New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-04-30

own responsibility. They ask themselves: Wac ii
hui wild delusion when we thought that man has the
faculty. 90 be free and TO govern himeehf Have we
been lighting were We ready to die for mere phan-
tom for n mere product Of a morbid Imagination
Til, question downrodden humanity cries out into the
world aud from this country they expect an answer.
AZ their ADVOCATE | speak to you. will speak OF
Amercanisr a. tLe grea. representative Of the reform
atory uge the great champion OF the dlSmty OF
human nature, the great repository OF the la't hopes
Of suffering mankind. viii speak Ol the ideal mission
Of this country and fths people.
You NAV tel ne that these views are visionary,
that the desny0f this country is less exalted that the
AmS ricsn people less great than think they are
or ought TO be. / answer ideals ike stars, you
will not succeed to touch them with your hands. But
Ike the seafariDg on the desert Of waters you
choose them your guides, and following them you
will reach your destiny. i invite you TO ascend with
ne 10 the watchtOwer OF history, overlooking the
grand panorama of the development of human affairs,
in which the American Republic stands in 50 bold aud
prominent rehet
He who reviews the past Of this country in conneo.
ton with the history Of the world besides, cannot fail
10 discover wonderful coincidence OF great events
and fortunate circumstances, which were destined to
produce everlasting results, unless recklessy thrown
away BY imbece generations.
Look back with me four or five centuries. The dark
period of the middle ages is drawing near its close.
The accidental explosion Of that mysterious black pow
der discovered BY obscure German monk, is the
first fash Of lightning preuding that gigantic thun
der-sorm which is to SKATER the edifce Of feudal so
ciey to pieces. The invention of the gunpowder strips
the feudal lord Of his prestige q acarr7OT another
discovery is to strip him of his prestige as man.
Gutenberg, another obscure German, invents the
prinng-press and as the gun-powder blows the cas-
ties Of the small feuda tyrans into the air 80 the for
midable artillery Of printed letters batters down the
citadels Of ignorance and superstition. Loud ap-
pause.l Soul and body take up arms and prepare
temselves for the great battle of the Reformation.
How the mighty volcano of the German mind bursts
the crust of incidence which covered it, Luthers tri
umphant thunder rates against the holy see of Rome.
(Applause The world is ablaze, all the elements of
society rising up in boiling CommotOn-twO ages
are battling against each other.
That was the time when the regeneration OF the old
world was to take place. But the old order of things,
fortified in customs and prejudices and deeplyrOoted
institutions, did not surrender at the first blast OF
rumpets. The grand but fearful struggle of the re-
formatory movement plunges all Europe into endless
confusion. The very wheel OF progress seems to grind
and crush one generation after another The ideas
which concerned the highest and most sacred relations
of humanity, seem at the same time to call into their
service the basest and most violent passions Of the
human heart and in all Europe the wars of great
principles degenerate into wars of general devastation.
But meanwhile new country has opened its bound
less e de TO those great ideas for the realization OF
which the old world seems no longer to be wide enough
1t though the earth herself had taken part in the
general revolution, and had thrown up from her sea-
covered womb battle ground for the spirit Of the
new era That is America Not only the invention
of the gunpowder and Of the printing press but also
the discovery Of America naugurated the modern age.
There is the ana immense continent. The most
restless and enterprsing elements of European society
direct their looks toward it. First the greedness of
the god-hunting adventurer pOunces upon the new
conquest; but his inOrdinate appetitAs being disap
pointed, he gradually abandons the field to men, in
whose hearts the future Of the world is sleeping
unborn
While the coast of Virginia is settled by motley
immigration led and ruled by men of ideas and enter
prise, the sturdiest champions Of principle descend
upon the stony shores of New-England; tApPlausel
While the Southern colonies settled under the
auspices of ordly merchants and propretaries original
democracy plants its stern baDner upon Plymouth
Rock lApplause.l Mercantile speculation, arsto-
cratic ambition and stern virtue, that seeks freedom
and nothing but freedom lead the most different classes
of people, different in origin, habits and persuasion
upon the virgin SOIL and ntrust to them the task of
realizing the great principles OF the age Nor Is this
privilege confined to one nationality alone While the
Anglo-Saxon takes possession of ew-England, Vir-
GINA and Pennsylvania, the Frenchman plants his
colonies in the soil Of French Florida and the interior
of the continents the Hollander locates New-Nether
lands on the banks of the Hudson; the Swede, led
there by the great mind Of O1enstern, occupies the
banks of the Delaware; the Spaniard maintains HIM
self in Pennsular Florida, and O numerous mmgra-
ton of Germans, who follow the call of religious free
DOM and of Irshmen, gradually flowing in, scatters
itself all this vast extent OF country Soon all the
social and national elements of the civilized world
represented in the new land. Every people, every
creed every class Of society have contributed their
share to that wonderful mixture out of which is to
grow the great nation of the world. 1t is true,
the Ango-Saxon establishes and maintains his ascend
ancy but without absolutely absorbing the other ma
tional elements They modify each other, and their
peculiar characteristics to be blended together by
the all-assimilatng power Of freedom. This Is the
origin Of the American nationality, which did not
spring from family, one tribe, one country, but
Incorporates the vigorous elements of all civilized ma
tons on earth. (Applause
This fact is not without great Importance 1t is an
essential link in the chain OF historical development
The student Of history cannot fail to notice that when
new periods Of civilization break upon humanity the
people OF the earth cannot maintain their national rela
lions New ideas are to be carried out by young ma
tons From time to time, violent, irresistible burri-
canes sweep over the world, blowing the most different
elements Of the human family together, which, by
mingng reinygOrate each other and the general con-
fusion then becomes the starting point of new period
of progress Nations which have long subsisted exclu
syely or their own resources will gradually lose their
original vgor and die the death OF decreptude But
mankind becomes young again by its different elements
being shaken together by race crossing race and mnd
penetrating mind. lApplause.l
The oldest traditions of history speak Of such great
revukions and general mgratons, and II we could but
lift the VEIL which covers the remotest history OF
Asiaiic tribes would discover the first scenes and
acts of the drama, of which the downfall OF the Roman
empire is portion. When that empire had exhausted
its natural vitality the dark forests VI the North pour
ed forth barbarious but vigorous multitude, who
trampled into ruins the decrept civilization OF the Ro-
man world but infused blood into the veins OF old
Europe grasped the great ideas Of Christianity with
bloody but firm hand and q period Of original
progress sprang out Of the seeming devastation. The
German element took the helm Of history But in the
course of time the development Of things arrived at
new turning point The spirit of ndiyidualism took
possession of the heart of civilized humanity and the
reformatory ement of the sixteenth century was its
expression But continental Europe appeared unable
to incorporate the and progressive ideas growing
out of that spirit in organic political institutions.
While the heart of Europe was ravaged BY scenes
Of religious wars, the Anglo-Saxons of England at