The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-05-24
oUR COUNTRY AND oUs GOWN
80 .far'- TRYMEN. .......

s'' TbfMEn.
By our boastlng rs Americans We snow
ourselves 10 DO tho regular dssecndenta OF
the English race. No people on the globe
arc 90 prone TO selfpraiso and seff-adulafion
as the English, except ourselves, and We
follow close In the footsteps OF our English
cousins in this regard. ~, |
If this be q fault 1t IL one we cannot hsip,
and perhaps wo ought not 10 try TO help IT.
or In other words TO correct the hhbit. There
is one thing oartain, Ii Is q chronic habit Of
ages, and much doubt may exist whether
indeed We could correct ourselves In this
regard II We were to try. The habit springs
from q natural pride and natural self-re-
spect which IL commendable, though Il may
be sometimes INDUCED In, like most other
habits, to an unwarrantable excess.
There are mnuy thinrs Of which we Ameri-
cops ors prona. and things too of which We
have n right 10 be proud. We arc aocus
toned To boast Of tho yastness of our tsrri-
torv our lakes md rivers. our railroads and
our productive industries, and the energy
and enterprise of our people.
We are proud also OF the great war we
yaeed for 90 many years In behalf Of q FREQ
government, and for the overthrow Of
slavery, and for the suppression Of the most
gigantic rebellion tho world ever saw. We
arc proud of the military talent and manly
greatness which this war deyoIoped. These
things have placed us before the world "a
6rst class power. We take n leading rank
bepeeforth among the nations of the earth,
tobc.
We aro proud also Of our statesmen and
generals, of those men who when thew sneak
the world lstcns, and who when they fight
the world looks on with awo and admiration,
One of our statesmen has recently SPOKEN,
and probably no man since the days of
Webster and Clay has spoken more power
fully, and certainly no man has ever spoken
to a larger audience than Charles sumner.
His great words have echoed and rc-echoed
over the whole earth, aud been considered
and pondered upon throughout the civilized
world. When such a man speaks "a the
representative of n free and enliphtensd M.
ton wo whom be reprcsepts and wboss
organ he ia. have n right to be proud.
Mr.. sumner has been long time comins
to tho high nosltion he now occuples in tn,
estimation of the American people. Tru,
Crcatncss-llke confldence-ls a plant o.
slow growth, especially Is Ii SO when those
who achieve Ii commence their career In ad.
yocacy OF an unpopular cause. When the
distinguished Massachusetts, Senator first
entered public life and took his place In the
United States Senate as representative
from the Old Bay State, he was placed In
the category OF ostracism and set down with
one or two others Of his peers as belonging
to San unhealthy political organization"
This is all passed and gone. Mr.. Sumner
now speaks to a listening world, and the
utterances of no American statesman have
ever produced profounder sensation ant
effect than his. The English press hav,
commented in detailed and heavy column
upon his words, but SO far as we have OBJ
served, they have studiously avoided givinl
their readers any connected paragraphs G
what this accomplished orator did say. Blu
nevertheless the English thinkers and tn
members OF Her MaJesty's ministry hay
read and pondered deeply upon what th
Senator has said. No speech ever fell iron
the lips OF an American statesman that ha
been so widely considered or produced 81