Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-01-02
THE PAsT-THE PREsENT-AND
THE FUTURE.


ties sometimes doubt the wisdom Of the
Almighty. Impatience of the seemingly
slow progress of events which foot up
the worlds history, marks the character
OF even the wisest men. Every party
desires to give shape to public policy,
and thus perpetuate its memory in his.
tory. 1t is q noble ambition, speaking
in u general way, but sometimes be-
comes a morbid desire for s%elf.aggran-
dizement.
The Republican party have expected
too much as due to the labors Of its
time. Its leaders have not been anchored
in q firm faith ut all times. All may
not be philosophers in q world Of diverse
opinions and conflicting interests, just
as all men may not be mature ut fixed
periods in life. This republic was an
accident in so far as the mon Of the
Revolution were concerned. For they
did not propose, ut first, to set up for
themselves and ~bequeath an Independent
nation t their children. They wrought
greater things than they dreamed of.
This nation, as a nation, is yet in its
infancy. Its progress has been unex-
ampled, its triumphs many and signal.
But it is far from being c~rystalized
even now, as it yerges upon the close OF
its first century. But the other day it
not only tolerated, but nurtured n stu-
pendous lie in the form of slavery.
Though its founders proclaimed liberty
throughout tho land, and to all the
inhabitants thereof, it is q notorious
fact until lately, millions Of the inhabi-
tants Of this republic were the most
abject slaves, valued, not as men and
women, but as beasts Of burden, bought
and sold in the public marts like cattle.
This anomaly in q republic gained
strength during seventy years of our
national life. 1t is not too much to say
that it grew as nightly as did tho ma
ton itself. For the last thirty years Of
its existence Congress did little but pro-
vide for its perpetuation and protection.
State Legislatures, truculent and v%enial,
We'd with each other to see which should
do most to placate the rising wrath of
the oligarchy. But there came a day of
reckoning, and the false system was
ground to powder by the mailed heel of
war.
The system is dead beyond resuscita-
ton. That is the grand fact Of the age.
But the death of the body is the birth of
the soul. The spirit Of slavery is not
dead, nor does it ever sleep. It threat
ems to-day as v~aliantly as it fought three
years ago. 1t is wonderful to mark its
vitality, born as it is Of Northern igno-
rance and crime, welded to Southern
iusolenee and greed. 1t is not n weak
and ~cowardly spirit, o can it be laid
by bell, book and candle. 1t a only
be overcome and exercised by the utmost
vigilance and most persistent resistance.
But the loyal masses ore impatient of
the slow progress of events. The lead
ers, desiring to check this impatience,
have, unwittingly to be sure, neglected
to employ the only efectual means.
Three-quarters Of a century Of pamper-
ing is not to be atoned for by a year of
conflict. The growth Of a century can
not be corrected by the weak appliances
of the arborculturist. We must labor
and wait. Perhaps our childrcn's
children may enjoy the fruitage Of the
almost superhuman labors of the loyal
men and women who fought the fight
which destroyed the system Of human
bondage. But it is idle-it is worse
than idle-it is criminal to teach the
people that the sins Of the nation can
be wiped out in a few years. 1t is not
necessary to suppose that the country
is to vibrate between turbulent war and
delusive peace for many years to come.
But nothing is moro likely than that the
next thirty years will be consumed in
repairing the broken boundaries which
once defined, yet did not separate the
sections.
The work of reconstruction-being o
rebuilding of the nation from the corner
s,oue-must be slow and circumspect.
1t involves more than the rehabilitation
of tho States; it means the f~raternizing
of the citizens of the States. Do you
think the recollection of the war, just
ended so ingloriously for the South, can
be blotted out at once? 1t cannot be.
A man remembers his defeats longer
than he celebrates his victories. Few
take kindly to castigation, fewer still
at once fraternize with their castigator.
Stable peace q result out from q
coudition-educstion. The humblest
must be afforded the opportunity for
knowledge ere we can justly expect to
enjoy the fruits Of victory. A broader,
moro intelligent faith in Gods Provi-
deuces must be inculcated ere the people
can be strengthened and sustained, and
made the swift agents for the redemp-
ton Of the Republic.
AccIDEST-MAN LEFT ON A REEF.
Tho San Francisco Times Of December
25th has the following: Tho steamer
Relief, on her return trip from Petaluma,
on Monday, met with q severe accident