Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1851-01-01
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1851.
PROGRESS.

ia the velocity with which we live a! the present. oay'
,bal wear has become equivalent 10 al age anu the
fshul chronicer of its events rises TO the dignity
.f historian This however IS not our ambition.
To ,,anco a, few of these wonderful strides which
mankind have taken in the march of Improvement,
and contemplate for moment, the sublime specta-
Gle Of The worlds probable destiny soon 10 be real
ned BY the living generation OF It's inhabitants may
not only amuse the writer but entertain the reader,
and tend 20 elevate the interested mind TO aims aud
pursuits more ennobng Than the ordinary festivities
Of the season. Never before did men live fast
We have scarcely time, as We roll down the hurried
idle on whose lumutuous bosom we are borne, to
notice and enjoy the beauties of The scenes through
which we are passing. So rapid is the. whrl, that
We ore scarcely conscious Of realities, and gaze with
q vacancy more akin TO stupid abstraction than to
elevated sentiment upon the of almost miracu-
-lous novelties that environ US. Like stoical
Indian navigating the rapids of the "Father of Wa
ters" we 81! smoking the pipe Of indifference, whilst
our little bark, with the velocity ofan arrow, is mer-
rily bounding the foam, or plungmg into The
gulph. To some, life seems but "turbid dream,"
Of whose "dissoiyng scenes" they are utterly weary,
aud they look to dissolution as the dawn of a real
and substantial existence; whilst others are sufficient
" entertained by the transient smusements of the
hour, aud never look upon the wonderful drama, Of
which the world is the stage, and themselves not
merely spectators but unconscious actors.
Look abroad at the changes on our own Continent
which less than one century has wrought! Three
Of in cai,l
along the Atlantic shore, have multiplied TO twenty,
penplng vast domain as rich in native resources as
IL is magnificent in extent, stretching from ocean to
ocean, and from the frozen regions to the tropics,
severed with network of railways and telegraphs,
snd animated by degree of enterprise and active in
dusry paralleed in any land was there ever
more inspiring TO the patriot, more cheering
10 the friend of his race FULroN is name almost
anuquacd in the annals OF modern improvement
MORSE has been lel! far behind by the rapid success
sion Of those who have arisen to develop and apply
bis principle. Perhaps WHITNEY is destined soon
90 realize his splendid dream Of railroad across the
Continent, and to take his place among those perse-
yeriug enthusiasts whom the world has immortalzed
one day and forgotten the next OF ell the vast en-
isrprises now on foot this strikes US as the mos,
magnificent in its conception and the richest in re-
salts. 1t proposes no less than to bring Liverpool
and Canton into immediate communication by con-
iinuous chain Of railway and Steamers aud thus raise
up formidable rival to those overland routes to the
Eas! which have recently been practically demon
straed by British enterprise. Let this wonderful I'm
der,aking be reazedaud that other great correspond
Tag scheme, now pending-a similar line Of railway
and steam.navigation from OsIend to Calcutta by the
route of The Euphraes, and we viii then have the
world surrounded by highway for all nations, its
circumference made luminous with belt Of active
commercial intercourse, and its population brought
more intimately together than the most enthusiastic
believer in progress ever iancied.
What triumph is here promised for commerce,
for civilization, Cor Christianity The snoring of
she sean,-horse among the solitudes of the prairie
wilderness, overtakng even the Indian in his retreat,
and driving the millions of buffalo in alarm from their
native hills, will be an occasion worthy the most
boasliul exultaiion Of man; and yet more must he
exult when the same myterious symbol of his pro-
Sressive power is seen making its way from the
shores of The Mediterranean to the waters fthe Eu-
pirates and the Tigris, among TIE monuments Of the
most remote antiquity, and over ne very margin Of
the lost Paradise What a stirring there must be
among the dry bones Of buried empires VIVA, a
revival of fas,-ladng traditions among the sepul-
ehres Of Prophets aud Calphs and the haunts of The
old genii of Arabian mythology! A railroad among
the ruins of Babylon! A depot of Goals under the
walls Of BagdaG! The common place business of
transporting the mail to be transacted in regions a
bandoned 10 desolalion and consecraed 10 Oriental
romance Ii is like dream indeed, but tits no
all dream" We believe there are those living who
NAV see these things realized and witness for them
selves The niumphs. of modern genius the las
obstacle that now lies IN the way Of their accom-
pIlshment
The enthusiasts and madmen Of one age th'
philosophers of the next WHIrNEY, the projecto
OF our Continental line, and CHEsNEY the author o
the other, may, after they have met and completed
junction of their schemes in British India or IN Chi
ne, be found rdculing the avori,e projects of others
and accusing them of madness. Some great atmoS
pheric line may be started to rival The terrestrial an
the authors of the latter may display The usual jeal
susy produced by such competition. Travellin
around the world may become dog-c6edp trip t
Bombay may become nice evenings ride, and III
mountains of Persia fashionable resort for America
awards What is the limit of conjecture, an
where Is the folly of speculation, now that the in
possibilities OF the past age are the dull realities
present, aud the success Of enterprise has airl
sclpsed the brightest visions Of hopeful philosophy
Were the earth contracted to oue-sourb lis preser
size, what change there would be in all tho rel,
live circumstances of our race This miracl.; :, uo
now in the process of ful6llment in another eor,
bnt with the same result so far as that result m,