AMERICA, THE THEATRE OF THE GREAT

DEMONSTRATION.

"Into the full enjoyment of all which Europe has reached only through such slow and painful steps, we sprang at once, by the Declaration of Independence, and by the establishment of free representative government; government, borrowing more or less from the models of other free States, but strengthened, secured, and improved in their symmetry, and deepened in their foundation, by those great raen of our own country, whose names will be as familiar to future times as if they were written on the arch of the sky."-WEBSTER.

Ir must strike every reflective mind, that ours is no history of mere chance, or even of simple fortune. This gigantic country, stretched between so many parallels of latitude, its shores washed by the two great oceans of the world, its past so wonderful, its present so great with mighty promises,-this America does not exist without a purpose, as if the careless hand of Chance had originated it, with no designed place among the other countries of the world, and no grand promise to perform for the regeneration of mankind. It is not possible, even for him who affects to disbelieve in the providence and the power of a God, to imagine that an existence like ours ever sprung out of the chaos of accident, or was the unlooked-for fruit of circumstances which never felt the guidance of a Supreme, controlling hand.

That we are specially deputed to begin and to carry out successfully the greatest social and political problem in the world's destiny, is enough to fill the breast of every man with hope-felt determination, for it commands our thoughts, our energies, and our faith. The sooner our citizens recognize this feeling, the speedier and the more energetic must be the steps in that great demonstration in which we are certainly the accredited principals. If individuals have a destiny marked out for them, suited to the inclinations and endowments of their natures,—must it not be equally true that nations, made up

of vast masses of individuals, with all these same endowments and inclinations, have as large a share in the plans of that Providence which both rules and loves the world?

In our country, all things are new; and we ought heartily to thank God for having cast our lot, with this mighty experiment, too, in our keeping, in a locality where the fetters that belong to an old and effete society are not known. We often speak of our vast virgin soil, hiding nutriment enough in its bosom to sustain the entire population of our globe; but have we not as good cause to boast of that fresh and virgin-like way of thought, and that childlike and impulsive style of sentiment, which hitherto has made the despots and proud nobles of the Old World regard us with ineffable disgust, but which is now beginning to challenge real respect and admiration everywhere?

Yes, let us thank God that with us, in this experiment on which we have entered, all things are new. Let us sing praises that we are neither hemmed in by any other tyranny than what we are free to impose upon ourselves, nor made timid by any of those eternal suspicions which rob older nations of their energy and their peace.

It is sufficiently apparent to even the least attentive observer, that the masses of Europe are fast growing restive under the old yokes and dominions; that the instinctive sentiment of manhood is rapidly rising and overgrowing every other idea in the breasts of the governed; that the millions of silent subjects in Europe are expectant of a dawn that shall call on them to rise from their sleep to the freedom of a glorious day. Who can tell how much of this is the natural result of our own quiet and dignified example? Or who will say how much these events in the world have, under God, been hastened by the steady and silent illumination which we have been offering for now three-fourths of a century? Such things as these are evidences enough of the depth of the sentiment of freedom, native in all breasts; as well as of the strength of that influence which our own country must of necessity exert wherever her institutions are generally known.

The past history of the world points with an unerring finger to America as the nation where all its old, and bloody, and unhappy experiences, are to be spoken of only as things belonging to darker times, to clouded intellects, and corrupt hearts; where what was bad is forever to be put behind us, and what is good is forever to allure us along; where oppression shall cease to be the law, and freedom no longer be the exception; where those true and lofty sentiments which belong to the human race, are henceforth to be allowed room for indefinite expansion; where government is to cease to be a crushing process upon the integrity of the heart and intellect, but is to take its very root and sustenance in the intelligent consent of those who are governed; and where the great truth, that peace is the natural political condition of the human family, and love is the loftiest and most absolute law, is to be not simply propounded, but proved.

Such are the important truths to the existence of which we, as a people, are to testify. This is the time for us to bear willing testimony, as we are the nation to whom the responsibility has been intrusted. Whether we will or no, our destiny, our history, our nature, our geographical position, our very inclinations,-all conspire to point us to our duty.

If we will but take the map and glance at the present geographical boundaries of our country, we shall see in a moment what a wide field for carrying forward this great political experiment we are in possession of. We people a variety of climates, such as no other nation on the face of the earth ever held direct ownership in. Our soil is calculated to furnish all the productions needed for the comfort and sustenance of man. We lie between the extreme latitudes of the temperate belt of the earth's surface,-a position of infinite consequence, when considered in connection with the world's past history; for it has been said with truth, that in none but temperate climates have the great deeds of human history been performed. The statement is well worth serious thought it is, that nations only that are occupants of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, ever governed the world.

Let us see how such a statement is supported by facts:

Below the tropic of Capricorn, there is hardly enough of Africa to attract notice. South America lies chiefly between the two tropics, and has never brought forward any special claims either on the world's notice or admiration. Within the Arctic Circle, there is no better hope held out to the world; nor, in fact, has it ever been at all different through the whole course of history. Only one almost eternal winter reigns, against the long torpor of which men have but a very brief time to make provision, and during which term, all life, whether physical or spiritual, seems wrapped in fatal lethargy.

Now, if we leave these two extremes of the earth's surface, and come within the limits that geographically form the temperate zone, we find, in the first place, Asia, with a population of from five to six hundred millions, swarming, like bees in a busy hive. What great events in the drama of the world's history has not Asia brought forth? On her prolific soil was set the cradle of mankind; there Christ was born, there he delivered his message of love to mankind, and there was he at length crucified. There, too, were the great and powerful cities of antiquity; there lived and reigned David and Solomon; there spake the Apostles and the Prophets. The arts first saw their existence there-and science, and learning, and religion. In Asia, commerce first made men restless and energetic, and drove them to seek shorter routes to the parts of the world beyond them.

In Europe, the illustration is still more complete. There, exists a population numbering about two hundred and fifty millions, of various races and languages. In resources of every description-physical, intellectual, or purely spiritual-that population is astonishingly rich. We need but rehearse their deeds, to convince our reader of the vast native superiority of such a people over all others of the Old World. We have only to mention the names of Greece and Rome, to start in every mind the right thoughts on this subject. Of the world's great poets, who has not heard of Virgil and Homer? Of her orators, to whom are not the names of Demosthenes and Cicero familiar? Who has not yet heard of Plato? of Socrates? of

Aristotle

of Alexander? And to whose ears are not the sounds of

both Cæsar and Brutus like "household words?"

But such an historical recital is needless. Every intelligent American citizen is well aware of the truth of these things, and how forcibly they bear on the point which we design to illustrate. All tend to show that over this belt of the temperate zone have passed, from the beginning, the power, the energy, and the promise of the world's final exaltation and redemption.

Exactly within this same favored limit, lies our own country. The United States of North America form a new nation in the history of the world. We are a people, likewise, whose government, both in its form and principles, is wholly peculiar. Nothing like it has the world ever seen or known before. In developing the details of such a form of government, we certainly have shown ourselves, thus far, both apt and energetic-shrinking from no responsibilities, and rising to the heights of heroism itself by the mere force and fulness of faith in our destiny. Having sprung from a race peculiarly educated, by means of the experiences of the generations gone before, we were first fitted, by this wise dispensation of Providence, for the reception of the broad and deep principles which pertain to our civil existence.

We have, then, to say, in the first place, respecting ourselves, that though perhaps as yet behind some of the European countries in particular fields of science, or literature, or general learning, we may, nevertheless, challenge the whole world in fair comparison with our people for general intelligence, for intellectual activity, for practical learning, for bold and comprehensive thought, and for striking and energetic action. The Americans combine elements in their character that no people, as a whole, ever possessed before. No sooner does a new or progressive idea become born in their brain, than it is forced into the notice and approbation of the world.

See how we cut the waters of rivers thousands of miles long, and plough our way majestically across the stormiest ocean of the globe. Count up the almost interminable lines of railroad over which steam is made to whirl us every day, and destined yet to lace a continent