Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-05-01
THE TENDENCIES OF GOVERN
mENT.

al War.
IF Mrs. Victoria g. WoodhulI-chief o.
US Wall streets female brokers and aspiran
ne an sre for the presidency of this univer
- sal Yankee nation-haying found leisure
re to peruse Parallel Plutarch and Moral
" corollary Rollin, has determined to rehash
E; her reflections thereon for the benefit Of
" whom it may concern. These reflections
promise to take the shape of school
room philippe against all things past and
present. Reversing the dictum of the
scoliasts, herthesis seems TO be, Whstever
is, is wrong. The New York Herald of
Monday last gives place TO her second in
stallment of composition. From the
caption that we reproduce above, it will
be seen that she steps into the shoes of the
lamented Buckle; and from the manner in
which her pen spreads over the columns
of the Herald, she threatens to be fully
as voluminous.
She opens with measured tread:
at must begin to be apparent that the
proposition is that the evolution of gov
eminent does not differ from that of
simplest organic forms either in principle
or in mode of operation. The same laws
that the plant grows and multiplies by,
society grows and multiplies by. The
same laws that bring fruit to perfection
and dissolution, perfect and dissolve socie- |
| ties y
We fear her Sorosisters viii not agree
to this vegetable view of things. 1t |
savors of the theory which, in their lar
guage, would make the sex a mere fructi-
ferrous soil for the reproduction of the
species. But, to let the lady proceed:
''The same laws that produce and con-
troll units of the animal kingdom, produce
and control the units of society. The
same law that governs the ebbing and
flowing of the tides, that determines
whether the component parts of water
shall exist as water or vapor, determines
| the movements of society and the condi-
| tons of its existence; and the same law
| that produces an earthquake here, vol
/ canic eruption there, or terrific hurri-
| cane elsewhere, produce the earthquakes,
II /
are ever modifying and changing society.
Symbols of all the various processes soci-
ETY. passes through in its growth and ex-
tension can be found in every ether de-
partment of the universe; or to assert the
same fact differently, everywhere in the
| universe there is a constant effort to at
tain an equilibrium. "
No doubt this constant effort of socie-
ty to attain an equilibrium will go far to
explain the corruption that pervades all
branches of our Government just now.
The full and satisfactory explanation for
this terrible corruption of the present
generation is to be found in the fact that
our fathers were altogether too virtuous;
we are simply making an effort to restore
the equilibrium
''But what does history tell of the
foundation and dissolution of govern
ments, and what illustrations of the law
of progress does it affordl" asks our Pres
idential aspirant. Reviewing briefly the
family and tribal phases of government,
she reaches
"another philOsophic proposition
that for anything in the universe
to remain in its homogeneous condition is
impossible, which impossibility is the re-
suit of the collateral fact that motion must
produce change, while constant motion is
inevitable so long as force persists and
matter resists."
From which we conclude that mo-
ton is good thing, no matter in what
direction. The disquisition on the origin
of tribes contains the following unexpect-
ed and unorthodox tribute to slavery as the
foundation stone of civilization:
''The subjugation and reduction of FAM
lies to bondage and slavery was the be-
ginning OF that system of interdependence
now so broadly extended into commerce,
exchange and mutual dependence for al
most the necessities of life. In the times
referred to every man was his own farm
er, tailor, carpenter and cook, and this |
condition was only modified when the in |
dividuals of conquering families began to
rely upon the conquered for certain SER
vices they otherwise would have been |
obliged to render themselves.
But this is not the only instance where
her Orthodoxy" comes in question. In
speaking of Egypt-from which she gath
ers whatever blossoms in history, politics
or war, " may be CLEANED from the present
installment of ''philippic' deluge of
Genesis is thus scientifically disposed of
'EWhen we remember the so-called
flood; that Cham was the second son of |
Noah and the father of Menes, the first |
king, 2,1SS 3. c., and that 200 years
later Osymandyas, one of his successors,
was able to fit out an expedition against
the Bactrians of Asia, consisting of $780,
600 foot and 20, 900 horse, it must be
conceded that if the flood destroyed all
the people existing on the face of the
earth except those saved in the ark, the
descendants of Cham must have multi
piled with inconceivable rapidity to have
made the collection of such an army pos |
sible. But this is not more astonishing
than the supposition would be that there
could be contained in the atmosphere sur
rounding the earth sufficient moisture to
form the amount of water, which, falling |
through a space of forty days and nights,
should cover the whole earth to the depth |
narrated of Noah's flood; nor more so
than that the temperature of the whole |
earth at that time should have
been so uniform as TO have per-
mitted rain throughout, instead of hail or
snow in frigid portions thereof And if |
we were 10 inquire where such guam:
THY of water was borrowed from and re-
turned to, a consistent reply would be
equally surprising; for it is now known
that there is just as large quantity of
| the elements that compose water at pres
| ent as there was then.
Considerable latitude can be allowed
the statements regarding the flood when
| it is remembered that the knowledge of
| geography, astronomy and meteorology
| must have been exceedingly limited at
| that time But if credence is given to it
as having occurred-and it is conceded
that all the people Noah knew were de-
| stroyed by it-and solution is sought, it
can he imagined that a tremendous up
| heaval of mountains in northern Asia
might have thrown the waters of the
| Arctic ocean southwark over the country
| Noah dwelt in but this could not have
been the result of forty days and forty
nights rain, though it may have rained
continuously during that period, and may
have been considered such by Noah.
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