The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-12-02


fore been regulated by latitude, as the cir
curnstance which, in its distribution Of eli
mates and races, mainly governs tempera-
ment. Bat for the rest, in oil the migrations
Of men aud nations, poetry has clang to the
sea-shore, where the fragments Of its broken
harp are s.rewn among the wrecks Of an
Gent civilizations. Helicon, Parnassus, the
fabed homes Of the MUSES., overlooked the
Corinthian Gulf, where the sisters bathed 10
the breezes Of the IIalcyon Sea the Queen
Of Love who has given Song its theme, from
HongR down 10 ALEXANDER SxIrH, sprang
from the sea foam, and HOMER himself, the
father OF poetry, was rocked in his island
cradle, 10 the lullaby Of a song older than
bis own. Grecian, and Italian, and German
poetry,-the scalds Of Scandinavia--the
Troubadours OF Proycncc-the bards Of our
Saxon ancestors were all fostered by the
sea- All caught their first prcsentiment Of
Eternity, the inspiration Of all true music,
from the vast unknown Of waters. The
soul fthe poet, in all ages, has gone down to
battle its II in the infinite Of ocean, and to ap-
pease in its limitless expanse and fathomless
mysteries, his bugings for the impcnetrable
Beyond For thousands Of years he has sat
there, lullel by its ancient music, and seek.
ing in vain to find meaning in its muir
muir. Charmed by this spell, civilization
has, for the most part, avoided the unsocial
plain, aud the isolation Of the inmost land,
and in all its mgrations has expanded along
the coast line. II 1t has been occasionally
pressed by the weight Of population and
wealth, up the rivers Of the world il it has
overlooked Of its own excess, into the int.
rior, and has thus difIused itself over Europe
and Asia, and built the cities Of the Desert
and the Plain, it has not been followed, except
r,hectively, by the Arts or their refnemcnts.
II these have shed their illumination in to
the distant wilderness, they have kept their
beacon lights upon the shore.
Invention has kept ts magic to the seas
rcsounding girdle. Imitation has belonged
TO the mid land Genius has always dwelt
by the sea- II has had ia work in the city,
and lts repose 10 the country; its life 10 the
city and its grave in the country. And thus
the world till lately has been divided into
sea coast and interior, the primary divisions
which include the urban and rustic Of
lIoaACE and Of LAMB.
Commerce made the distinction, and
CONN., cree has annullcd it. Railroads have
reversed the tendencies OF population and
the direction Of enterprise and with these
also Of the Arts.
Poetry no longer follows the fleets Of
Agamemnon OF Eneas along the trend o:
stormy coasts. The KING has his minstrel
yet, but WORK is King Colonization is
the crusade of this age, and cans more
than any crusade Of history. II is the re-
distribution Of population, and the recon
s,ruc,ion Of society around new centres. II
is revolution. Instead Of recoiDg from
the interior wilderness, Civilization now
seeks it. II crowds no longer TO the Delta
and the Ostia, but to the Head Of Naviga-
ton. Cities, and shrines, and temples, are
no longer gathered like precious stones set
in the emerald ring Of the sea, upon the
rim Of continents, but men converge
from all the vast circumference towar Is
the central plain, tn find the cmphaios
anl Jerusalem OF the new world.
Poetry then. which has been creature of
latitude. has come at last 20 be thing OF
longitude. The spos OF the century is the
social aud material revolution Of the int
rior Of North America. America will new
er have a poet truly national. who does not
seek his fount OF inspiration here For no
man can comprehend America except from
the apex OF the interior plain, where the
hcart-ils impulses borne along the mighty
rivers which have their birth place here--is
central To the widc circumference Of Ameri
can nationality, ard throhs in unison with
all its cxtgmlics. And when the develop
ment OF the Wcs, shall be complete. and the
symmetry and unity OF the national character
shall eliminate in the magnificent dome which
shall arch this central rotunll Amer
lean Art and Sentiment shall be derivative
from the West 10 the last from the centr,
TO the cjrcumi,rncc- then-why then Min
neso,c may possibly have post cayabc OF
dong justice 10 the glorious beauty OF her
November DAYS, and the gorgeous splendors
o, her November nights.
f"P"ia' >"N'o'g"iy Ia 1871.
In 1887, more than twenty years ago