The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-07-13
THE CENTENNIAL GRAFTON


delphia, on the 4th inst:
We turn now from the survey of
this vast territory, which the closing
century has consolidated and con-
tirmed as the ample home for Ma
ton, to exhibit the greatness in num-
bers, the spirit, the character, the port
and mien of the people that dwell in
this secure habitation. That in these
years our population has steadily adj
vanced, till it counts forty millions in
stead of three, bears witness, not to be
disparaged or gainsaid, to the general
congruity of our social and civil insti-
tutlons with the happiness and pros
perity Of man. But if we consider
further the variety and magnitude OF
foreign elements to which we have
been hoSpitable, and their ready fusion
with the earlier stocks, we have
new evidence of strength and vivid
force in our population which we may
not refuse to admire. The disposition
and the capacity thus shown give war
rant of powerful society. "Ail
Nations" says Lord Bacon, "that are
liberal of naturalization are fit for en-
pire."
Wealth in its mass, and still more
in its tenure and diffusion, is meas
ure Of the condition of a people
which touches both its energy and mo-
raIity. Life has given nothing val
liable to man without great labor :"
This is as true now as when Horace
wrote it. The prodigious growth OF
wealth in this country is not only.
therefore, a signal mark of prosperity
but proves industry, persistency.
thrift. as the habits of the people. Ac-
emulation of wealth, too, requires
and imparts security, as well as unfet-
tered activity; and thus it is II fan
criterion of SObricty and justice in .
people, certainly when the laws ant
their execution rest wholly in theiI
hands. A careless observation of the
crimes and frauds which attack pros
pcrity, i'll the actual condition of on,
society, and the impcrfcction of on
means for their prevention and re
dress. leads sometimes to an unfavOra
BILE comparison between the presen
and the past. i'll this country, as re
SpectS the probity of the people. n,
doubt coYctouSneSS has not ceased il
the world, and thieves still breal
through and steal. But the better test
upon this point is the vast profusiol
of our wealth and the infinite trust
shown by the manner in which it is in
vested. 1t is not too much to say that
i'll our times, and conspiCuouSly in om
country, Il large share of every mans
property is in other mems keeping and
management. unmatched and beyond
personal control. This confidence OF
man in man is ever increasing, meas
ured by our practical conduct, and re-
flutes these disparagements of the gen
eral morality.
knowledge, intellectual activity. the
mastery of nature. the discipline OF
life-all that makes up the education
of peOple-are developed and diffused
through the masses Of our population
in so ample and generous distribu-
ton as to make this conspicuous
trait i'll our national character, as the
faithful provision and extension of the
means and opportunities of this educa-
ton are the cherished institution OF
the country. Learning, literature.
science, art are cultivated in their
widest range and highest reach, by
larger and larger number of our peo-
pie, not, to their praise be it said
as personal distinction or d
selfish possession, but, mainly as
Il generous leaven, to quicken
and expand the healthy fermenta-
ton of the general mind, and lift the
level of popular instruction. So far
from breeding distempered spirit in
the people, this becomes the main prop
of authority, the great instinct of ODE
dience. sit is by education." says
Aristotle, Il have learned to do by
choice what other men do by constraint
of fear
The "breed and disposition of
people, in regard of courage, public
spirit and patriotism, are, however,
the test of the working of their insti-
buttons which the world most values.
and upon which the public most de-
ponds. 1t has been made a reproach
of democratic arrangements of society
and government that the sentiment of
honor and of pride in public duty de-
cayed in them. 1t has been profeSSed
that the fluctuating currents and the
trivial perturbations of their public |
life discouraged strenuous endeavor
and lasting devotion in the public
service. 1t has been charged that, as
a consequence, the distinct service of
the state suffered, office and magistracy
were belittled, social sympathies
cooled, love of country dropped, and
selfish affections absorbed the powers
of the citizens, and eat into the heart
of the commonwealth.
The experience of our country re-
jects these speculations as misplaced
and these fears as illusory. They be-
long to a condition of society above
which we have long since been lifted, |
and toward which the very scheme of
our NatioAal life prohibits a decline. |
They are drawn from the examples of
history, which lodged power, formally. |
in the people, but left them ignorant |
and abject, unfinished with the
means of exercising it in their own
right and for their own benefit. In a |
democracy welded by the arts, and to
the ends of patrician class, the less
worthy members of that class, no
doubt, throve by the disdain, which |
noble characters must always feel for |
methods of deception and insincerity, |
and crowded them from the authentic |
service of the state. But, through the |
period whose years we count to-day, |
the greatest lesson of all is the prepon-
derance of public over private, of so
cial over selfish, tendencies and pur-
poses in the whole body of the people, |
and the persistent fidelity to the genius
and spirit of popular institutions, of |