The Placer herald., 1864-12-17
MUN1ClPAL LIBERTY.

Nearly all the wars which tinge the pages
Of history, from the earliest foundations Of
/ society and government, have been occasion
/ ed by violation of local freedom. The
/ people themselves, misl ed through ignorance
/ and prejudice, or passion and blind ambition
very often, if not generally, create political
condition Of their own free will, that must
! in the nature OF things lead to oppression
| sooner or later, discontent resistance and
| b!oodshed.
| As mankind have always been governed
in some way, for thousands of years, it would
seem at first thought chat, through so many
ages of experience the science Of govern
ment, long ere this, would have attained to
such high degree Of perfection, that its
art could be easily understood by" the com,
INQUEST people, and nfaIIibly practised; that
it would be complete out of the power of
ambitious men, demagogues, parlisans, cabas
or fanatics, under any pretonce whatever, to
betray The hunbes, people from that course
Of public conduct which is as inseparabIe
from liberty as warmth from vegetation.
But the SCIENCE Of government, of all
Others, is the most profound and its art
almost Infinitely complex. Some Of its prob
lens are so intricate and involve such series
Of dependencies, actions and reactions, that
the civilized world, through classic and
modern periods, with all The accumulated
/ experience OF Centuries, have wrought in
/ vain for their solution The people are
tnisled, and those who commit them to false
ideas ar usually honest in ethics and reli
glon. 1t Is strange that they should drift
into error regarding the art Of government
which springs from science more occul
than all others7
Wrong, fortunately does not long enjoy
All unqnesioued triumph; experience, in the
course of time, brings its rough demoDstra
tions, and faisehood and fanatcism, with
their inductors, coadjutors and defenders
stand up before the world at last, tor its re-
buke as we'll as its warning, in its naked and
decrepd infamy,
History will record til as is the fate OF
Aboilionism, which produced discomfort and
alienation, then secession then war, then
centralism and military despotism, which are
now applauded because they are the enginery
necessary to work out the schemes of fanati
cism. But when The licentious federal power
AS it always is, in obedience to the laws they
'h'o p'puiS ees uP iot dClIoU, HdS UOUt
its work, and their work for slavery, and
A,omes to the towns, the townships, and the
thresholds of the people and sezes Liberty
by the throat, before their own eyes then
they will exclaim, as the dreadful sinews Of
Revolution begin to swell, "Wby, this is the
monster whom We have con6gured! Where
are they, fanatics fools or kpaves, tha. have
led Us to this most desperate and ouerous
strail2"
Municipal liberty is the constituent OF
national liberty. The revolutions Of France,
England and Germany have all arisen from
violations Of domestic freedom II caused
tho Colonies TO revolt against Great Britain,
| aud it tho element at least of our own
inca!cuIable trouble. Our ancestors. taught
by dreadful experience, have made it the
wise burden Of all their counsels; and local
freedom is The very warp Of the Consttu
ton itself
The genius of liberty has written all over
the bloody volumes Of the worlds history
AS an unerring warning to her worshipful
children, Municipal Freedom is the 1als,nan
Of Liberty Oh, people, will you hear i'll
The grandeur OF Federal authority may save
your fanatical passion to-day; but, to morrow,
with iron heel it may tranple down your
dearest rights. Courses, like chickens, come
home to roost." Grass Valley National.