The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1873-07-22
. r a T 7 . N
BY REV. 0LlisTED,
At Antioch, July 4, 1873.

lile DIS u udtlOu. lLtb uS, l6ilON CltlAcuS
try to comprehend the fact that from
little confederation of only thirteen
States, or rather colonies, with a popula
ton of only three millions of people, q
very limited amount of wealth and avail
able treasures. with scarcely rooegaia
led existence from abroad, and built upon
Ian untried foundation, with almost every
advantage against US, with the ever jeal-
GUS eyes of nations peering in upon us
like the raEenous lion or eagle watching
his prey, ready to pounce upon US when
an opportunity might afford, and tear US
to pieces-has grown in less than lun-
dred years-this great nation of The
acorld, with her thirty eight great States
and thirty-eight and one half millions of
people, with multitude of rapidly grow
ing cities, with untold millions of wealth
already accumulated, and with an un-
bounded and incomprehensible source of
nndeveloped treasure, mineral and 9th
erwise, recognized power superior to
any other in the world, with every sd-
vantage in our favor, where we can scorn
the worlds jealousy and defy the craving
appetite of all nations for power, and an
influence almost unbounded over every
nation under Heaven, just beginning to
be felt and acknowledged by them, and
with foundation acknowledged to be
the best in the world. -
|. This, fellow citizens, is no mean
achievement, but a great, grand and no.
bic accomplishment But how has all
this been accomplished l answer by
patriotisn,, blood, treasure, and indomi.
table perseverance, and energy But that
this government has not yet reached her
destiny, ] most verify belleve; for al
though she has become "the home of the
Free" in the exeellency of the truth of
that proposition-the asylum for the op-
pressed of every land, emphatically the
home of the poor man, and the great
Laboratory from which shall 60 ,orth the
grand and glorious truths of the Bible,
the only moralizer Of the world, and the
adherence to whose principles alone can
secure permanence and perpetuity to any
government; yet, t,that she has not accom-
plished her destiny must, it seems to me,
be apparent to all intelligent beholders
of the movements of the present age.
What honors are laid up in the future
for this nation, we may indeed begin to
lconiecture, but cannot fully realize. But
with my confidence in the Divine Prov
Thence which / bnl;evn atyays has, and
lstill is to be, exercised over the country,
/ shall dream of the mighty conquests
which most confidently expect her to
laehieve over every false and in favor of
Ievery true principle of government.
| But how are these things to be accom-
plished I answer, by strict adherence
to the true principles Of our government.
But we have made so many mistakes in
the past, yes, and alas, too many; and
who can tell how much our progress has
been retarded by them? and who would
mot learn lesson from the past and be
lprofited thereby for as we can '.judge
of the future by the past" so we may
apply to our advantage in the future the
lessons learned in the past. i would
have you to know, my fellow citizens,
that the more closely we adhere to the
true principles that underlie our system
iof government the more rapid will be
Jour progress toward the accomplishment
of our nations glory.
| Just here it may be well, perhaps. for
us to inquire after some Of the princi.
lples upon which this great nation stands,
land as TO the use we are making,,of them.
We have, in that world-renowned docu-
lment called the Declaration Of American
Independence, to which you have listen
ed to day, ''this multum in paryo," this
singular plural proposition, that "all men
lare born free and equal and are endow.
led by their Creator with certain inalien-
liable rights, among which are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness !" This is
but simple statement of the truth OF
God, and O! how comprehensive, aad
lyet how plain.
| But am constrained to stop and ask,
do we rightly understand and apply
these principles 1t does seem to me
that the people Of this nation have never
fully understood the real meaning OF
these sublime truths. Let us analyze a
little Just here. Gall are created free" I"
lDo we believe it2 incline 10 think that
we are-many of us-too much like the
Irishman just from his native land, with
his very soul lifted up with the grand
thought of being free man, as be
islands upon the ocean shore with his
lshillala in his hand, when some unsus-
Ipecting one crossed his path, he feels its
weight and lies prostrate upon the
ground, and when he is reprimanded for
his conduct. the foreigner boasts OF the
free country But when he finds himself
in the presence of the court and reeeiv-
ling his sentence, be awakens to the fact
that he has misunderstood and misap-
lplied the principles Of freedom. He now
learns that s.to be free" has its limits, land
that our freedom ends just where the
privileges of Others begin.
| But the newly arriving foreigner is not
the only one who misapplies this princi,
pie. for our law makers (many of them,
either ignorant Is or wilfully and wanton-
| ly misapply them. This must, it seems
10 me, De apparent 10 all ciose oosefF-
ers of principle and law.
But let us look again. All men are
equal; yes, equal as well as free, and
| hence we see that one proposition must
iexplain the other, and leaving them to
explain each other, we have this sublime
truth: That all men are equally free;
| that one man is no more free than an
other; that one man is as free as every
other man. This brings US to the con-
isideration Of the proposition as to what
things we have in our nation that are
calculated to retard our nation's pro
jgress.
The first thing l will notice is the mis-
application of the principle above no
ticed. 1t is a notorious fact that many
of our laws are lame in this respect, fol
in pretending strict adherence to these
grand principles, our lawmakers have
rn, into tho vor,, donInpo hlo nrror of ro