Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-08-04

o,o Rtpublie 90 .fffumenf TO-
f,fspofftfn.
Chald me heroic fathers Of ,ho Re-
puAio have ior,scon that lhc hnal
result of all iholriuals. ptivnlions and
sacrifices. M bcholrof civil liberty was
In tho latter half OF the nineteenth
century TO be quoted with serious
carueslncss by Spanish senator 10
defense Of monarchical institutions,
they would have gone down TO their
graves overwhelmed with sorrow and
despair.
could Charles Carroll, John Han.
cock. Thomas Jefferson, Adams, Rush
and Norris, and the glorious company
who with them pledged ;acir lives,
their fortunes aud their sacred honors,
TO the cause of American independence,
have anticipated that in less than a
hundred years the grand consumma-
ton of thcirpatriotic aspirations would
be proslitutcd at last to an argument
for despotism, Cornwallis had never
surrendered his sword and Yorktown
had never been an historic name.
And when we find the defenders Of
monarchy in Spain-the most eflete Of
all monarchies, none others bearing
features so harsh and ropellant-fnd-
ing their most powerful argument
against Republican institutions in the
present condition Of the United States
government, which processes to be the
chief centre and exemplar OF popular
liberty, we may possibly realize in
part the degeneracy of the times to
which We are fallen, and how little
have availed the transcendent virtues
of our ancestors, in perpetuation OF
which no sacrifice nor burden was too
great for them TO bear.
We are led into this train of thought
by what Senior Rosas, Of the Spanish
Cortes, lately remarked in an elaborate
speech before that body, arguing for o
monarchical government. Thereport
as translated reads as follows:
sIIe fsenor Rosas) was very severe with thu
ftNuNlAN Ni ANf lNNNNN NNtAA'HH ~ Net-' "Nfr
was outside the law. All the States Of the South
we're held under the sword Of military government.
Individual rights were oil coniounded. There
was no liberty. II was diciation-sword dicia-
ton The government Of the half Of the States
had characters Of iniquitous tyranny for the inie
rests Of the conquered countries were sacrificed to
the cgoiism Of the North. They enslayed the
whites TO give liberty 10 the blacks This slavery
would be prolonged years and years for the Fed
cral legality and the autonomy Of the States were
completely abolished. Was that the sort Of con
stiiution they wished to give TO their country 2
l''No o." and great applause.
When good old President Mifflin, Of
the Federal Congress, received the
sword of General Washington, upon
bis resignation in 1888, he said;
aHaring defended the standard Of liberty Ia
this New World having taught q lesson useful 10
those who inict and to those who feel oppression,
You return from the great theatre Of action with
The blessings Of your fellow citizens. But the go-
~ Of your virtues will not terminate with youi
military command. Il will continue 10 animate
rcmotcst agos."
How would his gallant heart have
risen in his throat, and his manly voice
have faltered, IT, through the vista Of
eighty years, he could have seen the
form Of the Spaniard Rosas towering
in the Cortes Of a dismembered gov.
ernmont, pleading for the maintenance
of tyranny, and instead Of being ami
mated by the virtues Of a Washington
pointing 10 the country Of which b,
was the "Father," as the ground o.
his antagonism to civil liberty
In IVA, the first Continental Con
gress, in estate paper" addressed
"To the People Of Great Britain,
uttered the following historic senti
ment:
sWhcn a nation. led to greatness by the han
Of liberty and possessed Of an the glory that hero
ism, munihccuce and humanity can bcsiou %
scends to the ungraicfu task Of forging chains 70
her friends and ohilircni and instead Of gisini
support 10 FREEDOM, turns advocate for slavery ahi
oppression there is 20 suspect she has ceas
Ell TO be rirtuous or been extremely negligent q
the appoiuimcni Of her ruicrs.'
1t was John Jay who wrote thii
memorable sentence.
How little thought this eminen
patriot that what be then wrote il
rebuke of the mother country, would
in less than a hundred years, be appli
cable TO the independent republic
which his Imagination even then pre-
figured as the fnality Of colonial vas
salage.
How little thought he that one o
his own descendants would, in tina
imagined future, stand at the head o
a fierce partisan league, descending Il
the ungrateful task OF forging chaini
Tor his fellow-citizens, and Acceptinl
position as a reward for like services
in behalf of nation negligent in th'
appointment OF her rulers.
How little could he have suspected
that, in the year of our Lord 1863, I
Spanish patrican would point deri
sively 10 "frec' American State a
an argument for imperialism.
And yet, who shall say that Senol
pios Rosas has not studied American
politics Alright, and wisely drawn hi
conclusions !-N. LOUIS Tunes
.