indictment against stage-coaches. But the history of canals, of steamboats, and lastly of railways, shows the existence of similar prejudices. Even Mr. Jefferson, (and I cannot mention him as an immoderate conservative,) when told that the State of New York had explored the route of a canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie, and found it practicable- that same canal which now, like a thread of silver, winds its way through your imperial State-replied that " it was a very fine project, and might be executed a century hence." It is related that the Greenwich pensioners, on first seeing the steamboat upon the waters of the Thames, as they looked out from their palatial home, said, “We do not like the steamboat; it is so contrary to nature.” In our own country, Fitch early brought forward the idea of a steamboat amidst ill-disguised sneers; and at a later day, Fulton, while building his first steamboat at New York, was viewed with indifference, or with contempt, as a visionary; and when at last, he had accomplished the long distance to Albany, distrust of the Future still held the public mind, and it was doubted if the voyage could be accomplished again, or, if done, it was doubted if the invention could be made of any permanent value. Thus did this evil spirit perplex the noble aims of these beneficent discoverers! And in England, almost within our own day, as late as 1825, railways were pronounced "altogether delusions and impositions," and the conservative Quarterly Review, alluding to the opinion of certain engineers that the railway engine could go eighteen or twenty miles an hour, says: "These gross exaggerations may delude for a time, but must end in the morti fication of those concerned. We should as soon expect the people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine, going at such a rate." * It is related that the Arve, a river of Switzerland, swollen by floods, sometimes drives the waters of the Rhone back into the Lake of Geneva; and it once happened that the force was so great as to make the mill-wheels revolve in a contrary direction. There seem not a few in the world, who, by their efforts, would cause the stream to flow back upon the fountain, and even make the mill-wheels revolve in a contrary direction. But unhappily, this same bigotry-conservatism if you will which has blindly opposed improvements in physical comforts, has set its face more passionately * Quarterly Review, Vol. XXXI. p. 361. The illustrations of this spirit might be indefinitely extended. There is one, that has been made familiar to the world, by Mr. Macaulay's History, since this Address was delivered, which has too much point to be omitted. As late as the close of the reign of Charles II., the streets of London, with a population of half a million, were not lighted at night, and, as a natural consequence, became the frequent scene of assassinations and outrages of all kinds, perpetrated under the shelter of darkness. At last, in 1685, it was proposed to place a light before every tenth door, on moonless nights. This projected improvement was enthusiastically applauded and furiously attacked. "The cause of darkness," says Mr. Macaulay, "was not left undefended. There were fools in that age who opposed the introduction of what was called the new light, as strenuously as fools of our age have opposed the introduction of vaccination and railroads, as strenuously as the fools of an age anterior to the dawn of history doubtless opposed the introduction of the plough and of alphabetical writing.”. History of England, cap. 3. still against many of those movements whose direct object has been the elevation of the race. In all times and places you have persecuted the prophets, and stoned those who have been sent to you. Of the professors of this conservatism, Milton has pictured the boldest type in Satan, who, knowing well the sins and offences of mortals, would keep them ever in their present condition; holding them fast in their degradation; binding them in perpetual slavery; nor indulging in any aspiration, except of long dominion over a captive race, whose sorrows and hopes cannot touch his impenetrable soul. From a sketch by another hand, we may learn something of the activity of this character. With an honest plainness, characteristic of himself and his age, the early English prelate, Latimer, says in one of his sermons," the Devil is the most diligentest bishop and preacher in all England." Surely it might be said with equal truth, - and none will ques that he is the busiest and most offensive Con Time would fail me to dwell on the ample illustrations of this influence. One world-renowned example shall suffice. The early efforts, in England, for the overthrow of the gigantic crime of the slave trade, were encountered by an enmity, which seemed to partake of the bad passions of the crime itself. In Liverpool, the excited slave-traders threatened to throw Clarkson into the sea. But the heart of the nation was gradually touched, until at last the people of England demanded the abolition of this foul traffic. Thus has Truth ever moved on - though opposed and reviled, still mighty and triumphant. Rejected often by the rich and powerful, by the favorites of fortune and of place, she finds shelter with the poor and lowly. Let it be said boldly, it is such as these that most freely welcome moral truth, in its immediate application to the concerns of life. It is the humble and retired, not the dwellers amidst the glare of the world, who most clearly perceive this truth; as the watchers, placed in the depths of a well, may observe the stars which are obscured to those who live in the effulgence Free from the prejudices of self-interest, or of noon. of a class, free from the cares and temptations of wealth, or of power-dwelling in the mediocrity of common life, in seclusion, or obscurity — they discern the new signal, they surrender themselves unreservedly to the new summons. The Saviour knew this. He did not call upon the Priest, or Levite, or Pharisee, to follow him; but upon the humble fisherman by the sea of Galilee. Let us then be of good cheer. From the great Law of Progress we may derive at once our duties and our encouragements. Humanity has ever advanced, urged by the instincts and necessities implanted by God — thwarted sometimes by obstacles, which have caused it for a time, -a moment only, in the immensity of ages,to deviate from its true line, or to seem to retreat, but still ever onward. At last we know the Law of this movement; we fasten our eyes upon that star unobserved in the earlier ages, which lights the way to the Future, opening into vistas of infinite variety and extension. Amidst the disappointments which may attend individual exertions, amidst the universal agita -- tions which now surround us, let us recognize this Law, let us follow this star-confident that whatever is just, whatever is humane, whatever is good, whatever is true, according to an immutable ordinance of Providence, in the golden light of the Future, must prevail. With this faith, let us place our hands, as those of little children, in the great hand of God. He will ever guide and sustain us through pains and perils it may bein the path of Progress. It In the recognition of this Law, there are motives to beneficent activity, which shall endure to the last syllable of life. Let the young embrace it; they shall find in it an ever-living spring. Let the old cherish it still; they shall derive from it fresh encouragement. shall give to all, both old and young, a new appreciation of their existence, a new sentiment of their force, a new revelation of their destiny. It shall be as another covenant, witnessed by the bow in the heavens, not only that no honest, earnest effort for the welfare of man can be in vain ; but that it shall send its quickening influence through the uncounted ages before us, and contribute to the coming of that blessed Future of Intelligence, of Peace, of Freedom, which we would now fain secure for ourselves, but cannot. And though not in our own persons the partakers of these brighter days, ours may be the pleasure at least of foreseeing them, of enjoying them in advance, or the satisfaction sweeter still of hastening by some moments the too distant epoch. A life filled by this thought shall have comforts and consolations, which else were unknown. In the flush of youthful ambition, in the self-confidence of success, we may be indifferent to the calls of Humanity but |