The star. (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1874-1875, 1875-07-05
THE NATIONAL BIRTHDAY.


yesterday was our country's birthday
and one more will complete the first hur
dred years Of her existence. Counte,
merely by years we are still young, bu
as the life Of nation, like that of an in
dividual, is reckoned more properly bl
what it has accomplished, we have al
ready outlived all the world beside. Ii
politics, in science, in art, In religion
and In the varied industries Of her peo
pie, our country stands so far in the fore
ground that it is almost impossible II
realize that all the other important coun
tries of the world were old in years be
fore she had even an existence. There
lis beautiful impressiveness about birth
day celebrations, and this is especially
striking when all the people of greal
land leave their usual ayocations and
devote day in various ways to cele
'brating the birthday of their common
country. Such occasions induce their
lparticipators to look lenientIy on the
mistakes and errors of the past and en-.
courage them to take fresh hope for the
future.
There have been so many incidents Of
late to unite in bonds of the most cordial
brotherhood the people of the various
sections of our land, that it will be an
ungrateful child indeed that can to-day
indulge any but feelings of the puresl
patriotism. And as people of Intelligence
review the past, they will be convinced
that the stories of the corruption and
degeneracy of our country are in the
main mere exaggeration, and that there
is as much good in the world to-day as
there ever was before. They will not
feel that our ancestors gave us perfect
system OF government from which we
have been gradually departing ever
since, but rather that they merely laid
the foundation of this grand structure
and left to future generations the task
OF erecting the building itself and en-
bellishing it as experience and cir.
cumstances enabled them.
The ideas of the founders of our Gov
ernment were many of them crude and
impractical, and they did not expect
nor was it in the nature of things, for
them at once to devise plan of Govern
ment so. perfect as to be beyond the
reach of improvement. They only
sought to start right, and were content
to leave it to their successors to con-
tinue the work till theirideal of per ect
Republic was reached. That those who
succeeded them followed we'll in their
footsteps, the greatness of our country
to-day is the best evidence. Those who
tell you that this great system of coun-
ty, municipal, State and Federal Gov
ernment, with its smooth running ma
chinery and its intricate mechanism is
still an experiment, have but superficial
ly studied the situation. 1t is already q
proved success-a success of which
Washington, Adams and Franklin, In
their most enthusiastic moments, never
dreamed.
Chronic grumblers are constantly
prating about the corruption and de-
generacy Of the times, and people misled
by them forget that there are more ex-
posures Of corruption now than formerly
because there is more diligence in seek
ing them. The Congressman of fifty, or
even twenty years ago, did not have the
keen scented reporter constantly on his
track, nor were the people of that day so
promptly and thoroughly informed OF the
doings of their representatives as they
are now. But human nature was about
the same, and the politician Of that day
whose faults have been buried with him
and whose virtues have been magnified
by his admirers, was pretty much the
same kind of an Individual that we deal
with in the same capacity to-day. Nor
is there any true data for believing that
crime OF any class has multiplied to the
extent that people would make you be-
lieye. The facilities for collecting news
and printing papers have kept pace with
our civilization, and every reader is now
promptly informed of all the crimes COM
mitted In every part of the world; and
COiupaIIng ILLS with WudI came unUor
the observation of bis grandfather he is
not likely to draw comparison very
favorable to our times. Neither poIiti-
clans nor the people at large have grown
SO much worse, and to assert that they
have in the face of all the facts, is an in
suit not only to our civilization but to
the influences of Christianity itself. We
detract nothing from the glory of those
that have gone before, but we have more
faith in patriotism founded on knowl-
edge OF what our country Is and is to be
than one that has it's origin merely in
surerstitious reverence for the past.
The men of hundred years ago We're
not all embodiments of bravery and
honor and truth, nor are those of to-day
all selfish, dishonorable and unreliable.
There have always been good and bad and
in the past as well as the present the
evil has been subordinate to the good
vice has had to yield to virtue, and
truth, which always triumphs, has had
the greatest number OF votaries. Our
country is not on the brink OF ruin.