Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1876-07-06

|
OF
/ SHENANDOAH COUNTY. VA:
DELIVERED BY
PROF JOSEPH sally ARDS, A. NJ
i WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA,
July 4th, 1876.
Felioao citizens of Shenandoah.
Ladies ard Gentlemen :-
First of all, my thapksart
due to the gentlemen of the Coittmiffce
| who assigned iue to this distlng,ia!s~b'
position. altogether nnezpected and tigs
best evidence | could give Of MT pro,
found sense Of their very friendly con
siders ton, is a Jealous aid faithful dis
charge Of the duty it involves, so far as
my humble abilities and limited t:Fae
have allowed.
/ dare say that what I NOW take oc-
casion here to introduce will differ widely
INDEED, from the usual patriotic Addresses
you have been accustomed to hear on the
Fourth ofJuly. In tlutl. their is sub
iect of special impOI talict which must
claim our chief attention to day-I mean
| he first Century Of our Existence as Il
Free People. You mist hot expect my
simple treatment OF this subject to be
animated by the destinations of wit. or
the glew OF impassoned defamation bui
! trust. with Il people of your Intelligence.
it will not be altogether devoid OF Interest
and OF utility. After some prelim mary
observations.I shall ask permission to read
t,h,,
descriptive, historical. and political of the
County OF Shenandoah, and then | shall
concllide What have to cay. with few
reflections which may natura lily spring
out of the subject.
1t has been asserted, that in the brain
Of the i!.fIt child repose nnconsciousiv
all the thoughts of the full grown man
1t is ut least certain that every essential
element in the gigantic oak lies compl ess
ed AMI concealed in the little globe Of an
acorn !; that IL very small lake Ubscm ely
hidden away in the distant hills, is the
primitive source and father Of waters,
which perpetuate from age to Aye the
longest most majestic of rlvers--the Mis-
sissppi These a,ialogies may find a
moral application in the early develop
ment of man and society. II night indeed
be curious and instructive to interrogae
origin OF free institutions among men
away yonder in the little district of Attic;
which is usually considered the cradle of
liberty, although scarcely larger than our
own County and then to trace the pro-
.gress of these Institutions on to Republic
can Rome, to Alfred the Great of England,
down to our Washington. even down to
the present moment, when the advance
nent OF art, OF science, of industry, has
given wider scope to the energies of man.
than ever the Imagination ofPlato in his
Republic, or the prophetic visions of
oriental sages, could have conceived.
Liberty of thought, liberty of action
these are the sources Of human progress
and prosperity. This great Truth has
dawned upon the mind only at inter walls
widely separated by place and time, fire.
queltly has it been obscured; sometimes
utterly suppressed Revi wing again, 1t
has caused mighty nationaiities to vibrate,
Just rs The clouds respond to the flash
of electric agency. But "the thoughts of
men have wide1ed with the process of The
suns" and the whole theory ofmans pros
perlty may now be Produced to plain sci
entltic statement Ration il liberty Of
thought and action is the predestined
source of earthly prosperity and happi-
ness while, Oh tie other hand, systematic
tyranny conjolned with blind passive SUI
perstilion. is the malignant power, which
in all ages has emasculated the mind, and
paralyzed the human hand.
Now On this first centennial day of our
Independence, let us indulge the encour-
aging retrospect of the past century : let
ms lovely vaic or Snenandoah-and
ascertain our longitude III the voyage OF
exper cc. Ifthis be the one hundredth
allnlvel slry Of Il world r rlOwne epoch il
the original idea OF independence first
entered the mind of some old, colonial
father of yours, here in Woodstock, as it
is said. more than one hundred years ago,
what "reminiscences ! what antlcipltionS!
should agirate the bosoms of his posterity
when assembled i'll the enjoyment OF that
very independence ? Yea, what should be
the exultation OF all American freemen,
when they reflect, that the representatives.
OF twenty-six independent sovereignties.
from almost every quarter of the world,
have come hlther TO meet us in our own
tatherland, to rejoice with us. and unite
in the celebration OF a national event. the
most suspicious perhaps, the most glorious.
that the sun in his centennial revolutions.
ever beheld ? Is the capacity of human
intellect equal to so magnificent con-
cept.on? Nay, verify only nations
heart can contain II nation S JOY. 1t is
enough for the people of Shenandoah
merely to imagine the universal con-
CALCULATIONS, and to know that millions of
their fellow creatures are at this moment
sharing the same triumphant emotions.
COUNTY OF SHENANDOAH.