The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-07-12

a
son and the nation in solved, BY the appeal Oh
war what too hard for civil wisdom. Win oGr
territory unmutilated, constitution interrupted,
kNunitsd people in the last years Of the century,
croWns with new glory the immortal truths OF the
Declaration of Independence by the emancipation oil
. race.
snd them in the method and the results Of the
eentury's progress Of the nation in this amphcaon
of its domain, sure promise OF the duration OF the
body polite whose growth to these vast proportions
has as vet but laid out the ground plan OF the
structure. For find the vital forces OF the free So
eiety and the peoples government mere iouhoeS'
have by their own vigor made this natural grown
Strength and symmetry have knit together the great
frame as its bulk increased, aud the spirit OF the ma
ton animates the whole:
-sstotamque, infusia per artus,
Mems agitat molem, ct magnOse, eorPore INSECT
We turn now from the survey of this vast terri
torv which the closing century has consolidated ana
S;h;, th i'm numbers the spirit tie char
acter the port and mien OF the people that dwei IN
this secure habitatiOn. That, IN these years, our
millions instead of three, bears Witness not TO be
dsparaged or gainsaid TO the general eongruity OF
of our social and civil INSTITUTIONS WIN eis ~
and prosperity of man put II we CONSIDER lu.
Their the variety and magnitude OF foreign elements
10 which have been hospitaole, ana their Ieauy
fusion with the earlier stocks, We have new eNueve
of strength and vivid force in our population "hch
we NAV not refuse to admire. The disposition aud
the capacity thus shown give warrant OF powerful
society. Gan nations" says Lord Bacon, THAT are
liberal Of naturalization are mt for empire.
Wealth in its and still more in its tenure ana
difusion il a measure Of the condition Of people,
which touches both its energy and morality wealth
has no sburce but labor. - Life has given nothing
valuable 10 man without great labor ms Is as
tTns now as when Horace wrote il. The prodigious
owth of wealth in this country is not only, there
fore signal mark t Of the habits Of the people
Accumulation of wealth, too, requires anu lmparts
security As well as unfettered activity ana thus Is
fair criterion Of sobriety and justice in people,
certainly when the laws and their execution rest
wholly in their hands. careless observation OF the
crimes and frauds which attack prosperity, IN the
actual condition of society, and the imperfecton
of our means for their prevention and redress leads
sometimes TO sn unfavorabe comparison between the
present and the past in this country as respects le
probty of the people No doubt coyetousness mas mol
ceased in the world, and thieves still break through
and steal But the better test upon this point Is the
vast profusion of wealth and the infinite trust
shown by the manner In which it is invested Ii Is
not much to say that in our times and conspic-
uously in country, large share of every man
propeTty is in other mems keeping and management,
unmatched and beyond personal control. ms conn
dence of man in man is ever increasing measured by
practical conduct and refutes these dlsparage-
ments of the general morality.
Knowledge, intellectual activity, the mastery OF
na1urs, Ihe PnTi IL Svaioned and iiffusel
through the masses Of our population, In so ample
and generous distribution as 10 make this the cOu
spicuous trait in national character, as the faith
full provision aud extension of the means and oppOr
tunites of this education, the cherished instlu-
ton Of the country. kLearnng, literature, science,
art are cultivated their widest range and highes'
reach, by larger and larger number OF our people
not to their praise be il said, personal distinc-
4
Gus Ieaven, quicken and expand the healthtul Ter
mentaton of the general mind, and lift the level OF
popular instruction. so far from breeding dlstem
pered spirit in the people, this becomes the main
prop of authority, the great instinct OF obedience
dc is by education, said Aristotle 81 have learned
TO do by choice what other men do by constralnt OF
fear
The "breed and disposition" of a people in regard
of courage, public spirit aud patriotism are, how
ever, the of the working Of their Institutions
which the world most values, and upon which the
public safety most depends. 1t has been made re
proaeh of democratic arrangements OF society and
government that the sentiment Of honor and Of pride
in public duty, decayed IN them. 1t has been pro-
fessed that the luctuating currents and the trivia
perurbatOns Of their public lie discouraged siren
uous endeavOr and lasting devotion in the public
service 1t has been cha ged that as consequence
the distinct service of the sate suffered, Office and
magistracy belitted, social sympathies cooled
love of country dropped, and selfish affections ali
sorbed the powers Of the citizens, and eat tito tht
heart of The commonwealth
The experience Of our country rejects these specu
latons misplaced and these fears iilus0ry. They
belong to condition Of society above which We
have long since been liftel and toward which th'
cry scheme of our national life prohibits decline
They drawn from the examples Of history, which
edged power, formally, in the people, but left then
ignorant and abject, unfinished with the means o
exercising ii in Their own right and for their OWL
benefit In a democracy welded by the arts, and Z
the ends of patrIcian class, the less worthy mem
beers of that class no doubt thrOve by the disdaiT
which noble characters must always feel FOL
methods Of seception and insincerity, and crowded
them from the authentic service of the state. But
through the period whose years we count to-day, tn
greatest lesson Of alt the prePondeTsnce of public
over private, of social over selfish, tendencies ant
purposes in the whole body of the people, and tn
persistent fidelity the genius and spirit of pOpula
institutions, of the educated classes the liberal pro
fessiOns, and the great men Of the country. Thes
qualities transfuse and blend the hues and virtue
Of the manifold rays Of advanced civilization into
sunlight of public spirit aud fervid PATRIOTISM
which warns and irradiates the lite of the nation
Excess of publicity the animatiug spirit an'
stimulus of society more probably than its lack vii
excite solictudes in the future. Even the publ
dlscOntents color,
heart Of the whole people ache with anxieties an'
throb with griefs which have no meaner scope thar
the honor and the safety of the nation.
Our estimate of the condition of this people at tn
close Of a eentury-as bearing on the value ant
efficiency Of the principles which the government
was founded, in maintaining and securing the per
manent well-being of natiOn-wOuld, indeed, b.
incomplete if we failed TO MEASURE the power an,
purity of the religious elements which peryade an
elevate our society One might well expect gu
land to keep its climate, fertility, saubrity
and its beauty the globe lOOseDed from the Law
which holds il in an orbit where we feel the TEN
pered radiance of the sun, to count upon tn
preservation Of abe delights and gIories Of liberty 70
people cast loose from religion, whereby man 1
bound in harmony with the moral government Of III
world.
1t is quite certain that the present day show
no such soleml absorption in the exalted theme
of cOntempla i've piety, as marked the prevalen
thought OF the people hundred years ago; nor -
hopeful an enthusiasm for the speedy renovation
OF the world, as burst upon in the velOu
wide system of vehement, religious zeal, anC
practical good works in the early part of the nine
teenth century But these fires are less splendid
only because they more potent and dif
fuss taeir heat in wei formed habits and mani
fo'd agencies of benefcent activity They ira
we're and Psrmeate society in every direction
They travel with the OutpOsts of civilization, anS
outrun the caucus, the convention, and the suf
frage.
The church, throughout this land upheld by n,
political establishment, rests all the frmer TIM
rock on which its founder built it. The grea
mass OF our cOuntrymen to-day, find in the Bibl,
the Bible in their worship, the Bible in thei
schools, the Bible in their households-the SUI
hcient lessons OF the fear of God and the love o
man, which make them Obedient servants to tn,
free constitution OF their country in all civil du
ties, and ready with their lives to sustain it OF
the fields o. war. And now at the end of hun