The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1860-07-20
Origin of Nations-The Laws of
Revolution frf.


Lord, each with a basket in his hand con-
tanning the fruits Of the earth, and to re.
peat formula beginning as follows: "A
Syrian ready to perish was my father: and
he went down into Egypt and sojournetl
there with few, and became there a ma
ton, great, mighty, and populous.p
Whether the time will everarriye when.
in terms as brief as these, will be stated
nil that is distinctly known of the origin
and early history of the people Of this CON
tinent, isa question that hope may an
swer with promptitude, but over which
crudition will be inclined to hesitate. We
speak with great confidence of a civiliza-
ton founded upon basis so substantial
that any other than a forward progress is
impossible; Of institutions SO firmly fixed
in laws and constitutions, and so justly
adapted to the organic wants of mankind
that their abrogation would be more won
derful than their continuance; !, and of a
literature, recollcctions and monuments
so well calculated 10 endure that it would
DO unjust to predicate for them any thing
short Of an eternity. That in these re-
spects we stand in any better position
than that ofmany otherpeoples who have
had their day upon the earti, and gone
out, leaving traces only sufficient to prove
that they were, is more than we can certl-
fy. The further we penetrate into the
,nists ofantiquity the smaller becomes the
catalogue of those elements of greatness
or of endurance which we have the right
to claim as peculiar to ourselves Two
thousand years covers the entire period of
authentic history. All the nations that
originated before that time, and the most
of those who came since upon the stage,
are in little better condition of knowledge
In respect to their ancestors than the He.
brew who found the germ Of his race in
Syrian ready to perish.
Italy had her antiquities, the remains
of wealthy and polished people, known
only by their decaying monuments, before
the Rome of the C.HsARs was born. All
over the world, from the centre of the
European continent to the remotest is
lands Of the Pacific, are scattered works
that indicate industry. power and
knowledge of the mechanic arts of whose
authors nothing whatever can be discov-
cred. They who dig in Rome find layers
OF cities, one beneath another, testifyng of
an nntiqity that almost makes the mind
giddy TO contemplate. The Jerusalem of
SoLoNoN-so it is conjectured-wa built
upon foundations exhumed from the ru-
ms of a greater city, inhabited by more
energetic people. Every age increases the
catalogue Of the "lost arts" many of which
the moderns, with all their knowledge and
perseverance, are unable to regain; and
what element of national or collective
perpetuity we have that hundreds OF the
peoples of antiquity had not, is question
that is easier asked than answered.
Man will endure; he will always remain
asocial being; and that is all that can be
safely promised. As to how or when he
will leave the world, we have no more
knowledge than as to how and when he
came into it. This earth has been his
residence for longer time than he has
the means to ascertain. AS at present
constituted, two thousand years appear to
comprise the span of his historic capacity.
Beyond the limit which that period estab-
fishes he does not seem to possess the pow
er, by records or otherwise, to retain any
distinct memory of events. Names and
facts more or less authentic may remain,
but the reliable lessons of history have
disappeared, and with them the elements
of human interest. To embalm history
in literature for eternity is manifestly i'm
possible; to do it in institutions is equal
ly so. Monuments, while standing, have
failed to transmit the names even Of their
founders; and it seems to be an order of
mature that beyond a certain boundary
all the past is to he, to the present, as if
it had never been.
Humanity probably travels in cycloid;
the track which the circumference of q
wheel describes as the vince! moves on
ward. To forget the past beyond GER
tain point is, perhaps, necessary, in order
to the forward movement; otherwise, I'M
der the influence of the initiative prosper
ity, there would be simply revolution
without progress. The human race is
thus saved a tiresome repetition of itself
and the old idea that, once in SO many
hundreds or thousands ofyears, mankind
comes back to the same state--or, rather,
that it is perpetually moving around an
unchanging circle of its own-while it is
unsound, is also suggestive. 1t is before
this movement that all human inventions,
whatever they may be, and however dura-
BILE they may appear, must give way
Man, naked humanity, is the only thing
of which continuance is predicable. Arts,
institutions, literatures, monuments, ma
tionalties, all go out leaving nothing but
the elements out of which they grew, in
his own character, to serve as the germs OF
their successors.
When nationality has developed its
idea, its mission is ended; and a tendency
will spring up looking toward change and
reconstruction. In this view of the case
we cease to regard the decline and fall, or
division, or change of dynasty in nations
as misfortunes to mankind. The deeper
our vision penetrates and the more COM
prehensive our views, the more certainly
we shall perceive that the principles by
which such changes are wrought are be-
nign in their operation and We're implant-
ed in the nature of man with u view to
his improyement-to the development of
the highest and best qualities of his char
acter. Although their agency may seem
unnecessary and intrusive at first, time
will always vindicate its justice in the
end. To lament, for example, over the
.decadence Of the Roman Empire-depict-
ing the probable advances in civilization
and triumphs of art that would have been
realized had it happened o.herwise-is
nphilosophical Rome fell through the
influence of causes perfectly natural. She
had as an Empire performed the service
e IL. 81 4, he