Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-08-17
TRUTH MANFULLY SPOKEN.

and Ground OF Government" which (says
tue New York Tnbune) embodies much
truth essenii, Al 10 the public welfare, which
has MT hitherto been duly SIT before their
readers in the publication claiming TO be
especially Democratic. We take from
IL the following extract, which .mbodies
scathing r, buke to the demagoguism Of
the day, which passes with too many for
democracy:
"There Isl strong tendency and | hold
a dangerous trndencv--among US to under.
rate the importance OF lib raj studies, phi.
losophical investigations, profound schol-
arship, and scientific st,ainmenis, and 10
ex,ol and def to the alleged wisdom and
good sense Of the mass, which practically
means the wisdom and good sense of the
small minority at the head of one or the
other of the two great political parties into
which the country is divided. Mere scho.
larship for the sake Of scholarship is no
doubt contemplate; We want no pedantry,
no dilettantism. That sort of scholarship
which, in its spirits and effects, looks new
er beyond the cultivation, the interest or
the easure of the scholar himself, de-
serves no encouragement from Christian
people. All scholarship, or scholastic or
scientific, or even art site attainments, like
the p secession Of property, place, or pow
er, should be regarded az sacred trust
TO be used not for the personal god # the
p assessor, but for the moral, intellectual,
and sacred Elevation OF the mass. The
liz, nature we want in this country is not
the literature VIII CHI results from deferring
to popular passions and instincts, nor in.
deed the literature that rises not above
the simple apprehensl n of the majority;
but literature that breathes free, n bile,
and generous spirit; that is full of the love
Of man as man, and that kindlt up holy
a dor in all who come under its influence,
and imparts TO them the nee led wisdom TO
labor for the moral, the religious, the in
tellectual and the physical w"ll-being OF
all men, especially the poorer and more
numerous classes. The tendency ofwh,ch
we speak is to the creation OF ter ture
the reverse ofthis. Its a dwelling tenden-
CIV; but levels downwards, and not up
wards. Iastea Of feeling It an Imperious
duty 70 instruct and elevate the mass,
the tendency amongst US is 20 take our
laws { om the mass, and to bring thought
down to level with the narrow views,
crude notions. an blind ms incts of the
multitude. If this tendency is CONTINUED
and ,ncouraged, our whole intellectual
world will become superficial and void,
and American life too feeble q thing to be
worth possessing.
what is most dangerous in this ten
drncy is the fact that 1t is thougt to be
democratic, and is encouraged by some
who have the ears and the hearts of the
Democracy. To set our faces against it
is 20 expose ourselves 10 vague charge "f
beng aristocrats, and to be denounced as
the enemies of the people; as men who
have no confidence in the people, no love
for popular government; but who would
introduce monarchy or build up an ar
is.ocracy or something else quite as bad,
if not worse. But !, for one, meet the
charge here en- the Threshold. deny
that this tendency is democratic, or that
it results from democracy; it is decidedly
and originates in the a.
buse, in the p.rversion of democracy.
There is democracy, in any worthy sense
of the term, only where each man has
mind of his own, and u,ters that mind
clearly, distinctly, without suffering IT TO
be lost in the voice of any other man.
Moreover, democracy, regarded as prin.
ciple, is not necessarily deierring to the
mass, but is the wise and just institution
and administration of Government for the
highest and best good ofthe whole people.
| am thought to want confidence IN the
people, but have really more confidence
in them than he who said the other day,
Since | have BEEN in office have made
it my duty toascertain and conform to the
will of my CONSTITUENCIES for dare tell
the people what bel eve to be the truth,
essential to their well b-ing, and to contra.
diet them to their very faces when | be-
lieve them in the wrong. But my conf
denee in the people is IN their capabilities,
aud not in their actu atlalnments, or in
the pract cal wisdom Of their actual judg-
ments. Tue people in whom | want con
6dence, are III political people, the p o.
pie whose voice we collect at the ballot
box, who in fact are, and always must
ne, DIS be, only small minority of the
whole population. The genuine people,
if their voice could really be heard would
be loud aod earnest in condemnation of
the tendency of which we speak. They
feel that they want INTEL gence, want light
aud they look eagerly around for il; but
between them and the light stand ever
this immense body of shallow psted poll
ticians, who dread nothlDgso much as pop
ular intelligence, and whose sole chance
of success is IN shutting out the light, and
making the people believe that they, the
people, are already masters of political
science, here lies the evil. Nearly all
our writer's, our whole newspaper press,
with few honorable exceptions, do little
else than echo what they take to be
the dominant convictions Of their respec-
tive parties, sects, or schools; and il one
chances to think for himself, and labor TO
advance the mass, to levate the standard
OF thought, the whole pack,
Tray, Blanche. Sweetheart, little dogs and ALL
are let loose upon him, and he is forth
with run down as a wild beast, or a saw
age WIN If suf red to escape would cor
runt the manila and eat out their snhsian