The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1880-07-14

nag OF 'oLateS-FlguI cOnS1Fuc-
tion TO the mast head, and ii
foatcd there triumphantly y until
1865. But what avul! dialcctics,
when great interests and great
passions move to the front :?
When the bayonet steps forward +;
the philosopher steps back. The
French soldiers in Egypt-who
accompanied by corps Of learned
men, and who used asses as sort
ofimprovfscd transportation train
when called on TO form a hasty
square TO repeI a charge Of Name
luke's cried ont, asses and Sa.
vans TO the CENTRE The philoso-
pher was ont Of place. The two
great principles which had fuI-
minated words and thoughts
against each other without con-
vincing effect for two-thirds Of
century, wearied with that exer-
else, changed the mode Of war,
fare, and substituted shells for
sentiments. In 1865 these amiable
missiles throttIed discussion and
muzzled the philosopher for eleven
long years. But principles do not
perish-during heavy weather
they hibernate for a while to ap-
pear, again when the climate be-
comes genial. During this gloomy
decade passion and prejudice held
high carnival. The most sacred
landmarks of liberty were kicked
over like rotton sign-posts. The
5oIdest and most outspoken Of the
Revolutionary leaders declared
why talk of the constitution we
are camped outside OF the constitu-
ton. There was the truth. Since
1875 a wholesome change has
occu:red-we see free discussion in
a measure revived in Congress,
the press and public assemblies.
But while this is happy augury,
great mischief has been done by
unchecked encroachments of pow.
er. Mems minds have become
familiarized to it, and the diversity
of opinion which prevails as to
the proper limits Of Federal inter-
ference with States and individ-
uals, even within the preciDts Of
of the Supreme Court itself, in
dicates an alarming vacillation on
this most important of all political
questions. Liberty is never lost
at a gulp; it is always nibbled
away by inches. Besides this
there are number of other ele-
meats which tend to increase the
complication, viz : The general
diffusion not Of knowledge (Which
is without doubt the best fortune
for a people, but of either half
knowledge or perverted thought,
sometimes through the press, bat
oftener through the medium Of
N multitudinous sensational writings;
the influence Of the telegraph and
rail road, which annihilate space
and time, and consecrnte every
where contemporancous?y all dis
satisfied and explosive mora! in
tellectual and political materials +;
the new and great experiment OF
universal suffrage, which converts
the idealist and the fanatic, the
ignorant man and savage into ac-
tive practical agents tor the fire.
quently recurring construction Of
the working machinery of the
government the novel relations
which women are gradually as
suming to the constitution Of So
ciety and lastly the Introduction
into the political fabric of this
State of a race uneducated, fresh
TO liberty, emotional, and untraln-
ed in any of the habits Of thought
or action, which 60 to form the
character Of a free citizen. All
these facts united create the most
curious and interesting, and at the
same time the most complex phase
Of human society that has ever ex-
listed. To what ultimate end it
all tends-whether to consolidated
empire or to the auPeessful achieve
ment Of d larger and more miracu-
lous expression Of popular govern
ment, or TO that auspicious con-
dltion,
"Where eldest night
And chaos, ancestors Of nature, hold
Eternal anarchy amidst thu noise
Dfepdess wars, and by confusion stand"
God knows-it is certain | do
not-but this is also certain the
theatre of operations is new and
unsurveyed, and this is the plane
uOOn which Won have to light