The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-08-03
For the National Era
TIE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
By D. W. RAskEY.

| The dawn of the nineteenth century was
ushered in by the brilliant chemical discoy-
cries OF Sir Humphrey Davy and ecientifc dis
coveries have followed each other, in rapid sue
| cessien.
The mind Of man hiss burst the shackles of
ignorance, and o spirit of free inquiry and in
vestigation has been the "star ascendant dis
| pelling the errors and darkness of the past !,
while education, morals, and philanthropy
have received an impulse which will be felt
as long as time shah roll his iron chariot
down the vista Of ages. Though Bacon and
Newton, In their scientific Investigations
G tower like light houses in the past yet their
| fesas dins, in contrast with the achievements
Of the present century.
| 1t has long been the aim of astronomers to
doterrnine the parallax of one Of those fixed
stars that sparkle in the heavens like "gIt-
| tering dust D. but the honor Of that achieve
ment has been reserved, to be awarded 10 the
/ science Of the nineteenth century.
At no time since the Egyptisn priests The
Chsldeo shepherds, and the Phocnicisn nsviga-
tors, turned their gaze TO the consolidated
vault has astronomy progressed with more
rapid strides than the present. New worlds
ere found, where science had uttered its prophe-
| oy, the nebu,@ are dissected and classified,
ond the comet from its vast fight he's return
eo at iVe appointed time.
The discoveries which have been made, in
every department Of science and art, arc varied
and extensive. Geology, with sll it's volumes
of history, locked in fossil pebble, OF granite
block, is gift of the nineteenth century. The
invention Of the safety-lamp has made the phi
lanthropy of future ecnerstons debtors to the
science of the present century. Ocean steam
navigation, the railroad, and tho telegraph, are
among the trophies that distinguish the nine
teenth century
But the moral and philanthropic achieve
ments of the present century are its creates.
boast. The dissolution Of mopastic institutions
and feudal privileges, the adjustment Of tho
torture, the horrors of the Inquisition and the
African slave trade, wildly portray the moral
triumpbs of the nineteenth century.
| The Temperance Reform, in its benign infla-
ence, has softened the misery Of two continents,
and spread q halo of brightness, like the bow
CT premise, around the moral world. Sobriety,
peace and happiness mark its angelic course.
The Genius of Liberty has also scared proud
" in its course from nation to nation. The
! American descendant Of the proud Spaniard,
the blacks of ST. Domingo, and the inhabitants
Of Italy, Germany, and Hungary, hare all felt
| its glow Of quenchless fire.
The reform which has taken place 10 the
nanagsmo and discipline of insane asylums
and prisons is one which will forever honor
the philanthropy Of the present century.
Kindness. charity, and forgiyeness-those
foundation principles of Christianity, inculcs-
ted by the immortal Ho,,ard-are now applied
in the alleystion of the suffef ,ngs and miseries
of humanity.
"How beautifully falls
From human lips, that blessed word, forgive
Fergyencss-iti is the attribute of gods
The sound that openeth Heavcn--renews again
| On easth, lost Edcn's faded bloom, and filings
Hopes halcyorfhalo on the waste Of life.
Thrice happy he whose heart has been 70 schooled
In the mock lessons of humanity,
That no can give it uttcrancc; 1t imparts
| Celestial grandeur TO the human soul,
| Ard maksth man an angel"
/ Ansi.Slavery is also one Of the enlarged
schemes Of philanthropy which will forever
distinguish the present century.
| What scene of moral desolation did the
world present at the opening of the nineteenth
century Most of the civilized nations had
| legaliSed Slavery-that libel upon man--that
system of rapipe aud fraud, where the strong,
overpoWering the weak, force them TO life OF
unreuuited toll The African slave trade, with
it's untold horrors of the "middle passage"
! was in the full tide Of success.
| By universal consent, the slave trade was
declared piracy, end the friends Of emaDclpa-
ton, from glorious few, led on by G Clark
sen end q Wilberforce, have increased TO u
mighty host Their thupders were heard by
the British Parliament end every recurring
twelfth of August hears their shout of joy, ior
| West India emancipation.
| The CRY of the oppressed has been heard-a
mighty phalanx Of strong hearts have cope to
the rescue. Ii need be, the watch-fres Of Lib
erty can blsze from every headland and hill
| top; and when the sun OF the present century
shall
/ -" towards Heavens descent
Have sloped its westering wheel"
VIXEN it shall SICK for its last time to it's bed
| in the Weet, may is departing rays fell not
upon the brow Of single living slsve
lit. Prospect Wotsr-Curs, B'aghdrton, NY