The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1874-01-30

intellectual HIGHT. and prAdicafi Inform
ton from this source has been unpreSs
dented in the annals Of The humhn' race
statistics showing the growth and powe
Of the prcss siuee the organization 9th
E Government, and moro especially With
. the last forty-one years, would seem a
most incredible. Up to 1870, the aggre
gate circulation of religious and miscel
! Ianeous papers and periodicals amounte
/ to over q billion-equal to over fort
copies to each individual in the Unite
States. What age can boast of this
What people in all past history can pre-
sent such a showing? This is spinnini
out the thread of civilization on q grand
, and magnificent scale.
: In literature our country has kept pac,
with all our material achievements
every science and every art is repre-
scented by American scholars in Ameri
can literature. A national literature j
the guardian angel of a nations honor,
| nations fame and a nations virtue. No
am l wanting for an illustration to prove
beyond a doubt, that this proposition i
a fact. OF the long Memphian, Phoni
clan. Assyrian, Egyptian and Babylo
Man dynasties, we have left us ~scarcel,
an authentic fragment; we know, as ;
matter of fact, that they built the pyra
mids ut Memphis, the tower oiBabyior
and the temple of Thcbcs. and from
these sad and mournful index figures,
as well rs from the writings of the An
cient Greeks, we are led to the conclu-
sion that IN their day or generation they
were a brave and ch:valrOus people,
mighty in art and arms. Magnificence
is stamped upon the ~speechless ruins'o
their temples. But what matter ifthcy
were golden with renOwn; they had no
literature to keep alive their national
fame and virtue and hand it down to
coming ages; they had no poet to sing
their praise, and then died. The glori-
Gus pogeants of their rise and their
grandeur have passed away into the
shadowy empire Of decay. And, as sung
by the Persian poet, 1.-The spider hath
woven her web in their imperial palaces.
and the owl hath sung her watch notes
in the garden of Affrasaib." Such a
tate. too. would have attended the glo-
rious annals of Grecian and Roman story.
had not their men of letters appeared.
But let US pass on.
Nor. in the midst OF this rush after
wealth by u people, have they wholly
neglected q taste for the fine arts, that
higher expression of the human soul that
is filled and moved by a love for all that
is beautiful and invariably forms the
GROWING chaplet Of the most advanced
civilization.
The mex and last subject to consider.
in the regular order, is religion in the
advancement Of our country and in the
affairs Of the American people, religion
has had much to do. Actuated by its
divine impulses, millions of our Ameri-
can citizens have enrolled themselves
upon the records of the different
churches, and pledged themselves to
obey the Gospel and live according TO
the higher admonitions of the human
soul. In the natural order of the human ,
race, moving westward around the
world to make the circuit of the globe.
the mantle of Christianity fell upon the |
ancestors of the American people; and
seed of that divine system was trans
planted in the soil and grew in the
hearts of the people. like the iii, inc be- |
neficence of the light that rose in gl0r,
over Bethlehem, aud east its shining
lights westward to light up continent ,
and islands. Great moral tight of the
world! Churches have multiplied until
all the professed Christians amount,
TO about sc, 0VV.00o about j.OUn.o 900
Of these belong to the Catholics: TO-
D00. 900 to each the Baptist and Method
i,t churches; the remainder to the other ;
denominations. The entire value Of
property is about $40, 01y, 900.
The American Bible Society, organized
over fifty Years ago. has, since that time.
81 .tH0. BO copies. consisting
IF bibles, testamcnts and psalms. Now.
when ! contemplate this advanced >t..tr
IF civilization, | Am amazed and over
yhelmed at a contemplation of its rcali-
les, Yet it has all moved forward with
IN order and system in which all have
oined eve advancing. ever encounter
NC IN inevitable succession OF event..
Standing at the summit Of the times, let
IL consider, for moment, how high
,ur civilization has attained in the ages.
let us rise to the grandeur of the tliou.l:
hat we live in the most wonderful acr
Il the world; that Tonight we stand AZ
he highest point of civilization. Tel,
ne not of .he deeds recorded of antiI |.
lity of the imperial dynaStie, liIa: ha:a
ONE aud gone. nor of the tribes AMI
ingdoms that have increasingly moved
pestilence and revolution from
Mortal sight into everlasting history. in
'anoramic succession through the ages
have passed away long before the
outhern cross disappeared from the /
orion OF the countries OF the Baltic. or ,
he shepherds appeared on the plains of {
'haldea. Tell me not of all previous
uman pOwer-the Persian or Roman
the conquests of XerxeS. Alex
nder, Tamberlain and Caesar. Tell me
ct of midas mysterious religion, that
ave spirited consolation to the millions
f human beings long before Jehovah
let Moses on Sinai, or Egypt gave
irth to the pyramids. Tell me moi of
irecian philosophy. or Roman lore. for -,
hey are all as n drop to the ocean when :
ompared to the consummate triumphs Of 4
&c. and are shorn of power and moral ,
'orth when compared to the American ,
and the American Republic.
Til. 5oaiat rs iss AMI. The. for his Ahge!ne.
Where wanderers from sfar ran como ,
Aud breathe the air of libcrty. r
May her flowers. untrnmplcd. spring, "
And her benutcous cities rise,
And, until time shall fold his wing,
Remain earth's loveli.st paradi,e.
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