It is not for
youth to ponder over the meaning and the tendencies of things; it is
for youth to act, to make history, to push things along; therefore let
the papers record everything that passes; perhaps when the country is
old, when the time comes for meditation, the London _Times_ may be
imitated, and even a weekly collection of essays, such as the
_Saturday Review_ or the _Spectator_, may be successfully started in
the United States. Again, youth is apt to be jealous over its own
pretensions. Perhaps this quality also might be illustrated; but, for
obvious reasons, we will not press this point. Lastly, youth knows
nothing of the time which came immediately before itself. It is not
till comparatively late in life that a man connects his own
generation--his own history--with that which preceded him. When does
the history of the United States begin--not for the man of letters or
the professor of history--but for the average man? It begins when the
Union begins: not before. There is a very beautiful and very noble
history before the Union. But it is shared with Great Britain. There
is a period of gallant and victorious war--but beside the colonials
marched King George's red-coats. There was a brave struggle for
supremacy, and the French were victoriously driven out--but it was by
English fleets and with the help of English soldiers.
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