The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-08-10

to folly the wisdom OF the wise. Re-
ceiving freedom. they no longer desire 10
secede and that which England thought
would sever them from the mother coun-
try only united them more closely to It.
After the great civil strife I'm this coun-
try, we see the power of representative
government 70 handle problems which
puzzle philosophers and defy statesmen.
When the greatest revolution OF modern
times had shaken America, and the North
looked on with Cistrust, no hope of peace
or prosperity came 10 the South, or 10
the land, until each State was again
pc ssessed of its legislature, freely elected
ty its people. Until their representatives.
sgain appeared in Congress, and the be-
lCngings Of representative government
were assured.
II the nations OF the earth have won
dered thai such great strife should so
soon be healed. that armies vanished TO
the workshop and to the pillow, and that
reace stood supreme wit. out bayonet
or sword TO support It. let him who mar
vels at the picture pay mis- just tribute
TO IN. free n Institutions Of America which
appealed again and again and again TO
the people, anG found In freedom, and
rot IN tyranny, the balm for healing
wounds OF war. President Abraham
Lincoln contemplated calling the South
ern legislatures together when yet the
fields Of battle were red with blood. and
In this gave evidence Of his great sa-
gacity But for his untmely death, years
of agony would have been saved by lis
wisdom.
Hlstory's Final Judgment.
No nation that ever once possessed
representative government has ever vol
unfairly abandoned IL If for a season 1t
has been crushed down by social con-
vulsion or shock OF war, II has never
been, and never will be crushed out
History. tits said, repeats itself, moving
in endless cycles OF revolution and re-
version, building up ana tearing down
nations, fashloning and destroying dy-
rasues, races. and Institutions; produce
ing new foims, only To recast them into
the old ones. and telling over and over
again the old, old story of blossom,
fruitage and decay. But though the
| cycles and the suns alternate their course
in light and darkness. ideas are born
that never die deeds are done that can
never be revoked. victories are won that
can never be reversed.
When Aristotle taught, three centuries
before Christ. that the world was round,
an idea was born that never died When
Columbus discovered America. that idea
| bore its fruit. and q deed was done that
could never be revoked When the Eng
| lish race planted itself in Virginia, and
representative government was estab-
lished a victory for our blood and our
country. and for human liberty was won
that can never be reversed
History has its ronsummate works. and
| Its final judgments. as we'll as its new
| trials and repetitions, and through them
the world leaps forward into a higher
/ being. and gains vantage ground from
which there is no receding stage.
Home Eulc aud Free Trade
Home rule and free trade were the
/ great issues Of the American Revolution
Of i776. the sole right Of the people to
levy and appropriate taxes; the right
or him who own or produces property to
sell II in the markets OF the worla
These are the condign principles Of
American Democracy, so wrought in the
Constitution OF this people that we en-
JOY them like the sunshine and the air.
thoughtless OF their source.
He who would now think Of imposinh
a tax otherwise than by this method
would be deemed a lunatic The Consti-
tuition Of the United States declares in
terms that no export tax shall be levied.
The Virginia House OF Rurgesses formu-
lated these principles 100 years before
the war OF the Revolution. In 1924 they
unanimously resolved that the Governor
shall not lay any tax or impositions
upon the Colonies. their lands or COM
modities In any other way than by the
authority OF the General Assembly, 10 be
levied and employed as the said Assem-
bly, shall appoint" Did IL not seem as IL
spirit came out of the past In 1765, when
Patrick Henry rose I'm the House OF
Burgesses and denounced the stamp tax.
with his resolution of defiance and used
almost the identical language which had
been used at jamestown In 1924?
SO early, indeed did Virginia estab-
lish the supremacy Of her local legisla-
ton that within a few decades after the
colony was planted she had won ,the