Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-08-13
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BY LANDON c. HAYNES.


The discovery Of America In lie practical
bearings on the destinies Of mankind was
equivalent to the creation Of another planet
beyond the seas for the habitatlon Of man.
II brought into activity on the race . new
combination Of physical causes, which, In
their final operation, shall lead to consequen.
ces-pOlitical, social, intellectual, and moral
grander than have yet occupied the thoughts
or daGxled the minds Of men.
North America stands forth on our sphere
the centre figure among the continents around
which they are all grouped. On the one hand,
abe lifts her front, set and glittering with cities
In the face Of Europe; and on the other, turns
her western slope, watered with rivers liter.
ally tuF6ed with gold, and crowned with eter.
nal spring, 10 the broad vision Of Asia. While
between these extremes lies an empire more
than six thousand miles in its outline, covered
with the richest soils ever visited by the beams
Of the sun, and intersccted by streams which
pour their foods through FINLAND seas" to
azure robe, has taken her stand on the crest
Of the world the summit Of the Rocky noun.
tains; and gazing with dazzling eyes in, the
face Of Asia, with globe in one hand and
compass in the other, whose trembling needle,
instinct with the puSatiOns Of that wonderful
vein Of fmagnetc influence which throbs around
the world, is pointing out to the millions Of
the West the parallel Of latitude on which the
riches Of the Garth are to find = highway to
the East And, indeed, she is now bcckoning
into our Pacific ports the "daring canvas I"
and flying It amer Of every nation, from the
wandt ring seas ard distant transits around
Cape Horn and Cape Of Good Hope. And yet
our country is but in the germ Of her great.
ness and the infancy Of her years.
In century to come, at tho regular rates
Of increase, she will contain . population Of
800, 100000. 1t cannot be avcrted; for the
general laws Of the moral are as certain in
their operation as those OF the natural world.
The AnglO-Amcrican race must eventually
pour its wave Of population over this cont.
ncnt. Its progress in the past is tho best
augury for the future. Had any one in the
time Of :he confederation said that the hand.
ful Of men then living and their descendants
in fifty years, would spread to the Pacific
ocean, he would have been regarded Us run.
mad enthusiast. But inCredulity has been
turned into faith and fancy into fact Is It
lOss probable that this powerful and master
race. within the next half century, will have
followed our eagles over all Central AMcTicay
Already the pulse OF the -ARgIO- .4msricGR
beats in Nicaragua.
And what exists in our system to prevent
its extension to the whOlct 1t is totally un.
like any other which ever existed. In the
checks and balances, concord and harmony Of
its ".cmbodicd members" it approaches more
neatly to the solar system, planned by God
himself than any other; for, like the planets
zach revolving on its axis, while bound by
the kindly law Of graSitatiOn to the central
luminary-cvery State, possessing . separate,
distinct, and independent government Of her
own, is, at the same time, bound with her sis
tcrs into perfect union around the Federal
Government BY the compact Of the ConSlitu.
ton Of the United States.
The inference Of ACKNOWLEDGMENT from ter
ritoral expansion springs from the error Of
| cOntounding our representative republic with
pure and primitive DcmOcracirS, aud applying
the rcAsonings drawn from one to the other
The true distinction is, as Mr. Madison said,
that in radical Democracy the people meet
and exercise the government in pcrsOn-in
representative republic by their agents. II
follows, that tho territorial limit Of pure D..
mocracy is that distance from common CEN
tire which will barely allow the most remote
citizens as often public exigcncies demand,
to come to the scat OF government; and that
Of q representative republic, that distance
which will permit the representative Of tie
people to come to the central point as often as
necessary without dchim, Mt to the public ser.
vice.
The application Of the agency Of steam to
transit on land aud water, and the employment
Of the lightning for the transmission Of intclli-
gcnce. have endowed government, man, and
the human mind, with kind Of earthly ubi.
guilty, which, in point Of time and practical
effect, have brought the utmost borders ofthis
whole continent nearer to its common centre
than were the limits Of the old thirteen States
to the scat Of government in the days Of the
confederation. Our double system Of govern.
mcnt, State and federal, in the practical intiu.
ence and expanSibility Of its machinery, is ca.
pa6le Of adjusting itself as we'll to the whole
as to any Of its segmentS, Whether such an
extension ought ever to take place. and the
time aud methods by which It shall be accom-.
plished, If ever, arc far different Questions
questions which must be decided by you in
your day and generation, under high sense
Of national justice, honor, and morality, when
they shall arise.
DiScarding, however, in nature ell social
distinctions springing from the accidents Of
birth and fortune, and founded on the intrin.
|
know no ariStOcracy but that Of virtue and Of
intellect The equality Of civil aud religious
privileges and the general diffusion Of political
power among the people at large, by which
every free man Of the white race becomes an
element in our State and national sovereigntieS
have brought the patronage Of the Govern.
ment and the capacities Of the people into
contact and furnished motives for high attain.
ments in science, Law, and political economy
unknown to the monarChies and dcSpotisms
Of the other hemisphere, founded as they are
upon the interest Of the few. And, IN conse-
qucnce ofthe indefinite numbers to whom the
high hOnors and dazzling rewards Of our free
country make their mighty depths ofaPPeal,
and whom they stir to mental activity IN their
preparations for our rever.returning Olympics,
our country Is soon to be the "brightest spot
on the planet We inhabit, and in tho empire
Of the mind. Of letters, ard Of ClOQUsHce, the
first In the CiVlliGed world.
Carry forward your minds, then. to that
country which rises on the prophetic future.
Consider the immensity OF her outline. itselfa =
bOundless image Of liberty, crowded with .
dense and mighty people; bclted with every
degree OF climate, repoSiRg in tho midst ofthe
great oceans, and wateFed by . thousand
rivers running 10 the seaa Behold hes fields
spotted with hOcks and herda, and crowned
with purple harvOsts; checheFod with cleo
trio wires and public works; studded with
villas and clties, and ruled by the wisest gov
ernEnSHt The world ever saw. Turn the radiant
eye Of contemplation 10 her beautiful ssats Of
art, where the genius Of sculpture "p0Ors life
and eorrl and narSion into Tho hrNAihinO