The Woodstock age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1844-1845, 1844-08-22

| The great HEART of Humanity Here was the error
OF great Napoleon He seemed 10 Imagine, that
when the people Of France destroyed the Bas,ile,
overthrow the ihrOue of their King and broug hi
his head to The block, they only sought 10 destroy
particular Bastlle, overthrow particular Throne
ahd behead particular man, and that he could
substitute for them, other similar denominations
But the People meant the destruction of all Bas.
tiles, all Thrones all Kings of that character. -
Their blows were aimed at the principles Of %.
preston embodied in these things. But this, Ma.
Poleon did not seem to apprehend, and when the
people had destroyed one institution he proceeded
TO build on It's ruin, another Gmbodying the same
principles. Had he unprecedented The true cause
ui The Revolution, and established his government,
so as 10 answer 10 the great inward Revolution of
me age, no power on earth could have shaken his
rule II would have been sustained by the PEG.
pie, to The last They revolled against tyranny
lseli,-not lis personiIicauOn. An empire found
ed IN desPollsm, cannot endurc-it has no hnd
upon man, as man. 1t may dazzle and bewider
Tor awhile, hnt the great HEART of humanity
feels That 1t has no sympathy in all its transactions;
there Is no tie that binds them together.
Those governments which remain stationary,
while the People move onward, become antigua
ted, in fact, and worse than useless The People
move onward till the utmost stretch of their vision,
can, OF the government, discern, down the smoky
vista OF years, only a few moss-covered towers,
aud old-lashloned battlements. The government
~oaders that this People cannot sec The minute
portions OF lis architecture, as well as their fathers
did who lived on lis very threshold. Ages ago
the superstructure was well enough. and perhaps
the best that could then have been raised The
truth is, the People have, by obeying the laws of
their being, passed the Governments 1t is a thing
gone bye. 1t lives like an old man in the pasl;4
It has no present, no future. 1t is poor, and
blind, and old, and like feeble minded dolage,
calls It's children by their christian names, and
scods and ircts at them, as if lis authority was as
good now as ever; and regards them as the same
helpless things, for whose wants it provided some
three score years ago These governments remain
stationary Advance, progress, are terms they DO
mol understand. But change, cGaseless change, is
writer on every thing under the sun. Go into
the physical world, Lo! how the nev is constant
Iy pressing on the footsteps of the oh! What is |
The present N any thing, TO any thing? You say
to your companion, behold The trees aud the grass
OF the fields, how green they re----H He looks /
aud To- the glass; is black with the frost, and the !
leaves yellow and dead, are drilling about in the
cold winds You gaze upon the radiant face of
spring. and as you gaZe, her countenance deep
ems into the glow of summer, dlrkens with the
labor OF autumn, and Shrinks and shvcrs in the |
icy blasts of winter So in the mental world
change Is continually going on, and truth herself
which, in the language of Plato, is the BODY OF God
Is ever developing herself in new wonders and
beauties. who OF u all Is the same to- day, that
he was yesterday? and who will be the same TO
morrow, that he is to day? What leaf, wha,
blade OF grass Is the same now, it was when we
first looked upon it: In Philosophy, in Literature
III Science, IN the Arts, what revolutions 90 on
IN governments, how new principles and new
men arr ever passing old ones! In all things hu-
man there are gong on perpetual revolutions. In
the mental world they 90 on, as in the physical
nolSGIessy the beating Of the pnIse,
and again with the roar of uprooled Institutions,
and the crash and jar of conending Empires.
Revolutions are inevitable They come and 90
rs naturally. AS The seasons.
lIark momcnli-i Heard YOU not noise'-
That was the echo Of the crash of some old and
useless government tumbling to the earth. That
noise which yo1 now hear, like sand ricI,ing
down the side Of the mountain, is the monument
nfan old opinion, crumbng into ruin. And now
comes Il noise like the roar of the forest when the
storm passes over it! The People are rising, The
signs and symbols Of old things are scattered,
like chat in the whirlwind, and the hustle and
noise of then running to and fro, ms they gather
materials for new times and new Institutions. are
ike the hum Of innumemblc hosts, marshalling
Or battle. How idle, then, to expect when
,hnnge is the condition of mans nature, that the
government OF o.day, should last without modi-
'atIon, TO all time.
II Is the failure Of Governments to meet the
Existing wants of the People, physical and moral, r
Ia, has filled the world with the blood Of so :
many useless Revolutions; it is this that has han. d
shed or consigned To the block the nobest men i
he world has even seen; it is this that has hurled
rom their pedcsaS the finest works of art: il is
hi' that has sent Liberty weeping 10 the dens and "
aves of the earth; ii IS this that has siranged :,
irtuc at noon day, and starved genius in dun !,
eon; il is this that has nsisated the deprcdniions :
# the nwless pirate, cutting himself loose from /,
he ties of social relation that promises every thing !,
nd iuIils nothing; it is this that has Sc, whole u
alons dancing aud yelling round the gullOlinc; T.
, is this that has led disappointment philanthropy
o It's falhessness in man, and reckless and dnr-
ne philosophy TO dash lis cenchcd hands in the
ace of Jehovah question his existence and defy 81
lis power r
The Speaker proceeded with much force and =
lcgance oistylc, and with increasing fcivor of
nunrialion To depict the mperfec,ons oI lyranica il
ovcrnn.enls, defend the People against the charge
{ ickeness and groundless discomfort lie said,
read, and received the cold comfort Of mere i'm
erial dica;on or were permitted to see their o
oval oppressor. But can add but few words Il
lorc !le said, in Effect tell YOU, the great D
eating HEART of the People, crushed and LAGER. @
ted rs il may be, knows better what it wants "
IAN all your speculative philosophers and political
economists. They may tell it in learned meta
hy steal phrase, in philosophical dissertation and c.
,hoo uught distractions, what ii wants; but it o
nows best itself what ii wants, after all. And /,
hen great want eats at its life, it must be mp
cascd. in some way Time and sword NAV
edge it about, blood and carnage may cn!uIph
gives and chains ma, f-tler it--supers,lon
nd lies may darkcn i.-fear may tnrriiy it, .
,rce may crush it.-old opinions may he piled
pom it, rotiing and snoulderlng there for ages
'm il uW hare lis ora may. It will throb and -
well and rise. till it shake off all the load YOU u
ay pile upon it, The very blood that swes its :;
-ipries, lis Of the essence Of the living God him T.
,lf. poured there By his own almighty power, 4,
nd rirculaes in unison with the principles Of his
wine nature. 80
Here the speaker bestowed an euogisc comp. v
ent on the throne of law and love, erected in the
cart of man, and 10 which the People would X
leerfully bow But, he poured torrent Of scalh er
e rebuke upon Demagoguesm. in all lis Proiean
rms. ! he true Idea of government, adapted alike II
the wants Of all, and modified. FROM time 10 NJ
me, like The seasons, so rs 10 harmonlze with
ans growth and changing condition. was beau 10