The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-03-13
A Booth to Let in Vanity Fair.

place among the natlons. Appa'en"J
tired Of even change, unmindful oil their own
fitness, without any well defined plan OF ac-
ton, they claim to be competent to govern
themselves; although they have persistently
neglected the only conditions by which they
could merit liberty.
OF the Latin races which, In modern ages,
have proved 30 incapable OF maintaining
freedom, Spain Is unquestionably by far the
most incompetent and unprepared. Her
people are swayed by superstition, Injured
to blind obedience. With no settled princl-
pie, save that in ignorance lies salvation
and that knowledge is blasphemy. they are
as readily carried away by baleiul sugges'
tiops, as moved by worthy ones. Their
present oulburst may be regarded as the
mere upruliness OF sick man who will rebel
against meek entreaty, and yield only to
brute force. The words, "Thou art weighed
/" in the balance aud found wanting; the
+" kingdom shall be taken from thee" seem
written on the cornerstone OF every nation.
Republics aspire to become Empires; King
doms are revolutionized into Republics.
Everywhere is the surging OF the pillows
and the fiat "Unstable as water, thou shall
"n not excell" The nation that reaches its
extreme limit in one form, vainly hopes to
pass the inexorable boundary under aDother
name. The condition Of success is not
simply caprice. For every noble vocation
there must be corresponding spirit, and
the more worthy that spirit is OF the call, the
more it will strive to elevate and refine
itself for the new life. Undisciplined and
unprepared, the Spanish people have drifted
into state OF anarchy, mistaklng insubor-
dination for yearnings for liberty, and law
lessness for patriotism. Forgetting that 1t
Is easier to destroy than create, lacking
adaptabillty, devoid OF stability OF design
and unanimity OF purpose, they have burned
their ships to cut of their own retreat, and
have forgotten to secure the arms and am
munition.
Four times Spain has obtained free con-
stitution, and as often she has been too
weak to retain 1t. Milk for babes; strong
meat for men. Accustomed TO slavery, Lib
erty is too strong portion for her; and ls
as little adapted 10 the teeth OF her native
Sierras as to her feeble masticatlon. True
reform begins from within, and with the
people. Until the people are enlightened to
o degree that will show them their deficlen-
cies and their need OF higher life, until
the soul within the masses is developed, the
nation Is unit for elf.government, and can
never sustain more than its passing shadow.
The throne must be prepared before the
monarch can be seated, and the nation
which does not reverence Liberty enough to
Gu!.d her an altar in the popular heart, is
unworthy OF the protection OF her agis. Pow
eriul minds may mould the clay, may ani-
mate, direct, uphold; but, unless the prin-
ciple is universal, and living soul, the ma
tlon will collapse into lts normal condition
OF lingering dissolution--like the galvanized
corpse when the electric spark is withdrawn.
No statesmen, however powerful, can per-
petuate a system for which the people are
not ripe. Such mighty sovereigns as Fer
dinand and Isabella, Charles V and Philip
II created, and maintained, by their own
force and energy, an Empire vast as their
own ambition. Their immediate, puny sue
cessors saw its decay and disgrace. There
was rallying under the rule Of more worthy
kings. 1t was reserved for our age to wit
ness the former marvel and terror OF the
world, once floating supreme and unap-
proachable In the empyrean, collapsed like
o balloon that heaves aimlessly In the dust
no longer imposing; exciting only the
contempt OF the vulgar; scarcely an acqui-
sltion to the refuse heap Of republics.
Give Spain master, and she will perform
his bidding until bought by another. In.
sensible, ungrateiul, restless; we shall now
SEQ her play her part OF Republican Punch
with commendable gravity, until the strings
be tangled, or the patriotic Snowman be ar
rested. Then the farce will end, and the
iinerant show will make place for the legiti-
mate drama. Until that day, motley will
be the only wear, and Jolly rule the hour.
1t is not even pretended that the new Re.
public is a movement OF the people, who are
too ignorant TO understand the conditions
OF liberty, or to take advantage OF what is
forced upon them. They are devoid OF even
that duh. instinct Of the clod, which
."Graspi1g blindly above It for air and light,
Climbs TO soul In grass and aowers."
Indeed, such is their Ignorance, intoler.
ance, and reverence for old forms and super
stitions, that, Buckle, liberal and tolerant; to
all men, does not hesitate to express his
belief that 10 case OF any new political
catastrophe, the Inquisition will be re-estah.
lshed.
Among nations as among men, moral
obliquity is considered the natural outgrowth
OF physical deiormity. Carrying in its breast
the sentence OF speedy death, without faith
In itself, or much concern for it's future, the
Spanish Republic may live the span OF a
shooting star, or the age of glow-wor,n ;
but it can never hope for prolonged e4-
istence.