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154 



THE ILLINOIS F^HMER. 



child in his uncontauiinate years. The 

 spirit of sacrifice and self-denial is the high- 

 est that mortal can possess, and whether it 

 concerns the least rentraint in our daily lile, 

 or requires us to lay down that life, displays 

 in the proper suhordination of ourselves to 

 it, the highest perfection attainable in man. 

 'Thy necessities are yet greater than mine,' 

 said Sir Phillip Sydney, as he passed the cup 

 from his own parched and fevered lips to the 

 wounded soldier at his side, evincing a chiv- 

 alry that may well be deemed chrisian as he 

 laid himself down to his final rest. The last 

 hours of life often exhibit hidden treasure; 

 "this day shalt thou be with me iu Paradise," 

 revealed character that life had not time to 

 develope; a nobility of soul just thenlighten- 

 ing up the vision and opening to it new scenes 

 and a new birth-right. 



An.lrew Ilofer, the Inn-keeper of the 

 Tyrol, marshaled hia forces ia his native 

 mountains, and offered more effectual resis- 

 tance to the tyrauny of Napoleon than the 

 whole Austrian army, until his own house- 

 hold gods were destroyed and himself hunted 

 down and shot like a dog. General Washing- 

 ton, in two dismal winters of the Revolution, 

 as he sustained his men under hunger, cold 

 and nakedness, tracking their footsteps with 

 blood through the snow, the British army iu 

 possession of the cities and the seaboard, 

 Congress faltering, the nation discouraged 

 and almo.-^t despairing, himself a rebel, with 

 an untried future before him, £tand.«i before 

 the world in collossal grandeur, as radiant 

 with the Iiighest measure of glory. His 

 fame eclipses that of other men more from 

 a predominating goodness of character, 

 which like granite in the structure of the 

 earth sustains the other parts, but is a trait 

 that gives foresight as to ultimate results un- 

 attainable by inferior moral development. 

 Sam. Adams would have died at the stake 

 rather than succumb to "stamps" and "writs 

 of a.ssistance," a character as truly heroic as 

 any of the fabled personages who fought at 

 Troy. Such men were our Revolutionary 

 sires, military and civil, men filled with that 

 impulsive nature from whence heroic deeds 

 spring, but subordinated to greater purposes 

 than any that concerned self or the mere 

 glory of their country. Their's was a heroism 

 too serious to be mean, was a struggle less for 

 self than for mankind. l)ecatur in our naval 

 annals was a hero, but not a safe man to mii- 

 tate; and Nelson on the other side of the water 

 was of like genius, but more subdued. Mr. 

 Southey relates of the latter, that in one of 

 his great battles, as the fleet was about 

 drawing near the enemy, he ordered his oth- 

 er ships to take the had of the Victory, but 

 they could not do it a.-j she was the fastest in 

 the fleet, and he would not shorten sail, show- 



ing a forgetfulness of self in a great and 

 patriotic purposes; also that on the day of his 

 death ho would not disrobe the uniform and 

 insignia he had been honored with by his 

 country, and which were a shining mark to 

 his enemies, the refusal of which has been 

 ascribed to vanity in himself, but we should 

 hope it had a bettor origin, inasmuch as be 

 was constitutionally a modest man. Joan of 

 Arc was a heroine, and so was Grace Darling 

 in another way. Florence Nightingale and 

 Miss Dix are heroines in the pursuit of bene- 

 ficent purpose under difficulties and hazards, 

 a type of character of which John Howard 

 was the most distinguished representative. 



The heroic fortitude of woman has been 

 recently shown in the sieges of Lucknow and 

 Delhi, and in other parts of India during the 

 existing rebellion. In the Scriptures we 

 have the sonti- of Deborah on the murder of 

 Sisera as an especial deliverance, but without 

 as I think the sanction of the Almighty in any 

 other sense than in permitting men to be 

 ministers of punishment on themselves, a re- 

 tribution which has obtained in all ages of 

 the world. Jeptha's daughter sacrificed her 

 life and all the hopes that a Jewish maiden 

 of her station could have, ratficr than permit 

 her father to dishonor his vow, showing the 

 stern demands of those times, and how neces- 

 sary it is for us, under a more searching dis- 

 pensation, to refrain from idle, careless, reck- 

 less speaking. The seige of Jerusalem 

 showed that the chosen people would suffer 

 anything for their nation, their faith and 

 their hope in the coming Messiah. The 

 Maccabees were unquestionably very heroic 

 men, the three brothers each in their turn 

 fought with unrelenting vigor and preser- 

 verance one of the most desperate contests 

 for theirsoil, their homes and lineage, record- 

 ed in history. Daniel preferred death in any 

 shape to the betrayal of his faith and trust 

 in God. The siege of Seb.astopol, the late 

 war with Mexico, contests that had not much 

 glory for the powers engaged, called forth, 

 especially the latter, marked instances of this 

 elevated endowment iu man. The intrepidity 

 of Dr. Kane, his whole career, as represented 

 in the publications of the day, his energies, 

 nervous, moral and intellectual, in a feeble, 

 attenuated frame, were eminently heroic. 

 But heroism becomes less assuming. In the 

 common walks of life there is much heroism 

 that meets neitherappreciation, applause, nor 

 reward. It may discover itse'f in many ways, 

 in going counter to general opinion, in assert- 

 ing what the multitude disclaim, in meeting 

 obloquy and scorn for conscience .'^ake. We 

 do not dispute that there is an excCvSS of en- 

 thusiasm on some subjects that carries with 

 it no respect, that is too ultra to become prac- 

 ticable, that has for its end vanity and noto- 

 riety, for itself, or sect or party, rather than 

 any burning, triumphant zeal to accomplish 

 good for its sake alone. The Christian is 

 ever a hero, is not heroic to forgive injuries, 

 to love enemies, to be kind to the unthank- 

 ful, to do to others as we would have them 

 do to us, but Christendom has gone after 

 other things and her heroes are few. Saint 

 Paul, though an inspired person was left like 

 other men to submit to wrong, outrage and a 

 violent death, will be'hailed in a Christian 

 community as the very sublimest model of a 

 Christian hero. Saint John, of an entirely 



opposite temperament, died at agood old age, 

 but he was at Patmos and had other troubles, 

 and we are constrained to think it is pretty 

 difficult to be a Christian without those crosses 

 that are the emblem of its faith, and which 

 have higher significance iu human life than 

 mere happiness. The persecutions of Re- 

 formers in all ages may be cited as examples 

 of heroic purpose, no book in the language 

 can compare with the delineations of De 

 Aubigne on the sacrifices and heroic deport- 

 ment of Luther, Zwingle and other Protes- 

 tant Reformers; indeed we challenge the 

 equal of Martin Luther in civil, military or 

 ecclesiastical history for his indomitable will 

 iu putting down the corruptions of the Papis- 

 try, with its thuuderings and its power eager, 

 at any moment to crush him. "Go and tell 

 your master," said he, "that even should 

 there be as many devils in Wormes fs tiles 

 on the house tops, still I would enter it," is 

 an expression as full of heroic emphasis as 

 any other ever uttered. B. 



— «•»— 



STATE AGRICULTURAIi SOCIETY. 

 Cbmralia, Sept 17, 1858. 



Meeting of the Executive Cummittee. Pre- 

 •ident C. W. Webster in the chair 



The followiug rcBolutions were adopted : 



Iteni/lced, That we congratulntc the people of 

 ihiH Slate, and m)re «s8peciftlly of Southern Il- 

 linois, on the Buucea^ful close ot the sixth State 

 Fair at Cantralia. 



Retoh-ed, That this »ucces* has been achieved, 

 in a great measure by ttie energetic action of 

 the committee of the citizens of Centrulia, in 

 fitting up the grounds for the fair, and secur- 

 mg auoommodatioDS, board and lodging, for the 

 largtt numbers of people in aitendauce. The 

 demands for lodgings in Centralis wore nut 

 equal to the supply ; the food furnished was 

 ample and ezcelien.; and, indeed the results 

 of the great fair at Contralia prove that State 

 Fairs can be successful without the conipuliory 

 resort to the neighborhood of large cities for 

 their location. 



liciolved. That our thanks are also due to the 

 cit.iiens of the country adjacent to the fair, and 

 of the towns on the line of the Central and 

 Ohio and Mississippi Railroads, for the extent 

 live accommodations furnished by them to rast 

 numbers of strangers during the week of th» 

 fair. 



Resolved, That tho fairs of this State cannot 

 b» successful without the aid and eo operation 

 of the liuilroad companies ; and that we ao^ 

 knowledge with gratitude the unprecedented 

 liberality of the Ilhnois Central Railroad, and 

 the groat benefit derived from the facilities fur- 

 nished by the Ohio and Mississippi ; the T«rre 

 Haute and Alton ; the Great Western ; the 

 Chicago. Alton and St. Louis ; the Peoria and 

 Oquawka ; and the Peoria Extension; the Chi- 

 cagr and Burlington ; the Galena and Chicago, 

 and Fond du Lao and St. Paul Railroads. 

 Whatever secures the settlement and improve 

 ment of the country benefits our railroads. 

 The interests of our people and of these ronds 

 are one. May a libtrality on lh« part of both 

 bo perpetual. 



Resolved, That James C. Clark. Esq , Super 

 iiitendent of the Central Road, Phineas Peas, 

 E.sq., Soperintendert of the Southern Division; 

 Th.is. Wight, Eiq , Freight Agent at Centralis, 

 and other agents of tho road located at that 

 point, are entitled to receive, and do receive, 

 our unfeigned thanks for their ready co opera- 

 tion in tlie efforts of the Executive Comi- 

 mittee to make the Southern Illinois State Fair 

 a marked successs and an epoch in the history 

 of Southern Illinois. 



Resolved, That weacknowledg* the liberality 

 of Messrs O'melvenny & Qaul in furnisbing 



