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INTRODUCTION
The American revolution should always be contemplated in reference to the great moral interests of this civilized world. There are important analogies between the physical and the social organizations of our globe. These analogies may not at once be apparent, in all their relations, to the superficial observer. But to the eye of the philosopher, their delineations are deeply and distinctly marked. They cannot be misapprehended; and they give a satisfactory solution in phenomena, that words otherwise remain inexplicable mysteries.
The remark has a thousand times been made, that to human apprehension, the organizations of the world, both physical and social, embrace a compound of good and evil. The proportions appear to vary under different circumstances, and to the ken of different individuals, as they may be severally constituted or predisposed. In each, after a due course of operation, certain developments are the necessary result. From these developments the philosopher becomes confirmed in a faith that he adopted as a matter of hypothesis; and from them likewise the Christian becomes confirmed in his faith which had been received from Divine revelation.
These observations are suggested as preliminary to a very brief exposition of the moral results of the American Revolution. Human warfare, especially in its more barbarous forms, is terrifying, even to the imagination. It can be justified only by the necessity for it, and the consequences flowing from its existence. We look upon it in the abstract, as we do upon the most frightful convulsions of nature. Here the elements are thrown into violent agitation; the earth inwardly moves as if in agony; the winds howl; the clouds blacken; the tempest rages; the lightning darts in flashes through the regions of space; we shrink back in terror at the threatening danger and the overwhelming grandeur of the scene; but how soon does all become quiet and beautiful! How soon does the whole become an impressive lesson in making known to us the wisdom and goodness of the Deity, beyond what could be known from the ordinary course of nature!
How illustrative is this of what we witness in the disorders of society! We cannot reflect upon human suffering with an unmoved heart. The view of a slaughtered army; the dying groans of the wounded; the tears and distress of the wife made a widow, and the mother made childless, in the progress of a civil war like that to which we are alluding, does verily overpower the stoutest minds, and cause a kind of paralysis to come over the social affections. But we know, after all, these desolations are usually succeeded by exhibitions of kindness and social virtue, and general prosperity, that would not otherwise have come into existence. Observation will satisfy every one that such is the fact. And philosophy may teach us, that amid all these evils a redeeming spirit will introduce us to a more enlarged and exalted state of enjoyment. This appears to be the governing law of the world.
Nor is this all. A more familiar, and still a more striking, illustration of the principle suggested, may be stated. The tender mother may nurture her daughters in the most delicate manner; may shudder at the idea of their becoming removed from the maternal roof, and from maternal assiduity and kindness, to encounter the frowns of adversity which may lurk in their path; and especially to endure the pains and the trials incident to womanhood. In her paroxysms of fearful anxiety she may even be disposed to restrain them within the reach of her affectionate protection, thereby securing them against the liabilities to personal suffering, and care, and anguish, which she has herself experienced. This is a case of no rare occurrence. There is no fiction in the picture. We have seen the reality hundreds of times.
But how ignorant is such a mother of the laws that govern human existence! Her love is ardent and sincere; but her philosophy is unsound. Were her fond imaginings, and her half-formed wishes to prevail, how imperfectly would these tender daughters subserve the great purpose of their being! --society would lose many of its most delightful charms; and the world itself could scarcely maintain its accustomed routine of beneficient existence. On the other hand, let them embark on the broad theatre of life; let them become mothers; let them exert their controlling and powerful influences upon the other sex; let generation thus succeed generation; and how much good is produced, compared with what would be seen, were she, in her mistaken kindness, to have thwarted the intentions of nature!
The indulgent father, too, may shudder at the idea of permitting his favorite inexperienced boys to become the victims of disappointment, and knavery, and insult, which may befall them, should they plunge into the whirlpool of business without his protection. But were his feelings, and not his reason, to regulate their destiny, in vain would he look for the enterprise and the vigorous capabilities in business that would crown them with success and honorable reputation, and to which the man of the world bends all his efforts. Without this training and these hazards, that are generally the lot of young men in the arena of the world's turmoils, and which make the kind father almost shudder, who would become powerful by the exertions of his intellect! Who would accumulate wealth and give employment and sustenance to the laboring classes of the community! Who would have the means to endow public institutions, and to make glad the unfortunate poor by uncounted benefactions!
Analogous to this is the case of our country, as connected with the revolution. The capabilities of a country in a colonial state can no more be developed, than physical and intellectual capabilities in man, while under the restraints of parental tutelage, to which allusion has been made. Had the American states remained in allegiance to the British government without resistance, thousands and thousands of violent deaths might have been prevented; floods of tears might have had no occasion to flow; countless numbers of bleeding and aching hearts might never have been pierced; and there might have been none of that general desolation now recorded in the history of that memorable crisis. Yet, these were the perils, and the agonies, that gave sinew, and strength and greatness, and manhood to the country.
Had it not been for them, the population of the now confederate states of the American Republic might not have been one third what it now is. Had it not been for them, the American Union would have been without that national character which now commands respect and reverence in every quarter of the globe. Had it not been for them, that spirit of American enterprise that now places the country, in national rank, and in fair competition for whatever is great and honorable and good, with the mother country, would never have existed. The American Revolution, therefore, may be considered one of the great agencies of Providence for renovating the condition of the world.
