Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-05-20


e. COWLES 4 co.,
g fTiiJ I49 suBSrfsr-ss.
AlNasisn in Need Of a Biatory or It's own
IA 9OldFin Smiths letter to 5 Fhig
member Of the Southern Independence
HAssoeiAtiOn, there occurs the statement
shkt in the beginning Of our civil war
Americans felt unduly sensitive to the
opinions Of ofEuropsan nations, because they
wanted that solid growth ofhistOry, which
seives a permanent character to 3 people.
In his thought is embodied material for
.reseeiioH, Il is undoubtedly true that
nations being but aggregates Of indiVid-
uAls, are often guilty Of the same fOllies
and weaknesses which characterize
individuals. The Difference paid to men
ofgreat wealth, to men Of noble family,
and especially {, men in whose family
wealth, renown, and intellectual culture,
have continued for several generations,
is almost universal. Men Whcse minds
haBe been Invested Of marrow. views by
liberal Study and extensive intercourse
with thslWerld, never entirely free them
selves Of acertain foolish and unressons-
BE reverence for what oVerpowers and
sBes The masses Of mankind. But nmsn-
kind is thus affected by individual great
mesa, real OF fsOtitiUus, thsy steaa in still
greater ave Of that antiquity Of nstiOnl
which stretches through Thousand years
or more Of vigorous growth. The Aneri
eaD,ia soon Is his feet touch the soil oI
tbs old world, feels that he is in the midst
of venerable antiquities. Everything an
tedstes, by many hundreds Ofyssrs, The
ofeaFliest historical records Of his own
country. The graveyard contains the
remains Of Fifty generations, The
churches and cathedrals are redoleni
with that religious Light and swe viii
which gray centuries can alone crown
them. The institutions, the lave
the customs, the history Of the people sre
All moss, grown and they inspire reverence
thag may be either wise or foolish. What.
ever its nature, it is, notwithstanding, felt
BY all men. The effect Of history run
ming through thousand years, is mani
fest likewise in the nation, enjoying such
treasure. From the fact Of our briei
history a. 3 nation, John Bull has been
wont to smile condsseendingly, if at all
upon the poor aedgings who had no lit
ersture, and no history Of which they could
boast. English travellers in this country,
o almost uniformly went home to print
wretchedly bad books about our people,
books partly the creation Of very superb
oisl observation but chiefly Of 3 deep-sess-
ed prejudice against nation without q
history. One snsried and another snivel-
ed. One bsrated our men and another our
women. One snsppes at RepubliCanism,
and another scoffed ct our mushroom sris-
tOoracy.
- Consequently our people manifested a
petuIance with their English critics. They
became angry with them and denounced
them as stupidly malignant in their at
tacks upon Americans and American ideas,
whilst John Bull enjoyed the bu1zing
wrath he hsd excited, and, after reading
our complaints, fell away into dreams Of
plumPud dings that were eaten in the times
o Of Alfred the Great, or into visions Of soras
powdered ancestor Of his own who lived
in the tenth century and whose picture
gassd quietly down upon him from his
9 old ancestral walls.
But this is all changed by our civil war.
The American people have compressed
centuries Of history into months. That
Immortal vSlor Of cur soldiers, which out
shines the most splendid achievements Of
Englsnds armies, snd which is known
and honored throughout the world, has
made 6 history for the young republic.
: NO,chsnge has been more marked or more
. decided among our people than the grad
tuhl but complete emancipation through
% which they are passing, from the domins-
ton Of European nations with history Of
centuries. The war has already broken
eAo AGoNpA1 AA1e DuuAu 70 EUROPEAN
ideas. The American people will revsr-
enee what is good in the institutions of
the old world, but they never can be SO
sensitive to the opinions and notions Of
foreign nations.
rIIRs haze histsry Of cur oi0H. We
have history written in the hero
ism Of bsttle-felds baptized with the rich
est blood Of the people. Out Of this whirl-
/, wind Of death which is sweeping over the
Il land, nation will come forth with history
: sublime with deeds Of valor and sacrifice
fn freedoms cause. Never again will it
be said that the republic is q nation in
need Of history Of its own. Our brief
century Of history will stand in proud de-
fsnoe Of the thousands Of years that have
Polled over England. .d rr
A NomiHatiOn that Ought TO be Made
The name Of Professor b. E. Peck, Of
Oberlin, has been suggested in connection
: with the Union nomination for Congress
in the Fourteenth Congressional District,
and we are glad to see that most OF the