The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-02-24
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roman empire and its Institutions made the deenq
and most sensible impression upon human society
an al the men whose names have as yet been know
but such was not the fame of Hannibal or Frede
lex the Great or of Napoleon. The last II
true, destroyed much but he created nothing no
manent IN the way of social organization lie w
indeed the great iconoclast of old systems h,
whether the field upon which he operatpd VIII
cleared of its ruins, is to be sowed with the see,
from the East or the West, remains vet to be see,
me greatest representative name in the histor
: OF public men, other than religious reformers viii
q the exception perhaps of Julius Caesar is that
= Washington. Second he is to him in the order {
tlme and IN the permanent effects so far of his sv
tem but not second even to him if we may trust ou
hopes in regard to the magnitude of the moyempr
which he conducted. If the first has been the mo,
permanent In Its consequences it is perhaps becaus
there has been more time for its development. bu
the last has effected the greater moral revoIut;or
the two. 1t has enlarged the capacities of nom
lar form OF government for extensive empire bav6n
any thlng that was known before it has opened II
new avenues for the pursuit of happiness and it ba
infused fresh and mighty hone into tha buro,
Heart, whose qulckening impulse is destined to b
let Dy ALL for 1t is to pass along the entire line
march and lmpart universal progress to civilize,
man. 10 have conducted and organized beyond al
other human agencies this great forward m90vnn,en
Is the singular and unparalleled glory of Washinr
ton mat there was long course Of Providentia
preparation for this great movement in which ht
was made the chief instrument, is to be gathered
from the whole history of American discovery. col
onization, and independence WI
:, III was as II he had been warned of God in dream
that Columbus embarked full of faith and hone mn
on that most wonderful and adventurous of human
| enterprises. With no chart save his own imooina
ton, with no guide but his own mighty hone with
no support put faith divine as to have i'm
/ parted TO him an almost superhuman STRENGTH he
sPreau MS ss IN pursuit OF the ''course of empire
Mhlcn westward takes its way with the noble de-
termination to follow it until he should discover tho
unknown retreats in which lay Graded a new, and a
h;dJay nope lor man and open up way to those
hidden Businesses of human power tbrounb which
ms race We're to precipitate themselves on vast and
/ untried fields of experiment. in a career which
should become the wonder and delight of all who
TT 1Eel an interest in the progress of humanity
throughout long succession of dreary days the
| morning opened on the same mOnotonons eynansr
ana as the evening closed in the horizon continued
to set Its broad circle in the mingled and shadowv
cohhnes oil sea and sky as if to nterpose an nscru-
table barrier between the human gaze and that
great mystery into which it proanev sought to in
trude. ~ III
The hopes of all others fell as the days continued
10 close under the increasing shadows of repeated
ulsappomtments, and new uncertainties gathered in
with the night to darken with their gloom the soul
oi man. lie alone, firm in his purpose and true to
MS destiny, still held his course; westward ever
westward he steered his way until the fires of San
Salvador gave token of the near approach to shore
and shed the soft lights of human habtation and of
nome, to relieve the gloom of souls which were sad
Gn Gened ana longing for the sympathy of their kind
i nus closed the noblest effort of perseverance and
winch lies IN human faith that the world as vet has
seen; Inc emblem of the success in which it closed
was lght. Its mission was one of light Almighty
secret OF human empire seems to have been wrested
as 1t were from the reluctant grasp of nature The
genus OF humanity paused to cont9mplate the mirh-
" neld before 1t, ere it erected the affairs of its
cvlllZatlon and the temples of its Worship or or
ganlzed tne institutions of its discipline and pro-
claimed the order of its future march, What but
providence could have inspired the thought or
qulckened the faith which led to such an achieve
ment! new field was to be opened to human en-
terprlse, and new form to be given to human de-
velopment. Hitherto mans progress had been
mostly confined to the social side of his being
Governments had directed their efforts mainly to
social strength and Improvement Society was the
whole, OF which the individual was a part
II he had rights and power it was because socie-
y had gwen them. Such was eminently the geni-
US OF the organization of the Roman empire
ana OF Roman law, whose impress is still so deep
on the institutions of the Old World and to
which social progress owes it most forward
step, so far as human agency is concerned-
But Providence opened here a new theatre and
reversed the order of the march of human i'm
provement. Man thrown into a situation
entirely new, and all the circumstances of his posi-
ton were adapted to the development of his indi
vldual nature. Unsphered. as it were from organ
Ze9 society, man was thrown into the wilderness
WIN tc wants, the arts. and the strength of ciyil
zatlon, and was yet exposed to most of the rude ne
cesstles of a state of nature. For his government
ne was mainly directed by his own will for his sup
ueDpnUpQt
own resources and his communion for the most part
was with himself Sefreance. an intense love of
independence of thought and action. and opinions |
OF human nature and of human rights, formed from |
the study OF man as an individual rather than a |
creature OF society," must have been the result of
such culture
1t Is not surprising that a new form of organiza-
uon should have arisen out of it, in which the ndi
Vldual was the unit and society but the multiple |
and in which society derived its rights from the |
grant OF individuals who reserved what was not |
given instead OF comforting upon the individual !
whatever he possessed. With such views the indi- |
vldual would be likely to deal out his powers to |
Government with sparing hand. He would be .
apt, too, to demand that the powers thus granted |
should be exercised by those only who were likely |
TO ne governed by the same interests and feelings
win himself, and that he himsefshould participate
equally IN this exercise. Out of this would natl-
rally grow division of the powers of Government
amongst different social organizations whose bond |
was that of common interests and feelinus The |
communities thus organized would probably become
Ithe social units of new Government, upon the |
pasls Oh common interest, whose powers were to
De exercised as far as possible by those only who
were identified in political interest and feeling.
Such would be the natural and orderly growth
OF the seed of individuasm which was provident-
Tally planted IN the virgin soil of the New World,
and IN whose development George Washington was
the chief human agent. The law of progress here
Is one OF selt-deveOpment No man of his day,
perhaps, understood this so well as Washinpton
tie saw that the right of an individual to manage
ii
only himself, implied corresponding obligation on
MN not to intervene in the affairs of others where
they alone are interested He appreciated too, the
rlch ana rare opportunities for this scli-develop-
ment which were afforded by our position To
these he directed the attention of his countrymen
when he exhorted them to institute an american
policy, and to work out their own destiny under
'he impulses OF their own peculiar genius, and with
I due reference to the circumstances which sur
rounded them. To afford free scope to this law of
an unlimited field was opened to
human competition. All the prizes of life were
'fered to free and fair competition, and were
awarded to the victors in the great struggle which
-ried their strength to the utmost.
Ihese were so splendid as to tempt sometimes the
,rganlzed efforts OF States but for the most part
hey constituted the reward of individual exertion.
he greatest possible stimulus was thus given the
development of human energy and a teemng, strue-
ring world 1t has made for us. There is scarcely
IN object OF human aspiration which the genius of
'ur institutions does not hold out a reward to
empt individuals to exertion. 1t imposes no con-
tion upon his attaining it except that he shall be
worthy OF the priZ9. He who claims the place of
JlysSes must be able to bend his bow. Did he de-
nand field for his labors and place on which to
ound his family, it pointed him to the wilderness
md, giving him an and rife, bade him to CON
uer 1t with the sweat of his brow from the unwil-
ing hold OF nature, and to keep it when conquered
" the strength of his heart and the cunning of his
land. Does he sigh for maritime adventure il bids
lm to spread his sails to the breeze in whatever di-
ecuon his fancy may take him, and guarantees to
IN tildI INC harvest WHICH he may gather shall be
us own, and shall not be wrested from him by the
land of force at home abroad. Does he covet
he seats of power the honors of life it saws o!
here they are; prove yourself worthy and YOU shall
AVE them; measure yourself and, if you feel strong
nough for contest in which YOU will find so manY
ivas, enter upon it, for the prizes belong to the
trongest."
Stimulated by such impulses, our progress ha.
resented spectacle of human energy unequalled
the history of the past. The march of the rest
ess column is onward. Forward is the crv
which still resounds along the line, and if those
Tho head the column ever halt again it must be in
Mighty march even for a moment; it stops neither
o bury its dead nor to care for its wounded. II
auses at no obstacle, it for odds which it
nay have to encounters its steady tramp and its .
um OF men have already scared the silence of the
emotest soitudes of the wilderness and the sbout
I its Mar-crY will soon be heard acros. a. -.