The Smoky Hill and Republican union. [volume] (Junction City, Kan.) 1861-1864, 1863-02-07
Tho Kings Hnglish.


Lately, in our leisure readings, Ne fouud
. piece Of eloquent English, which We here
copy:
"These communities, 1.-THE thirteen colonie. =,
| by their representatives in old Independence
Hall, said to the world of men: We hold tke,e
truths to BE- seerident that all men are born equal
that they are endored By their Creator scih inalien-
able rights; that among these life, liberty and
the pursuit of Aappinessr This was their maies-
tic Interpretation of the economy Of the uni
verse. This was their lofty, and wise, and
noble understanding Of the justice of the Gre
stor to his creatures. Yes, gentleman, to all
his creatures to the mhole great family of man
In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped
with the divine image and likeness was sent
to be bodtlen on, and degraded, and mbru,ed By IL.
tellors. They grasped not only the race Of mer
then living, but they reached forward, and
seized upon the furtherest posterity. They
created beacon to guide their children, and
their childrens children, and the countless
myriads who should inhabit the other ages
Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the
tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants; and
so they established these great self-evident
truths, that when, in the distant future, some
man. some interest, some faction, should set up the
doctrine that none but rich men, or none but
| aohite men, or none but 4nglo-.Sdron achiie men,
were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit OF
happiness, their posterity might look up again to
the Declaration Of Independence and take courage
TO RENEW THE BATTLE which their fathers began
so that Truth and JUSTICE and MERCY and all
| the HUMANE AND CHRISTIAN VIRTUES, might no!
be extinqushed from the land; so that no man
rould hereafter DARE TO LIMIT AND cIRcuMscRIBE
the great principles on rhich the Temple Of Liberty
,ras being built"
These words were spoken by a man who
was born in poverty whose youth was
denied the hopeful privilege of education
whose early manhood was spent in the
severe task Of clearing new land who by
the sweat Of his brow gave to labor its hon
orable crown; and who, having neither
riches, nor learning, nor position, but hav-
ing simply the qualities of noble Man.
learned thus to value men for their simple
manhood; to believe in equality, because,
standing low himself, it was doctrine that
lifted him to rightful level with the high
to believe in liberty, because be felt within
his own breast that this was Gods law for
the progress of mankind.
The same pen, at later day, wrote a
shorter passage Of equal eloqucnce, and
which will never die out Of the English
tongue. or out of the history Of the world.
1t stands as follows:
"I do order and declare that ALL PERSONS
HELD AS SLAVES within said designated states
and parts of states, ARE, AND HENCEFoRwARD
SHALL BE, FREE!
"And, upon this act, sincerely believed to be
an act Of justice, warranted by the Constitu-
tion, upon military necessity, I invoke the
considerate judgment of mankind and the gra-
cious favor of Almighty God
The first passage which We quoted was
from an argument in which ABRAHAM
LINCOLN some years ago vanqu;shed Steph-
en- A. Douglas; the second (need we NEIL
tion its source y is from that last great
argument with which be is finally to con-
quer the Shareholders Rebellion-THe ~
Y. Independent.