New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-11-21


eIistes before the present eeUiary, compared Nth
the carals and railrosds Constructed IN our timesi
shall rot pssse 10 estnsi the Bamber Of these newly
made high Ways their collective leagth. their cs)sei
~ forjOarr e, ugs and for trade. leave 20 others
IN contrast the occasional Oriental or African cars
xnp with the daily feg Ettran Of our iron path
vsys the post chase he stsg--ceseh, and the did,
gence With the ncessani moyemen IN the canal boats
snd the living cars of the railred Yet in your pres
enc m, brothsrs remembering the eleven men ~ho,
ffy wears ego met and organized our society, mas,
for an instant. direct your attention 10 the system
which connects our own Hudson with The basins OF tho
st, Lawrence. of the Delaware, of the Sasqnehanna
and of the Mississippi This magnificent WORK, ono
of the noblest triemphs a civilized msn, 50 tready
20 peace and industry, 20 national union ana g'ory
wa effected through the special lnstrumentaity OF
one Of our orieinsl founders and most active MEM
bers the same Ok WIT CLINTON, who IN tue days
when the City Of New York gloried in her enlghten-
ed msgistrscy at the head OF her municipal gov
eminent, esteemiDg i par, Q, bus P9one N.Y.
dsinerestedly for the welfare OF science, and
the fame Of the great men Of the country.
The half century which we commemorate. ia found
TO retain the character OF superiority II we con-
slider the study il has made OF the history OF the
earth. Geology in that time, has assumed ss-
we're scientific form, doing the highest honor, l
will not say, 10 the individual men who have
been concerned in the pursuit. but 10 human MS
ture sef by the impertarbable serenity with which
seeming cont ADDITIONS have been studied I'LL they
have been found to confirm the general laws, and
men have been able 10 discover in degree. the
Chronology
ty of its structure where il seemed most disarbed
and where nature herself at fault aud the trail Of
her footsteps broken to restore the just arrangement
Of strata that had been crushed into confusion, OF
turned over in apparently inexphcabe and incongru
Gus folSs And thus the geoioglst has been able TO
peruse the rocky tablets on which time honored ma
iure has set her inscriptions. He has opened the
massive sepulohres of departed forms OF beng aud
has pored the copous records preserved there IN
stone TIL they have revealed the majestic march OF
cree tive power from the organism OF the zoophyte en-
tombed in the lowest depths Of sIuris, through all
the rising grad atoms of animal Life up to Its sub
limest result IN God like man.
Agsn: IL is only IN our day that the sun has been
taught to do the work Of artist and in obedience
to mans will, the great wave Of light in its ncon-
ceivable swftpess Of motion is compelled to define.
ate with Dmitsbe exactness any object that the eye
OF day looks upon.
OF The nature Of electricity more has been disccv-
cred in the last fifty years than in all past time,
not even excepting the age when our own Frank
lin called il from the clouds. This aerial invisible
power has learnt to fly man faithful messenger,
till the mystic wires trembe with his passions sna
bear bis errapes on the wings Of lightning. He d.
vines how this agency which holds the globe 10 its IN
visible embrace guides floating atoms TO their places
in the crystal or teaches the mineral the lines IN
which they should move where TO assemble together
and where 10 lie down and take their rest. IL whs-
peTs 10 the meteorologt the secrets OF the atmosphere
and the skies For the chemist in his laboratory n per-
fects the instruments of hest dsoves the closest AZ
fnes and reunes the sundered elements lt joins
this subtest and swiftest OF sences patiently and
carefully reproduces the designs of the engrsver or
the plastic art and dsposes the metal with skillful
delicacy and exactness which the most consummsts
VOL KHAN cannot rival Nay more il enters into the
composition Of man himself, and is present -
the iImost witness Of his thoughts and volitsonS-
These discoveries Of our time
But enough Of this contrast OF the achievement Of
age With that of all preceding ones IL may seen
TO be at variance with theme, that republican
institutions ain ground, Woman appeers less on the
theater events She whose presence in this brary
world is as lily among thorDs whose smile il pleas
ant like the light of morning. and whose eye Is tho
gate heaven she, whom nsure 50 reyeres, that the
lovely veil OF her spirit is the best terrestrial emblem
of beauty, ceases TO command armies or reign su-
preme over legislation Yet the progress Of liberty,
while it has made her lees conspicuous in historic
events has redeemed her into the possession OF the
full dignity OF her nature, has made her not mans
slave but his companion, his councillor, and follow
martyr; and for occasional ascebdency In polton
affairs has substituted the uniform enj0ymsnt
OF domestic equality The avenue 10 active public lie
seems closed against her, but without imparne her
power over mind, or her fame The Tyre is ~ obe-
dent to her touch, the coming to her call, -
to that Of man and truth in its purity 6nds no more
honortd Interpreter.
When comparisons are drawn between longer pc
rods Of time the progress of the race appears from
the change in the condition OF man himself Time
knows boiler mission than to assert the rights Of
labor and il has not been unmindiul Of the duty.
Were Aristotle and Plato TO back 10 earth.
they would find ne contrast complete than be-
tween the workshops Of Athens, and those Of New
York. At Athens the slave practssd the mechanic
arts nor did iI occur to the pupils Of the Academy.
that the world could do ts work except by the OF
slaves. But here labor Is dignihed and ennooled Is
il deserves, ano has right to be. The mechanic 10
bis freedom knows how to command the powers Of
nature by rendering ilal obedience to her laws his
desire OF success in bis occupation, whether In the
shpy ard, the iron-wosks or wherever else he V
found compels him 90 be the dligent perseyering.
ard honest Investigator Of truth at HE daily toll ho
stands face 10 face with the laws Of crest0n hst
It may be said of him that like Enoch, he walks with
Goa"
The fifty years which We celebrate, have taken
mighty strides toward the abolition Of seryltude.
Prussia in the hour Of ts suferBgs and its greatest
caamtes renovated its existence partly by the es-
Enlistment of schools, and partly by changing its
serfs into a proprietary peasantry. In Hungary mo
attempt toward preserving the nationality OF tho
May ars may have failed the last vestig6s OF bond
age have been e6aced, and the holders u the plow
have become the owners Of Themselves andof s soil.
Ii events do as | believe, correspond 10 the
Divine idea; If God n the fountain OF all good
Dess-ihe inspirer Of true ef'ecton--the source OF
all intelligence-there is nothing Of 20 great mo-
ment 10 the race the conception OF hls az
is eDce and true Apprehension OF his relations 70
man must constitute the turning point In the progress
OF the world. And it has been A better knowl-
edge Of bis nature the dividing line that separates
ancient history from moderB-the old time from the
new. The thought Of Divine unity absolute
cause familiar 10 antiquity; but the undivided
testimony Of toe records II all cultivated nations
shows that il took hold Of the popular affections.
Philosophers might conceive this Divine unity
purest action, usm xed with matter; fate, holding
the universe in lis inyincible unrelenting grasp;
reasOn. going forth 10 ths work Of creation; the
primal O. the ideal archetypes, according 10
which the world was fashioned as boundless power.
careless Of boundless existence; a. the infinite one
slumberDg uncOnsciously in the nite ALL Nothing
Of this could take bold 81 the common mind, or make