The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1877-11-20

doubt, our own Henry drank ue'P u'
the fount of this great inspiration when
his tongue and voice were heard to
ring out the golden words, "Give me
liberty or give me death" There arc
no people who have established ;ov-
ernment and civilization bn. who
have presented in the character Of some
of their leaders striking landmarks
which stand out like Alpine SUBMITS
as models for their country and their
nation. Mothers around the fre'sido
on bleak wintry nights have rehcarscd
| their deeds to their children. The
Troubadour, the child Of song and the
harp, in the middle ages in his travels
from castles and lordly halls have saved
many facts and deeds of daring to his
tory which would have been lost to after
ages. The blind old man Of scios
rocky isle," has pictured in noble epic
the character and life Of Greece and
Troy, and held up to our gaze in those
fur distant times characters from
whose study we drink in Inspirations of
patriotism and love of country. How
ever great may be the names OF modcrn
leaders, the imagination loves to linger
around the bills of classic Greece,
which have been the silent witnesses OF
an that is great and grand in human
character. Few countries can produce
a pass of Thermopyle, or exhibit mon
umental inscription to which they cau
point with the pride of Sparta. go
stranger, tell it at Lacedaemon tha: we
died here in obedience to her laws"
What government can place upon its
role of honor a name more illustrions.
Regulus, whcse devotion and sellrsacri-
fee, though be lived within the period
of historical data, has rendered his
character in some sort unnatural sud
mythical?
While England can proudly direct
the traveller to her Westminster Alb
bey, where rest for ages the ashes Of
her Ilustrious dead; and modern Europe
as well as ancient nations may be fertile
in characters whose minds have served
to unfold and bring to light tho great
truths of nature. While they open the
records Of their great deeds. both 10
the field of battle and in the domain Of
craftsmanship, the government OF the
United States will yield the palm to
none in her robe of honor, though the
storms and and tempest af but one hun
dred years have played above her. she
stands to-day stalwart and towering IN
the strength of her youth; with helmet,
sword aud buckler uutattered aud un.
torn, through the conflict and blood Of
The most fearful civil convulsious ever
recorded in tho annals Of history. This
fact, my fellow citizens, is due TO the
unswerving patriotism Of her citizens,
guided in their distiny by the finger Of
his couutry. in the trials Of Valley
Forge, as well as when ho pcnncd his
farewell words to a people whose gov
ernment he had done more than any
other to establish, and whose liberties
he had transmitted to coming genera
tions. What country can invite tire
attention of the historian and the phi
losopher to a noblcr cluster o: citizens
than assembled at Congress Hall, a,
Philadelphia, TO deliberate upon form
of Government, and to put aGoat upon
the current of time their declarations of
Indepcndence The poor exiled colo
nies for conscience sake, from the shores
Of Great Europe, now began to build
their nests over this broad continent,
and to plant the nettlc and thorn rs
testimonials for the protection Of their
brood Tor ages to come. In the midst
of their careful deliberations, watered
by their sterling virtues, our cons;ltu-
tion took root, aud may its tree, with
our eagle pcrched upon its loiiiest
summit, grow and flourish till time
shall be no more.
Yet while We honor and applaud,
and vcneratc the memories Of those IL
lustrious heroes, statesmen and citizens
whose intellect, nerve, energy aud pa
triotism built and established this great
and complicated system of Government.
which has showered so many blessings
upon the human family. From this
stand point. at the end Of country,
we can readily perceive that the states
mcn of the South, committed great
aud most unfortunate mistake. The
representatives of the North f6resaw,
that upon the successful establishment
ola government, in which such liberal
principles were inculcatcd, cherished
and protected, that the emigration
would set in from Europe, aud from
that source abundant labor would flow;
capital would come the values of pro-
er,y increased and its people strength
ened both for offence and defence. The
South on the other hand, welded to
her idol, ''The Institution Of Slavery.
insisted upon aud enforccdits protection
in the constitution of the country; thus,
the Oriental religions, it became ias-
tened u;on the backs of her people,
identified with her future, and dove
tailed into every fibre Of her civilization
and her life. A upas tree from the
shades Of which, there was no escape.
But-whcu the great founders OF our
government, clad in the simple virtues
Of their nature, were busily framing a
government for the protection Of the
natural rights Of the human race, they