The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-10

thia tuat. aut tho, ~" erri -, tri 40 they Iul.
au ~ tat te 0lGl' 'h's ,r1,,r,-."l
tIa all eotethmrne therc ,rr,- tta"ssa,llY DO
fsssiea d;0e''na r'teit IN thrit slrH' "f tho
psltsy which shon't hc pur'uta p'aoh Of
opinrna ia Nv rn't nienns Of rr6Hrtlne I'alh
MHNpmeu, is Mrresht, Rrr' Il thSl W.
sNStNne'e woMM W. Tint rccplr nrrne rl""
csali he tNuna nc 'arrcncr OF oriniun -" ="
li'i'al ashie's Without rnflt alifrtrnrr ihe'"
weui ha roliirAl ,leaih M rrH ihrnsh'
could hp Developed No old Thought vru'l lr
aucreaaNlly elal,u,alrd
rauiea heine mrressn,, IN u State, 'hrt
ahonla Iva hed ls hr snr,r trstB ah'ri 's
applied I" 'h" government 'tsrli IhrJ h'r
gouj ", ''a', as thar arr allr n nnrblr rs r'lr''
tho chiecia z" sood eu,r,nmrni ''t', my mi
ical party he eood l'an nrr radrr' tnrtr
accomplish ihe ohiers NJ crrd grtrrnnirn'
tnn any radi"a' past, er,r,n rrnn'rt s''r-
ccssInlly These queslluns etatr atd impc'
tau Ia us all. shouhl hp carefully rrnslered
They should be aprtosei,sd mi IN spiri p,
ritcd Ivy party eeal. controlled br party hate of
blinded ny party prejudice Calmly, enpir,
deliberately they shuuld l,e weighed. frt oh The
answer derends tho happiness ~ mlss'y Of The
people of thia broad continent On their aon-
tion depends the question Of lihaiy or des-
potism.
Tho thinking man who looks heyond The sur
face OF things knuwH thai slavery wna hol The
real cause of tho wnr 'rhat pues'ion. II In
true. WAS tho provoking cauHp. hit ih" rem
cause certainly lay deeper tenn he found i"
tho convention that framed the CunHiiiniion of
the untod StRtcs II ran he aueu in Tho debHf'n
on that Constitution. II cnn he traced 10 the hrni
party differences that Hgitnied this country
The war was purely md simply oohtcHt Dc
tween the two extremes of tho then two parties;
n contest between federation and central
lied government; n contest boiwccn tho Greek
and Roman ideas Of government In thai CON
test radicalism on the ono sdc clashcd with
radicalism on the other. Collision took place,
and with the clash Of idcns camc the clash of
arms, and with tho clash Of nrms came the
overthrow Of tho Greek idea. Whatever
questions may hereafter arise. that ques-
tion is now dead. II lies buried in the same
grave that contains our sons, brothers.
friends On this continent il is thing of the
past, left only in our memories; no longer even
a subject for discussion.
Our fathers were too wise to clash. They
had read history with profit. They knew that
man is not infallible, and they recognized that
a middle ground might be, and probably was
the proper point at which their object could be
attained They compromised where they diff
fered, and under their compromises, in peace
and in war, the country which they had wrcst-
ed from the hands Of GEORGE Ill grew and,
prospered, until the beginning of the late war.
disregard for their teachings, unwillingness
to compromise, brought on that war, the result
of which has been the crushing of one radical
ism and the marked development of another
That rsdcalism, flushed with victory, is deter
mined to perpetuate its power and deceive its
followers with the name of progress
Many are willing to accept name
for thing, shadow for substance, but he
who thinks is obliged to ask himself if any rad
ical idea can be progress? if any extreme
opinion can be truth The history of radical
ism has been uniform from the earliest days of
history. Powerful it is to destroy, t,t totally
incapable of building up, and for an obvious
reason. From the very nature of man, he
must be imperfect. Perfection belongs alone
to God, and humanity must have human weak
ness, human frailty and human passion The
same feeling which induces the party in power
to keep ten States under the iron heel OF mill
tary authority for years after arms have SET
tied the questions in dispute, has from the
beginning of recorded time induced all radical
parties to persecute those to whom they have
been opposed those with whom they Uttered.
This has always been, this must always be
the case 1t is impossible that it shou!d be
otherwise No one man, or set of men can
have the entire truth, and he who arrogates to
himself its possession-and every radical does
that's necessarily vain and dogmatic, and if
occasion offers will surely be tyrant.
There is another reason why radicalism must
fail. No revolution has ever been wholly un-
successful, because no thought has ever been
utterly destroyed. Its impress has been left
upon the world, and truth is invariably
found at some middle point between the
two extremes which produced the collis-
ion. Wise men and useful thinkers, those
who seek to promote and who do promote the
welfare of their fellow men, are apt to place
themselves on middle ground between two ex-
tremes of opinion. In 1642, the doctrine of
the divine rights of Kings clashed against the
doctrine of popular rights. The King was be-
headed and more, powerful ruler under the
name of protector seized the reins of govern
ment He died, and the STUART assembled the
throne, having forgotten none of his follies and
having learned no new lessons of wisdom
Here each idea in turn appeared to have gained
the victory, and yet both thoughts had lived,
each in turn apparently to be crushed out OF
existence. The impress of each, however, had
been left, and in 1858 the compromise between
the two was effected. WILLIAM and MARY as
cended the throne, and under government COM
bining all that was good in the two theories
England has prospered and grown every year
greater and more powerful. In France we
see the same result produced from the same
causes. The Kingly assertion petat cest m0f
81 am the State" clashed with the popular cry;
the people are all powerful, down with aristo-
Gratis. LOUIS XVI good man, but too much a
Bourbon to know how, or when to compromise,
was guillotined. Radicalsm produced MARAT,
DANToN, RoBEsp1ERRE. They in turn gave
wayt NAPOLEON. He was forced to yield to the |
Bourbon, and the Bourbon to LOUIS PHILIPPE, |
and to-day can be seen in France the most |