Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-07-06
THE RUTLAND HERALD
TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1871.
The National Anniversary.

The story OF our countrys "ronss, no
sufferings and its triumphs, though annu-
ally told is still theme that cannot weary
it is a tale that must not be forgotten.
Though the present generation shared not
in the glory Of its achievement; nor per-
lied life in the defence of mans dearest
blessing; though we had no hand in
rearing the complicated fabric of mighty
Republic, still those who accomplished
all this, should be held in our warmest az
lection, our gratitude should be evinced
by lively remembrance of their virtues,
and by faithful guardianship over the
liberties which they lavished their blood
and treasure to secure to whose resolution
are we indebted for the festivities of this
day, and to whose valor and wisdom we
owe the success Of this age. Let all go to
the altar Of memory and rehearse the
deeds of the past. The jubilee of our in
dependence, like some antique relic, grows
dearer as it grows older.
There is a distinctness of feature, pc
culiar originality Of character exhibited in
the nature and origin of the revolution, to
which history furnishes no parallel ] and
the deeper its causes and results are stud
led, the firmer will be the conviction that
mightier hand than mans, a keener eye
than ours, had marked out, guided and
still watches the destlnies Of the young
Republic. And though through the length
and breadth of the Christian world, our
nation stands towering like some vast COL
umn amid the crash and ruin Of mans
PROSTATE rights, yet soon shall spring from
these scattered fragments majestic tenn
pie, so wide, so expansive, that emancipat-
ed Christendom, in one congregated mass,
may repose beneath its roof never again
to bow In homage to tyranny, until they
forget to bow in reverence to virtue. AS
Heaven, step by step, unveils the mystic
ries of finite power to the intellect of man,
his own right arm will loose the shackles
that cucumber his body. Pointing to our
example, the struggling nations repeat, in
their own tongue, the cheering language of
freeman's sympathy. The ballot the
freeman yields is his sovereignty. He
plucks from the crowd whom he will to
rule over him, and in turn commands him
who went forth to rule to lay down his
dignities at the feet of the monarch multi
tude. Popular sentiment constitutes the
lfe-blood of the body polite, and it is
important to guard from corrupting in
fuences the veins and arteries of our po-
litical system. 1t is necessary to diffuse
through all its fbers the principles ofpure
morality, spiritualizing and exalting rath-
er than debasing and enervating the minds
of the masses banishing luxury, encour-
aging industry, exacting patriotic ardor,
and by our example, tending to the cult
walton of those higher and better sympa-
thies of humanity, which can alone give
permanency to the institutions of self
ruled people.
IF, on the other hand, we adopt the
manners and ape the vices Of transAt-
lantic degeneracy, woful experience will
teach us that our system of government,
the best ever devised for the intelligent
and good, is the very worst to be entrust-
ed to the degraded and the vicious. That
mighty weapon, the power of suffrage,
now the grand catholicon for all political
diseases, will but hasten the speedy disso-
luton of the once healthy fabric. Demo-
gogues will find it easy to delude those
who have deluded themselves. The liber-
ties of the people will finally be buried in
the graves of their virtues, and with the
last dying shrek of departed freedom
shall mingle the exulting cries of a des-
pots minions.