The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-08-03
From the Charlottesville, Va, Chronicle. !

The contest between the North and
the South In one of its main aspects was
, contest between the principles of Oil.
garchy and Democracy. The South
| sought to arrest, the North to advance
| the liberalism of the age. The South
fought for slavery, the North for emarl-
cipation. The theory of the South Car
olina school was to repress the activities
and tendencies of the age; the theory
OF the Massachusetts school was to break
down oil barriers, and give the widest
license to moral, social and political re-
form. The South cherished the idea OF
a torpid civilization, resting on the pur-
suits of agriculture; the North believed
In noisy and uproarious world, where
the hammer and the forge and the loom
and the steam-w whistle stfII heraIded ever
new and fresh developments in the pro-
gress of social life. The ideal of the
South was the medieval age with its
proprietors and its peasants, its mental
repose, its sunshine and shadow, its
pomp and its squalor, its unquestioning
faith, the supremacy of authority, Its su-
perstitlons, its prejudices, its aversion to
change. The ideal of the North was the
Observation-Disclosures and Sch&ffer-
Paracelsus and Copernicus-Roger AS
cham and Columbus; it was Jack Cade
and Oliver Cromwell; John Owen and
John of Leyden; Praise-God Barebones
and Col. Pride. Not Sparta, but Athens
with its artizans, its ships, its gods,
its letters, its sophists, Its philoso-
piers. Not Sparta-with its contempt
of labor, and its sordid narrowness; but
Rome, with its bump of order, its calcu-
lating ambition, its patient endurance,
its power of organization, its reverence
f,p 1oy sto Z, vi fiool
city for war; its spirit of progress, its
adaptability to circumstances.
The contest between the North and
the South was contest between such
principles. We stood up for the past
they represented the present. They are
the champions of the great Democratic
idea of the nineteenth century. We
fought for the principles of Richard
Occur de Lion. Excellent in their day,
but out of place now. We fought for
glory; the Yankees for empire. We were
crusaders;they had the relentless method
of the Romans, who always sought
| material result.
There was no chance for us in the en-
counter We fought against doom. This
Democratic wave is on its mission in this
present century. The age belongs to it.
king nor chivalry cannot baik it. Its
nent. It heaves and swells under the
traditions and systems of Europe. The
throne of the Imperial master of France
rocks upon its pillows. Russia has felt
and yielded to its power. Austria, in her
stubbornness, will resist it until it rends
her tofragments.
The late news from England ia that
the British Parliament has been dissolv.
ed. 1t first assembled in 1853. The
elections indicate the fall of the present
ministry. The cry of reform is again
abroad in England. It may be stifled
once more; but its hour will strike. It is
as inevitable as destiny. Democracy
will devour all those baronial realms.
and trample out the noblesse of England
as it has done in France, and as it has
just done here.
From the continent we have the sig
nificant announcement that "Queen
Isabel acknowledges the Kingdom of
Italy,. Farewell to the Papacy! The
most devoted child of the Church aban-
dons her. The throne Of Victor Enan-
uel will soon be established in Rome.
so goes down another remnant of the
Middle Ages-the spirit of the whole
system.
Europe will become Democratic. This
is In the lesson of the times, and ne
blind who does not read it. What then
Shall the Democratic form of society
succeed? Will men at last find SOHO
and secure resting place in this form OF
government? That is the great proolem
which the 10th century is solving. That
Democracy will come, we have little
| doubt. whether it will weather the
storm which no form of human society
has vet weathered remains to be seen.
IF IL succeeds, Man will at last have
achieved what he has been striving after
for six thousand years. If it fail, Man
will have proved his impotence for self
government, and God willinterpose. The
Millennium will be either an expansion,
through religious influences, of the pro-
gress made by Democracy; or 1t VIII be