, 1860-04-12

ant matter, q positive policy upon which it
may 20 before the country with the certainty
TINT its Obvious necessity, fairness and justice
will be approved.
C1IKMERAS DIRE.
Long ago wo andtavored to illustrate the
real or feisned fright Of conservatism, in view
Of the advaocs Of modern ideas, bJ saying that
the old maps Of the eartha surGce, anterior
to Vasco do Cana and Columbus, are curious
things to sec. 1t WIS a maxim Of the geo
gTaphers ard navigators Of that day, "Where
you know nothing. place terrora;" and they
always observed. it. In their charts, either for
the library or the Feet, what was then terra
lneo2nita was strangely laid down Terror
usurped the p!nce Of iacs, and hippogriffa, hip
pocsntaurs, AanaiDg dragons and lideoua au-
tllropopllagi, skill(ul!y pictured on the line
bstweea the known and unknown, were con-
feasion that there knowledge ended and terri.
began. Wher Columbus set sail, tho dangers
to be encountered by sea were lightly con-
aideEed; hut fear Of the ,no2strous forms to
be met and fought in the Indies which he
might discover, coul not be easily shakeu of.
Men were wiling to sail down sea, the sur-
face Of which, az They thought, was like the de-
clivity Of a iill, and 1ako the chances Of re-.
turn; lut 1he chimera Of monsters and giants
the offspring Of the Evil One. to whom the
barbarous lands were supposed to render hon.
age-Hes the chief os,s,ac1e in tho way Of suc-
cess But FIR tie unwearicd patience and
staadfast courage Of the Great Navigator, the
hipposrls mud ant1lropoplaas' would have pre-
vailed, and America yemainld unknown.
Tbs world is wiser now than then. It's
knowledge Of physical geography has been
greatly enlarged, Dragons and giants have
lost their places in The naps, md are found
only in wood-cuts for the astonishment Of the
nursery. But the old tendency Of the human
mind to distruBt what is new, and I'll with tsr-
rors the unknown, is as active orer before
1t.has opposed every progressive step in sc:-
anoe, government morals mud religion by
which the race has been made wiser and hap
pier; and it was never more painfully felt than
to-day. Jeti=rson-a political navigator, as
daring in his sphere as Columbus on the ocean
-enuuciated u great truth in politics that the
few in this Republic have ever since been
struggling to apply to tile affairs and condition
Of men. But with what discoursgements!
The dragons and griflins copjured up by terror
stand in the pathway; and tho truth that
!" ALL men are created free and equal with Ger
"taiu iaalicnab1e rights, among which aze life,
"Gberty and the pursuit Of happiness" is US
far from its realization in our government as
ii 9776. The proposition to check slavery-
the practical denial Of the truth Of Our
poaisical- gospol--and prevent Its extern
sion into lands now free, or to s'rike the
shackle6 of the bondmen and take away our
national rcproach, IL like the projection Of
new voyage in search Of the Spice Islands,
and men consult their old political maps to
lsUn what Dangers thoy will be compelled to
confront. As Of old, they see :1e very corner
which remains unexplored. tho figure Of
monster that makes their hair stand On end.
Anarchy, license, violence, bloodshed, rape,
arc embodied and painted with fearful acces-
sories on the charts, and men shrink from the
encounter with such hidcous forms. The un-
tris3 is before them; and they are true to the
old command, "W ,ere you know nothing,
"place tcrrors' Nov and then IN adeentur-
cut galleon pushes its PROV where nothing has
ventured before-a State or community defea
the thsonging prophecies Of eyil-and dispels
the fear that hung ovcr tho untraverscd sea;
but to the masses Of men, tcrrors fill all space
outside Of their limited vision, aud they move
aaoWiy and with trembling, even in the wake
of the more Intrepid Of the race.
The devotces of tile new idea must labor and
wait Time VII! dieperse the illusions which
I'll the road BY which they must progress, and
leave them free to press on. They will re-
member what triumpbs have been accom-.
plishsd by toll aad patience. Until lately,
even here, m union Of Church md State was
insisted upon rs the only method by which
Government and Religion could be upheld
When it WAS proposed to dissevcr the two and
rsfcr bolh to the guardianship Of The people,
tho charts we're again unrolled. What dov Is
With hoost, horns and tals-whet fallen angels,
whAt gibbering flcnds. what countless multi
tudes Of lost souls. blocked up the way in
which the reform would progress. Te5rors
filed the air. But one State after another
yeutured down the Strata until ali passed
through, and not one desires to return. The
phantoms -copjured up by ignorance and Dis
tust have vanished.
And tic history Of some future period not
Or distant, will prove that the goblins Of dir
union, Of negro equality, Of amalgsmation, Of
anarchy, Of license and ruin. which conserya.
tam has copjurcd up in the path that Republi'
eanism would pursue, are ns unEubstantial, and
thin as those that stood on tho maps in Co.
1umbus' day. They arc the creations Of the
prissts md bishnps Of the pro-slavery faith,
for the uaintcnanes Of the exiting order Of
things. Jedersou's great truth is to them like
one Of Luther's great theses 10 the Catholic
world It is the :ask Of this generation and
ths next to work out the truth In spite Of the
Rohlina that appear. We or our successors
ahzll see all existing hippocep.au1a and IN.
xhropha2i driven out Of tho political map, and
In thsir placa picture! ofths land-a solid
everlasting coutinent-which the Fathers q
ths Bepablc: :u{see1e,ed, and. which their do.
sscndants must explore. We doubt not It il
4 foodly heritage.