The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-11-20

NOVEMBER 20, 1880.
American Citizenship.
An Essay BY . Student OF Roanoke Collegs,
Salem, Virgins.
There is no subject should interest the.
American people more than that Of their
own citizenship.
In order to see whether such citizen
ship is very meritorious or not, it is nec-
essary to place it in relation to that of
other countries.
1t was in the days of yore when that
grand old sentence, 81 appeal unto CH-
sar," was made. This sentence, laden
with so much potency, was uttered by
man, whose physical powers and person
al appearance were not 80 great and
calmly, but whose moral strength and in-
tellectual powers had never been sur
passed. At this time he was prisoner
standing before Festus, Roman pro-
consul in a city near the capital Of Judea.
He had been charged by the public pros
ecutor, as having plotted against the
workshop of the temple Of Diana and Of
the religious systelns in general. He had
longed for the decisions Of justice, which
were in their very nature slow. A mob
having arisen i'll order that he: might be
killed, band of Roman soldiers inter-
ceded and rescued him, the chief officer
of which asked the prisoner, cart not
thou that Egyptian, which before those
days madest On uproar and letldest out
into the wilderness four thousand men
that were murderers Z"
When this prisoner was ascending the
steps of castle, in order that he might
be rescued from the mob, by permission
of the chief captain, he turned and ad-
dressed the multitude in polished Greek,
which struck them with awe, aud more
greatly were they soothed into silence
when he changed the tenor Of his voice
and spoke fuently to them III refined
Hebrew. When bound down and sub
jected to the pains Of the cudgel, he asked
the chief captain if it were lawful for
him to scourge - Roman citizen that was
suncondemned. "Tell me-" said the Of
| fcer, Art thou Roman {" Yes, replied
the prisoner Nor did / buy it, but was
| freebOrn."
The penalty for a false claim to Roman
citizenship was death, and to bind q Ro-
man uncondemned in chains, demanded
the severest punishment. This fact the
bloodthirsty accuscrs were well aware of
and the chief officer, desirous Of popular
favor, suggested that this prisoner should
be sent to the local court in the metropolis
for adjudication. For some time had this
man waited for that judicial sentence he
we'll knew his destiuirs were fixed by
that assembly; he well knew that he was
prejudged by that court, and his last
words to the cllief officer wore, "I appeal
unto Caesar"
Now the question may here arise, Why
did this great prisoner, who was none
other than st. Paul, appeal unto Cesar
Could it have been because Cesar was
clothed in purple, aud supposed by that
deluded people to WELD almost omnipo-
tent poweri No, Caesar could have been
divested of his purple before the earth
could make one revolution. Could it
have been because he represented the Wis
ible power of the Roman peoplef No,
Cesar's life could have been taken by nh
insignificant bondslnan. 1t was because
in him was represented the invisible puis-
sance of the Roman Empire, which en-
braced the whole country between the
Caspian Sea and the British Isles.
When we behold Cotopaxi piled up
by volcanic energies, we are struck with
wonder; when cyclones and great conf1a-
grstions spread desolation over the land,
we consider ourselves nothing 10, as the
unseen forccs in nature are more pow
erful than the seen, it is no less true that
the unseen forces in q States government
are more potent than the seen.
| We oil have experienced that the law
of our own state demands humble SUBJ
mission, and subdues the most violent
passions Of men by the mere force Of an
idea. In illustration of this, We have
'often seen great riots quelled by officers
of no physical power at all, comparatively
speaking.
This principle st. Paul veil knew, and
when he made that appeal, the Roman
Empire contained upwards Of one hum
dred millions Of souls, and few Of these
were counted as Roman citizens and to
that few the boast, ~ am Roman citi-
zen," was fraught with wonderful signi-
ficance; such citizenship gave security
not only to person and property, but to
precious political privileges, freedom Of
thought and action.
But the citizenship of Rome was SO COM
pletely encompassed by prescriptive nsa-
ges that when laid alongside Of the free
dom and dignity that characterize Amer
lean citizenship, it can not but be in-
ferred that q citizen of Rome was nothing
more than bond-slave. /. 10 true, that
when Roman reflected apon the glory
which that mighty empire could bestow
his citizenship, lie could feel compensated,
bnt even at the day when Constantine