Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-01-24
NATIONAL GREATNESS.

brief period Of as many weeks. For
} merly an empire crowned with the
hoary locks Of thousand years was
thought to be entitled to the honor
Of being pronounced grand and pow.
. @erful, but ia the present age ma
TONS greatness is measured by it's
laws, commerce, science, arts, educa-
ton, literature, and religion, and
consequently a nation one hundred
years old with population Of only
forty million may be infinitely great
or in all the elements Of power than
another of thousand generations
There seems to be a striking re-
semblance between the lives of indi-
viduals and those Of nations. The
ancients, it is said, lived to an age
beyond our present comprehension
some Of them verging on a thousand
years probably reaching the prime
Of life at about their five hundredth
birthday but an American of the
nineteenth century will crowd into
q life of fifty years as much thought,
labor and progress as one of our an
tediluvian sires would in four or five
centuries. And when we compare
the oldest nations with their younger
sisters, the latter far excel the for
mer in activity and energy. China
is the oldest, and q thousand years
behind the age. For ten centuries
Russia has had national being, but
has only just begun to conform to
the spirit and progress Of modern
civilization, while America, yet in
her infancy, leads the world In all
that pertains to powerful nationa.
life. Our recent civil struggle, the
most gigantic, terrible and deadly,
and satisfactory in it's adjustment,
that the world has ever seen, demon
strated the fact Of our inherent
strength and power, and won the ad-
miration CT the world, both friend
and foe awarding to America the
need Of genuine ability.
War is terrible curse, not only in
tho suffering it entails upon the race,
but also in grossly corruptiug public
morals by affording means for the
qualification of the worst and basest
passions Of human nature but not
withstanding it is always attended
by incalculable misery and democrat
lzation, yet it generally results in
more or less good. 1t is through
the conflict Of antagonistic forces
that truth and right become an es-
tablished fact in the history of hu-
manity. Elements Of power and
greatness, subordinated and held in
allegiance by the strong arm of pub
lie sentiment or misguided usage, Of
ten spring into life and activity at
the sound Of clashing arms.
The American nation has arisen
from its baptism of blood and fire,
comparatively cleansed from herodi-
tray pollution, and stands forth to-
day in all her strength the represen-
tative of greatness. And from this
sublime elevation, we turn our hope
full eyes to the future of American
history, believing as we do that the
present is one Of the most important
periods of our national life.
Will our statesmen guide the ship
of state safely through the struggling
tide of conflicting interests, or will
they abandon the welfare of the ma
ton to settle petty personal griev-
ances The people have a right to
expect better things Of Schurz,
Drake and Sumner, than vitupera.
tion and abuse for personal gratifica.
ton. We need sages, not pugilists,
in the halls of Congress just now,
when men of every phase of political
and religious faith are crowding tc
our shores and seeking to engraft
their peculiar ideas into American
Institutions The Chinese are des-
tined to constitute an integral part
of the heterogeneous mass of human
beings constituting the nation, and
with the disappearance Of the negro
from the arena of political discussion
the Chinaman, with all his peucliari-
+ ties, steps into his place andis bound
{ TO be enfranchised and will surely
: enter his plea for the rights Of con
science. In the prospect Of univer.
sal suffrage, it behooves US 20 think
closely and act .pradently if We
would be saved from anarchy anC
ruin. The weakest point in a rerub
lican form of government is here ful
~ disclosed. Universal suffrage il
: not an infallible index Of the tutur,
Q prosperity of the republic it involv
: es infinite possibilities Of blessednes,
or ruin, producing either develop
ment of civilization the most magnif
icent that the human mind can con
ceive, or social and political deform
ity Of the most hideous and malig
nant character. Great prosperity i
measured bv the possihilitv nc oraa,