to such an extent as in our own; and let us hope
that it shall ever be at our service as the index of the collec
tive will of the people.
But with all these national virtues which have been
largely wanting in other republics, we cannot help feeling
alarmed at some of the forces working amongst us. Human
nature is liable to err, and governments are but the outcome
,of human natures working in harmony; hence our country is
not free from this race weakness any more than other coun
tries have been. As the ship builder who hews the timbers
which form the framework of the vessel sees a minute worm
or so working in the wood, he scarcely gives it a thought;
for who would think that it might be the means of destroy
ing the lives of hundreds of people? The worm is harmless
in itself, but after years of working in the bottom of the
vessel until it is honey-combed and decay sets in, the ship is
but a death-snare for the burden it carries. So it is in our
own ship of State. Many dangerous parasites are feeding
on our life-blood and are nourished by the springs of our,
national vitality. We cannot deny the existence of political
corruption, the state of unrest among our laboring classes,
the great commercial frauds, and unjust taxation. But
it is not by these evils alone that we need be alarmed, it is
the atmosphere in which they live; it is the poison that
pemeates the soul of our national morals.
And thus with the rights given to us as individuals to
develop a noble manhood and womanhood, the rights of our
country to freedom and justice. we have our obligations also.
So long as we are conscious of these duties and keep them
on a par with the rights as the best part of our people are
trying to do, we are secure; but when we shall have lost
respect for duty we will suffer, as a government, the same
fate that befalls men as individuals.
Is Our Country ,Cecure.