The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-09-06

made an upward or downward step on the stair
way which stands on chaos and reaches tho
heart of God And not battles alone settle things
in this world. Paul on Mars Hill, Mahomet
at the banquet of Arabian idolaters. where he
declared himself the Prophet of one God, Gal
leo at work, Luther at the Diet, Heloise ia
king the veil, Columbus on the quarterback
ofthe Santa Maria, ink-daubed Faust, Daguerre
in his laboratory, Fulton filing iron, Grace Oar
ling in her boat, Buxton making his last motion
in the House of Commons for the abolition Of
Slavery throughout the British Empire, Morse
bending a wire round glass, Florence Nightin
gale in the hospitals OF the Crimea, Jackson and
Morton holding an etherized sponge-these are
the focal points of istory. All others revolve
about them, and bow down in reverence before
them. UncouHa1eny riads OF events take place,
and uncountet fiads of persons take part in
them; but only ahalfdozen are significant and
remembered Each of these is pillar Of ada
mant built by invisible and gigantic hands into
the history of the world; and each is an object
for the eyes of all after ages.
'tSuch an object is the Kansas erigrant Of
1853 The grandeur of his journey is papabe
and overwhelming. He is liter4ly Power on
Earth. Though, like the Baptist. his food be To-
Gusts and wild honey, like him he heralds moro
august presence, and foreshadows a mightier
substance. At every step, he sows or brushes the
seeds Of empire. 1t Is not defamation to say
that he holds in the hollow of his hand the des-
tiny of vast and diverse races for all coming
time. He is the acorn of nations.
There Is no element of the moral sublime,
which the position OF the Kansas emigrGnt does
not fulfil. Whether we consider the motive of
his pilgrimage, the means of attaining it, or the
results upon the very substance of modern civ
ilization, and on the whole structure of modern
society, which may follow his career, we stand
awe-struck before the thought that so insignii-
cant figure, so weak an instrument, 80 fallible
al agent, is bearing on his shoulders the
weight of a world"
l lighted a cigar, and pulled half smile
through half sheer.
81 see your face 1 know what you mean,"
continued Bison, quickly, with a slight depreca-
tory gesture, full of empire "You would say
that these cadaverous Yankees and brandy-soak-
ed vagabonds whe squabble now in Kansas are
neither more nor less than any other soldiers Of
fortune, mere scramblers for a living, or in for
drunken row. In one sense you are partly
right, and lam wholly right. Listen to me;'
and Ancient Mariner-like he held me with his
eye.
There is a contemplate element in>every
emigration; where great bodies of men move,
some among them viii always move from mean
motives. There are suffers in every camp But
the army must be judged by its ruling spirit
and the ruling spirit of the Kansas emigration
is something as lofty and divine as has yet been
seen on earth. / count it one of the few signs
extant in this age, that we are not altogether
given over to Mammon asd materialism. You
think my language inflated. Not So 1t Just
clothes the beautiful fact--no more.
"The Kansas emgrant who knows his work,
and does it, is more than an emigrant-he is a
pilgrim; more than pilgrim-he is a crusader
Yes, that is the word-a crus&1er;a Knight
Templar Of Justice; sodier n che Holy War
universal, which has been foughtsh,ough a thou
sand ages, and will continue to be waged &c
earth last so long, until the last relic of power
usurped shall disappear from among men.
Look, through history, at the enterprises on
which mankind has lavished It's praise and won
der, and see how they pale before the majesty
of this
81 have called the Kansas.man n crusader.
The crusades were the first united movement
of civilized Europe, and must forever be re-
nowned for the singularity of their object, the
enthusiasm with which it was pursued, and the
vast scale on which they were carried on. All
Europe rose up as one man, and preeipitated
itself upon Syria In huge wave of religious
and martial frenzy. But one thing about the
crusades has always shOrn them Of half their
glory, >ard must still prevent them from rank
ing, either as wars, as invasiOns, emigratiOns,
or as holy missions, in the first place among
human achievements. They were undoubted
Quixotism. Their object, it is true, was at
least innocent. 1t was we'll enough to get the
tomb of Jesus from the hands of the Moslem
But it cost too much. 1t was ludicrously
unthrifty bargain-a most wild and visionary
project; and the little of skepticism which then
dared TO show itself against the overwhelming
food Of Papal power which inundated Europe,
wagged its head slyly, and put its tongue into
its cheek in corners, to see whole nations made
such fools of, to their ruin. Only their fright
fully tragic issue prevents the crusades from
being branded as the great masqueradeS of
history. But who can smile, in the presence OF
the CHASTITY calamites that waited on their vic
tins. Neither the retreat from Moscow, nor
the still more terrific "Flight of a Tartar
Tribe" through Asia, as told by De Quincy,
q see volume Of his in your hand,) can match
the horrors of the first crusade. OF 100000
persons who composed the invading hosts, not
$4,000 ever returned. Death, death, every
where; and such death Now, what was all
this ruin for2 To conquer a tomb; and, as
was plain from the beginning having coAduer-
ed, they could not hold it. The best practical
wisdom of the race, even its religious wisdom,
while it does full justice to men and motives
to the stately knighthood and fiery martyr
dom it engendered-will forever pronounce the
scheme whimsical and absurd. Through all
the pomp and music Of the Jerusalem Deliv-
ered," and all the deep ventration we feel in
the presence of that gorgeous company of
heroes, and warriors, and martyrs, the sallow
Knight of La Mancha lcW thrust his lanthorn
visage and rusty spear between us and Godfrey
of Bouillon and in place of the sainted city and
the holy shrine, our eyes ioiU persistfin seeing
only row of windmills, which stand there to
be punished. Indirectly, the crusac es did
yeoman's service for Europe. They created
Christendom. But, Of themselves, .ney were
and grotesque failures. fhe Kansas
emigration is no castle in the air
"The colonization of Spanis,, America was
another marked and splendid di,play of energy
and valor. The gorgeous pageant Of these
terrible adventures well suited the purple ard
prodigal luxuriance of the tropics they came to
invade. Everything about them was calcula-
ted to strike the eye, and fascinate the warm
imagination. The very appointments of their
ornaments, were like the properties of a thea
ire; and they have preserved this facticious
glitter with posterity. All the glow of human
genius has combined with the natural interest
Of the theme, to invest the Spanish emigrations
with the hues of deep romance. They were be-
low the crusades In depth and purity of pur-
poses, but far above them in practical import
ance. These Spaniards were not saints. They
were not pushed across the sea by any power
from above. Here and there, some sincere and
glorious devotee cherished the sublime hope of
gathering the tawny myriads of the New World
into the fold Of the mighty Shepherd, and free
" poured out his life in the work. Such cases
were exceptional. The main body of these
wanderers were fortune-hunters. Some sought