North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1864-04-13

ment were never in the history Of nations
more fully or clearly displayed. Jursrru.
denca became all enlightened science, from
whose pages light extends TO the present
hour, and under whose guardian protection
the humbest citizen Of Rome was secure in
every right neclared unalenable by the dec
laration of American Independence. But
why linger upon the well known story OF
Roman liberty and Roman greatness. | use
it but to illustrate.
The melancholy Conclusion CAME
As the son of the morning fell from Heaven,
SD Rome fell from the luminous sphere Of
liberty never TO hope again. The world
grew dark as her light faded away, and ten
centuries oi gloom succeeded her downfall.
And why perished this mistress Of the earth
Not because the vandal ravished her borders;
not because the Goth beat her gates to pieces;
but because her people submitted to the en-
croachments of executive authority, lulled by
the Svrer voice OF false security, until at
last they awakened TO find their chains and
manacles forged and fastened. Their links
vet tester in the flesh of the desccndents of
Brutus, and their clanking may yet be heard
in the forum where Cato warned his coun-
trymen against The approach of desp6tic
power No deliverer has ever arisen. Lib
erty has never been wooed to return. Once
abandoned surrendered by those whom she
has crowned with honor and greatness, in
| the midst of the earth she goes forth with
the air and feelings Of insulted majesty to
seek more worthy objects of her love and
| care.
Sir, modern history Contains NJ exception
| to the rule which the fate Of ancient repub-
| lies has established. Aspirations for free
dom have at different period, a>cended from
aim Dst every portion of the map Of modern
| Europe. A system of contederated states
| built up and nu tured the free Institutions of
Holland for more than three hundred years,
while the night Of 1esporism lay thick and
heavy on all the surrounding horizon. As
revu!ted colonies, as states IN rebellion, the
Dutch republic maintained defensive war
thirty years against the whole power Of
Spain when PhIlip IT, Controlled the coun.
ellis and conman led the wealth of the civil
Ilzed world Their proudest cities were be-
siegad and fell prey to pllage and murder
In pitched battles they seldom triurnphed over
the superior numbers and equipments of The
powerful Spaniard Their country was trod
ded under foot; their houses plundered
their fields laid waste and the wild boar
and the wolf roa,ned unmo Tested through the
streets Of once p,pulIns towns. But the
Gu lurance and patriotism of people to
whom no terms were offered except abject,
unconditional submission, oulllved and broke
the rage Of their opressors. A free common
wealth, the United States of Holland, arose
and extended the spirit of enterprise, com
mer ce and rcffneme into all the four omar
ters Of the earth, She conquered the sea
and subdued distance. The pea ceful victo
ries OF her trade were celebrate tel at the Cape
of Good Hope and in the harbur of New
York, in the Indies of the East, and in every
latltu1e Of the Western Hemisphere. Nor
was she less renowned in war. The broom
at the masthead swept the ocean of her enc
mics and the only guns Of a foreign power
whose hostile roa5 ever penetrated The Tow
er LondIn, were the guns of the free
States of Holland. Louis XIV, the grand
monarch of imperial France, when Turrene
and Luxembourg and Conde led his armies,
poured the torrents Of his power against her
for conquest and subjugatlon ; but they were
poured IN vain. She fought with the inspi.
ration Of freedom, and made her history Sc.
cure and iIluStrious rs long as a generous ,,
heart shall be found to throb in sympathy
with the welfare and happiness Of a heroic |
people. But where now Is that noble prodI
gy Of liberal insti.utinns2 Why does she |
lift her beautiful head to the Heavens no |
longer Her glorres declined under the !
burthen of unboun1pd wealth and overflow. |
ivg prosperity. Her people relaxed the |
vigilance Of their gnard over the citadel of |
their liberties, and slumberpd at their posts |
while unlawful power fortified itself beyond |
successful attack. Thus she perlshed igno-
bly, by her own hand, having throughout her |
whole career defied and held az bay world |
in arms. And how still and heavy has been |
her long repose Noawakenins convulsions |
shake her rigid limbs, or disturb her frozen |
arteries. Once fallen, and forever lost is the |
mournful epic of her fate. She takes her |
place in the dreary catalogue furnished by an
tquity.
But cross the channel and take yonr stand
on the soil Of England She too has furnish |
ed mankind with a shnrt-lived experiment of |
republican government. Wrongs and out
RACES inflicted on the English people, similar
in kind, but far less enormous than those
which now oppress the citizen of the United |
States of America, wrought the volcanic erup- |
ton of 1910 The best blood of England |
perishel IN the conflict between Magaa
Chdrtd on one side and absolutism on the
other. John Hampton bled on the plains of
Chagrave, but the royal Stuar, bled on the |
scaff i'd. When the strife died away, the |
British constitution was found to be possess
ed and upheld bv those who partook of the |
sacrament Of the Lords supper with bloody
hands, and who enforced the sermon on the |
mount with fire and sword. They were
the ancestors of those who to day in
this land are crucifyng liberty afresh, and
putting her to open shame. God does not
allow Himself 10 be mocked, and Cromwell,
and the Commonwealth of England went out
t, ether, while a wrathful tempest ragged
around the dying bed of the great hut
bloody and tyrancal PROTECTOR. The incnm
ing wave the reaction IN the tide of human
affairs, bore back The dissoute and worth
less Charles III. to the home of his ancesters,
and Englishmen have never from that time
to this lifted their hands or their voices IN
b,half Of a republic.
France points t. the revolving blotch, the
stain ofmiugled blood and tears, which her
wild and mad attempts at freed ,m h ave left
up N the page CT history. We gaze at it but