The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-07-04
BY WILLIAM KOssER CoBBE.

They were brave men who emitted
the Declaration of Independence, be-
cause every word in it constituted trea-
son against great and powerful mon
nrchy. Wise men, too, were they, in
that they might interpret the genius
Of the age and the spirit of the coming
generations. They dared an ignomini-
Gus death, and in the act set the foun-
dations Of the republic SO firmly that
the gates Of hell have not been able to
prevail against it.
There was nothing new in the as
sumption that men were created equal,
but there was something sublime in
the prophecy Of equality before the
law and in the power Of men to gov
ern themselves by statutes Of their own
enactment. The ancient republics
made no such promises, and the doc
trine was a new one to the world.
This immortal document was bar to
the forming of caste or the recognition
Of privileged classes when the time
came for adopting constitution. The
declaration declares as plainly as words
may declare anything that the repub-
lie then announced should be n ''gov-
ernment of the people, for the people,
by the people"
How much these fathers of the ma
ton foresaw might happen is not
known. They could not fail to know
| that misdirected ambition and bound
| ing passion are always sources Of
| danger; yet their faith In the strong
common sense Of the people was su-
| preme. Provision may have revealed
| to some Of them, ut least, the dangers
that threatened from opposing views
and interests, yet calmly and confident
ly they gave a nation to the world, CIV
ing no token of doubt or fear as to the
results.
The task Of the critic is always an
easy one, because his determination
Of the merits of things follows the act,
so that he can judge by results Be-
sides, it is easy enough for anyone to
find fault. The trainers of the declara-
tion were originators, designers and
creators. Had they blundered they
would but have evidenced their human
ity. In that they made no mistake, as
time has shown, and have afforded
critics nothing about which to carp,
they demonstrated the greatness Of
their spirits and all the merit CRATE
full people has accorded to them.
Such a document conveys the same
lesson to each succeeding generation.
1t teaches the duty of sacredly guard
ing the liberties Of all the people, the
avoidance of all measures that may be
proposed for the elevation Of one class
beyond another, the crushing Of sec
tional differences, and the perpetuation
of the union as it was handed down
from the fathers. The glory Of the re-
public is, and should ever be, not only
that it has survived dangers from with
out and greater dangers from within,
but also that it has emerged from each
succeeding peril greater and more
glorious than before. The problem of
self-government becomes more difficult
Us the number of people multiply, and
safety lies In holding Loyalty to the
teachings of the fathers, who learned
In most trying school of adversely.
Experiments are by no means safe, es-
pecially when time has demonstrated
the wisdom of what already is Crate
full to the founders Of American liberty,
each patriots heart, proud Of the
achievements of the nation and the
right of citizenship, should seek to con-
form itself to the spirit of the declara-
tion and to the constitution Of which it
was the precursor.