The daily union., 1854-11-23


ofone Of members and the eneonragemeno another
to Robert Fulton and to Robert X Livingston.
The same superiority all preceding time belongs to
this age in reference to the construction OF the OF in
ternai communication What all the artificial chan
nels of travel and of commerce that existed before the
present century, compared with the canals and railroads
constructed in timer shall not pause to estimate
the number of these newly ymade highways their collect
i've length their capacity for journeyngs and for trade
leave to others contrast the occasional Oriental or Al
rcan caravan with the daily freight train one OF our
iron pathways the postchaise the sagecoach and the
diligence with the ncessant movement In the canal boats
and the flying of the railroad Yet in your presence
nv brothers remembering the eleven who, fifty years
ago aud organized society," must for an instant
direct your attention to the system which connects our
own Hudson with the basins of the st Lawrence OF the
Delaware of the Susquehanna and OF the Mississippi
This magnificent work of the nobesl riumphs OF CIV
zed man so friendly peace and industry to union and
national glory, effected through the special IN
strumenality of of original founders and most
active members-the De Witt Clinton who in the
days when the city of New York goried in her enlightened
ma gsraey at the head OF her municipal government
esteeming it part of his public duty to disnteest
edy for the welfare of science and the fame of the great
men of the country.
The half century which commemorate is found to re-
the character OF superiority, II we consider e
study it has made of the history OF the earth
Geology in that time has assumed severe scientific
FORM doing the highest honor will not to the lndi-
ydua men who have been concerned in the pursuit. but
to human nature ITSELF by the perseverng application OF
the system onducon by the mperurbable serenity with
which seeming contradictions have been studied t they
have been found confirm the general laws, and men
have been able discover in degree the chronology
of the earth demonstrate the regularity Of its structure
where it seemed most disturbed and where Nature herself
fault and the trail of her footsteps broken 70 re-
store the just of strata that had been crushed
confusion turned over IN apparently lnexPlcaoe
and ncongruous folds And thus the geoogst mas oeen
able to peruse the rocky tablets which timc-honored
Nature has her inscriptions He has opened the mas
sve sepuchres of departed forms OF being and has pored
the copous records preserved there IN stone u .ny
have revealed the majestic march of creative power from
the organism of the zoophyte entombed IN the lowest
depths OF Snra through all the rising gradauons oil ami
NAL life up to its sublimest result in God-ke man.
Again: il is only in day that the Sun has been
taught to do the work Of artist and, in obedience to
mans WILL the great OF light in its inconcevaoe
swiftness of motion is compelled to denea'e WIN mnta-
Bile any object that the eye of day looks upon
OF the nature Of electricity the last fifty have re-
vealed more than the world in all past time had diseov-
ered excepting the age when our own Franklin
learned to fly mans faithful messenger til the mystic
wires rembe with his passions and bear his errands ON
the wings of lightning He divines how this agency, which
holds the globe in its invisible embrace guides floating
atoms their places in the crystal teaches the MN
era ores the lines in which they should move where to
assemble together and where to lie down and take their
rest whispers the meeorolOgS the secrets OF the
atmosphere and the skies for the chemist in his laboratory
it perects the instruments OF heat dssoves the closest
anites and euntes the sundcred elements it joins the
artisan at his toll and, busy employed at his side this
subtest and swfest of exstenees patiently and carefully
rep1cdnces the designs Of the engraver or the plastic art
and disposes the ueta with sku decacy and exactness
more it enters into the composition himself anu Is
present the inmost witness of his thoughts -
litions These discoveries Of our time,
But enough of this contrast of the achievement OF one
age with that of all preceding 1t may to be at
variance with theme that republican institutions
gain ground appears less the theatre of events
She whose presence in this brery world is lily among
horns whose smile is pleasant like the light OF morning,
and whose eye is the gate of heaven-she whom Nature
that the lovely veil of her spirit the best ter
restral emblem of beauty, to command armies or
reign supreme legislation Yet the progress OF ber
y while it has made her less 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 counsellor and tellowmartyr and for
occasional ascendency in political affairs has substituted
the uniform enjoyment Of domestic equality me avenue
active public life closed against her. but without
mpairing her power mind her fame The Tyre is
obedent her touch the coming to her CALL AS
to that of man and truth in its purity hnds no more non
ored interpreter.
When COMPARISONS drawn between longer periods OF
time the progress OF the appears from the change IN the
condition of himself Iame knows no holitr mission
than the rights Of labor ana it has not been un-
mindful of the duty. Were Aristotle and Plato to come
back to EARTH they would find contrast more com.
pee than between the workshops of Athens and those OF
New York At Athens the slave practsed the mechanic
arts nor did it occur to the pupils of the academy that
the world could do ,s york except by the use OF slaves
But here labor is digned and eEnobed as deserves and
has right to be; the mechanic in his freedom knows how
command the powers of Nature by rendering al obe-
ece to her laws his desire of success in his occupation
whether in the shpyard the ironwoks or wherever
else he found cOmpes him to be the dgent and honest
INVESTIGATOR of truth at his daily toll he stands face to
lace with the of creation that may be said OF
him that like Enoch, he walks with God
The fifty years which celebrate have taken mighty
strides towards the abolition of seryude Prussia in the
hour its suterings and its greatest lamites renovated
its existence partly by the establishment OF schools and
partly by changing its seris into proprietary peasahy
In Hungary the attempt towards preserving the national
ity of the Magyars may have failed but the last vesges
of bondage have been ciiaced and the holders of the
plough have become the owners of themselves and OF Its
soil
events so as believe correspond to the Divine idea
II God Is the ouptpp Of oil goodness, the insprer OF
true affection the sf all Intelligence there is moth
ing of 80 great the the conception of His
existence and apprehension of His relations 10 man
must constitute the turnngpoin in the progress Of the
world And it has been so. better knowledge of His
nature is the dividing line that separates ancient history
from modern the old time from the The thought OF
the Divine unity absolute cause was familiar to an
touity but the undivided testimony of the records OF all
cultivated nations shows that it took no bold OF the popular
affections Philosophers might conceive t5 DIVINE unity
as puFest aetioG unmixed with matter as hfe holfiag
the universe in its ingpcble unrelentng grasp as rea
SON. going forth the work of creation; as the primal
source Of the ideal archetypes according 20 which the
world was fashioned boundeas power careless OF
boundIess existence the infinite sumbeFRg nncon
sciousy in the infinite all Nothing OF this could take
hold of the common mind or make
peor and Baam
Forsake their temples dim,
or throw down the affairs of supersutiop
For the regeneration of the world, it requisite chat
the Divine Being should enter into the abodes and the
hearts of men, and dwell there that idea OF Him should
arise which should include all truth respecting His essence
that He should be known not only an abstract and alb
solute cause but as perfect being from whose perfect
ture the universe an euence; not distant Provi-
dence of infinite power ad uncertain inactive WILL but
as God present in the flesh not IN ABSOLUTE lawgyer
holding the material world and all moral and 4iegent