The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1872-08-16

Philosophy would rise again IN tn
sky of a Franklin and glory rekln
die at the urn of Washington"
New men now man the vessel, VIII
have changed the compass, shitte
the sails, enlarged the canvass. In
same waters roll beneath them, tn
same pennant floats from the mas
head, but all else how changed
.Jeelousies have estranged the crew
The harmony of the family is bro
ken. The old chart has been aban
doned while far away from her orig
inaI bearings, the old vessel il
drifting amid the rocks, upon whose
stormed marked sides are melan
choly evidences of the wrecked re
pubiies of the Past. Patriots o
the Revolution, departed spirits Of
Washington and Adams, of Jeffer.
son and Madison, of Franklin and
Jackson, of Calhoun and Clay-telI
me, oh, tell me to-day, whittier are
we drifting I? Is there no "Pilot OF
the GaliIean Lake" to guide the ves-
sci and to save the crew? Is the
oppression of the weak the demoli-
ton of their affairs the silencing Of
their temple service the election
from the temple of priest and com
municant; the Capitalization of pow
er in the hands of the few; the I'M
written will of partisan majorities
the supersedeas of Court and Con-
stitution--is this the sea-card you
have left for our guidance and di-
rection? l pause not for a reply,
for purpose not to excite an antag
onistic emotion to the constituted
powers of the government, but to
arouse my countrymen to a sense of
their duty to themselves, their coun-
try and their God. Nations, like
individuals, have diseases, the dag
noses of which are as distinctas that
of those that waste physical organiza-
tions, and he is no friend to govern
ment that studies not their nature
and their remedies. They have al
so histories that speak the voice of
warning or of promise. Let us un
clasp them to-day and read the in
structive lessons of the Past. By
the light of that Past, streaming
through the long portals of the ages,
over the fallen thrones, dismantled
temples and silent affairs of the EN-
pires that have passed away, may
we deem the future of that nation,
upon whose pulsating heart, a dan
gerous ulcer feeds and who refuses
to apply the scalpel or administer a
remedy. Other governments suf-
fered them upon the bodies polite
and where are they? Buried in
the cemeteries Of nations and upon
their gravestones is written 1--WE
were, but are not" Corruption and
excuses fed upon their existence,
until dissolution closed the volumes
of their being. Some fingered out
a sickly vitality or expired at the
Threshold of their lives, while others
tottered to their fall, at the time,
when apparently they had reached
the eliminating point of their glory.
Rome fell, when her arts and her
arms had been extended over the
eastern world and her eagles had
waived in triumph over bleeding
Italy and vanquished Europe. A
taste of pov or created greater APP
petite for minion. Empire after
empire wa played for and won in
her great game of universal conquest,
until rulers and ruled goaded by the
longings fot power, contended for the
governmeA: Of the nation. The
sword becanc The arbiter of right
and standing armies, the channel
through which its power and decis-
ions were announced. The Consti-
tuition was ignored. The old land
marks of government had been oblit-
Grated, by the blood OF the conquer
ed or we're disregarded by the',ru-
Iers, who under a plea of govern
mental necessity, struck down the
liberties Of the people and in the
name of law and order subverted
the. institutions of the country
Well and forcibly has an able pen,
Larmartine, portrayed her condition,
when in the very zenith of her glory
she tottered and fell. The con-
queror Of empires, her Generals gave
laws to her Senate and her people.
Her disbandcd troops IA grand army
of the Republic) was corps OF rest
less spirits to be used by ambitious
commanders for selfish advancement.
Regardless of faith, Generals and
leaders, bargained away Offices and
consuIships. prescribed the best citi-
zens Of the nation, elevated the
slave to the dignity Of a Roman citi-
zen, distri tuted the lands of the pro-
scribed among hired legionaries, and
thus regardless of law and liberty
and religion until her temples and
affairs, became desolate and hymn
less. The star of her empire set in
night on Pharsalia's plains and her
liberties were buried in the grave,
dug by the word of her conquering
Caesar. AID is there no similitude
between Rome dead and Rome liv-
ing ? Ca r i dead, but Antony
the Triumyir lives to eulogise the
slain and to honor with princely fu-
1 Il /. r E.s,.,I