Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-04-26
? VOL. XXXIV. 2aYl

turbulance of their democracy, the wild i,
passions of their tickle populations, the un-
lcertain energy of their public will, as it
rose and fell with the changes of the bourse,
or with the emotions which were commu-
nicated as the citizens crowded into council
at the tones of the great bell-lacked that
element of calm repose and undisturbed
1delibefation which is essential to the dIIra-
7 tionof republics They could in an hour
fcall their citizens together, and, by appeal
ing to their rpstriotism, or cupfdity or hat
tired, so stir the blood as to evoke an opu-
lence Of resources and an energy ofwiH
which would conquer the world-but they
could tqnell the passions which they had
\ aroused. and private rights were sacrificed
and public. interests were betrayed--and
anarchy ensued, and. Democracy took re-
| fuge under the shelter of a stronger aris-
i tocracy; and this rent in twain by ike
causes. sought to the stronger arm OF the
/ monarch, and the republic became the
isplendid foot-stool of a throne, ordwindled
I away in poverty, Obscurity, and hopeless
weakness, They were the commercial re-
Il lpublics of the world, ) - s. 49, js,It,
IL Compare them with Switzerland, whose
lmountaiR Businesses have produced race
OF, shepherds, and hunters, and graziers.
Com pare them with San MarinO. Its
I population is eight thousand It's area is
not five miles square,; It's little CaI1tab
perched upon rugged height can look
down with guardian care over every foot
Eof the country. 1t was founded in. the last
i flashes of the declining glories of Imperial
\ Rome. ri IL has odtliyed the darkness Ofsthe
lsucceeding ages, the temptations OF the
1commeroial success of the twelfth, thlr-
4 teenth and fourteenth centuries, the con-
lvulsiOns and wars of those still nearer to
our day, and her peasants boast, with en-
Etire TRUTH that they are to day the free eitr
I iizens of the oldest and smallest Republic
of the world. -, gs
Il Compare them with our own Republic.
4 The history of our race, from the landing
4 at Jamestown and New Y 3rk and Plymouth
j Rock, tell the doom which have cited was
pronounced, may well excite an honest
;IDride. I6 has its dark spots, It's pages OF
folly, of weakness, of crime, but on the
4 whole it is record OF great virtues ana OF
4 great success-of industry, frugality, SIM
4 pIicity, intelligence, aptitude for govern
1 ment and love for freedom. Nature had
\ done much for cur country. Circumstances
,Ihave done much for the development OF
4 virtue and the repression of vice, but to our
i 5countrymen is due this measure of COM
Emendation that they wisely prohted by
4 these advantages, and steadily maintained
/ their position in the advancing ranks OF the
i progress of the ages. i8a-- .f,e
i. These were the Farmer Republics. Theirs
were
II + Il I" The softe ening arts of Peace; ca = i,ra
The GodiiIe wisdom Of the ,temper'd breast:
! Progressive TRUTH the patient force Of thought,
Command the World the light thai leads to Heaven;
Kind equal rule the government of laws! r
j And all-protecting freedom: which alone j. (
4 Sustains the name and dignity OF man." e-t
l., Nor was our own the least remarkable of
/ them all. Plain, simple, transformations,
4 strong, it was founded on the maxim that
the true object of all government is to Sc
cure to all men the enjoymentof the great
hat calfn fnf ft1Ear o.
/ ton is to keep the peace in order that each
j man may be free to develop to the largest
extent his own aptitude tor happiness.-
Therefore, the subjects on which it could
act were few, and the powers with which
it could act were limited. z
1t partook of the character of the men of
! 1887. They were practical men; they had
tbe en- educated in the Revolutionary War,
or in the civil service of their States or of
j the confederation. They had acted in life.
i They were not dreamers. They INDUCED
/ in no vain speculations of fanciful theories!
I They sighed after no imaginary perfection.
They preferred to live well in land of ac-
tuality and fact, rather than to struggle lie for
1aiUtopia which has had no existence since
the primal curse. H
Tney adapted their institutions to their
I.country and times. They copied neither
ancient nor modern republics. They in
,fvented system different from that of Ath-
ems or Sparta, or Rome, or Venice, or the
! Acheean League, or the Dutch Republic, or
\ the English. Commonwealth. 1t was fed
erative republic; or, as Kossuth called it,
La republic of republics with checks and
i balances. Its sanction was not the popular
will expressed in the simplest form. 1t
placed limitations and restrictions on the
Il power of the people, for its authors knew
that Tyranny may flow from the workshop
of the artisan, as we'll as from the palace of
Il the sovereign" The dreanIers of the French
Revolution, and the liberals of other coun-
: tries, before the reaction from that wonder
full event took place, found in these checks
and limitations treason to liberty. No man
respects more than the Republicans, and
i Democrats, and Reiormers of Europe, by
whatever name they may be known; their
heroic courage, their unshaken faith, their
answering allegiance to the cause OF prog
ress. But how immeasurably do. they fall
behind Washington, and Franklin, and
Madison, and Jefferson, and Hamilton, and
JAY, in practical knowledge of mankind
and in the wisdom of its application
Honest, int slligent and wise men of 1857
/ fear it will be long before the world will
again see their equals. It is held stupidity
now-I believe it is classically called Bour-
onIsm-to admire their wisdom, to regard
with affection the work of their hands, to
believe that all changes in it are not re-
forms, to doubt that every village school
master, or godly preacher, or aspiring law
r.,
safer statesman, a more skillful architect of
j government than they. -fs
l., will not analyze more closely their sys-
tenn of Government. 1t endured from 1883
/ till 1860. Haa
! Shall I recount its history? Shall recall
q its results? Shall remind you that at first
lit met with serious opposition. but that
wisely administered it proved its benef
cence and fixed itself firmly in the hearts
of the people-that it waged wars of con-
quest and wars of defense-that it felt the
evils of domestic dissension-that it en-
eountered the perils of neutrality, and all
the difficulties of struggle for commercial
lsupreu1acy, and all the vicissitudcs OF ma
tional life, and that this Constitution of
tGoVernment was sufficient for all these
things? Shall L tell you the story which
hangs on my lips-that obeying lawful au-
thority, observing the preccpts of paternal
affection, exercising moderation and kind
ness, and, above all. revering the patriotism
! and the virtues of the fathers, and seeking
to initiate them, these States and this peo-
o pie wooed the genius OF wisdom, and found,
! indeed, "its ways are ways of pleasantness,
; and all its paths are peace;" that liberty
was in mansion and in cottage, in city and 10
! country; that prosperity crowned the hus-
banGnlan and the artisan, and the merchant;
! that wealth and power, and science and art,
! and learning and religion, and the kindly
: charities of a robust and manly philan-
thropy, did constant homage, in their rapid
. development, to the beneficence of the
Farmer Republic?
And has it passed away?
Why should not this system, so full OF
blessings have satisfied the aspirations oil
r oul people :? Why the perpetual longing OF
! the human mind to leave the we'll known
: track, and to encounter the perils of inno-
/ vation and experiment.
During the closing years of this period
. great dissatisfaction. with our political sys-