The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-07-19

widows and Of orphans; but for time it
was trcmulous and slender, and like q irail
reed It bowed before every breeze. oh, what
invocations ascended to Him "who tempcrs
the wind to the shorn lamb. for that cherished
shoot, that the "wind of Heaven might not
not visit it too roughly With the Fathers
Of the Rcvolution,it was remembered at the
morning and evening sacrifice. "When its
leaves withercd they mourned. and when it
rcjoicccd, they rcjoiced with it," But those
who planted it. and watched over its spring
time with more than fathers solicitude,
have gone up to loftier courts, and rcpose
under the ladeless foliage Of the tree of lite.
The gray haired minister who craved Gods
blessings, has been waited away like the
prophet Of old, in chariot of Ere, and the
children who sported together on the grass
beneath it now slumber with their fathers.
The last revolutionary soldier who rejoiccd
in its pride and told With tears its early trials,
"Shodldcred his crutch, and showed how
fields were won," has been mustered into the
service of his Lord and Master, where the
tramp Of cavalry, and the shock of armies,
the neighing Of chargers, and the blast of
bugles, shall DO heard no more. But the
slender shoot OF other times has become q
giant in the worlds extended forest. Its
roots have sunk down deep in earth, its top
has stretched beyond the clouds, and its
branches have spanned the continent. Its
form is graceful, its foliage is bright and
beautiful, and its fruits have carried gladness
to every quarter OF the globe. The oppressed
of other lands, finding, like the wearied dove,
no rest amid the old worlds desolation,
have conquered the holiest instincts OF the
soul. the love Of early home, of the birth
place, of the streams Of childhood, Of the
graves of their beloved dead, and have sought
a gathering place Of affection under its pro-
tecting branches. Here they have reposed in
peace and plenty, and fancied security from
the struggles which cured their native land.
No groans Of oppression are heard beneath it,
no deadly malaria sickens in its shade. but
its sheltering influences, refreshing rs the
dcws and genial as the sunshine, have blessed
and cherished all.
All what Government has SO protected its
children, so ennobled man, 50 elevated wom-
IN, 80 inspired youth, 80 given hope and
promise to bidding childhood, sosmoothed the
d scent Of dreary age; had so guarded the
freedom of conscience, so difIised intelligence,
80 fostered letters and tho arts, 80 secured to
all "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi-
ness" The triumphs offrecdom, moral and
material, under this new dispensation, have
cxcclled the hope Of the most sangnine.-
From three, our population has increased to
thirty millions from thirteen feeble colonies
along the Atlantic slope, to thirty.iour pow
erful States, with numerous Others in the pro-
cess of formation, and on their way for nd
ruittance to the Union. Two strong Europe
an powers have withdrawn from the CONT.
ncnt, leaving us the fruits oftheir possessions.
Great and prosperous States and cities and
towns, teeniing with tho elements Of enter
prise and social culture, and aboundinS with
Institutions of religion and learning, have
arisen as If by magic, on the far distant Pa
riic, where We have only paused, lest to cross
il might put us on our return voyage, and
bring us nearer home and the river which
the ambition Of our early history cssaycd to
fix for our western limit, now runs nearest
our eastern boundary. Numerous aboriginal
nations have been displaced before the pre-
v,ilng current Of our arts and arms, and
free principles, and whoever listens may hear
the pattering feet Of coming millions; and
whoever will look back upon the past and
forward upon the future, must SEQ that there
are further races for us to ciyilize, educate
and absorb, and that new triumph, await us
in the cause of progress and civilization
Thus have we passed from infancy to child
hood, from childhood to robust and buoyant
youth, and from youth to vigorous manhood,
and with an overgrowth 40 supcrbundant,
we should neither be surprised nor alarmed
that we have provoked foreign envy as well
as unwilling admiration-that cankers ofdis-
content are knawing atour hcart-strings, and
that we are threatened with checks and trials
and r"verses.
Tho continent OF North Americ, presents
to the observing mind one great geographical
system, every portion OF which, under the
present facilities for INSTRUMENTATION,
nay be more accessible to every other than
were the original States to each other at the
time the Confederacy was formed. Iii des.
tined at no dstan, day to become permanent
ly the commercial centre. when France and
England will pay tribute to New York, and
the Rothschilds and the Barings will sell ex.
change on Wall street at premium and 1t
requires no romantic stretch OF the imagina.
ton to believe that the time is at hand when
man, regarding his own wants, yielding to
his own impulses, and acting in obedience to
laws more potent than the laws OF blind
ambition, will ordain that the continent
shall be united in political as well as natu-
raj bonds, and form but one great Union
a Free, Self.Governsd, ConIederated Rcpub
lie, exhibiting to an admirins world the re-
suits which have been achieved for mans
freedom and elevation in this Western Hem.
ispherc.
In oriinarv times. n correct taste would