Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-07-12


permitted the two sections OF this country 10 be
knit together into one great political fabric for
some purpose. The magnolia groves OF Florida
and the rocks OF Mains-the howerv prairie
anil the neIds Of dtifted snow, have not been
braided together merely TO show the fbllv Of
man. This we must believe, unless we believe
that God Is absent from history aud frnm human
affairs. Every nation has its peculiar work. as
I Tor Instance, the work Of the Hebrews was es.
specially religion OF the Greeks literature and
art, and OF the Romans law. SO has this Union
~ work to do. IL has 10 demonstrate tO the world
mans capacity for setf government. Tie world
has long needed t0 know IL the purest form Of
government can be sustained by moral entinsui,
| or whether hne generati'n shall in blood glvs
birth to popular government merely that the next
| generation may in blood consign 1t W oblivion
| capnot and will MT, believe that the lavs of
| the American Rcpublic are already numbered.
| Rome was I've hundred years in reaching the
| climax OF her greatness and about an equal
number In her decline the Athenean RcpuDlio
has given us an example Of twelve hundred
| years; Babylon arurished nine hundred years
before the handwriting on the wall gave notice
to the sifrghted King that the day of her down
| fall was ut hand; England has prospered six
centuries since the day Of M,gna Chorta-
| America not yet one. by linking hands with
one generation we can feel the pulse Of those
who fell at Lexington and il cannot, no, Il can
not be that the American Republic Is mere
eyanescent skyrocket blazing for a moment, TO
sink into perpetual nlghtl
What Is most necessary 10 sustain form
| o. government such as OursH iiear the trsti
mony OF hiRi who died childless that we all
might call him father--in his farewell address
he tells us; :" II is substantially true that virtue
or morality Is necessary spring Of popular
government" q" 10 the tomb OF nations and
read the moral Of their epitaphs. What is the
testimony that rises from out of the classic
rnns scattered where once was g the land oil
lcholars and the nurse Of 2" II was mi
the conqueror of Persia, nor was II Sglla, whl
destroyed her, but she inundated herself upor
the altar OF her wealth, and Sister States ths
Wed in honorable pursuits, fell into the "voup
thus grave that vice digs for virtue" II va,
the glory ot Tho5es shat she prevailed ever su
pertnr numbers. and astcd of one Among he
cili2enS whom Cicero has STYLED the most il
lustriuus Of all the Greeks;" and vet, the vic
TIM oi that rash spirit that cannot brook the ac
Acknowledgement of others merits, ST. offered vi
her honored son upon the field Of Manbina AM
, the cry OF victory was the sounding Of her owI
knen, Tor with his death corruption ended an
her glory end4d, Athens was called the "eyl
of Greece " AMI was rcunSned fnr all that wal
beautiful and strange in architecture elevatini
in ancient wisdom and for he vsce af tluquenc
in her courts. Yet, within her classic precincts
philosophy WAS literally the apostle of vice. an
her boosted liberty was cnly an occasion for III
crimes Of unrestrancd lccntinusness. Mated
ton, IS Athens for the bdnishm int of all amrn
r, her prominent ciIiZ who hal the true welfdr
II oF the nation at hiirt and dared denounce til
d eorrptinns Of her rulers. nut history stops nr
II httllis Illustration for, among all recollection
" OF the past, among all the suunds which wa
Il Ken curiosity or cause regret. the tme -! Rom
II stands TN .aralltled in sig niicance. Il speak
a ~ an empire which eucircled all nanns in il
q he4lthiul embrace 1t tells of burning elnquenc
;, and unsurpassed bravery ii hints or pstri,+
4. ism buld enough tu strike the usurper in Ia
huU m 1hAF bara : a
Il vengei." The poet has sung her greatness an
!. historians have made III, mselves immortal
{ rchearsing the train Of her gluriGs. And VI
j. Rome, in all the solemn macuicsnce became Il
= prisoner Of her own prise and tell tho victim
. her own corruption Tel Us, you students
"a history, what WAS waHIing to complete III
r struetnre Of sound political fabrc2 w.
Ie there no natural advantages nf land and seas
D. u there be fuuui in the retrospect no dchclsnC
4 IN wealth. In natural advantages, in mast
ir spirits, t-ll m What it is that Is necessary
p sustain what Washington calls popular go
d ernment?" All, nv fellow citizens, every one
a you know that It is genuine mar"ity that
e. needed. melancholy scene Indeed did the %
l. world present when despolic power invade
W eren the belly retreats OF the mystic lanl.
had men. it had cunquerprs. but no virtue sa,
A. yaior, and but few moral hernes, and when Ron
~ had bid defiance 10 all the world, she fell Il
l. Heianchuly victim TO her own envy and CORFU
to tim. Well might the sigh Of regret arise
n The gloomy Prospect of a perpetual night upo
n Tie nations of TIE Sarh, for the mYrmidons
:. despfism were ever watohful t" strangls 10 Il
T. cradle the newborn child Of freedom.
,g This lessnu then doe. history teach, that n
H. physical and financial z eStness. nor even I
at tellertual superiority, will sustain and rend
= perpetual popular gnvernmsnt. To this mu
ss sa a s5 @ S be pso anay EaS e e.
en- spirit which can msrit in others as well
H. 10 sell, that disposition which renders unto
is, men and all sections their past dues, and is ev
v anxious to SECURE - the greatest good 10 {
~ greatest number"
n We have all looked at this Union toe mu
10 through golden spec!acles. We Seem to ha
Il actsd as II this Uninn had nithinn but mate
r ii', a commercial, a financial value. and ha
m considered II valuable only as II furnised mea
r. fer individual aGgraniiz m ut. We have act
to as il the only band which bound the North a
Is south was the golden band OF ira Gic-the uni
a Of factor and the customer--thc cotton field
A the e"tton faciOrv-and in our eaperness for q
ed success of the one have forgotten the other, Al
~ failed to render unto each its G,t due. v
a seem to have linked with mnre aheconate
OF gard upon PiiriJHs UnHa when stamped u
on the eagle or the dollar thrn upon the sar
he motto when g'ittering upon the lufty stsnda
er of humln rights and hnmln hopes. No wi
n man ovsrln0ks this interest or nli>calculates
&c But this Union has more imnnrtaus ntere
p than all this 1t has moral value that nte
" est " hich a1erts such Who'll -scme iuhneuce up
human FIRE. ioT and humin progress. Tho
n, who rate materia, interest more valuible IT,
ag human rights would sscu ruin and wreck o
"r liberties. If our our Uui EMBRACES noth
y, but n sordid selfshness then It Ia but an emp
eh shell. in name only a republic-and scmetim
nc the name soou follows the substance. The in
st age nf liberty lost To the unless stl
n upon the dollar. men care not how soon the ir
a age uf the Emperor comes in its place, il il on
RI comes in silver and gnld
Al Oh to see this Union stand and see IL wor
ID, ing for the nobles purposes of human rights
IN to see in its vast material products only er
benls Of moral and social power - to see il d
- asvlum Of the defeated and oppressed or
IS nations, Opening its gates tn the exiles ~ de
u have been trampled and cast out to know tn
m when freedom j. seourgec from all other bidi
n places, she will turn hther as her natural hoT
Ia to measure its reaction u1on all lands peac
as fully hut none the less p werfuly y--lke {
electric force running across every ocean al
as touching evPrv shnre-to know that the innr
ID most sancrnarics nf despntism felt the shock
rs is voung vignr, to witness its strict adherence
NC the spirit and tn vote its careful preservation
er the VITALITY Of onr Institutions. blending 4
ne conception 0f right with the cnneautjon of du'
a aud binding together liberty and law This
Union worth having, worth preserving wi
s' every lawful and every fraernal effort. Els
u PERPETUA!
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