The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-07-16
published by request. ]
lDRATlON.
Delivered nj Inland. July 4ih.
ls74, by Hon. w. II. Wolf.

Delivered al Inlamd. July Aih
ls7l, by Hon. w. r. Wolf.
To-day is the anniversary of new
era in the science OF human govern.
ment-an era inaugurated on the 4th
of July, 1776, by the Declaration OF
Independence which was the first
authoritative PRONUNCIATION of the prin-
ciples of freedom and equality upon
which the great American Republic
was afterwards founded. 1t is true
that in previous years wise men had
undertaken the formation of repub-
lies, but none of them recognized the
universal equality of man. The gov
ernment of Lycurgus, the most noted
republic of old, was only q govern
ment of Spartans, while the remain
der of mankind, being by far the
greater part, were treated as lawful
slaves or natural enemies. The Re-
public Of Carthage, another noted ex-
ample, only recognized the man as a
citizen, on condition that he should
first be able to acquire stipulated
amount of property, a natural condi-
ton for government whose sole OH
iect seemed to have been the acqui-
si,ion aud protection Of wealth.
The early patriarchal governments
had passed away or degenerated in
to petty whimsical tyrannies, and the
succeeding monarchies had been con-
verted into mere devices for enhanc-
ing the importance and satisfying the
unholy ambition Of royal families
And what, during all this time be-
came Of the great body of mankind,
the founders ofall true greatness, who
wrested from the soil its tardy pro-
ductions or wrought them into i'm
plements or fabrics for the use of
man? Governments we're not formed
for their benefit. Declarations Of
war, treaties of peace, and national
alliances were not made in their in
terest. The annals of those times
spoke not their names. Their unre-
membered graves line the pathway
that led others to fame. Their lives
were the groundwork Of the success
of those whose names emblazon the
pages of history.
1t is true that many efforts were
made to better protect and secure the
rights of the masses; but as one goes
back over the pages Of history, it is
like travelling through dark valley
whose gloominess is only occasional
ly relieved by the bright aecks of
sunshine that have struggled through
from the heavens above. As the tares
spring up unlimited and the wheat is
only gathered through the sweat Of
patient and watchful toll; SO corrup-
tion is ever ready to invade high pla-
ces, while the truths of the science
of human government have ouly been
wrough. out under the blast Of ad-
versity, and upon the anvil of expe-
rience.
The history of human governments
is the history of the great contest be-
tween right and wrong which has
swayed the institutions of the world
since the wire- working serpent cleo
tioneered Eve in the Garden of Eden:
conflict the progress Of which has
been attended by the rise and fall of
kingdoms and republics, by the lighl
of the christian religion and the dark
ness Of bigoted superstition and ig-
norance. The course Of human pro-
g,ess is never steady, bu, fuctuates
backward and forward as the truths
OF God have struggled with the sell
fshness, passions and prejudices of
men. Where Yesterday went tide
of reform that carried every thing be-
fore it, we fiEd on the morrow re-
turning wave that despite the efforts
of philan,hropists leaves wide spread
ruin and discouragement in its wake.
Yet these trials and di>comfitures are
but the ''b,tter-sweet" of life, aud out
Of these vicissitudes comes substan
tial progress, while the moral world
is improved and made more product.
i've by the storms of its elements.
Though the front ranks Of the heroes
Of reform are borne down in the con-
test, and the golden harvest is eaten
by those who share not the labor, yet
the graves of the former are the land
marks that point to the future
Though the King of the New Jerusa-
lem was cruciied on the threshold of
lie kingdom.yet he lifted the world
to a better and happier plane of exis-
tence and his power will extend with
increasing force as long as time shall
last.
Though careless seems the great avenger
And history's pages but record
One death grapple in the darkness,
'Twixt old systems and the word
Though truth forever on the scaffoId,
Wrong forever on the throne.
Yet tnat scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown
standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own.'' =
When the light of christian liberty
seemed almost out, and the dark
clouds of oppression had covered and
environed the old continent in their
gloom, and the husbandman walked
in sullen dispair in the furrow while
the cries of impoverished toll were
drowned by the noisy revelry Of idle
tyranny, there was new continent
opened to the people of the world; /;
and the hardy sons of toll fleeing
from the dogmas Of oppression trust,
ed their frail bark to the waves Of
the Atlantic and the winds of heaven,
rather than face spectral eyed hun
ger staring upon them from the
threshold of their old homes. Upon
the barren rocks Of Plymouth with the
waves OF the Atlantic behind them
and the bleak blasts of winter sport
ing in the bowling wilderness before
them, they thanked God for their de-
hverance and invoked his blessing
upon their new homes. Soon under
the favors Of an approving provi-
dence prosperity attended their foot
steps-the goddess Of justice presid-
ed at their councils; their fields
waved with the rich golden harvest
and songs of peace, and anthems Of
praise went up from their happy
homes. But the harpies and vultures