Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-06-30

NOlOIeu AtOplNs ht " UNHiHB gum -
H., o., June rs. 1870, in JOllifca
tiOn over the Adoption of the Fiji
teenth Amendment to the COnstitu
ton OF the United States.
Mr., President and Felow- Citizen
Of Fayette County;
congratulate you on this sig
nifcant and creditable demonstra
tion. Significant, IS it furnishes
some index to your comprehension
of your newly attained position
and creditablc, as it demonstrate
your appreciation of the same, it
responsibilities and advantages
And it affords some share Of graft
Gcation to me, because of the evi-
dence it presents that your new
dignity has not been unwisely be.
slowed.
regard the present political
status of the United States rs but
the practical enforcement and ap.
plication Of the fundamental prin.
ciples which underlie our political
fabric, and indeed as the consum-
alton Of the constant tendency of
all nations, and all people, The
history of all nations not founded
upon recognition Of the absolute
power of the people IS a history OF
strifes and contentious, of wars
and connections a history Of rest
less and dissatisfied people and un-
certain and insecure rulers.
AS intelligence and civilization
advance, the true principles Of gov
ernment are more fully compre-
hended, and their application and
enforcement demanded.
Our Mother Country affords a
striking example Of this transition.
From a state Of absolute despot.
ism and feUdal vNssalage, which
once existed, she has passed thro'
the repeated concessions of the
crown to the people, and advanced
but not yet TO, the true
+ principles of government.
Beginning with the great char
ter which the Barons wrested from
John--which was afterward en-
dorsed and enlarged by Henry the
Third, the progress was continued
with the petition of Right, eXacted
from Charles the First, the Habeas
Corpus act under Charles the Sec
ond, to the great Blu Of Fights
drawn by tie people, and accepted
by William and Mtry; which was
followed by the aAt-eaf Fsettlcneiit,
and Reform act, whereby the Soy
ereign was still more closely cir.
cumscribed and the rights Of the
people enlarged and SecUred.
And in later times as the result
of recent contests between the lib
eral and government parties, still
greater concessions to the people
have been made, including the most
liberal. extension of the right of
suffrage to large numbers of the
subjects heretofore denied it. I'm
TIL now an fact the crOW@ is but a
gaudy jo,ce1, and the Scepter an
empty symbol.
In the staid and almost change
less government Of Russia, where
the serfs were accustomed to be
bought and sold with the soil, as
fixtures to the land, citizenship has
been conferred upon the peasantry ;
and the banner Of the double head
ed eagle only floats the more proud
ly and securely therefor.
In France the repeated demands
of the people, are not satisfied by
the Plebi8cjtic, with which their
willy Emperor sought to appeqse
them, and the signs Of the times
strongly Indicate that tho Enlpira is
rapidly metamorphosing into q Re
bubble. And old Spain, that has
plodded along in the ruts Of des-
potism and JeSuitjcaI Domino
lion for centuries, until the world
believed that the poetry and the
cbjrazry Of her dauntless sons, as
well as the spirit and resolution of
her people, were crusued out and
destroyed, to-day presents the
proud spectacle OF nation rousing
from its lethargic slumber, clothing
itself in its right mind, throwing
off the yoke of PrjcStcrGT and Po-
tcntatcS, boldly asserting the riA hit
of man and marching forward TO-
ward the true theory and practice
OF government
| repeat that the history of ma
tions heretofore has been a histo-
rv Of strifes between the SoUereign
and the subject; Of conflict between
preroqatiUeS and the people; of de-
mands upon and concessions from
the CroWn to the citizen. And
this is a unicerSdI proof that the
Of political supremacy
in one man or class Of men is an
order Of things, and
tnat the true source and repository
of all political powerar The peorle-
the lchoIe people and any attempt
to curtail or abridge them, to deny a
part of the people the full enjoy
ment of political rights, is an ap-
proach, that far, towards aristocra
cy, monarchy, Imperialism.
In our own much vaunted land,
this now model government of the
earth, we have in the last half a
score of years advanced with true,
steady and rapid tread toward the
of the same.