The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1880-06-11

of man: He alone, Wilo fashioned man,
who allotted to him his home or EARTH,
who guarded and directed the tottering
footsteps Of his infant civilization through
the fatal quicksaids of barbarisn, super
stition and ignorance, can know and conls
prehend principle, which IS clouded by
| the black obscurity Of countless centu
lries.
And yet, though its origin be hidden il
the inscrntable plan Of the Invisible, its,
character and tendencies can be studied il
! its progress and effects
IA comparative view Of the histories Of
christian nations reveals an unmistakable
popularity IL English civilization. What
His that peculiarly What are the eharac-
lteristics which mark its English civiliza
ton? To state some Of these PECULIAR
ties and to trace them through the pro-
gress Of English civilization, is my pres.
ent purpose.
| Ist. English civilization has always
been characterized BY Its determined and
unconditional opposition ito tyranny and
is. persistent and unquenehable love for
| liberty. The Anglo Saxon race IS an off.
spring Of those hardy German tribes,
which, in the fifth century, burst as BY
one common impulse from the barrenness
and ignorance Of the north upon the fer
fifty and culture Of the Roman Empire
and subverted the national lines Of the
whole Of Europe. Driven BY. this i'm
pulse the Angles and Saxons stemmed
1.-THE currents and braved the storms Of
/ northern seas to secure homes for them,
selves in. the fertile isle Of Britain. They
were reared in land where all nature
combines to make men brave, resolute3
and independent. There on the little pen
insula, which seems thrust as a barrier be-
tween the roaring Baltic and tempestuous
North seas, the hardy ancestors Of the
English people. lived, endured the frosty
winters of northern cline, and Wrested
a meagre sustenance from the unwilling
soil. There was the cradle Of English
liberty and English love for freedom.
Their conflict withnature made them bold,
hafdy and independent and all their en-
vifonments cultivated an imperishable has
tired Of oppression, and an unqualified love
of liberty. Ill.,
This love of liberty was engrafted into
their natures BY nature.
Was this love Of liberty lost after
their conquest Of Britain Not4while The
name Of Alfred the Great, the representa-
/ tive king Of this people lives in English
hearts and the trial, BY. jury. continues,
to testify to their hatred Of tyranny and
the early Jealousy of their Liberties. Was
this love for freedom lost in the conquest
Of the Danes and Normans? Not while
[ the just laws 81. Edward the Confessor re-
mainto indicate the character Of that time
and the charters III Henry /, and John stand
las eternaI and signal monuments of the En-
/ gIish loyesfpr freedom, and the English ha-
j tired of tyranny. Did this opposition to to
1 ranny cease under the oppressive rules Of
the houses of Tutlot and Stuart The reyo-
/ buttons of 1912 and 1ssS, are but the ernp-
4 ton Of slumbering volcano of English ha-
tired, of tyranny and English love for free
dom, OIL did the Anglo Saxon race quietly
and submisslvely endure the slasish OPP
preston Of George Ill. The declasation Of
independence, that dear character Of Ameri-
can liberty, stands as q final, snceessfuRand
everlasting proof Of the Anglo Saxon love Of
4 liberty, and the Anglo. Saxon hatred Of ty-
|ranny. Yes, from the time when the war
/ like Sayons6 of sehleswicklsft the bleak and
wintry shores Of the Baltic until the time
when their descendants of twelve centuries
leaped upon the rock bound shores Of Ply
moth Bay, this sturdy persistent and in
ldomftable love &c liberty has run like a
4 golden thread through the whole fahrie of
! English civilization. Force and tyranny
have sometimes seemed to repressA it, the
oYerpowering strength Of rival nations has
sometimes obscured it, but like never
ceasing stream meeting barrier, it dfsa-
pears only to undermine #and at last, rush
\ ing forth with all the energy Of renewed
vigor, carries ALL before it in terrible and
chaotic ruin. The smallest bit Of Plymoth
rock is cherished BY the most powerful3na
ton % the gtobe, while palaces have de-
eayed,and empires sunk into eternal obi
I WON.
2. English civilization is characterized