The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-07-10

| tHelr meceS and BOUNDS, TO recall 10 Oul
memory the image and stature OF the found
ers of our institutions, that we may breathe
with their spirits, live with their hearts
think with their thoughts, and grow Into
their likeness; to recount their struggles,
their trials, their dangers, their sufferings,
and to learn the value of freedom by Its cost.
1t is a day for settlement of our political
accounts, to strike the balance, to examine
the priceless legacy left us by our fathers,
and ascertain whether we have been robbed
OF aught thereof, defrauded OF aught thereof,
or whether like prodigal sons we have vast
ed aught thereof in riotous living; and should
we, on examination find, that it has been
diminished one jot or little, that a fragment
Is In the hands Of the spoiler, that its puri-
" Is marred by spot or stain; to resolve
TO rest not by day or by night, tilIall that be-
longed to it be restored, till each missing frag-
ment be replaced, and until it shine again
Wlthalth the brightness ofits original splendor.
Inc work OF that day, the immortal 4th of
July lHG-and when speak of the work of
that day, bear in mind thatI speak OF it as
crowned and consummated by the formation
OF the Constitution OF the L nited States-has
| now stood the test of the experience of a
century, borne the strain of immense terri
torlal expansion, OF unprecedented increase
OF population, wiJhstood the jarring of vast
conHlctlng interests, of fierce party contests,
OF bitter, burning sectional hatreds, gigan-
tlc civil war, a complete sectional triumph,
| tle overthrow OF vast system OF domestic
| LABOR, the destruction and reconstruction of
| ten oCates and the true wonder is, not that
| It should be altered somewhat in shape and
form, but that after all these years of trial,
OF storm, OF contest and of warit should still
survive, so like. itself as it came from the
nands OF It's true creators. In all that timej
1t has been the object of the study, the
thought and the criticism OF statesmen and
OF thinkers OF every civilized country on the
GLOBE. Kings and their cabinets have deep
ly studied it, in order to guard the outworks
of despotism against the encroachments of
its enlightened philosophy. Liberal rulers
and their councils have studied it, with the
view OF charging the scope and strength
enlng the guarantees Of human freedom. and
| peoples have studied it and cherished it as the
most perfect embodiment OF practical politi-
cal wisdom. In all that time, criticism has
detected no falsehood in its theory, no flaw
| in its logic, no defect in its beautiful sym.
metry.
| And during all that time, no free country. no
country with q constitutional government.
or with the semblance OF a constitutional
government, has made any substantial
change IN It's governmental system without
borrowing something of theory or of form
from the declaration Of Independence or the
constitution of the United States, and no peo-
| pie have burst the shackles of bondage with
out making their essential features the basis
| OF their Institutions. And to-day every civil
| ilzed people not the subjects of irresponsible
despotlsm maintained by military power,
enjoy In move or less perfection, and to
| greater or less extent, the guarantees it pro-
pounds for the protection Of life, liberty and
property.
An assembly of elected representatives
representation approximating more or less
nearly equality as to the numbers and in
terests represented, taxation controlled by
the representative assembly, and immunity
from governmental control in matters of re-
ligious belief, are now conceded by crowned
heads. as fundamental human rights.
Since the 4th day of July 1776, the general
movement of these principles, though not ne
cessarily tending to republican forms, has
been steadily onward, and in the nature of
human events it is scarcely possible it can
ever recede. And the influence of The work
OF our ancestors in the amelioration of the |
condition of the human race, is coextensiye |
with civilization, and will be cOexistent with |
time
1t has been said that the wisdom of our
ancestors has been vindicated by the success |
OF their experiment. This is true, but is not |
all OF the truth. The failure of Futon's exper-
mental Steamboat, to accomplish any great
practical result, did not disprove the value
OF steam as motive power and there was
that in the example OF the calm self.control
OF our forefathers, OF their high hearted he
roic patriotism. their clear perceptions and
apt expressions OF political truth that would
have survived even the failure of their cause.
The authors of the declaration of independ-
ence would have been immortal, THOUGH
George the Third had hanged them for hieh
treason. =.
A spark from the ashes OF their desolation
and ruin would have kindled flame to light
the nations in their path to freedom, That
the we'll being OF the human race on the
Western Continent required separation
from the mother country would have been
demonstrated by time and experience,
though the feeble colonies had been over
whelmed by the power of the British Empire,
That taxation by elected representatives
to freedom would have become
an axiom in governmental theory, though our
ancestors had failed to maintain it,
That a Federal union of States is our true
theory OF republicanism is demonstrable.
however state autonomy might subsequently,
be crushed under grasping and usurpng
centralism.
The sagacious PERCEPTION OF the immedi-
ate and of the ultimate neoe ssities of hu-
mainly in the Western World, the courage
OF deliberately resolving to wrest the destiny
of our country from the might of the British
Empire, the resolution which kept untraln-
ed armies in the field against trained yetcr- !.
aus, the persistence which remained unshak- .
en- through years OF disaster and defeat, the
skill which wrought military resources out
OF the slender means of the infant colonies.
kept armies in the field with deficient sup Z
plies, deprecated money and tottering cred I
it, which seized and held each point OF van 7
tage and triumphed over such odds, the
wisdom which conceived these theories of fe
government, which are of universal truth.
and wrought them into that shape and form i
best suited to each circumstance Of particu- 7
lar application all constitute titles to glory.
of the accident of success or
failure.
But our ancestors have higher titles to |
and gratitude than even all these ,
they were grander in what they renounced
for themselves, than in what they ACQUIRED |
for posterity. L
When that renowned parliament of Eng \
land, which commenced, what for long i,
time was a career Of glory, had overthrow =.
King and Lords, and had established a COM
in place Of a monarchy, they q
seated themselves in the places of power, T
exercised all the functions OF government. TIL
they in turn were dethroned by a stronger
brain and a nightier hand, and Cromwell {
Alone as Lord Protector, ruled the realm. a
And since our revolution, when France i
''got drunk with blood to vomit crime'' as :,
each Faction conquered in its turn, and as. !.
cended steps of blood to seats of power, l
each welded all the functions and powers of s
the state to secure its own selfish ends OF r
ambition, OF vengeance, OF passion and of )
lust; and the final master OF them all, used /.
the power given him as First Consul to or asp l
in his hand the sceptre OF St. Louis, and to g
place on his brow the diadem OF the CAESARS. a
Our ancestors exhibited the solitary ex-
ample in human history where the leaders
of a successful revolution, who had .'lifted
bleeding country from the dust and set her r
free, "addressed themselves to the task of +
system of government and so !;
framed it as to assert neither power, pre-
eminence nor advantage for themselves; who t
had borne the heat and burden OF weary, /
lingering war, wore the scsrs of an hundred s
battles, and whose frames were spent and !.
whose fortunes were wrecked by long years
of unremunerated devotion to the public {
service. But with an eye single to the pub t