Figure to yourselves that this your native
country will ere long become the permanent seat of liberty, the retreat
of philosophers, the asylum of the oppressed, the umpire of contending
nations, and we would hope the glory of Christ."
In the Revolution a large portion of the people were land-holders,--men
who answer to the old Saxon term yeoman. Of course it is not possible
for every man to own land, nor is it essential that every man should be
a land-holder, yet it is evident that a community loses nothing by an
increase of proprietors.
When a man owns land, even though his acres be not broad, he feels a
new interest in the welfare and freedom of the state. The possession
of land creates a certain and desirable independence. Inducements
should therefore be held out to every branch of society, that the
ennobling idea of home may be realized in every bosom. Even to this
day our unoccupied lands are the storehouse of American freedom,--they
are father's mansions to which every son of the Republic, be he
prodigal or not, may turn his steps and find a welcome.
And when our population shall have reached two hundred million, may
there still be beneath the flag of the Republic a home for the
oppressed and a refuge for the down-trodden.
In 1775 the spirit of emigration had not developed itself in the
New England character; it was latent until Wayne's victory in 1794
prepared for our fathers the fertile lands and inviting climate of
Ohio.
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