The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1866-11-07
THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY.

Does any one recollect an in
stance furnished in human expe-
rience Of the preservation Of a
Republican form Of Government,
after the consummation of such a
revolution as that which the radi-
Gals are inaugurating? All free
nations have lost their liberties
just as we are doing, through the
Vaccinations Of bad men and the
corruptions flowing from the mis-
appropriation Of the public trea-
sure. When our revenues were
small and expenditures limited, the
struggle for the possession Of
power was not of such a character
as to shake the foundations Of the
Government and to break the
peace Of the country. But now we
have an income which neither
Greece nor Rome, in all the pleni-
tudc ofpower and the magnitude
Of empire, ever collected from
their tributaries. And when
"barbaric gold'' had driven virtue
and honor from their councils !;
when their simple republics fell
before the sapping vices of con-
quest and wealth, their Govern
ments were as hard to "reconstruct"
as ours. They, too, had men like
Andrew Johnson-wise and patri-
otic-who essayed to check the
downfall Of truth and virtue. But
they battled in vain. The virtues
ofCato, the wisdom Of Socrates,
the valor Of Scipio and the elo-
Qucnce ofDcmosthcncs and Cicero,
were vain to stop the food which,
when once it sets in, sweeps until
the last landmark Of freedom dis
appears. DeScensus Averni faciZis
est, sed reuocare quodom, hic labor,
Ajc opus est! It is not hard to lose
liberty; but, when gone, who can
recall it? There is no resurrection
for the lost institutions Of, a free
people; and if the masses Of the
North shall follow in the lead of
New England and the radical false
prophets, they will desert the plat
form on which their fore fathers
stood, eI en- as the Hebrews Of old
abandoned their God, and, like
them, they will wander, perhaps,
forty years in wilderness Of
anarchy, blood and suffering, smit~
ten by the wrath Of Heaven for
their wickedness and idolatry.
If; through the madness and
folly af faction, the liberties of the
American people are lost, history
furnishes no example to guide us
in retrieving them. The lamp Of
antiquity sheds no light over paths
which return from the sepuichres
Of dead republics. When they fall,
they fall never to rise again, and
an iron despotism rolls to the
door Of their tomb, a stone which
can never be displaced. New
nations may arise, new republics
be formed from new peoples and
materials, but when once the fires
Of liberty go out, they can never
be rekindIed upon the same affairs.
This admonition should not be
disrcgardcd, by those whose dear
est rights are in jeopardy. The
voices which come up to us from
the depths of the past, should not
he unhceded when we contemplate
that revolution which threatens
with destruction the very pillars of
our temple, and with the strength
and frenzy Of blind Samson would
crush us beneath it's ruins.
1t is too late to pause and regret
neglected opportunities when they
are gone. No physician can save
a cholera patient when the col
lapse is upon him, and there is no
remedy for the death wounds Of
the country when vile faction
has been permitted to give them.
Have we no Cassandra, whose
winning voice can save our Ilium
from the flames ? If we have not,
then we fear that there's no ''pious
Encas" to carry out Penates safe
Iy over the stormy sea to found in
their presence, in foreign lands, a
great and glorious empire, where
the virtues of the past shall be re-
newed and the promises Of future
rcnown fulfilled. A "Grccian
Horse" has been admitted into our