The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1846-10-17
HISTORY.

HISTORY. sa
Itmay be asked how are we to Judge
of the general consequences of princi.
Piles unlimited in their operationq The
brief span OF human existance will per.
NIT US to make but few, very few, obs
servations upon the course of human
affairs, ere the curtain falls, and the
scene of life is ended.
But are we then like the benighted.
tempest-tost mariner, with the deep.
unfathomable gulf of oblivion behind,
and the dark poltentous clouds ofdoubt
and uncertainty broodlng over the fu-
ture? without chart to designate our
relative situation with respect to those
nations which in times gone by have
risen, flourished, and fallen--to point to
the rocky shoals upon which 50 many
noble ships of state have been wreck
ed NOR to the awful whirlpool oflux-
ury and effeminancY, of mental, moral,
and physical degeneracy and degrada-
ton within whose chaotic vortex ma
tion after nation has been engulphed
and sunk to rise no more? Have we
neither compass nor pole-star, by
which our course may be directed to
the fair haven of peace and prosperity
Yes, thank Heaven! we are presented
with the most inestimable treasury of
human experience; the storehouse Of
wisdom is at hand, and he who will
may open the golden portals, enterthe
sanctuary of knowledge, and become
the recipient of those joys inseparable
from the benign influence Of that men,
tai illumination which shall insure NOR
alrectitude. Upon the historic page.
with a retrospective glance, we may
behold generation following generation
in rapid succession upon the theatre Of
life. Here, to the philosophic mind
whichreasons OF causes from their con-
sequences, is presented truth of NIGH
ty import: which Is, that to want Of
research and investigation is to be at
tributed the degeneracy of those holy
impulses of reverence and alteration
toward the sovereign Arbiter of the
universe, which constitute the basis Of
present felicity and of future hope.--
Thus have designing hypocritss. in the
cupidity of their hearts, been enabled
to shackle the unsuspicious, unreflec,-
ing mind, and rear upon the dark foun-
datlons of ignorance the deformed su-
perstructure of credulous superstition.
and institute those rites the observances
of which would better comport with
the ferocious disposition of the tiger,
that, deligh,ing in blood, bathes his
fangs in the gore Of defenceless flocks
and herds, than that lave of benevo-,
lence and mercy which should charac-
terize man. Who can without emo
ton reflect upon the horrid scene of
thousands and tens of thousands sac
rifcing themselves before the car Of
Juggernaut9-moltitudes perishing in
the waves Of the Ganges?--the Indian
widow writhing in the agonies Of death,
upon the flaming fagots Of her husbands
funeral-pile Tor the hosts of beauteous
youth, who, like summer flowers with
cred and lald low by the blasts OF livid
lightning, have been offered as sictims
upon Moloch's blood-stained altars?
Yet these are to be imputed to the
blind submission of men to the dicta-
ton Of leaders, whose declarations,
however devoid Of reason, are adopt
ed as oracular truths, to question which
is little loss than heresy, and in sup
port of which are enlisted all those in..
veterate prejudices and every impulse
of bigotry Of which the uninstructed
mind is susceptible. 50
To the same cause are also to be re.
ierred the fanatical proceedings of the
followers OF the hermit Peter, who, in
their crusades, not only spread dismay
and death through tie land of Pales-
tine, but literally whitened the country
over which they passed in their way
thither with the bleaching bones Of the
wretched votaries of that wild delusiop.
Though the increased knowledge Of
later days has tended to destroy the
power Of fanaticism over the minds Of
men whore intelligence abounds, still
the same elements are at work wher-
ever ignorance is found,