Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1872-07-27
CORRESPONDENCE.
Letter From Washington.
WASHINGTON, July %, 1872.

/
WASHINGTON, July %, 1872.
The sun, the soil, but not the slave the same"
When Byron thus spoke of down-trodden
Greece he never blended language and idea
more beautifully together, and we apply
the quotation as suitable in connection with
what we are about to write. When the
great poet sojourned in Attica he thus drew
a comparison between the former greatness
of its people and their degraded condition
at the time of which he spoke we must,
therefore, reverse the application, and
present by the quotation. the past of our
country in contradistinction 10 its present.
Greece, once the land of science and of
song, great in peace and powerful in war,
was subject to Turkish rule at that time,
and her struggle against that barbarous
power excited the sympathy of the civilized
world, and elected in her favor all the world
had of genius and patriotism.
We are brought to these reflections from
what we see around us. We lived in the
time, paradoxical as it may seem, when a
whole race was held in bondage by our free
Institutions, but to-day we proudly, thank
| fully exclaim from the dome of our beauti-
full capitol, " the sun, the soil but not the
Stare the sdne'
The cheerful difference between these
|
| tory, is pleasing to witness. The happy,
cheerful black race as we find it here to-day,
frugal, industrious and prosperous, presents
a remarkable contrast to the race as it was
i'll the days of slavery, and their deport-
ment and appearance, wherever you find
them, indicate an advancement in intell-
gence, and an appreciation of their present
situation.
To bring about this wonderful change in
the situation of affairs, required the COM
plete eradication from our political system
of an institution upon which was based the
wealth of whole section. To mention it
was dangerous-to undertake it was a
herculean task and yet it was undertaken
and achievCd-we all know at what ex-
pense-and how rapidly results followed :
the enfranchisement of an enslaved race
the exchange of the Senate seat from the
master to the slave.
When we look back upon the last twenty
years and see who were the moving spirits
in bringing about this wonderful change,
we discover that the present political status
of these men is not much less astounding
than are the results of the last twenty years
of their labor. Who would have believed
the prediction, if it had been ventured three
years ago that Mr.. Greeley, the champion
of all Republican reform, to-day would
stand as the chosen candidate of the Dem
ocratic party for President of the United
States-their lifelong opponent--their for
mer hated object of abuse.
The madness ofman's ambition frequent
ly destroys the character for the establish
ment of which whole lifetime has been
consumed in doing good works. In case
of Grecley's election every political princi-
pie he has ever advocated he will be COM
PEELED to abandon if he does not do SO, in
fact, he might as well do so, as he has lost
through his treachery to the Republican
party, his usefulness in their advocacy. But
it is preposterous to suppose that the party
electing Mr.. Greeley will abandon its
principles and espouse his-he must become
the succombing party. Already we hear
it stated among Democrats here that the
10Th amendment is fraud upon the pub
lie, and will not stand long us the law of
the land, after they have elected force sutll-
cent to blot it out of existence. How
would Mr. Greeley see it in case OF his cleo
tion. He sees no KuKluXes now, and de-
nounces, as unnecessary, the law provided
for their punishment, a matter ,e insisted
upon having established several years ago.
ii 1916, il we are not mistaken, Mr.. Gree
Icy wrote when he seemed to be an earnest
advocate of the principles he has now de-
serted, that il, on a final review Of his life
and practice he should be found unworthy
of his principles, inlamy might be heaped
on his memory, and hoped that none should
thereby be led to distrust the principles to
which he had proved recreant and further,
that others more able aud honest than he
should live to adorn those principles by
more suitable life and conversation.
Mr.. Greeley at that time evidently meant
what he said but alas for the weakness Of
human nature The tempter came, and in
case of his election, 'uneIring time,n to
which he has submitted the matter, will
prove the frailty of human nature.
AS much can be said about Charles
Sumner, once a man of ofourgreatest admira-
ton ''unerriug time," if political change
take place, will prove that he has sacrificed
the glory Of bis past life on the shrine of
human ambition.
But little attention need be paid to the
case of Mr.. Forney; we all know him.
After a long life of political dishonesty to
accomplish his selfish purposes, he rose
from his aspirations to United States
Senatorship to clerkship in Congress.
Let the people of the. United States be
distrustful of the dishonesty Of ambitious
men, lest the great work of the last ten
years may at last prove a failure. We
hope we may never be compelled to change
our quotation from Byron TO "the sun the
soil the same" and the same old slave again.
The change would be less poetical, but just
as applicable. Yours, &C.,