ions
which ruined the republics of old, and which to-day convulse many that
might otherwise take rank among the most powerful and progressive
nations of the earth, neutralizing their progress, and holding them
constantly suspended above the gulf of anarchy and desolation.

Ask the oppositionist of to-day what he proposes or expects to
accomplish by his hostility to the powers that be, and he will answer
to little purpose. A vague idea is floating in his brain of some 'good
time coming' for his party, yet he knows very little what or when this
good time shall be, living on in the hope of some unknown event which
shall reverse the political chessboard. The opposition of to-day is that
of ultra conservatism to radicalism, of which the tendency of the one is
toward the stationary, that of the other to the rapidly progressive. The
so-called conservative, apparently blind to the result, and looking to a
return of the nation to the worn-out theories of the past as the result
of the efforts of his clique, is straining every nerve to paralyze the
arm of the Government, and to neutralize the effect of every great
achievement, doing everything in his power to exasperate the large
majority who are endeavoring to sustain the country in her hour of
peril, seemingly unconscious that in so doing he is not only working
steadily to defeat his own purpose, but also paving the way for the
destruction of his faction. For he is endeavoring to drag the country
backward along the track of years--an object which, as all history
proves, can never be effected with any progressive race; on the
contrary, such nations have ever owed their ruin to the inevitable
tendency to too rapid advancement. Again, by embittering the feelings of
his opponents toward himself and his coadjutors, he is effectually
preventing any future reconciliation and cooeperation of the divided
factions, in which only could he hope for success, and raising up a
powerful opposition which will counteract all his future efforts.

A purer civilization would look at this question of party divisions in a
different light, recognizing it as an institution of Providence, whereby
great good may be effected when its benefits are properly appreciated,
and at the same time as a terrible engine of destruction when misused or
not properly controlled. A purer civilization would recognize and
candidly acknowledge every element of good in the theories of even the
fiercest opponents, and heartil