Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1868-07-01

was re Warded with chains and q broken heart
fer his too rich gift;-or if the hardy Norsemen
ever touched our northern coast, in the
course of their buchaneer voyages in the
tenth or eleventh century, the knowledge
of their exploits had been concealed or forgot
ten. Two new continents suddenly arose on
the startled and aroused vision of Europe
stretching from the equator, through all the
zones, to either pole-presenting an untrod-
den and unappropriated field for adventure,
occupation and settlement. No wonder that
mems minds were dazzled and infamed to the
highest pitch of excitement as the grandeur
of the bewildering revelation first broke upon
them, kindllng new hopes, new motives, new
purposes or that new passions should agita te
and burn in every bosom. All at once felt
that they stood IN the presence of splendid
opportunities and were on the eve of mighty
conquests. Though none could clearly COM
prehend the nature of prizes held out to the
grasp of the daring and fortunate, all were
conscious that an unwritten volume was laid
open, and multitudes were moved by COM
mon but undefned impulse to fill some OF
its pages with the fame Of their names and
deeds, by taking possession OF the alluring
and sunny realms that awaited and invited
their approach Even the dangers that must
be encountered had a strange fascination in
by the enchantment of spell. Man was
about to start new race in a new land,
with all the aids and helps of old kingdoms
and old empires, without their restraints and
bindrences. Every one was looking west
ward and futureward. a4 e5t
In some way, Printing has been executed in
China aud Japan from remote period-so
far back that there is no record of its intro
duction. The process employed by oriental
nations ages since, is pretty much the same
as that practiced by them now. From block
Of wood, on which is engraved o character to
o little piece of metal on which is cut letter,
the step seems so easy, that we are surprised
that shrewd and ingenious people, who, in
some things surpass US, should have come SO
near an invention that might have given
another and better direction to their whole
history, and have missed it. Perhaps we may
be as close to some kindred discovery, just on
its borders, and only waiting for the commits
stoned child of nature, in some inspired mo-
ment, to detect and apply the secret principles
that will unvail the mystery, when wonder
working discovery will spring into existence, as
if responsive to the softest touch of the spirit
hand The invention of movable types was the
achievement which clothed the 1" Art Of arts
with the power of multiplying, accommodating,
diffusing, transmitting and preserving every
fresh and useful acquisition Of knowledge on
materials apparently as frail and perishabie as
q Withered leaf of the Forest yet in reality ore
durable than pillars of brass and marble. 1t is
this triumph Of skill which marks with glim-
mering line the wavering boundaries that di-
vide an age of darkness from all age of light, an
age Of almost universal ignorance from an age
Of almost universal intelligence, an age of su-
perstition from an age eofinvestigation,a and has
caused modern times to differ SO W idely from
medieval and ancient times. Here we catch,
as on the highest peaks of the mountains, the
first faint CLEANS of the approaching dawn,
whose morning broke so brightly, and whose
meridian glories still shine around US. 1t was
in the sixteenth century that many Of the i'm
perial minds of the world arose to instruct and
bless succeeding generations. The fact that
some of the master pieces Of human eloquence,
some of the grandest poetry, some Of the no.
blest histories, were written thousands of
years before Printing came into general
use, does not alter the case. Those immortal
works, which have survived the nations that
produced them, and passed safely through the
convulsions that prostrated in ruin the whole
fabric of society, when invading hOrdeS OF
barbarians trampled into the dust cultivated
and polished races, were not for the many, but
for the few The great ma jority of the people,
so far as reading was concerned, lived as ii
COP had never inspired the Bible, as ifCHRIsT
had never preached the sermon Oh the mount,
as if HOMER had never chanted the Iliad or
VIRGIL sung the Eneid, as if SOCRATES had
never taught or PLATO wrote, as if DEMosTHE-
MES had never thundered q PHILIPPE or CICERO
delivered an Grafton. Printing has not only
made the remains of ancient literature COM
mon property, accessible to all, but it has ad-
ded to the intellectual wealth of mankind
treasures of genius and learning vastly more
valuable and important. Who would swap BA-
CON for ARISTOTLE, or SHAKESPEARE for SoPH-
oCLEs, or MILTON for VIRGIL, or NEWTON for
ProLEMY, or BURKE for PERICLEsE, or WASH
INGToN for ALEXANDER? One Printing office
in Jerusalem, Athens, or the seven-hilled city,
would have beaten ell the scrlbes and copyists
of Judea, Greece or Rome In furnishing copies
Of the sacred writings and the classics, which
are still the most durable and splendid monu-
ments Of antiquity.
It has been said that in al our plans, we
prophesy in part-that in the beginning of
every enterprise, there are foreshadowed pos
sibilities of fulfillmeDt concealed from our
sight--just as the acorn contains the germ
of the oak or as the closed leaves of the bud
enfolds the tints and fragrance Of the blossom
and the fruit. The little or much designed
may be the least of all that is accomplished,
SO astonishing may be the difference between
the cause and the effect. The fugitive foun-
ders of feeble and starving colony, on a
deserted and desolate coast probably had a
very dim conception of what they were actu-
ally about-the sore trials and ro1gh tolls for
a precarious subsistence leaving no leisure for
the reflection, that in the final and imposing
consummation of events, they might also be
the founders of free states and mighty re-
public, yet such, on car own continent, has
often been the result. The statesman does
not always know what he is doing when he
devises Il new scheme-he may be bringing
about effects contrary to what he intended,
and from which he would shrink back ap-
10 fl1ll1r co the end IL ic dnnl n