Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1853-01-19
REFLECTIONS ON THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE.
IN SEVERAL CHAPTERS.
CIIAP. !.

fulflment of the last grand prophecies of Holy writ
There philosophers who exult in the belief that
they have lived to see the dawn of that era in which
mind is 10 expand itself beyond its hitherto recog-
niscd limits and almost I" pass the flaming bounds Of
time and place" The scholar, arising from his last
lucubra,ion rejoceS that all those inlricacies, which
frclted the patience and deGed the ingenuity of the
past, are now made plain as The mondays sun and
only deplores that his occupation will soon be gone
amid the broad blaze Of universal intelligence. The
mechanic, regarding the astonishing advance Of recent
improvements and the singular application Of agen.
cies heretofore neglected, deems that he himself may
possibly witness the contamination Of all skill. Th:
poet too in rapt vision lost" beholds Parnassus Of
old with all its thousand rills," sinking into the
darkness of bygone barbarsm, while such terrestrial
things as bowers and lady-lovcs, rocks and hills
and nodding groves" and warriors in plate Of mail,
are swept forever from the inspired page by the
ethereal delights Of that sprit-land which has at
length been revealed TO his sublimated soul. And
even the poor musician, while prolongng with wild
ecstasy the difficult strains which tn. labors Of his
life have been devoted, fancies himself not far re.
moved from those exalted which angels listen
with rapture.
Taking all things together, it Is indeed a true
though rile remark that, in some respects, we live
in an age Of wonders Ii is less true that, in view
of these wonders, the generation tu which We belong
is inflated with the most exravagant notions Of its
superiority 10 every preceding one. With spirit Of
presumption, nearly allied to baspheny, men daily
boast that they have drawn the lightning from on
high and made it subservisnt TO their every wish
With feeling of pride, akin 10 that which hurled
angels frum before the throne of Heaven, they vaun
their belief that another century may abrogae the
list OF imposSibes.
"Yanily OF vaniiies, all is vanity" said wise
thousands of years ago. and from that day to the
present the truth of the proverb has been
fully illustrated than in its application to these fan
taslic notions.
What though the shrill whistle Of the ever.work.
ing, nevcriring engine may soon starlle the sium.
bcrs of every coltager What though lhe mighty
steam ships dash over the ocean wave with double
their present velocity! What though the business Of
thousand is accomplished by the labor Of hun
dred What though the morning news Of St. Peters
burg may be read in San Francisco At noon What
though the nronaul may even guide winged palace
through the air and ride above the storm! Shall
we boast of such seemingly great achievements Of
modern civilization, while it remains serious pro-
blem whether they have not arisen upon the ruin Of
the masses! Shall we pride ourselves upon the
dazzling developments Of power which pile high the
already well-fillcd Golfers Of the capitalist while,
consequence of the same, millions live and die in
beggary and degradation! Shall regard those
things as blessings which are, TO say the least OF
them co-ev and on-comi,ant with the rapid in
crease of human misery! Shall we bow down in
blind alteration of the Iron and Steam divnes Of
the day, which may at last prove TO be but the off
spring Of hIammon and the Evil one
1t may seem TO some that we dealing in hyper
boe while speaking thus Of the prominent character
istics of this uliiIitarian age With such we would
gladly make issue upon facts and occurrences which
the world is at this lime Witnessing.
CHAPTER 2.
II is matter OF general nooriety that the accumu.
lation of individual wealth is the predominant pas
sion Of our day. In the ambition of the Iloneyed
arisocrat to outsrip his rivals in the Of gain,
there is but little Of the milk of human kindness left.
While struggling for this superiority, lie thinks noth-
ing of the instruments he employs, farther than they
are absolutely essential to his SUCCESS 1T is the ne-
rent nature of the pursuit in which he is engaged to
bege the most demoalizing selfishness-a selshness
which grasps at whatever means will promote its
enLs without thought rs 10 the increase Of hu-
man happiness. This spirit of accumulation and the
rage for invention have arisen together and are mu-
tuay fostering each other. True it is (and "pity
It's, It's true' they are powerful agents and, thus
combined, are bearing "this majestic world before
a. Nor ala
arc the willing victims Of their despotsn, shouting
ptrans to their imperial march, even willie they them
selves are being borne down TO the earth by their
spenlid oppressors. Compared with their condition,
the slaves of the ancient Persian monarels were
happy-the serfs of the modern Russian emperors are
blessed Shall We be told that the evils which we
deprecate are imaginary! Let the statistics Of the
age decide the point
England and the manufacturing portion of our
Union are regarded by the world at large the best
e1ponents Of modern advancement. If we look to
the history Of the former for the last twenty years,
are struck with the rapdty Of her progress in all the
carts of peace" Had any predicted the state uf
things which now exits in the time Of our grand
fathers he would have been laughed 10 scorn as a
visionary dreamer In mechanics aud such other
branches Of minute science as contribute to increase
despatch in every department. Of labor, more has
been done than for centuries before. Where quiet
once held her mpnoionous sway, all is hustle and
hurry In the pleasant wales where the laborers Of
"merrie England" were wont to "turn the stubborn
glebe" or drive their jocund teams alield, magnif
cent factories have arisen and the smoke of engines
obscures the blue vault of heaven. For the shep-
hards pipes and the cornreapers simple melody, the
din of machinery has been substituted, and the in.
ccssant whrring of a thousand spindes. Every
stream that will bear boat Of The most ordinary
BURDEN is crowded with men eagerly hurrying to
grasp the very geanngs of the good mother earth
and bear them on 10 the marts OF wealth and enter
prise. Large towns have sprung up, and cities have
doubled their dimensions while The whole island
may be said to be dotted over with gilded palaces.
Could the shade of Howard be permitted TO revisit
the scenes of his earthly labors some beautiful
day, as he beheld the thousand changes that have
been wrought in every portion Of his country, the
soul Of the great phanthropst might burn with the
thought that what he had hoped and plead and abored
for, was now being eflected-hat it had become the
ambition, the pride and the glory of men everywhere
to alleviate the sufferngs Of humanity and "scatter
plenty DER smiling land" But how would his gen.
enthusiasm be chilled, when it should be told
to him that all this appearance Of prosperity and hap
pness was but " whcned sepulchre ~ How
would his noble spirit groan when he should be
shown the proof that the millions Of his counrymcn
were even in worse condition than ever before
And such are the stubborn facts of the case
There is abundant concurrent testimony 10 prove