Litchfield enquirer., 1833-05-09
THE DEMAGoCiJE.

THE DEMAGoGUE.
 From Mr. G0st0n's address, deliUered be-
 tore the philanthrOpic and Dialectic So-
 ciettes at Chapel Hil, North Carolina.
 Meanly ambitious of public trust, without the virtues to deserve it :, intent on personal distinction, and having forgot ten the ends for which alone it is worth possessing, the miserable being, concen- trated all in self, learns to pander to vulgar prejudice, to advocate every popular error, to chime in with every dominant party, to lawn, f1atter, and deceive, and become a dangerous demagogue. How wretched is that poor being who hangs on the peoples favor! All manliness of principle has been lost in this long course of nleanness he dare not use his temporary popularity for any purpose of public good, in which there may be hazard of forfeiting it and the very eminence to which he is ex- alted, renders but more conspicuous his servility and degradation. However clear the convictions of his judgment, however strong the admonitions of his, as yet, not thoroughly stified conscience, not these, not the law of God, nor the rule of right, nor the public good, but the caprice of his constituents, must be his only guide and having risen by arti6ce, and conscious of no worth to support him, he is in hourly dread of being supplanted in the favor of the deluded multitude by some more cum ming deceiver. And such, sooner or later, is sure to be his fate. At some unlucky moment, when he bears his blushing hon. ors thick upon him, (and well may such honors blush) he is jerked from his cleva- ,ion by some more dexterous demagogue, and falls unpitied, never to rise again. And can that be the lot of him who has been here trained to admire and love high minded excellence-who has been taught by high classical authority to regard with the same fearless and unmovable indiffer- ence the stern countenance of the tyrant and the wicked ardor of the multitude, and who has learned from yet higher and ho. Her authority, to hold fast on whatsoeve
 things are true, whatsoever things are hon
 est, whatsoever things are just, whatsoeve things arc pure, fo abhor that which is evi and cleave to that which is good2' Be- lieve me, however, this is no fancy pic ture. The original may be found in inc world every day. Nor will it surprise those who have had occasion to see how the vain heart is swollen, and the giddy head turned, how honesty of purpose and manliness of spirit are perverted by popu- lar applause. It is but the first step that costs. Once yield to the suggestion, that a little deceit or prevarication, slight sac- ri6ce of principle and independence, a compromise of conscience in matters not absolutely fundamental, may be excused, when the immediate gain is obvious and the end in view important, and the down. ward path becomes every day more and more smooth, until in its descent, it reach- es the very abyss of vulgar trading, in- triguing, electioneering, office hunting pol iticians. If in this lowest depth, lower deep can be found, none of us, am sure, have the curiosity to explore it."
 DUCK sHooTING.-An AdUenture.
 The scene of the adventure was on the low flat shores in Hampshire, opposite the Isle of Wight; the hero of it wild-fowl shooter ;-' Mounted on his mud pattens, he was traversing one of those mud-land plains in quest of ducks and being only intent on his game, he suddenly found the waters, which had been brought forward with uncommon rapidiiy by some peculiar circumstance of tide, had made an alarm ing progress around him. To whatever part he ran, he found himself completely invested by the tide; a thought struck him as the only hope of safety: he retired to that part which was uncovered with water, and sticking the barrel of his gun. (which, for the purpose of shooting wild fowl was very long,) deep in the mud, he resolved to hold fast by it as support against the waves, and to wait the ebbing ofthe tide. A common tide, he had reason 10 believe, would not in that place have reached above his middle, but this was a spring tide, and brought forward by strong westerly wind. The water had reached him; it covered the ground on which he stood; it rippled over his feet; it gained his knees-bis waist. Button after button was swallowed up till at length it advanced over his very shoulders. With palpitatiDg heart he gave himself up for lost. Still however he held fast by his anchor; his eye was ea- gerly bent in search of some boat which might take its course that way, but none appeared. A solitary head, sometimes covered by wave, was no object to be