New-York tribune., 1867-02-08
RElDTNG THE FUTURE.

As historical reading is apt to be little dis
| heaItening IL is wise to take note of all en-
| couraging compensatiOns, and especially To OBJ
serve that the dearest hopes of mankind are
not always flattcring and fallacious. IL coming
| events do east their shadows before, their in
timations are rather natural than mystical, and
the deductions of men of thought and expert
euce from admitted premises are always some
thing better than guesses. Arthur Young, who
travelled in France several years before the
breaking out of the first revolution, foretold
its approach, which he read in the hungry faces
of the peasantry and the sleek-headed
safety of Versailles, for which ne Is
duly quoted, with fit honor as
prophca. by Thomas Carlyle. Newspapers,
which have to deal almost as much with the
future az the present, are naturally compelled
toresort occasionally to a word of warning, which
we are afraid is not always treated with the
respect which it deserves. Thus, 40 long ago as
November 80. 1874, we find The Uondon) Spec
tator speaking thus of n province which ls just
now attracting the attention of the world:
"The affinities of race and aspiration, the
"course of events, are too strong for the Turk
"and Gambia will one day obey its attraction
"and join itself, not by refugee and nominal
representation, but bodily, to the kingdom TO
(which it as naturally belongs as do some
"other provinces on the Continent. The dis
Eruption and new combination cannot be pre-
"vented; they may, indeed, be retarded but
"of far more importance is it to secure that
"the new organization of the elements Shall be
conducive to the welfare of the native races
"and the prosperity of Europe"
For newspaper-one of those organs of
opinion for which statesmen, when they do
not happen to need their assistance, are IN
the habit of expressing a mild contempt
this appears to us to be pretty good guess
ing. Twenty 1.-TWO years have gone by and
the prediction is being literally accom-
pished. 1t may be said that it required no
remarkable prescience to detect the want OF
finality in the position of Greece in 1si4 yet
il must be remembered that Kings and Cat-
nets were then acting precisely as if the geo.
graphical settlement of the Greek question had
been accurately arrived at, leaving nothing for
the treaty -mongers to dO-unless something un-
unexpected should happen-for at least
century to come. The unexpected thing has
happened, as it always does when the conditions
necesstate it. All Europe agreed to keep Can
dia out of the new Greek Kingdom and, what
was worse to leave her, Christian Province, at
the mercy of Moslem despotism stimulated by
the very worst form of religious fanaticism. Our
readers know the rest Whether the world is
ever made permanently wiser by examples like
this it is hard TO determine. There never were
any predictions more reasonable and worthy of
attention than those which warned our own Re-
public of the bloodshed and civil disorder which
Slavery, persisted in, pampered, extenuated, and
extended, mast inevitably occasion and never
were the atlmonitions of wisdom addressed to
ears deafer than our own. Now we are at the
second stage of the drama and still it is neces-
sary to tell us that only in justice, in legal
equality, in the truest humanity and the ex-
actest equity is there hope for permanent
peace. Congress debates; the President vetoes;
the eulogists of the status quo talk themselves
into passion upon the subject of Cancellation
men who should know better tempt us to leave
the problem in a state of semi solution and q
newspaper predicting that out of cowardly con-
cession can only come confusion worse con-
founded. is branded as factious! Time will