, 1853-08-27
The Future Destiny Of lhc United Slatcs

pAoIe' inc secrets oi tuturIty. Perhaps the
first intellectual passion developed in boy
hood, is that which yearns TO know the con-
dision Of the man. Tho future is 10 every
mind, fairy land tccming with wonders :;
and from the infancy of our race, to its
present period Of mature adolescence, human
ingenuity has been racked in the vain en-
deavor 10 overleap the limits which Provi-
dence has assigned 10 the intellectual vision
OF man, and to know the secrets Of the
coming as of the past time. Prophets,
sorcerers, conjurcrs, astrologists, wizards,
witches, fortune-telers and spirit-Iapp,rs,
have in all ages and among people Of every
grade Of civilization, met with welcome ac-
ccptance, and been followed by hosts Of
worshipers.
Nations, no less than individuals, arc sub
ject to the universal passion. Perhaps,
from the first moment an English footstcp
pressed the soil Of this continent, no instant
oftime has flown which has not given birth
in some brain TO conjecture of the ultimate
destiny of the nation, which on the rock of
Plymouth, first brealhcd the breath of life.
With each increas} Of strength, of territory
and Of prosperity, the desire has grown in
intensity, and at no period of our history,
has it been so strong and so all p2rvading,
as at the present moment. The "manifest
destiny " principle has perhaps in secret,
become paramount in almost every mind, to
all other political ideas; and politicians
have never found so popular hobby as
that which dazzlcs the public Imagination
with vague, and glttering visions of univcr-
sal empire in the West, and its uhcqualled
power and splcndor
There is perhaps no task more difficult,
than to form positive and definite ideas of
the future condition Of country, from The
aspect Of the present. Time, in its cease
less revolutions, is continually turning up
so many strange and unforeseen events, to
control the course Of affairs, that the most
comprehensive abilities are incompetent 10
foresee with certainty the events of even Ten
years. History is SO full Of examples of the
vanity Of all political predictions, and Of the
futility of the. most well grounded expecla-
tions, that we have long since ceased 10
place much reliance upon the vaticinalions
Of the wcaiher-wise, even when the most
plausible. Providence holds the fate of men
and of nations in the hollow of its hand, and
can, and frequently docs, change its aspect
in the twinkling Of an eye. Who could
have forsecn twenty years ago, that in 1858
the territories of this Republic would stretch
from sea to sea, and its banner be famed at
once by the brcezcs Of the Atlantic and
Pacific Did the present reality at that
time enter the dreams Of the most enthusi-
aslic visionary ? Certainly not.
When, therefore, we undertake to form
conjeclures of the future destiny Of the
United States, we always do it with large
rservations, and with consciousness Of the
uncertainty of all hypothesis furnished upon
so frail foundation. Even while VIC write,
events may be brewing which will blast the
brightest hopes Of the patriot and disappoint
the b.st maturcd expectations OF the states
man. A singl. false step in policy may be
the beginning link in a chain of events
which will dissolve the glorious and splcn-
did fabric Of the R,public, as palace Of
clouds scatter before the winds of heaven.
But in all human probability the destiny
which is reserved for the United States is
more splendid ihan has ever before brlOng-
ed 10 any nation Of ancient or modern times.
That destiny we think will be, that the
United Stalea will become the great centre
of arts, of civilization, refinement, wealth,
power and liberty the sun among the ma
tons of the earth the point from whence
will radiate the beams of knowledge. of
freedom, of religion, of empire, to the re-
molest pats Of the globe-the great centre
of vitality to the social and political systems
Of the world
We do not look upon this as any wild
dream of the Imagination, but as the sober
conclusions Of reason, drawn from premises
Of fact. Our belief is founded upon four
things:
LIST. The enterprise, intelligence, and
sagaciiy Of our people.
2nd. Upon the popular character Of our
institutions, giving the widest scope to indi.
vidusl energy, and The greatest impulse TO
national cntrrp.is..