Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-12-23

closed upon him because Of his refusal IT,
take of his hat to the King of England and
| the Duke of York there, in the wilderness.
| these pioneers, in the march of civilization
and freedom, in the fall of 1852, more than
one hundred years before the constitution
of the United States was framed, rising
above all unworthy feelings of resentment,
and prompted by the noblest principles OF
their nature, even in the moment of their
absolute power, and reaching almost the
sublmity of inspiration, declared that all
men have natural and indcieasble right
TO worship Almighty God according to the
dictates of their own conscienccs that no
human authority can control or interfere
with the rights of conscience, and that no
preference should ever be given, by law, to
any religious establishments or modes of
worship.
They declared too, that elections should
be free and equal, and, centuries in advance
of tho civilization of Europe, and in dc.
lance of what was then regarded by states
men and philosophers as 'thu ripcned wis
dom of the ages" they declared that no
one should be imprisoned for debt they
soltened the seventies of the penal code,
abOlishng the death penalty in every case,
except that of wiliul and deliberate murder.
and, true to the cherished principles of uni
vcrsal equality, they swept away the cstab-
lished ftudul rules of primDgenture, giving
to all the children alike an equal share in
the Inheritance Of their ancestor.
The familiar facts in our history mpy be
trite, but they are suggestive, and cannot
be too often referred to as explanatory of
our wonderful success and advancement
Under our humane. just and liberal system
oflaws, thus wisely and happily inaunuratcd,
the population Of Pennsylvania, which III
1890 had reached 43l, ,0OO, now exceeds three
millions and half In the development
of our mineral agricultural and other re-
sources we have advanced rs no other peO-
Pile have ever done before with maguiH-
cent lines of railways aud canals, atlrsling
the public spirit aud enlightened cuterpri2c
of our people. constructed ri n cost of mil
| lions of dollars, for the transportation of
our products, and like a network, extend
ing in almost every direction across our
State, we have in addition more miles of
railroads in our mines, in the very bowels
| Of the earth, than many nations Of the old
world, which were thickly populated when
| Pennsylvania was bowling wilderness,
have within all their borders.
During the current year, not vet closed,
we have taken from apparently incXhaustl-
| hc mines, aud sent 10 market, more than
| lI,OOO,0OO IONS of coal, and from the full
ness of our internal reservoir, within the
same period, have gushcd forth two hun.
| dred and nifty million gallons OF petroleum,
which has been sent forth TO Shed ats light
upon most Of the commercial nations of
! The world.
| Here Mr.. Packer made somewhat oX-
| tended reference TO the great farming and
! agricultural interests of our State, the sta
tistical portions OF which will send you in
! my next.
So, too, in all the departments Of the
Arts, science and manufactures, MS we'll rs
| agriculture, the official statistics show that
we are not behind any of our sister com
monwealths, while, guided by an intelligent
appreciation and proper apprehension Of
/ Their great resources, and of the true and
Just relation of labor to capital, the indus
urIouS, frugal and entcrprising people of
our State have so prudcnty diversified their
/ industries and wisely invested their means,
/ that nothing but the most unwisc and un-
| Just legislation can ever arrest or rctard the
! onward march of their wonderful progress.
| And sir, not forgetting, that from those
! to whom much is given, much will be re-
| Quircd, the philanthropic citizens of Penn
| syvania, through an admirable system of
both public and private charities, are pro-
verbal for their liberal dispcnsation of
/ Hliplc ptllcilS Hllu DRESSINGS upon unlOrlu-
nate or suffering humanity.
So also, recognizing the vast importance
/ Oi educating th SEQ whom the sacred trust
of free gOvclnm mt IS to be committed, that
/ they more fully know their rights and un-
derstand their responsibilities, our State
opens the door of the school room to all her
/ chi drcn, poor and rich alike, and bids
/ them enter! Under the operation of her
/ free school system this day. since the rising
Of this mornings sun, between the waters
! of the Delaware and the shores of Lake
! Eric, in more than fifteen thousand schools,
! taught by eighteen thousand teachers, eight
| hundred thousand of fP,nnSylyana's bright
eyed bo. and girls, the future men and
women of our country, are receiving in
structiOn in the lessons by which they are
! To be prepared for the performance ana dis
charge of the important duties of lilc.n
In closing, Mr. Packer paid n glowing
/ tribute To the memory of Prnnsylvana's S
sons who gave up their lives. that we
might have an undivided country, praised
those who had nobly volunteered when
called to arms by the lamcnied martyred
! President Lincoln, and spoke ftringly of
. the soldiers orphans who are being cduCa-
ted and protected by good old Pennsylva-
/ MIA.
append portion Of the sociablc COM
mittce
Master of Ceremonies. Harrison.
Floor CnmmittCc, w. j, Whartcnby,
/ II. ID, Wharton, James &. Wcisc, Israel
smith, +. b. Cottrel, Il. r. Chapman, j.
W. Stokes, II. C. Pearson.
Yours lratcrnaily,