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

The statement Of GALLILEo, when forced 10
recnnt his theories is as true in morals and
i'll politics as it is in physics. The world still
moves. Quist would be death. Action and re-
action arc necessary to life. The statement
TINT 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 ciyilizcr Greece was DESTROYED by
home, and III t,lSn impressed her thoughts her
arts, and her sciences on her cOnqueror Rome
The mistress Of the world, presented ut different
periods every phase of government, aristocratic,
democratic, radical and military. She in turn
gave way to the barbarian. Will any ono pre-
! tend that this WINS not retrograde movementg
Did not tho mighty thought of CnAnLEMAuSE,
executed, apparently perfected, in his lifetime,
| crumblc almost into dust at his death. In liter
Azure anu in philosopy have we not consi inntIy
witnessed the same aciion and reaction. Has
PLATo never been forgotten and HOMER never
been unknown? In law have the Institutes
never been lost?
Admitting these facis and VIC are unwilling
TO believe that any one will dony them, another
statement is equally true and can bo equally
'n'staniiated by an appeal to history. No
thought ever dies. Slumbcr il may temporari-
ly, hut die il never will. The municipalities
founded by Rome have left their traces on our
institutions OF to-day. The democratic indr-
pendence OF The German savage has certainly
stamped all parts Of the world where thnt noble
reutnnic blood has penetrated. Are moi our in
situtions, we mean the institutions Of cnlieht-
ened Europe and America, founded on the
mixed thought of the Roman empire and the
barbarian hordes who destroyed that empire
Arc not onr laws md our entire system of iu
risprudcnco partly derived from Rome and
Partly from Germany. Has not tho thought of
tho East reacted on Europe, and the thought of
Europe reacted on the East. II the East gave
to Europe in the first instance the arts md the
| sciences, has not Europe in turn given to the
East the railroad, tho 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 bygone age. The celebrated
| theory Of DEsoARTEs can be found in Saint
ASsELho and in Saint Auausr1N The thought
of BACON, with which he has governed the
| world, may bo traced back to mon 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
| earlh 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 SO 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, it is because it teaches US that
there are compensatons in this world. The
jew condemned, the Roman crucifed CHRIsr.
The Christian in reality conquered Rome long
before the barbarian, AID prosecuted the Jew
for centuries Tho Catholic burned Protcs.
tants. Protest ants in turn burned Catholic
churches and passed prnmunire laws. The
inurderers of CESAR were destroyed by Auaus-
TUs, and those who confined NAPOLEON at 81.
Helena have been forced to truckle 10 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
| "'S- '',o "N''" 40 SofSIueu UIe lmmQtRDle
are we not forced to exclaim as did the French
woman when she saw RoDRspIERnE in The
| ngonics Of death, "Ah, RoBEsPIRRRR, there in
u God!"
| We hnve always believed in the above propo-
sitions, we have always believed also, that
dny would come, Heaven only knows how
soon, when tho North would he awakened 10
sense of Justice We have always believed
that time, tho great arbi.er, would restore to
us our lost freedom. Let us not be misunder-
stood. War has Its logic, stern, relentless,
cruel. War Is aggression, and the result of
war has always been that the conquered must
suffer. We embarked into this war with our
eyes open, we thought that victory was free
dom. We believed that defeat would bring in
It's train loss of our liberty. Defeat camo and
| It Is not Becoming In us TO whino like children