The Kansas herald of freedom., 1857-06-27
Ihe Jefaio Of freedom.
Lawrence. Saturday, June q. 1857.
rrsgre.s.-rhe Future vs.. the Past.

given, profuse,,y illustrated. We do not
at this time propose to lift the veil so
high-a knowledge of the advanced stage
ofciyilization in those years to come can
hardly be attained, yet tolerably aocu-
rate guess might be formed of the po-
sition of Kansas, SO far ahead as 1900
IS years hence, and many may live to
corroboratc the correctness of our sur
mise.
Could man now in the hey-day of
youth, become like the famed sleeper of
the Catskills," old Rip Van Wrinkle, a
somnolescent being for the number of
years above mentioned, and then wake to
view of the world and its denizens, how
would the sight surprise him, and how
strangely the aspect of things, as he recol-
lected them, strike upon his astonished
visual organs In our age there have been
wrought changes which would have
seemed almost miraculous to the old fogy
dwellers upon this terrestrial sphere. who
in the numbering wagon rode tomill, with
few bags of grain, threshed by the antique
fail, or journeyed slowly from town to
town behind their teams, pride in those
days far more than now. We can cali
to mind the time when the full mail bags
of our good Uncle Sam were drawn
through mire and muck by jaded horses,
requiring weeks to accomplish the dis
lance which now is trayersed in as many
hours, and the drawliDg sound of the
coach hon was heard through the woods.
or by the old-time wayside inn, as We
ancient Whip" sung out "all aboard!'
We, fortunate jewellers in the West,
have IN measure REQUIRED to those primi-
tive times-those days of the mail coach
and horn, of the wayside inn aud the
winding turnpike; but they are fleeing
the treasures offspring time, and soon will
be succeeded by the shrill whistle of the
iron horse, and the rumbling jar of his APP.
preaching or receding train. Those times
of old, those primitive conveyances and
coy tayerns by the roadside, will soor
exist but in the memory of man, in thi.
broad empire of the West. From the
eastern line of our dominion, where thu
surges of the Atlantic wash the rock,
coast, to the gold shores of the Pacific, tn,
earth will be .clamped" by the track, ant
the "Song of the Steam" only be heard.
Harness me down with your iron bands.
BE sure Of your curb and rein;
For Il seorn the power ofyour puny hands,
As the tempest scorns the chain"
The question often comes up. whethe
the progress of the succeeding half cen
fury will equal that of the past-whethe
We shall advance in knowledge in proper
ton as the world grows older, or whethe
VIC bave now reached, or shall soon reacl
the eliminating point The latter suppo
sltion does not seem credible, as ever,
year, and even every month or week
brings new discoveries and inventions il
the mechanical or scientific world. eoualI
startling with those of the past. Ney
planets are discovered in the azure spae
above, new deposits of minerals brougb
to light in the earth below. Discoyerie
in earth, ais, fire. and water, if progressing
in the same ratio as hitherto, will sool
make mankind spirits of either clement
holding all subservient to their will.
II from the gloom of the msedival AGE
rose the glorious art of Printing-matur
ed in the brain of Faust and Guttenber.
amid opposition the most strenuous
what may we not reasonably expect-an
what have We not already attained, i'm til
light and civilization of the 18th century
Contrast the first disciple of the ''art pre-
sentative, " and his aspirations, as he stoo
beside the rude press, his unfinished block
before him, with the perfection attaine
In our age by the energetic Hoe. Loo
back even upon the labors of the printe
statesman and philosopher, Issuing til
quaint old Gazette from the Quaker Cit,
and, from the progress of the past, judgin
that of the future, conceive when, {
where, or what the end will be, even
this most important branch of art VIVA
in the year 1900, will be our facilities fl
supplying the great American people wit
reading, literary, historical, religious an
scientific? Little, We surmise, did FRANE
LIN imagine, while penning his leaders fl
the diminutive sheet conducted by hin
that within the cycle, journals far ez
eeeding tho Gazette, would be publishe
in the then unknown region far west
the "Father of Waters" springing into el
istence upon the prairies-pioneers in til
grand work of enlightenment and printe
often in the first house erected on til
site of some prospective town, or, wantin
that, a tent. Such is the reality-whos
was the vision fifty years ago-who ver
tured q glance so far into the shadow
confines of the future?
In the transmission of intelligence, whs
is not the future to bring forth? Al
ready is the gigantic cable prepared whic
win enable old Europe to clasp hand
with young America, or the New Yorke
to regulate his watch by the timepiee
in the Liverpool Exchange; and perhar
the next intelligence We receive will b
that they have already commenced layin
the lightning track through Neptune
realm. VIII mankind ever stop til
race of progression, or VIII ambition a
ways have potency to urge them forwar
to new and startling theories which the
energy will more than realize?
.steam's now too sloH-it viii not dc;