Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1863-08-15
WHOLE NUMBER 7l2.
Cesar the things that belong to God, and

we nave seiu,' civil history Is little more
than record Of he RISE progress, and re.
volotion. or downfall Of nations, Kingdoms,
dominions aud empires Now, II we search
for the cause Of such changes. think we
shall 6nd Il uniformly the same 10 every es.
sen'ial particular. In order to make this
point clear / propose to snalyze national
character.
asa general rsle, distinct nations, ore
comparatively small and weak when born
into national existence. Like everything
else progressive, they must grow into size
and power. Hence we speak Of the In.
fancy Of nation. In their infancy, ma.
tious are necessarily thrown more upon
selfreliance for existance: Hence in their
early history they are usually characterised
by industry and economy, Union aud Pat.
riotism; because these are the true ele.
ments tf national prosperity and self pre-.
servati0u; siuce Industry and economy will
will secure both wealth aud health: while
Union and patriotism provide for the com.
mon defence Of country.
But wealth is dangerous element, IN.
less sanctihed and consccrated to the NOR.
al and intellectual elevation Of nation, as
well as physical and social necessities.
There is high Authority for saying the lore
OF money is the root fall evil, and beau.
tiful significance ia the prayer, give mo
neither poverty, nor riches Riches have.
done thousand fold more TO degenerate
aud corrupt nations than poverty, by fur.
nishing means and opportunities of gratify.
ing selfshness: while honest poverty throws
us back upon our own manly resources and
the laws OF nature for subsistence. Riches,
when not consecrated to high and noble
purposes tend to promote excessive luxury,
Incidence, ambition, pride and idolatry,
Now luxury leads to mental aud pbysi.
cal degeneracy, morals aud manners must
suffer from the same cause; while Incidence
tends to oppression, since. somebody muss
work to administer to the natural wants of
! society. Ambition leads 10 war for spoil
and territory--Pride rears monuments and
triumphal arches for national glory while
idolatry dei6es its heroes. Now it Is an
important fact that while the necessities of
nation compc! industry, it is comparative
| ly free from such vices. 81
But what do we discovercr iu these ma
; tional tendencies that illustrates our posi-.
tion? Exactly what Paul discovered when
be charged corrupt nations with Changing
the truth of God into a lie, and worshippipg
and serving the creature more than the
creator This, emphaticallY, has been the
sin of every age and every nation-'wor.
shipping and serving the creature more
than the Creator;' thus exaltiug the ciyil
power over the divine, and rendering to
Cesar the things " hich are Gods until
they sank to rise no more, borne down by
the burden Of their own corruptions.
We turn our attention to the progress
Of the world aud the history of nations
their rise and fall--and among the earliest
records Of antiquity We trace the workings
of this same ambition to convert wealth in.
10 selfish qualification and national glory.
Even before the deluge, we ore informe d,
there we're Mighty men, M en- Of renown.'
who corrupted society to crafty their sor-
did passions Aud almost Immediately
after the food, We hear men, saying, Go
TO- let US build US city aud tower whose
top may reach unto heaven; and let US
make US a name &c. From this concep,
tion originated Babel. 3dl ,aar5N
Passing along down The current Of time,
surveying the relics OF antiquity. our atten-
tim is arrested by ancient Egypt-oncs
mistress Of the world, but now 10 desola-
ton. The soul Of her ambition was ma.
tional glory,-bat that glory has departed
Amass Informs US that Egypt could once
boast of 20. 900 cities, all the product Of
her own industry. wealth aud genius. The
evidence of her art, science and philoso.
ply, has been the wonder of the world, ia
every age Look at her archi tectural de-
signs her temples, monuments and pyra-
mids, whose lofty SUBMITS once touched
the clouds; the structure Of a single one.
as Pliny informs as, occupying, the Joint
p labors Of $50, 600 men for the period Of
twenty years. ,.-..,..-...-i a.. 49,,
| But where is Egypt nost ooee she
sat as queen among the stars, debating
philosophy, art, science aud laEsi and dis
lributing wealth 10 the nations Of ihe earth
Egypt rendered to Caesar what belonged
to God, aud to-day her ldecsying monu-
d ments are the sepulchres Of her departed
national glory as we'll as ilustrious dead.
Z "a Bat time would fail me to speak OF the
Assyrisn empiroAof the Medo-Persian.
Macedonian, the Romah and other great
powers, which have fallen since the days OF
Egypt. Each one is an illustration Of our
position. They grew rich. ambitious.
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