The Woodville Republican. [volume] (Woodville, Miss.) 1847-1853, 1850-11-19

= OF history can be traced 10 the simple wo.
J. oi a single principle. And, in the varie
t process OF investigation, terms origmaI
clear and definite, assume necessary an
sometimes strange modlncatlous, IN ord,
i to meet the eS!CenceS of a complicated a
e gumcut. The word government /, terti.
b illustration of these difficulties OF definition
e II Is applied alike {" The absolutism of Il u.
: sla and to the repubicanism of America a
/ though tins mutual application TO subject,
; differing not in degree, but in kind, is ire
: concilab'e with truth. As at present used
1t must mean one of two very contradc:or
: things either power above aud beyon,
: the people, shaping their fortunes accordin.
to Its wSdom-and it is easy to conceiv,
such power deriving its origin from pecu
liar circumstances in national history. ant
thus possessed of a historical legitimacy
which conservative philosophy would anx.
lously respect-or the mere administrative
T. machinery by which people regulate the
economical necessities of political life, and
execute the resolutions of the national will
Administrations like these are widely differ
ent and when they are loosely comprehend.
ed under the same name, it can only be. be-
cause the latter, IN the exercise of necessary
power, too often seeks justification in the
analogles OF doubtful political genrmiza.
ton. 1t is not difficult to understand how
a power like the first, independent of, and
elevated above, local interest, might, with
energy and wisdom, guide the course of a
nation composed of very dissimiar matcriaI,
Indeed to a certain extent the cmpires of
Russia and Austria furnish an illustration
But where the administration is as in the
latter case, the representative of coudictiuu
interests, the decided strength of anv one
great interest must, of necessity. eXplodc the
machine, or re-adlust its arrangements 1t
Is, then, to governments of the latter charac-
ter, that we more especially refer our re-
marks. 70 say of such government. that
1t depends for its existence upon its confor-
NIFTY to popular ideas, seems almost n tru.
ISM To attempt gravely to prove that a
democracy like New York would never toll
crate House of Lords, or that a CONNER
clal people like New England would never
grant peculiar privileges to landholders
would he waste of words and tiae. And
the general proposition would never be
questioned, were there in the country an
unity of political opinion, or were the ma
tional interests divided into MANY classes
sinSIy too small for preponderance, and
equally scattered over the whole national
territory. Unfortunately however the most
striking feature OF our physical history, is the
marked development of great geographical
sections; and the most important event in
our industrial progress, is the creation of
vast interests bounded in their fields of ac-
ton by these ineradicabIe georraph1cal
lines. 1t is true that science has achieved
over space and tine, triumphs almost mirac.
ulous but it has not annihated them. II
Is true that the painting of the sieam-cpuine
and the tremor of the magnetic wire in.
dlcate an unWearied material ACTIVITY. but
still mountain ranges rear their heads in nm
broken rlggcdness-rivers roll their cease
less currents, and oceans heavp their world
OF waters, IN discharge, now as ever of
God great colamission--to divide the IN.
ton 1t Is almost impossible to cououerna-
ture. a dozen bridges across the Rhine
would not identify the Frenchmap and the
Gefman; tunnel through the Alps wou.d
scarcely reconcile the Italian to the Ans
TRAN and It is idle to suppose that the
mere speed and facility of communication be.
ween distant geographical sections, will
entirely counteract those national peculiari
ties which 1t is an unerting law of Provi
dence that those divisions shall of necessity
develope.
at was not, says a recent traveller, "un.
Ill had sailed a few miles from Iutraki
and observed the greater cIearness with
which the Parnassian ranges came ont. that
| realized the fact, that Corinth and Delphi
two cities morally as opposed to each other
as Washington and Mecca, were vet pbvsi-
caly so close, that the laughter of the mid.
night jewellers might almost have met the
hymns OF the priests midway on the waters.
What again could be more different than the
character of BDtia-sacerdotal, traditIonary
Interchangeable Hellenic Austria. and that
of the inventive and mercuria Attca? And
yet, from the same ridge Of Parnes, the shep-
herd described the capitals of both. How
remote from each other, in character were
Sparta-in which the whole life Of man was
one perpetual military discipine-and Alh-
ems, in which every one went on his own
business, after his own fashion Yet the
mariner ran across, in perhaps a days sail,
from the one territory to the other, passing
on his way communities unlike. both"
In examining, then, the conflicting char
actefs oftwo great sections, it IS no unfavour-
able introduction TO such an investigation.
to discover (hat nature herself has drawn
deeply the sectional lines. Now, If map
of the settled portion Of the North American
continent be prepared, indicating only the
great mountain ranges and the large rivers.
the most superficial review would mark
three grand divisions--the north, the south,
the west. The north and the south this side
OF the Rocky Mountains; The west beyond it.
having its Pacific border, its bold headlands
looking ont on Asia its capacious barhora