The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-09
REACTION AT TEE NORTH.

The statement of GALLIEEo, when forced to
recant his theories, is as true in morals and
in politics as it is in physics. The world still
moves Quiet would be death. Action and re-
action are necessary 10 life. The statement
that revolutions never GO backwards can only
find belief in the brains of those who never
have read, or, having read, never have thought
The great civilizer Greece was destroyed by
Rome, and in turn impress ed her thoughts, her
arts, and her sciences on her conqueror. Rome,
the mistress of the world, presented at different
periods every phase Of government, aristocratlc,
democratic, radical and military. She in turn
gave way to the barbarian Will any one pre-
tend that this was not a rStrograde movement? !?
Did not the mighty thought of CHARLEMAaNE
executed, apparently perfected, in his lifetime,
crumbe almost into dust at his death. In liter
ature and in philosopy have we not constantly
witnessed the same action and reaction. Has
PLATO never been forgotten and HOMER never
been unknown? In law have the Institutes
never been lost?
Admitting these facts, and we are unwilling
to believe that any one will deny them, another
statement is equally true and can be equally
substantiated by an appeal 10 history. No
thought ever dies. Slumber it may temporari-
ly, but die it never will. The municipalities
founded by Rome have left their traces on our
institutions of to-day. The democratic indie
pendence of the German savage has certainly
stamped all parts o. the world where that noble
Teutonic blood has penetrated. Are not our in
stitutions, we mean the institutions of enlight-
ened Europe and America, founded on the
mixed thought of the Roman empire and the
barbarian hOrdes who destroyed that empire.
Are not our laws and our entire system Of ju-
risprudence partly derived from Rome and
partly from Germany Has not the thought Of
the East reacted on Europe and the thought of
Europe reacted ON the East If the East gave
to Europe in the first instance the arts and the
sciences, has not Europe in turn given to the
East the railroad, the telegraph, and improved
systems of agriculture, the practical results of
those arts and of those sciences. In philosophy
do we not constantly see reproduced the
thought of a bygone age. The celebrated
theory of DIscARTEs can be found in Saiut
ANsELMo and in Saint AUausTIN. The thought
of BACON, with which he has governed the
world, may be traced back to men who were re-
garded as false prophets, because they had the
misfortune to be in advance of their age AS
no grain Of sand is destroyed, as no atom on
earth perishes, as reproduction is the law of
physical nature, so too no idea ever perishes.
No thought ever dies. The truth may be sifted
from the error, but the thought is constantly
reproduced. AS the soul of man lives 80 too
the emanations of his mind must continue to
exist
There is also another proposition which will,
we suppose, be as readily admitted, and that is,
that history, if valuable for any one thing more
than another, 1t is because it teaches us that
there are compensations in this world The
Jew condemn ed the Roman crucifed CHRIST.
The Christian in reality conquered Rome long
before the barbarian, and prosecuted the Jew
for centuries The Catholic burned Protcs-
tants. PIotestants in turn burned Catholic
churches and passed pr@munire laws The
murderers of CESAR were destroyed by AUGUs-
TUs, and those who confined NAPOLEON at st.
Helena have been forced to truckIe to the
power of his nephew. AS We look at these in
stances that can be multiplied without end, are
we not forced to confess that the moral laws by
which the world is governed are immutabe
are we not forced to eIclaim as did the French
woman when she saw RoBEsPIERRE in the
agonies of death, ~Ah, RoBEsPrERRE, there is
a God!'
We have always believed in the above propo-
sitions, we have always believed also, that
day would come. Heaven only knows how
soon, when the North would be awakened to
sense of justice. We have always believed
that time, the great arbiter, would restore to
us our lost freed ON. Let us not be misunder-
stood War has i'll logic, stern, relentless,
cruel. War is agg ression, and the result OF
war has always beei that the conquered must
suffer. We embarl ;ed into this war with our
eyes open, We thou ght that victory was free
DOM We believed that defeat would bring in
its train loss of our' liberty. Defeat came and
it is not becoming in us to whine like children