, 1889-05-02

est phabthsies assumed the force
OF serious measured for the relief Of the
general distress. States passed exclusive
and host laws against each other, and
! riot and disorder threatened the disiu-
teRration OF society. Our stock IL stolen,
our houses are plunjered. our fafms are
raldrd. cried a delegate in the Massa-
ehus, tts convention; "despotism is better
than ansrchy" TO raise four millions OF
dollars a year was beyond the resources of
the government, and three hundred
thousand was the limit Of the
loan it could secure from the money!
lenders of Europe. Even Wash
ington exclaimed in despair; II see one
head gradually changing into thirteen; I
see one army gradually branching into
thirteepj which, instead OF looking up 10
conRr "a as the supreme controlling power
are considering t.emselves as depending
| on their respective states" And later,
when Independence had been won, the i'm.
potency or the government wruuR from
him the exclamation: AFTER uloriously
rnd successfully contendinv avainst the
usurpation OF Great Britain. we may fall a
prey to our own folly and disputes"
| but even through this Cimmerian dark.
ness shot flame which
ILLuMGNED THE COMING CENTURY
and kept bright tbe beacon fires of liberty.
The architects of constitutional freedom
formed their institutions with wisdom
which forecasted the future. They may
not have understood at first the
whole truth, but for that which they
knew they bad the martyrs spir.
IT. and the crusaders enthusiasm.
Though the confederation was govern.
ment OF checks without balances, and of
purpose without power. the statesmen
who guided 1t demonstrated often the re-.
sistlrss force of great souls animated by
the purest patriotism, and united 10 Judy,
ment and effort to promote the cOnmon
good by lofty appeals and high reasoning,
to elevate the masses above local greed
and appare0t self-interest to their own
broad plane.
| The most significant triumph OF these
moral and intellectual forces was that
which secured the assent of the states to
the Limitation of their boundaries, to
the grant of the wilderness beyond them
TO The general govern ment, and to the in
sertion in the ordinance erecting the
Northwest Territories of the immortal
| proviso prohibiting slavery or involun.
tary servitude' within all that broad do.
main. The states carved out Of this spen.
did concession were not sovereiKnties
which had successfully rehelrd, but they
we're the children of the Union, born OF
| the covenant and thrilled with its life and
nationality and the buttresses of
freedom. Their preponderating strength
first checked and then broke
the slave power. their fervid loyalty
matted and held at bay the spirit Of state
rights and sacessio for generations; and
when the crisis came, it was with their
overwhelming assistance that the nation
kileo and buried Its enemy. The corner
stone of the edi6ce whose century we are
| ~. Al, 81 81 a.
| was constructed by the feeblest of con-
eresses. but Sew enaetuiepta Of ancient or
modern times have had more
FAR'REAcHING AND BENEFICIENr IN
FLuENcE.
1t is one of the sublimest paradoxes of
history that this weak confederation of
states should have welded the cnain u
against winch, after seventy-four years OF
iIetful Efforts for release, its own spirit
frantically dashed and died.
The government Of republic by a
congress of states, a diplomatic conven =
tion Of the ambassadors Ut petty common.
wealths, after seven years trial, was fall.
ing asunder. Threatened with civil war
among its members, insurrecti0n and law
lessness rife within the statea, foreign
commerce ruined and Internal trade par
al, z-d, its currency worthless, it's mer-
chants bankrupt, it's farms mortRaRed. its
markets closed, its labor unem ployed, 1t
was like helpless wreck upon the ocean
tossed about by the tides and ready ~ be
engulfed by the storm. Washington gave
the warning and called for action. 1t wal
the voice accustomed to command
but now ehtreatin2. The vet
Grams Of the war and the states-
. men of the revolution stepped to the front
The paoriotism which had been misled
but had never fatered, rose above the In
terests OF states aud the iealousies OF jar
? ring confederates to find the basis fol-
union. lit is clear to me az A, b, Z, :
said Washington, that an extension ot
federal powers would make US one of tht
7 most happy, wealthy, respectable and pow
I erful nations that ever inhabited the ter
I restrial globe. Without them we shal
soon be everything which is the direct re
verse. predict the worst consequence
from a half'starved, limpin9 govern
: ment, always moving upon Crutches
!. and totterinR at every step" The re
I sponsa Of thu country was the convention
y of 1887. at Philadelphia. The Declar
:, alton of Independence was but the vesti
: bule of the temple which thus illustrlou
= | a. spn,bly erected. With no successful
precedents to guide, ii auspiciously worke,
i out the problem OF constitutional govern
:, ment, ard OF imperial power and nom
q rule, suppementing each other in promot
y ing the
GRANDEUR OF THE NATION,
d and preservin the liberty of the indi
a viIuul.
The deliberations of great councils hav
! vitally affected, at different periods, th
e history OF the world and the fate of e,u
It pires; but this congress builded, upon por
, ular sovereignty, ipstit utions broad enoup
= to embrace the continent, and elasti
= enough to fit all conditions of race and tra
q ditions The experience of
hundred years has demonstrate
for us the perfection of the work, for de
fence az inst foreign foes, and fer self
t, preservation against domestic resurrection
,f for limitl.ss expansion in population an
d material development, and for stead