The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-02-27

horainix February 81, 1873.
Tho Spirit OF Change.

Tho Spirit OF Change.
The CLOSE observer OF events, and of
the spirit moving them and in them,
cannot fail to discern the germs OF many
deep political and social changes. The
ago is active and restless. Everywhere
progress. inquiry and experiment strive
to keep ,oe with material growth and
physical development. From all quarters
Of the globe come the same evidences of
restleesness, of the breaking up of the
great deep OF human consciousness, Of
the questioning OF all that is old and
settled, and the craving after something
new and startling. In this the people of
the United States lead the van. They
are like the Athenians, as described by
the Apostle Paul, who spent their time
in nothing else but either to tell or to
hear some new thing. After the rough
experience of colonial life and Indian
warfare, came the war of independence,
and settlement of the Government on
broad and stesdy basis of popular
rights and free institutions. The guar
antee was constitution 80 happily
framed, that it was thought to be work
above the unaided powers OF man.
It was hoped that it would not
be subject to decay. It .wss ina
gined that it would be perpetual.
Vain thought and vain hope! Party
spirit, the greed OF power, the lust
0f int
reasoning prejudice and diseased pru.
rience were the active and ceaseless
agents in the destruction Of the fuir
fabric. Long.oontinued political wran-
Cling and sectional aggression at last cul-
minated in bloody war, among the IN.
expected and unfortunate results OF
which was fundamental change in the
principles of government and in the
habits of the people. From o republic
composed OF sovereign States of equal
powers, it became central Democratic
despotism, which seeks to absorb and is
every day absorbing the remaining
powers Of the States. This governmental
change'is paralleled by q corresponding
change in the people themselves.
The institutions of country more or
less reflect the spirit Of it's people. Tie
vitality IT the one answers to that of the
other. Trial by jury has come down to
Us from remote times, as one Of the safe
guards of freeman's rights, one of the
great bulwarks for his protection, and
one of the 'surest guarantees of public
Justice. Its essence is it's principle of
fairness, and'the conviction which every
man is supposed TO entertain, that he
will be dealt with impartially by it, from
its peculiar popular organization.
But to-day. in this country, this time
honpred and revered Instrument is itself
on trial. Its usefulness and fairness are
openly questioned and disputed. Re-
spectacle journals and eminent lawyers
pronounce il. q failure. The Governor
OF Florida recommends that it be aban-
doned. It is charged with liability to
corruption. The money of Tweed, or
the political influence OF politician high
in favor, are insidious influences which
go!to make up the verdict. Thus, it is
charged. it has become perverted and
depraved as in the times of the Tudors,
when, in the eloquent words of Mr..
Hallam, "That prim,eval institution,
those inquests by twelve true men, the
unadulterated voice Of the people, re.
sppnsible alone to God and their con-
science, which should have been heard
in the sanotuaries of justice, as fountains
springing fresh from the lap of earth,
became like waters constrained in their
course by art, stagnant and impure"
We shall consider the subject more fully
at another time.
Absurd and Untrue.