Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-07-06
their sacred honor, struck for independ-

their sacred honor, struck for independ
ence as well for liberty. They succeeded
and the effect of their success was to en-
large, confirm and consolidate the princi-
plies of liberty for which they had so long
i struggled with an uufaltering attachment.
4 The Great Republic sprung into existence
the freest country on the face of the globe
and the asylum of all who flee from op-
preston in other lands. :
,And now, nv fellow citizens, need 1 ask
you to contrast the America of to-day
with the America of 1907, 260 years ago
when the first little band of los colonist:
settled on the shore of the James ?, Then,
in all the vast territory embraced in nuJ
present limits, these loo were the only white
men. Then, in all this land, no din OF ma
chinery, no sound of the work shop, no hum
of business, no shout of the school boy. no
sound of the church going bell, had ever
broken the silence of the primeval forest;
| the plow had turned no furrow, the mine
| had yielded no wealth., and from no dwell
ing OF a civilized man did the smoke ascend
to the sky. 7'..3 -.-...f
+ What is our. country now? will not
attempt the description. Suffice it to say
that it is the abode of twenty-seven mil
lions of our race; engaged in all the pur-
suits of life that contribute to the support,
the Improvement and the happiness of
mankind-a people renowned throughout
the world Tor their achievements in peace
and their prowess in war. $3.50 -E.!3
And now let me ask what has brought
abont this wonderful result-or rather is it
not mainly owing to the. free institutions
under which we and our ancestors have
lived?-to the self-government of our race?
To me it seems so; L cannot doubt it. l
| read in history OF powerful empires where
despotism prevailed, but / find that they
were the fruits of wars and conquests, and
not the peaceful growth of prosperous and
happy people. And l read that, sooner or
| later, decay set in and the places that knew
them know them no more. l see mighty
empire covering vast portion of Europe
and stretching far away into the heart of
| Asia, making great progress in the material
arts and growing stronger day by day; but
what are the education, refinement and
| well being of its subjects? Confined to
one in u hundred. Wherever 1 turn my
eyes. upon the past or the present, l see
nothi to equal the progress made by
America under the benefcent influences of
| free institutions. If 1 am not, then, in
error, the question whether our race is ca
pable ofself- government Is answered by our
history. 1t avails nothing TO say that it
has not exempted us from civil war. No
form of government has been found suffi-
cient for that. The mad passions of men
may deluge the best governed country in
blood !; and the nature itself of man must be
changed before the doors of the temple of
Janus can be sealed up forever. 1t is but
truth, however, to say that from the form
alton of the Federal Constitution in 1888 to
the year 1861, we enjoyed the long
est period of domestic peace that
any country was ever blessed with. And
if since then we have undergone the dread
full calamities of a mighty civil war, may
we not hope that the lesson will prove use
full to US and our posterity, and by inducing
US and them to avoid dissension, do justice,
cultivate moderation, and revers and obey
the Constitution, secure to our common
country long futurity of liberty, happi-
ness, union and peace? May God grant it.