the mutual interests
at stake are so heavy that both of them are
virtually bound over to keep the peace.
The People of the United States have some
thing to say before the Union shall be dis
solved When we speak of the People we mean
the large stable, and moderat e class, who have
controlling interests in society, the agri-
culturists, merchants, and manufacturers,
who do not always, nor perhaps generally, 60
to the polls, but who can go when it is neces-
sary, and whose lives, fortunes, and honor,
are devoted to that Government under which
they enjoy in peace and quietness all those
blessings. The People must be consulted be-
fore the Union can be dissolved; the People,
who have properly, and who pay taxes whose
possessions, in the event of civil war, must be
deprecated, whose fields be trodden down,
whose furnace fires be extinguished, whose
ships rot at the wharves, whose sons must
bear arms, whose own blood must be shed
these are the men who must decide the d read
issue Of Union and Uisunion-not the politi-
cal adventures, in Congress or out of it, who
often have no earthly stake in the welfare
of the nation, and do not even own them
selves, but belong to some political organiza-
tion, whose collar they wear, and TO whom,
not to the country, they have sworn allie
glance. .
or all the trials to which the Union has been
subjected, none has been SO severe as that
which occurred since the last national ami
versary, and which took place upon our own
soil. The danger did not arise from the bloody
raid of a band of armed ruffians, startling and
atrocious in all its features as 1t was but from
the belief that it was prompted and sympa-
thized with by the public sentiment of the
Northern States, which, If true, would inevi-
tably have led to the overthrow of the Union.
But the "sober second thought" has dissi-
pated these apprehensions and the searching
investigations Of a Committee of the u. S.
Senate have demonstrated that in this unpar-
alleled treason and treachery the Northern
communities had no part. The conservative
classes of those States, who possess the great
est amount of interest and of social influence,
desire to live in peace and harmony with other
States. Even if they are not the majority in
numbers they have the intellectual and moral
preponderance, the greatest amount of brains
terest makes them true to the Constitution
and the Union, we must at least acknowledge
that such a bond of Union, if not as elevated
and noble as we could desire, is at least among
the most powerful and permanent that could
be devised, and that Union which is held to-
gether by mutual interests is too strong TO be
sundered by party or sectional passions. ".
We may then indulge the patriotic senti-.
m6ntS Whirh ~ in
spires without that dependency which SO
lately cast gloomy shades oyer the NJ ost loyal
hearts. We may be proud OF the past and even
hopeful of the future. Within the lifetime Of a.
man, the United States have increased from
three millions to thirty millions. Our terri
tory extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Our commerce is second only to that OF Eng
land. ALI the blessings Of civil and religious
freedom are secured to every citizen. We have
peace and plenty; war and famine are almost
unknown. Whilst Europe is heaying and sur
ging with civil commissions and political
earthquakes, the sword with us is never I'M
sheathsd except in bloodless parades, nor the
cannon heard except in the notes of peaceful
triumph. Ought we not, then, to do honor to
the great event which has made us independ-
emit and happy, and to the glorious ancestry
by whom it was accomplishment And what
higher honor can we bestow upon their work
than to cherish and preserve it; how better
immorta the men Of '76 than to make inn
mortal the structure of liberty which was de-
vised by their wisdom, reared by their patriot.
ism, and consecrated by their blood ,A
The Virginia military Institute,
Gov. ixTcHER and the Visitors OF the In
stitute are at this time attending the annnai
examinations at this admirable school. Col,
MAHAs and COL HARDEE. of the U. States