Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-09-04

should not fail TO bear in our minds, or
to teach our children, that il was the
unfettered thought OF free people, un-
vexed by feudal obligations and unbur-
dened by military exactions. which
wrought out the greatest marveslof in
vention here displayed; and that here
in this land, as nowhere else upon the
earth, we are free to direct our ener-
gies in channels of our own choice. and
engage in the pursuit Of liberty and
happiness restrained by no laws except
such as make for the common good.
But we should bear also in mind that
| free institutions have not been so secure
against the encroachments OF power
that once established they have needed
no protection. From the earliest period
OF recorded history there has been a
constant and irrepressibe conflict be-
tween freedom and despotism-the
nobler aspirations OF the soul against
the lust Of power We should not de-
luie ourselves with the idea that free
institutions are self-perpetuating, or
that the grandeur Of the republic is In
itself the security OF the citizen.
Other republics have spread their
power over the earth and passed away,
and we should take TO heart the les
sons they teach. No true conception OF
personal liberty ever obtained in the
Grecian commemorative; and they left
the people in the slavery in which they
were found. The proud exclamation,
81 am a Roman" portrayed the power
OF the State, and not the liberty OF the
m "A nj
innate limits OF the then known seas,
and trained in the nursery OF the deep
the great discoyerer whose genius and
achievements we celebrate here; but
Genoa, torn by factions, sought doubt
full safety In voluntary surrender TO a
foreign King. Florence. another re-
public, fairly reveled in the vastness of
its commercial opulence, and crowned
itself with all the beauty that art could
create; but internal discussions Slapped
the foundations OF her prosperity aud
destroyed her liberties.
MANY a subject land
Looked to the winged Lions marble piles
Where Venice safe in state, throned on her
hundred isles
but powerful oligarchy ruled its peo-
pie with more than Roman despotism.
Holland, also, dotted over the whole
face Of the globe with her possessions;
but after long years Of Republican rule
became the plaything Of the kings
Here alone, in all time, In this Federal
Union of equal States, has been realized
the trne conception OF Republican gov
eminent; but If we would preserve the
inestimable blessings we enjoy we must
look, first OF all. TO the personal liberty
Of the citizen, guard with sleepless care
the constitutional guarantees by which
it is protected, and teach him that his
reliance should be upon himself and not
in the paternalism Of the government.
Alert 10 this, determined In this, re-
Numbering that eternal vigilance is the
price OF liberty, then may We point 10
the starry emblem which surmOunts
these structures and exclaim 10 sense
the Roman never could have under
stood, with a security he never could
have felt, and with a pride far juster
| his, 81 am an American citizen"
How beautifully does that starry en-
blem symbolic our country, and what
! blessed memories does II oft times re.
CALI Many years ago l lay stretched
one night on the deck OF q trausAtlan-
| tic steamer musnglY watching the tall
masts as they described great arcs upon
the deep vault above. A group OF young
men were near me, and presently my
attention was aroused by their descrip-
tons of what they considered the great
est things they had seen abroad.
One Of them said, / stood at the base
of Mt. Blanc, the monarch Of mountains;
and as | gazed up at his awful form,
reaching up like some emblem OF eter-
nifty from earth to sky, seated there
"on a throne OF rocks in a robe Of clouds,
With q diadem OF snow"
thought Mt. Blame the greatest thing
| ever saw.
And another said: / stood within St.
Peters walls, and gszed far upward TO
| the ponderous dome which spanned its
mighty void; and placing myself In i'm
agnative touch with him
"who buildsd better than we knew.
The conscious stone 10 beauty grew
and | doubted not that immortal An
cello had wrought, in that great temple
to the living God, the greatest thing |
ever saw.
And still another said: | saw In
Prussia's capital pass before me the
war-worn veterans who had borne the
| German eagles TO the heart OF France.
| And as they passed-uhlan and hussar,
guards and grenadlers, mid blare OF
trumpets and sound OF drums, the earth
beneath them trembling with their
measured tread thought that army
the greatest thing 1 ever saw.
And then the last one spoke: ] sailed
one day on that fair bay OF Naples
whose wondrous beauty, touched with
! the light Of Italia's skies, no brush can
paint or words describe; but still, with
heart unified, my thoughts went back
to that dear land Of liberty from whence
| came. And as / dreamed a ship ap'
peared, moving Ger those azure waters
! like a thing of life. And every sail
was set, and on every yard were boys
| in blue, and from every spar and rope
| flags Of every nation flOated In the sun;
but far above them all, moving In
rythmic harmony with the breeze, was
one which filled my eyes and thrilled
my breast, for that was freedoms nag
! and mine, the greatest and the grandest
thing | ever saw.
From this great city by the inland
seas, where North and South and East
and West have met in generous rivalry
and fraternal concord-when from THIS
great city, returning TO our homes, we
shall cast our last look behind and be-
hold that starry banner floating from
each turret. wall aud dome, may eaen
OF us be able to say, with grateful
hearts. that ii Is the greatest thing we
ever saw, In that 1t is the emblem, not
merely of a great nation, bat OF re-