The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-06-27
COLUMBIA.
Wednesday Morning, June q. 1865.
The Most Terrible Revolution.

ITO people who have once been
proud and great, and great because
they were proud, change in the ma
honal spirit is the most terrible Of all
revolutions.
Although ignorant of the paternity
of the above extract, it is just now
suggestive of reflection, in the pre-
sent condition of American nation
ality." There are few American hearts
which have not, at some time, when
occasion presented itself, beaten in
responsive admiration Of the just and
equitable principles upon which our
system of Government was originally
based; and, not unfrequently, has
the voice of homage to, the genius
and spirit which marked it's admins
tration been involuntarily won from
other and differently constituted Go
vernments.
By national pride" we do not mean
the eternal nasal boast of the Yankee.
who blates it forth on all occasions,
proper or improper-that this is 'sthe
best Government the world ever saw
Nor can we ascribe to this sitting,
self-assumed superiority any of our ma
tional greatness and prosperity. Such
exhibitions are neither patriotic nor
indicative of that genuine national
pride which elevates people.
But the cultivation of laudable
pride in ones country's prosperity
and advancement, is no more to be
censured in the aggregate Of the
people than in an individual-ex-
ercising as it does preservative in
fuence over each. National pride,
when based upon correct principles,
forms one of the strongest Iiga-
ments which bind in unison the
hearts Of people to that system of
government under which they may
live; it is the main conduit, as it
were, through which the life-blood
OF nation courses from one extreme
Of the body polite to another, pull
sating all hearts of its patriots alike,
in common sentiment and interest.
If national greatness, as our text
intimates, proceeds from national
pride, it would seem to be nothing
more than the exhibition of practical
craftsmanship, to engraft upon the
administration of every system of
government those principles best cal
culated to awaken and keep alive this
sentiment among the people whom
it is designed to control. In truth,
justice and moderation. we have at
once the key which unlocks and the
principles which captivate the ener-
gies of all that is noble in human
nature. Not all the bars, dungeons
and bolts which tyranny may devise,
can produce single honest senti-
ment of national pride. Its being
must be warmed into existence and
given animation through just and
equitable distribution of the benefits
accruing from common Govern
Inent. So long as Government, in
its administration is characterized by
such results, it may safely reckon
upon the fidelity of its citizens and
the growth and prosperity of the
nation. But, whenever it steps aside
to prostitute its high prerogative in
furtherance of sectional interest or
qualification of party spirit, or, still
more base and ignoble, perpetrates a
moral wrong upon those whom cir
cumstances may have placed in its
power, its legitimate functions cease,
and it fails to subserve the purpose
for which it was created.
The triumph OF the radicals in
foisting upon the American people
the miserable abortion of Stevens.
Sumner and others of that ilk, as
measure calculated to promote
the greatness and prosperity of
the whole country, must ere long
produce a marked change in the
national spirit, and, eventually,