The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-27

of her birthright with the sturdy self
reliance OF iedomitable conviction and OF
conscious power, turned to carry forward as
a new nation, under other conditions and
through other institutions, the cardinal prin-
ciples Of constitutional liberty.
THE OLD AND THE NEW.
This Gay, therefore, commentaries the
END of the old order, and this spot the be-
ginning of the new. With the evacuation
of New York monarchy ended; with the in
auguration of Washington the national re-
public began. The result, indeed, had been
foretold by the course of events through all
the colonial period, which eliminated in the
total overthrow of British power. The early
New England eonfederations-the colonial
leagues against Indian hostility-William
PENIS suggestion of a provincial congress
the military association for a common in
terest and with a common impulse, in the
old French and English wars-Frank
Inns scheme of union at Albany
the first doubt and distrust of
British authority-the morning gun of
the revolution in Jonathan Mathews preach
ing the thunder-burst of james Otiss plea
against the writs of assistance, the keen and
fatal logic of John NORM Scott in New York,
with its plain forecast of separation. the fiery
warning of Patrick Henry to the King, the
massacre in State street. the Boston port
bill, the response of New York and Virginia,
1 the stamp-act Congress, and at last, follow
ing the shots on Lexington green and the
voley at Concord bridge, the varying for
tune and final triumph of the contest-all
these, our renowned and glorious traditions.
immortal as the tale of Thermopyl@ and
Platea; of Sempach and punnymede, re-
vealed the common American heart and
conscience, the essential and instructive uni
" of the colonies; and surely and resistess-
ly as the revolution of the globe through
the darkness of the night turns the continent
to the morning, the progressive development
OF the colonies brought the great consumma-
ton of American national union, which
consecrates this spot.
But it was accomplished only after long,
and anxious, and arduous controversy, with
doubt and apprehension, and bitter hostility.
The general JOY that followed the evacuation
of New York. the satisfaction with acknowl-
edged independence the glowing anticipa-
tion, the boundless hope, were succeeded by
the reaction that always follows prolonged
self-sacrificing public exertion. The young
giant indeed had conquered, but his victory
seemed to have cost him his life. Foreign
authority had disappeared, but the country
lay PROSTATE.
quisite stroke of diplomacy, the Secretary of
State invited the ministers OF foreign courts
to pleasure excursion through New York,
that they might witness the unabated pros
perity OF a single State. and report to Europe
that, while the United States maintained a
million OF men III the field and upon the sea,
there was no apparent diminution OF
population, no interruption OF in
dustrial activities and ordinary pur-
Suits and no visible drain upon
seemingly exhaustless resources. But when
the revolution ended, commerce had per-
ished, agriculture languished, and manufac-
IL 1Nxr irifN
The public debt was enormous, and private
debt was universal. We have seen the stu
pendous debt of our civil war borne with
cheerfulness and regularly and continu-
ously reduced with ease. But in the year
after the evacuation of New York, bills of
the Confederation for 5000, 900 were protested
in Holland, and the whole requirement of
the Treasury for the year. which was 81, o00,-
900, was universally felt to be a sum too
| large to demand. and which could not be
! collected. Taxation was resisted State
authority was detied, and the feeble and
| a mummy clad in robes of state, without
power and without consideration-was
scorned abroad and condemned at home.
THE TIME OF TRIAL.
'The times that tried mems souls in this
country were rather in 1886 than in 1776, for
the colonial ability to win independence in
volved neither the righteousness Of the cause
nor the character of the people. The revo-
luton had proved their valor the new stu
alton tested their wisdom, and without wis
dom the revolution had been in vain. BY the
common exerton, sacrifice and suffering, in
| dependence had been achieved, the enemy
! had been expelled, and the younger England
OF the West had BUNDLED the crowned and
unnatural mother England upon the Sea-grt
| throne. In this crucial moment, neglect ~
! ignorance of the obvious and indispensable
| means of securing the common safety,
| strength and welfare, the apparent revela-
! ton of American ineapacitv to build ma
tional American commonwealth. might just
| " fill every generous and patriotic heart
with dismay. Yet if any American despaired
| during the gloomy years from 1888 to 1889
| and doubted whether the men were equal to
the task, so had John Adams doubted and
| despaired on the very eve of the mbly
of the Continental Congress We
have not men fit for the times he ex-
| claimed we are deficient in genius, in edu-
cation, in travel, in fortune, in everything.
| But scarcely had he written the words than
| he FASTENED TO take his part in that immor-
tai assembly, and to do the very thing that
| he feared no man was strong enough to DO.
Well did Jefferson call him the Colossus, for
upon his mighty and iadomitable will he
! lifted the country to the Declaration of In
| dependence. Why then doubt, since indie
| pendence had been achieved, that national
union was possible? The leaders of the revo-
luton, the chiefs of the Continental Con-
gress, still lived. Age had not dimmed
their eyes nor chilled their hearts, nor with
cred their faculties. The work they had be-
gun, surely they were ready to complete
and the men who had made the English
colonies American States, were wise
enough and strong enough to bind the Amer
| lean States into nation.
NAY, even doubt was treachery For still
he lived the prime of glorious manhood
he still lived, whose faith, and character,
| and courage, when patriotism despaired and
hope expired, had moved before his
struggling country pillar of
cloud by day, of fire by night.
To think of the revolution is to see him.
The whole scene is radiant with his presence