Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1848-12-01

most eileciunl preventive Oi Euug backWurd,-l
Conservatism and Progress Hre not necessarily
bot the clsaresI principles ex
ist in practlce in the mdesl aud most imperfect
iorms snd old communities constantly tend ioI
rcprcsS progress. aud as constantly Ieud 10 mar
row the sphere Of individual action, impcllIng
each man 10 merge himself with ths mass; 10
become one wheel in the mighty machine, ac-
ting not by its own yoIition, but itself compel
led, aud in Iurn in compelling other wheels
Old communities are apt. therefore, to be agIo.
ted BY men slraining to break through and rise
up to piece Of individual freedom. The lhod-
sand radicalisms of our aye our rude and i'm
perfect efforts of men TO be individually lree.--
They do not know what the matter is. They
feel an impulse of development, and are check.
ed in every attempt 10 answer il by some custom
or law, or bulwark institution. On neither side
is there uptto be intelligence ofIhe real causes
and tendencies at work and OF their results
The aspirant curses all restraint, and clamors a.
gains, all the present, not knowing that harves-
ling is vain if there be no garnering-that So
ciely is bound TO save what II has accumulated,
as much as to gain more. On the other hand,
those in whose hands lie the power Of custom,
law and institution, regard those s.rivings and
radical, retoTmatory tendencies as the cen-
tiousness of Liberty, and they tread them down
as they would sparks in a magazine.
Now, there Is a provision for both Of these
states. The most perfect ideal Of Society is
thai in which the most powerful, permanent in
sIilulions exist TO mold the miGd during its for
ming period, together with the greatest possible
personal liberty when the adult is educated
There is the right OF the individual and the
right of Society. But the first is the greater,
and il ought to govern Society and not Society
IL.
Ii is on this account that in old communities
there coexist the two extremes. The one ex.
Ireme will present the most perfect state OF So
ciety; the other the extreme Of Barbarism. In
England, in Europe, civilization shines but up
on one.half the moon, and the other half is
black with darkness. While the upper class are
reaping all the benefits of civilization, the great
middle class and the inferior masses are conf.
ned and unexPanded, hedged in, undcvcloped;
they are nothing and can be nothing.
1t is out of this stale, in greater or less de-
gree itensided. that all emigration takes place.
Even in New England, the most perfect Society
ever formed, yet far from perfect, this conserva.
tism is somewhat felt. But more as you 90
South, where the education of the masses de-.
creases, until you come to the States which avow
that Slavery is the true soil out Of which Man.
hood is to grow; that the servitude of the mas.
ses is the indispensable pabulum OF the chival.
rc few; plea which is the keynote of unver-
sal monarchy and oppression for since Cain
slew Abel, and Nimrod systematized violence,
the masses have lived 10 augment the comfort
and opulence of the few.
What, now, will be the result Of Emigationl
ltproduces equalization; all will stand on ono
level; there is no birth in this process-uo he.
reditary influence. They leave their institu.
tions as they de their houses, and all the vermin
of both; they have a chance 10 RECONSTRUCT.
There are several important results.
First: 1t gives men chance to reconstruct
Society without relormations. Nothing need be
torn away, no interests invaded, no part suffer-
ing, because gaining livelihood from some gen.
cral abuse.
Second; twill have the appearance of deter.
ioaling the upper class. This has been noticed
as matter TO be deporod. OF course, if the
earth were made dead level, mountains would
have to come down, but valleys equally TO come
up. This is the lul6ment of the prophecy
"The valleys shall be exalted and the mountains
brought low" This is the best part Of it,. |
Society has stood, like plank, thus aslant, you
cannot bring the bottom up without bringing the
top down. Now let US not stop 10 weep because
the high places are brought down, but let us tri
umph and rejoice that the valleys are to be raj
sed up. But, in fact, it is not in moral or intel
lectual worth that any must go down; only il
adventitOus eminence, in distinctions Of place
and custom.
Itis much to place men in Society in which
each individual stands according 10 his WORTH
When you take from Society which is vcously
organized, there will be necessarily great chan
ges; in other words, all have to stand upon tht
simple footing of men; and so far as that is con
cerned, think it one of the most auspicious re
suits. No man can have gone through thc
Western country without being struck with tht
universal tendency 10 Equaluy-witholt having
felt how sweet a thing it is for man to find ou
that he is man. Each man seems TO say in hi
misn, carriage and department: "There is no
a man in this community that is by race, or law
or custom, more a man than | am: my vote il
worth as much as any other mans. | am an in
dependent citizen of great nation"
Many will look with disgust upon the assump
ton of peasant 10 stand upon an equality will
those, in older societies, above them. They
scorn liberty that makes his vote equal to tht
vote Of Bacon or Newton-as heavy, as deci
sive. But they who have longed to know how
to raise up the masses eff men, to give dignity
and culture to the rude and low, rejoice in any
change or condition that brings upon men tht
responsibility of men; that gives sense o
character, and educates them to the duties anc
rights of citizenship. Fhe men that wert
nothing here, have grown TO be much there
There was no room for them here--the lane
was crowded. But, swept by Emigration, they
subsite in the Western valleys, and yield har
: vest of fruits not possible before. Men tha
had no room TO grow before they emigrated
shoot up with great force when set free from The
pressure of older communities.
4 l. I 7.