Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1860-04-26
For the Chro7icle.
tn e O r Y OF r E F o r NJ.


r. Public opinions are not born 10 day
like the "monsrch of the Forest" they are
the growth Of centuries. They come from
deeper sources and are based upon firmer
foundations thau the impatient theories Of
upstart Ptilanthropists. The clock OF the
world moves by slow degrees, ard ito great
heart beats with measured pulssuons.
Truth wins her trumobs by patient toll
and perseverlng effort. Human ignorance
and Preldices are not an easy conquest, and
are seldom taken BY Storm. Sages must
write, statesman must feel and suffer, and
noble heads grown gray with service, must
be piiiowed In the dust ere the cause OF
humanity triumphs and virtue wears the
wreath OF victor. Toll, scf-sacrifcing and
unremitting toll is the mighty engine which
draws tke world 4od~erd IN the grsat high
way Of progress. .''ui'24snaa { iRed4 s!n
Said Wendell Phillips the other day !.
|"you may build your capitol Of granits . ne
grout II with iron, nnd Tho pulsations of q
girIss heart viii wesk n down, only give her
time enough" Whether the idea be rightly
used or not. iii contsfns sousd philosophy.
Adamant yields to the continual dropping
Of wtter. and promonlories seemingly I'm
pregnable, tumble down with the intermi-
nable beating Of the oceans waves So
with great errors. Under the guise Of ain.
stitutions," seemingly based upon all the
interests, passions snd even convictions OF
mankind, they tower mountain high and
seem to be amazing monuments of strength,
c1val with the flight Of ages. Time hon
ored and venerable, they BE- Gle, All the fulmi-
nations Of intellect and the efforts Of power,
But aweak things", are chosen TO "con ,ound
the nighi5,". and the "day Of small things
is not to be despised, unseen hands, little
BY, little, are looseniog the fetters of miId
Tie great sea of human feeling begins to
vibrste under influences, thai like the winds
OF heaven come. we, know !. not whence :.
Every ripple that kisses ,those foundations
does its destructive office, Ages roll on, /,
and what were once mers ripp lee upon the
onsesting sea Of thoughts grow. 70 billows
mountaip-high. The citadel Of error or OPP
preston trsmbles s--.toltes-fallsf beneath
their thupdsring weight, and ,msnkind re-
joices. Thus public opinions come into
being and thps they tTiumph., C 8 y y
Thst "egitatioD . the GSo.hsr' Of REFORM
however popular Is i maxim, Il, DOT true in
. strict y philosophical segse. The day OF
reyolstiopsI is not past, They are as neces-
ssEy poyt as ,st AMI other period Of the
syoEld. history, Bot the sfe Of blood. let u
be hoped, is forever gone. The world 10 old
enough to be, above the bloody mark upon
ibe great inclined plane OF human destiny.
Revolutions now should be Of thought Of
oPiaisss-tbs Fapsformatiols Of mind 1.-THE
stepping-stonesby BY whichit risesto brighter
and more. gloriods day. Pahic opinion is the
effective engius Of refermsr-a public. .opin,
ion whose weapons, are not, earnal but
spiritual only. But what forms and moulds
public opinionl Not mare agitation. ,Agita.
tion makes the ifires Of public thought and
feeling glow, but does not convince. Pub.
hss sopidiops that spring from mere agitation
are like plants Of hot-bed growth, The pro-
cess OF their natural formation may be illus
irstsd b.. the polypi OF the ocean building
,hsir, subptarins structures. Ages pass, and
thousa nds Of generations OF the little ephem-
srsh perish before their sdsmantine scliptic
eleaves thsI surisce of the wrery, waste and
stays its mad sbillows, So ,philsn.hroPists
toll. Time lhurriss lon and they perish. but
not their works. Other hands take up their
labors, and the future reads their history,
craven on some sdamantine pillar which
checks the angry waves Of pasAion, and ele-
Yates the human mind above the clouds Of
prej1dile. superstiiion snd error to the
serene light 81 heaven.@ 7S' IA. E.sLss
b LoypsvIttE,oA prld AthS 1860. ssFsq s,ss
i 4, ,@Who, broke all The commandments At