Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-05-09

inappositely upon us, why should we shrink
from considering them; why should we hide
from our hearts the significant facts of tho
momcnt2 II the times are for us, "who
knoweth whether we are come into the king
dom for such times as thesc" While this /.
the solemn possibility and weigbty respon.
sibility, who will recoil from the duty allotted
| to the houri 1t Is not the necessity oil
government we are to settle, for that is pro.
claimed wherever the footprints of man h ave
marked the place of society, wherever civ
| lzation has chased barbariy, wherever social
Joys are known, or common sorrows felt; that
has been proved in every act Of man since
creations lord became pilgrim, ''for gov
ornment is nothing but the badge of lost inno-
cence'" 1t is not the perverseness of human
wickedness we are to decide, for that the
deluge has written in the rocky page of a
cursed earth; that is seen in the mute ruins
of grandeur, is read in the desolate folds OF
former prosperity, heard in the prisoners
manacles, the Widows distraction and orphan s
wall; that has made the countenance an index
and has had monument In human cowarSice
since the exile of Cain; that conscience pro.
claims, that the angels learned on Calvary
1t is not the moral power of willing fidelity
to truth we are to measure, for hat made the
patriotism of Moses refuse the hcirship of
royalty for the raiment of righteous poverty;
hemlock from Socrates; it was that gave
holy sacredness to the name of Luther;
that, thank God, is spoken from every sodded
grave, vocal with the lurking memories Of
martyred devotion, since the fertile hour of
that alien midnight when first Roman soldier
quaked with fear. 1t is not the possibility OF
popular government we are to decide. MOI
that "land of scholars and nurse of arms"
where the lingering strains of Demosthenes
al. =. I..tt
sacred sea, has in her ruins a proud testimo-
ny, to which signing patriots look back in the
night ofthe past, and gather fresh courage to
hope, though the foot of dynasty has long
trodden their neclls. That other ill fated
peninsula, immortal for her history, her glory
and her tombs though priestridden while
stretching out her neck as if to behold those
strange and mystic shores wcere religious
freedom was born, still sends upon the laugh
ing waves Of Tiber the loyal echoes of Cicero
to answer the Mediterranean's vocal surge
Liberty asks no lesson of US to show that
despotsm is coutI addicted by human nature,
| 1t needs no fresh argument for tho self des-
tructive character of tyranny, while the past
speaks of no Caesar without Brutus, no
Charles without Cromwell, no pope without a
reformer. The merit of devotion to principle
we may be standard to estimate, but the
world woul not want If we did not teach
it, for that has its cloud of witnesses rising
from every consecrated field of Europe and
America. That is not unknown to this world
unless we have forgotten our origin, for no
shrines are holier than the graves of our faith
ers, and no institutions dearer than their la.
bors of sincerity have purchased, have ever
gladdened the soul of fugitive freedom sin ce
| heaven has looked with compassion on human
lrailty.
Government has been demonstrated to be a
necessity by the fact OF sin. Fidelity to truth
has been honored. Devotion to posterity
has been rewarded, and the value of liberty
has been shown by the many sore purchases
which history records. Yet in all that varied
history upon which we look back to learn,
though we see revolutions and chan geS,
peace and prosperity, war and adversely; men
of courage, ability and worth; conquests of
valor and dcfences of loyalty; mau's very adj
vances prove his power and measure his re
sponsibilitv, exposing normal Incidence in
human nature which serious times alone can
arouse. In all that varied history there is little
to express with accuracy the issues of this
hour.
Our government, we know, is the experiment
of few brave men catching inspiration from
the peril of theiI day. 1t is in some respects,
OF the same kind and the same general aim
indeed that others of antiquity had made,
that few Of the oppressed in every age had not
conceived. But. though the difficulties of its
commencement were second to none, the
prospects of advancement we're certainly au-
spicious, and the circumstances of its growth
were surely encouraging. The first struggle
justified the hopes that had b en- barely
ventured; the inveterate character OF their
foe, proved the invncible character OF bravery
in righteous cause. 1t had men, who de-
rived from their fathers a sense of dignity aud
right, that adverse events only fostered and
sharpened. The wisdom ofits founders has
never bcen questioned, their patriotism has
been the theme of oratory and song, their pi-
ETY. has been written above. In addition to
this, their far sightedncss engaged a liberal
education as one OF the chief supports of gov
ernment, and their industry was no ac-
qurement, but was the gift Of nature to index
their characters. jealousy for right, bravery
in fight, the manhood of their leaders and
singleness of noble purposes, compelled the
respect ofnatiOns whose prcjudices were hos
tile to the spirit OF liberty. Nor were these
things apart from natural advantages; tor this
broad land, purified with forests and floods,
was rich in all those resources that prove the
bounty of nature In it's extent it fully justi-
fies the remark of Mrs. Willard that an over.
ruling Providence designed to place here,
one great, united people. With these it had
population not noted for all the mad enthu-
sasm OF the Frenchman or the indolenco O f
the German, but with the high minded loyal
ty of the one, combining the calm, cool, cal
culating reflection Of the other. Our institli-
tions as consequence have been prosperous,
our commerce ubiquitous, our intelligence
almost precocious, our wealth immense
w hat was lacking in former republics in nat
nral aids and high toned morality and pure res
ligioD, was not SO distant that VIC could not
grasp it and hold it as the pillar of our pecu-
liar strength, while all that former times did
show in energy aud master spirits, we had in
addition to their own instructive examples
Nor have our fruits been iuconsiderable in
the world OF literature and science. England
may boast her Newton, but America will
never forgether Franklin. The Emerald Isle
brought forth Philips and Curran, but the
world will hear to the end of time the cleo
polished logic Of Webster Though Byron
''touched his harp ana nations heard entranc-
ed" yet with as ollaste Imagination though
less sublimity betimes, our own poets have
aspired to be subjects of criticism. II these
are any indications of success, and these are
fruits Of the liberality and high influences of
our government what hardihoOd mus not be
required ut the hands of sin to rcbuke the
iair prospects we cherished. No; not all the
questions time submits as to popular gov
ernment, could ba answered by our generous
ancestry. Their work was to overlook the
neglected work Of the past, ,oih their ODn
responsibilities. They were indeed worthy
of easier tasks, and though their griois, were
PUT to rest without the accomplishment OF
all that work better suited to the chastisement
of their careless progeny, we must not now