Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-04-14


for the establishment of human rights upon
a positive basis of constitutional law, has
been long and tedious, successful, and
doubtful.
Civilization may be said to have com
menced its march on the plains of Judea-
with the establishment of the Jewish theoc-
racy. Spreading thence to India and Egypt,
| from the latter it was transported to Greece,
where it shone bright in its classic literature,
and III its efforts toward q system of self
government. Thence it was transferred to
Rome, where it beamed with renewed
lustcr. Peculiar causes operating in Italy
resulted at the same time in the Roman re-
public. These, the first recorded efforts for
IA Democratic Government, possessed inhe-
rent defects, and both, at the period of the
Christian era, were absorbed III the imperi-
al dcspotism of Octavius Caesar. The En-
pirc ran its career of centuries till at length
the hopes of the human race, lay, buried for
a time in the tomb of the dark ages They
awoko again with the revival of learning in
the twelfth century, and received an undy-
ing impetus in the ages of the reformation
and discovery which followed. With the
exception of the Italian republics, which
possessed no enduring vitality, and ut later
day those of Holland and Switzerland
the only accepted form of policy.
! 1t was at length, after six thousand years
of struggles by the race for the attainment
OF perfect Government, that our wise
! forcfathers, struck with the favorable cond-
tions for a renewal of the experiment, re-
solved to attempt it on this continent. Star
ting with the representative feature and the
free principles of the English monarchy
| they searched the storehousc of free com
monwcalths for enduring materials for the
new structure. To the selection and ar
rangcment afpolitical machinery which they
needed, they brought qualifications never be-
fore e1ualod in the framors of states. Deep
insight into human nature, the profound
knowledge of history and Of law, and un-
! blemished patriotism were theirs. Their
perfect work stands before Us; nay, it is in
our Keeping. Oh! let ms not let Us not, |
lmplorc you, permit the grand experiment
to fail through any remissness or perversity
Of ours.
1t is indeed an easy thing to destroy; but
to call into being, whether in matecial af-
fairs or in chose of morals and politics,
great and useful works, taxes the highest
faculties and resources Of man. 1t is espe-
cialIy so in framing the institutions of gov
crnmcnt. For this, the learned sage and
the man vcrsed in the practical affairs must
the adoption, amid opposing interests. of
any system, is needed the long and patient
conference, the steady forbearance, the
timely concession and compromise. The
selfish principles must be held in check. -
a curb must be laid upon the passions. -
But Tor the destruction of the same system
!, it is needed only that we forbear the exer-
else Of the virtues and benevolent affections
and give full sway to the selfish principles.
The temple Of Diana Of Ephesus was the
boast Of the ancient world. The treasures
: Of kings and all the art and skill of the times
had been profusely lavished upon it to rem
der 1t the richest and most magnificent of
the structures of earth. Yet the torch of
Eratosthcncs, infatuated with the ambition
of immortality, though it should beone ofn-
fanny, was sufficient in a few hours to lay it
in ashes.
Alas that these reflections should find so
practical an application in the events of the
times. We had a good government. We
possessed already what rcvolutionsts in 9th
er governments set out to attain and no pre-
tensions to statcsmanship should have been
admitted which sought to jar the system or
| break il up.
| have read of knight of the middle ages
who was the posscssor of shield of extra
ordinary richness and Workmanship. The ma
|
was embazoned with the rarest skillofthc ar
tist The whole was of matchless beauty
1t was yet dis6gurcd by single blcmish. -
In an evil hour its possessor listened to the
! persuasion of an artlficcr who proposed to
| remove it by again subjccting it to the heat
. Of the furnace The experiment was made
but the same heat which removed the stain
81 destroyed al 50 the image upon the shield
$ and the whole was reduced to n shapeless
mass in the cruciblc. He might make a
= new shield Of the gold, but the one so cum
+ gone, alas! forever. The pcopleof the Uni
and theirpriccless shield is the constitution
q al Government. The stain, if you will, in
the institution of slavery. In the fires of
civil war to which the empirical artists have
resorted to remove it, it may be obiterated,
but the government itself under the opera
tion, will be dissolved New Governments
may indeed be formed of the materials, but
that Of the American fathers will be no
more.
Under Democratic rule, prior to the tri-
umph OF the Chicago platform, the nation
was ut peace, united, prosperous, and hap
py; Instead of trighttul civil war, desc
lating the land and filling with strife and bit
terncss the paths which lead to our dwell
|
power, our commerce, our manufactures,
our constitutional liberty; to our national
monuments, and works of art, which every
whore decorated the line of our progress,
and were held up as the trophies of Chris
tian civilization.
But alas the change. Byron, the i'm
mortal poet, when writing his immortal
verse amid the ruins of the Roman empire,
said
| "Alas! the lofty city and alas
Alas! for Tully's voice, and NirgilS lay,
And Livys pictured page; but these shall he
Her resurrection: all beside decay"
| In the gloom that covers the land, from
the great Atlantic, where the light of the
morning sun is first seen, to where his set
! ting rays so down in the western ocean,
without some patriotic sacrifice to re -cstab
lish the broken columns of once mighty
government, the time may not be far re-
mote when the genius of American liberty
may say: Alas for the fame of Washington
and the memory of Franklin the eloquent
stories of Irving and Prescott, the elo
quencc of Clay and Wcbstcr these may be
her rcsurrection-all beside decay.
The Mexican Emperor COming.
The Archduke Maximilian was to embark